When was Appalachian Spring ballet first performed?
See Article History. Appalachian Spring, ballet by Aaron Copland, first performed in Washington, D.C., on October 30, 1944.
Who choreographed Appalachian Spring?
Appalachian Spring. Appalachian Spring was commissioned in 1942 by the American patron of the arts Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, who requested a new ballet for the dancer and choreographer Martha Graham.
What is the story behind Appalachian Spring?
Appalachian Spring was commissioned in 1942 by the American patron of the arts Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, who requested a new ballet for the dancer and choreographer Martha Graham. The ballet depicts the day of a wedding celebration at a Pennsylvania farmhouse in the early 20th century. It opens at dawn with a gentle theme for strings and winds.
Was Copland commissioned to write a ballet?
He was commissioned to write a ballet, Appalachian Spring, which he later arranged as a popular orchestral suite. The commission for Appalachian Spring came from Martha Graham, who had requested of Copland merely "music for an American ballet".
What genre is Appalachian Spring?
balletHe was commissioned to write a ballet, Appalachian Spring, which he later arranged as a popular orchestral suite. The commission for Appalachian Spring came from Martha Graham, who had requested of Copland merely "music for an American ballet".
What is the story of the ballet Appalachian Spring?
An American Story in Movement One of Graham's most celebrated works, Appalachian Spring, explores the lives of a young pioneer husband and his bride beginning a life together on the American frontier. Opposing forces dominate the dance—youthfulness versus maturity, and physical love opposed to spiritual devotion.
How long is Appalachian Spring ballet?
The Suite both expands on and excises the music, in the end eliminating about 10 or 11 minutes from the approximately 35-minute length of the original score. Many listeners may be familiar with the ballet version for full orchestra that the composer made in 1954 at the behest of conductor Eugene Ormandy.
What did Appalachian Spring originated as?
Appalachian Spring originated as a ballet score for Martha Graham, the great modern dancer and choreographer. five variations on the Shaker melody Simple Gifts.
What type of dance is Appalachian Spring?
balletThe ballet, which won the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1945, contains some of the composer's most familiar music, particularly his set of variations on the Shaker hymn “Simple Gifts.” Appalachian Spring was commissioned in 1942 by the American patron of the arts Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, who requested a new ballet for ...
What was Martha Graham's most famous dance piece?
Appalachian Spring (1944)She created some dances from American frontier life, the most famous of which is Appalachian Spring (1944), with its score by Aaron Copland. Another source was Greek legend, the dances rooted in Classical Greek dramas, stories, and myths.
What texture is Appalachian Spring?
The piece is introduced with slow strings, having the flute state the original melody. The harmony and texture is very simple, mostly floating around the I and IV chords.
Where does the ballet Appalachian Spring take place?
rural PennsylvaniaWhen “Appalachian Spring” debuted at the Library of Congress on Oct. 30, 1944, the one-act ballet made dance history. Set in rural Pennsylvania during the 19th century, the idyllic story of newlyweds building their first farmhouse evoked a simpler time and place that appealed to a nation at war abroad.
Who wrote the Appalachian Spring ballet?
Aaron CoplandAppalachian Spring / ComposerAaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later a conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as "the Dean of American Composers". Wikipedia
What period of music is Appalachian Spring from?
"Appalachian Spring" is set in a western Pennsylvania community in the early 19th century.
Is Appalachian Spring classical?
Appalachian Spring - Copland - The best American classical music - Classic FM.
What is the story of The Rite of Spring?
The Rite of Spring (1913) by Igor Stravinsky is a ballet and orchestral work controversial for its time. The Rite of Spring ballet revolves around the return of spring and the renewal of the Earth through the sacrifice of a virgin chosen to dance herself to death.
Where does the ballet Appalachian Spring take place?
rural PennsylvaniaWhen “Appalachian Spring” debuted at the Library of Congress on Oct. 30, 1944, the one-act ballet made dance history. Set in rural Pennsylvania during the 19th century, the idyllic story of newlyweds building their first farmhouse evoked a simpler time and place that appealed to a nation at war abroad.
Who wrote the ballet Appalachian Spring?
Aaron CoplandAppalachian Spring / ComposerAaron Copland always called his piece "Appalachian Spring," but as he wrote in his memoirs, he discovered on a trip to West Virginia in 1972 that he'd been pronouncing the name incorrectly for almost 30 years.
What does the introduction to Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring evoke?
In The Rite of Spring, Stravinsky evokes the rites of ancient -. Stravinsky's early works are considered to be strongly nationalistic. Beginning with his -, Stravinsky was a leader in the revitalization of - in European art music. In The Rite of Spring some of Stravinsky's melodies quote Russian - songs.
When was the Appalachian Spring first performed?
Appalachian Spring, ballet by Aaron Copland, first performed in Washington, D.C., on October 30, 1944. The ballet, which won the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1945, contains some of the composer’s most familiar music, particularly his set of variations on the Shaker hymn “Simple Gifts.”.
Who created the Appalachian Spring?
Appalachian Spring was commissioned in 1942 by the American patron of the arts Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, who requested a new ballet for the dancer and choreographer Martha Graham. The ballet depicts the day of a wedding celebration at a Pennsylvania farmhouse in the early 20th century.
What is ballet dance?
Ballet, theatrical dance in which a formal academic dance technique—the danse d’école—is combined with other artistic elements such as music, costume, and stage scenery. The academic technique itself is also known as ballet. This article surveys the history of ballet.….
When is America Awakens 2021?
Performed by the Fort Collins Symphony on their America Awakens virtual concert, April/May 2021, alongside Adolphus Hailstork’s Church Street Serenade and the Tender Land Suite by Arron Copland, arr. Murry Sidlin.
What is it about Aaron Copland's music that evokes such feelings of nationalism and nostalgia?
Others note his incorporation of folk-tunes and hymns, sometimes only in fragments, which add a familiarity for listeners. There is also a certain indefinable quality about his music that is—simply Copland. Aaron Copland (1900–1990) was born to Lithuanian-Jewish immigrant parents in Brooklyn, where he grew up. Yet his music is so associated with rustic Americana that he has been deemed the “Dean of American Music.” His most popular works seize upon themes and scenes reinforcing this portrayal and include titles such as Rodeo, Billy the Kid, Lincoln Portrait, Fanfare for the Common Man, and of course, Appalachian Spring. All of these compositions, and indeed, the majority of Copland’s most well-known works, were composed in the 1940s when World War II brought together much of the country. Perhaps then, Copland’s unique style has ingrained itself into our nation’s memory as music linked to American themes, resulting in a collective perception of his music as uniquely American. Regardless, in 1944, the year Appalachian Spring premiered, Copland was the darling of the U.S. art music community.
Who was the voice of America in the Appalachian Spring?
When Martha Graham’s ballet “Appalachian Spring” had its premiere on Oct. 30, 1944, in Washington, D.C., Aaron Copland was the voice of America. He had the gift to be simple. He wrote music that served the essential need for wartime American unity.
What instruments are used in the ballet?
The ballet opens in an exalted stillness. The music comes out of nowhere with low A’s (two short and one long) played by a handful of violas and second violins, as though two seeds planted in the earth, nothing but future promise. Seeds grow into two simple chords that rise through individual instruments with cool tranquility. A plaintive melody evolves out of this low-density harmonic exosphere. There is just enough gravity to hold the chords together, but each note is an individual with promise.
Where did Copland first understand his essential Americanness?
That might seem a world away from Appalachia. But it was in Paris where Copland first understood his essential Americanness, in Mexico where he was inspired to become an American populist, and in the fantasy world of Hollywood where he entered into the ultimate spirit of America. It is also worth noting that while writing the ballet score, the orchestral sound in his ear would have been that of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, which had just become the first major American orchestra to appoint an American-born music director, Alfred Wallenstein.
Was the Appalachian Spring a cop out?
None of this was helped by the “Appalachian Spring”-like music used for years to sell just about anything on television commercials. Once a modernist, Copland was considered a cop-out by progressive composers. The State Department supported orchestral concert tours that included “Appalachian Spring” as American propaganda. The postwar Germans, for one, would have none of this, one critic labeling the score “pretentious, harmless, unsatisfying, feminine and unbearably boring.”
Who was the dancer in Appalachian Spring?
Two great American artists came together to produce Appalachian Spring. In the early 1940s, with dancer and choreographer Martha Graham on the west coast, and composer Aaron Copland working in Mexico, the two melded their talents, largely through letters. Graham guided Copland in telling this American story of courage, community and innovation, portrayed through the aspirations of a newly married couple settling in Pennsylvania.
What was the first performance of Appalachian Spring?
After that first performance, Appalachian Spring was heralded as an immediate success - and earned Copland a Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1945; its popularity endures throughout the U.S. and around the world. Fascinating articles, photos, letters, programs and newspaper clippings about Appalachian Spring on the Library of Congress website.
Who created the ballet called Appalachian Spring?
Copland titled the piece "Music for Martha", having no idea of how she would use it on stage. Graham created a ballet she called Appalachian Spring, which was an instant success, and the music acquired the same name. Copland was later awarded the Pulitzer Prize for music for his composition.
What is the Appalachian Spring?
Appalachian Spring is music for a ballet that Copland wrote in 1944. It tells the story of a young pioneer couple in the early 19th Century. The bride and her farmer-husband build a farmhouse in the Pennsylvania hill country; they look ahead to their new life together with hope, joy, and fear. Musical elements depict old neighborhoods, country fiddlers and square dancing, and various emotions. Toward the end is heard a Shaker tune called "Simple Gifts." The ballet ends quietly and serenely.
How many sections are there in Appalachian Spring?
The ballet ends quietly and serenely. Appalachian Spring is divided into eight sections. The seventh section, which is a set of variations on the Shaker melody Simple Gifts , is the most recognizable section from the ballet.
What did Copland believe about jazz?
During the 1930's, Copland came to believe that a composer should not limit himself by just composing for serious concert performances. He also began incorporating American folk melodies into his music.
