What is Aaron Copland's most famous piece of music?
Fanfare for the Common ManSome of Copland's most prominent pieces included Fanfare for the Common Man, El Salon Mexico and Appalachian Spring, for which he won the Pulitzer. An Oscar-winning writer of film scores as well, Copland died on December 2, 1990.
What piece is Copland's first attempt at the big American story?
Billy the KidThe first big American story Copland took on was Billy the Kid (1938).
What style is Aaron Copland known for?
He is best known for the works he wrote in the 1930s and 1940s in a deliberately accessible style often referred to as "populist" and which the composer labeled his "vernacular" style. Works in this vein include the ballets Appalachian Spring, Billy the Kid and Rodeo, his Fanfare for the Common Man and Third Symphony.
Is Aaron Copland still alive?
December 2, 1990Aaron Copland / Date of death
Who was the most successful marching band leader of America?
John Philip Sousa, byname The March King, (born November 6, 1854, Washington, D.C., U.S.—died March 6, 1932, Reading, Pennsylvania), American bandmaster and composer of military marches.
Who is considered the greatest American composer?
America's 10 Greatest ComposersBurt Bacharach, 1928-Irving Berlin, 1888-1989.George M. Cohan, 1878-1942.Duke Ellington, 1899-1974.Stephen Foster, 1826-1864.George Gershwin, 1898-1937.Scott Joplin, 1867-1917.Cole Porter, 1891-1964.More items...•
What makes Aaron Copland's music so unique?
His early music mixes very modern musical ideas with hints of jazz influence. Pieces such as his Piano Variations stand out for their harmonic and rhythmic experimentation, and jazz rhythms are an important part of his Music for the Theater. Copland's concern with modern techniques lessened during the Great Depression.
Why is Aaron Copland important in music?
Aaron Copland was one of the most respected American classical composers of the twentieth century. By incorporating popular forms of American music such as jazz and folk into his compositions, he created pieces both exceptional and innovative.
What are some fun facts about Aaron Copland?
Copland won the Academy Award for Best Original Score in 1949 for The Heiress and received nominations for his scores for Of Mice and Men (1939), Our Town (1940) and The North Star (1943).
What movies did Aaron Copland write music for?
Between 1939 and 1949, Copland composed the music for five major Hollywood films: Lewis Milestone's Of Mice and Men (1939), Sam Wood's Our Town (1940), Lewis Milestone's The North Star (1943) and The Red Pony (1949), and William Wyler's The Heiress (1949).
Who composed rodeo?
Aaron CoplandRodeo is a ballet composed by Aaron Copland and choreographed by Agnes de Mille, which premiered in 1942.
Who was the first African American composer to have a symphony performed by a major American orchestra?
William Grant StillBorn in Woodville, Mississippi, and reared in Little Rock, Arkansas, William Grant Still (1895-1978) became the first African American composer to have a symphony performed by an American orchestra.
What makes Aaron Copland's music so unique?
His early music mixes very modern musical ideas with hints of jazz influence. Pieces such as his Piano Variations stand out for their harmonic and rhythmic experimentation, and jazz rhythms are an important part of his Music for the Theater. Copland's concern with modern techniques lessened during the Great Depression.
What is the name of the first melody theme in Still's Afro American Symphony?
The first movement, moderato assai (very moderate), contains a typical twelve-bar blues progression. Still titled this movement 'Longing' in his notebook.
Where was the first important center of jazz?
Each ethnic group in New Orleans contributed to the very active musical environment in the city, and in this way to the development of early jazz. A well-known example of early ethnic influences significant to the origins of jazz is the African dance and drumming tradition, which was documented in New Orleans.
Who Was Aaron Copland?
He became one of the century’s foremost composers with highly influential music that had a distinctive blend of classical, folk and jazz idioms. Some of Copland’s most prominent pieces included Fanfare for the Common Man, El Salon Mexico and Appalachian Spring, for which he won the Pulitzer. An Oscar-winning writer of film scores as well, Copland died on December 2, 1990.
What was the name of the piece that Copland composed?
Some of his most well-known pieces include Piano Variations (1930), The Dance Symphony (1930), El Salon Mexico (1935), A Lincoln Portrait (1942) and Fanfare for the Common Man (1942). Copland later composed the music to Martha Graham’s 1944 dance Appalachian Spring. The following year Copland won the Pulitzer Prize for the piece.
How old was Copland when he died?
Death. Copland died on December 2, 1990 in North Tarrytown, New York at 90 years old. Having received an array of accolades in his later years, the iconic composer had also worked with Vivian Perlis on a two-volume autobiography, Copland: 1900 Through 1942 (1984) and Copland Since 1943 (1989).
What genre of music did Copland use?
He was concerned with crafting sounds that would be seen as “American” in its scope, incorporating a range of styles in his work that included jazz and folk and connections to Latin America.
Where was Aaron Copland born?
Composer Aaron Copland was born on November 14, 1900, in Brooklyn, New York to parents of Jewish and Eastern European descent. The youngest of five children, Copland went on to develop an interest in the piano, receiving guidance from his older sister. He later studied under Rubin Goldmark in Manhattan and regularly attended classical music performances. At 20 years old Copland opted to continue his studies in Fontainebleau, France, where he received tutelage from the famed Nadia Boulanger.
When did Copland write his first concerto?
by the mid-1920s. Having been asked by Boulanger to write an organ concerto, Copland eventually debuted Symphony for Organ and Orchestra on January 11, 1925 with the New York Symphony Society under Walter Damrosch.
When was Aaron Copland published?
A well-received, lengthy biography on his life was published in 1999 — Aaron Copland: The Life & Work of an Uncommon Man, by Howard Pollack. And an extensive collection of Copland’s works, including his personal letters and photographs, are held by the Library of Congress.
What was the name of the music that Copland wrote for radio?
His film scores for Of Mice And Men (1939), Our Town (1940) and The North Star (1943) had received Academy Award nominations (he went on to win an Oscar in 1950 for The Heiress), and for the “entirely new public” of the radio, Copland had written three pieces: Music For Radio (1937), the railroad ballad John Henry (1940), and Letter From Home (1944).
When did Copland go to Paris?
Now there was simply no holding him back. Between 1921 and 1924 Copland bathed in the artistic hot-spring that was post-war Paris, under the intellectually bracing guidance of Nadia Boulanger. Having absorbed everything from Ravel and Satie to Proust and Picasso, Copland returned home determined to put the United States on the musical map once and for all.
What is the name of the ballet that Copland wrote for Billy the Kid?
From contemporary Latin America, Copland moved back in time to the Wild West for his ballet score Billy The Kid (1938). Incorporating cowboy songs, the result is like an American Peter And The Wolf (Prokofiev’s masterwork was then just two years old), but with choreography in place of narration.
What was the first major award for Copland's Appalachian Spring?
The original chamber version of the score won the New York Critics’ Circle Award in 1945, and his full symphony orchestra arrangement was rewarded with the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Music.
What was the purpose of the Lincoln Portrait?
That same year Copland produced two works designed specifically to raise the morale of America’s armed forces as they entered the Second World War: Lincoln Portrait for narrator and orchestra ; and Fanfare For The Common Man, modestly described by Copland as “a traditional fanfare, direct and powerful, yet with a contemporary sound”, which was destined to become his most popular work.
How many curtain calls did the movie "How to Get a Man" have?
Described by Copland as encapsulating “the problem that has confronted every American woman from earliest pioneer times, and which has never ceased to occupy them throughout the history of the building of our country: how to get a suitable man”, the premiere was greeted with a staggering 22 curtain calls.
Who succeeded in establishing American music as a force to be reckoned with?
At a time when Europeans dominated the classical scene, Aaron Copland succeeded in establishing American music as a force to be reckoned with.
Who was Aaron Copland?
American composer and conductor (1900–1990) Aaron Copland as subject of a Young People's Concert, 1970. Aaron Copland ( / ˈkoʊplənd /, KOHP-lənd; November 14, 1900 – December 2, 1990) 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 ...
What did Copland use to create his music?
During the late 1940s, Copland became aware that Stravinsky and other fellow composers had begun to study Arnold Schoenberg 's use of twelve-tone (serial) techniques. After he had been exposed to the works of French composer Pierre Boulez, he incorporated serial techniques into his Piano Quartet (1950), Piano Fantasy (1957), Connotations for orchestra (1961) and Inscape for orchestra (1967). Unlike Schoenberg, Copland used his tone rows in much the same fashion as his tonal material—as sources for melodies and harmonies, rather than as complete statements in their own right, except for crucial events from a structural point of view. From the 1960s onward, Copland's activities turned more from composing to conducting. He became a frequent guest conductor of orchestras in the U.S. and the UK and made a series of recordings of his music, primarily for Columbia Records .
What did Copland use his tone rows for?
Unlike Schoenberg, Copland used his tone rows in much the same fashion as his tonal material—as sources for melodies and harmonies , rather than as complete statements in their own right, except for crucial events from a structural point of view.
How did Copland start his career?
Copland began writing songs at the age of eight and a half. His earliest notated music, about seven bars he wrote when age 11, was for an opera scenario he created and called Zenatello. From 1913 to 1917 he took piano lessons with Leopold Wolfsohn, who taught him the standard classical fare. Copland's first public music performance was at a Wanamaker's recital. By the age of 15, after attending a concert by Polish composer-pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Copland decided to become a composer. At age 16, Copland heard his first symphony at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. After attempts to further his music study from a correspondence course, Copland took formal lessons in harmony, theory, and composition from Rubin Goldmark, a noted teacher and composer of American music (who had given George Gershwin three lessons). Goldmark, with whom Copland studied between 1917 and 1921, gave the young Copland a solid foundation, especially in the Germanic tradition. As Copland stated later: "This was a stroke of luck for me. I was spared the floundering that so many musicians have suffered through incompetent teaching." But Copland also commented that the maestro had "little sympathy for the advanced musical idioms of the day" and his "approved" composers ended with Richard Strauss.
Why was Copland investigated?
Wallace during the 1948 presidential election, Copland was investigated by the FBI during the Red scare of the 1950s. He was included on an FBI list of 151 artists thought to have Communist associations and found himself blacklisted, with A Lincoln Portrait withdrawn from the 1953 inaugural concert for President Eisenhower. Called later that year to a private hearing at the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., Copland was questioned by Joseph McCarthy and Roy Cohn about his lecturing abroad and his affiliations with various organizations and events. In the process, McCarthy and Cohn neglected completely Copland's works, which made a virtue of American values. Outraged by the accusations, many members of the musical community held up Copland's music as a banner of his patriotism. The investigations ceased in 1955 and were closed in 1975.
Where did Copland go to study music?
Travels to Italy, Austria, and Germany rounded out Copland's musical education. During his stay in Paris, Copland began writing musical critiques, the first on Gabriel Fauré, which helped spread his fame and stature in the music community.
What is the sound of Copland's music?
Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as "the Dean of American Composers". The open, slowly changing harmonies in much of his music are typical of what many people consider to be the sound of American music, evoking the vast American landscape and pioneer spirit.
What is Aaron Copland known for?
Aaron Copland composed music known for its “American” sound during a time when music in the United States was still heavily influenced by the European composers. With works like Fanfare for the Common Man, Appalachian Spring, and Rodeo, he incorporated folk music, Shaker hymn tunes, and harmonies that resembled the immense and varied landscape, as well as the patriotic and pioneer spirit.
What type of music did Copland create?
He wanted to create a distinctly American type of classical music, one that would be as easily recognized as jazz in the U.S., folk music of Mexico, or the nationalistic music of various European countries. During the Great Depression, Copland visited Mexico several times and became friends with the composer, Carlos Chávez, ...
How old was Copland when he started piano lessons?
Copland and his four older siblings developed their interest in music from their mother who played the piano and sang. He started formal piano lessons when he was 13 and had already written some small pieces.
Who did Copland study with?
While there, he spent three years studying with Nadia Boulanger, the internationally known composer, conductor, teacher, and pianist. Under her guidance, he had a thorough music education that ranged from Bach to the contemporary composers of the early 20th century. Copland and Boulanger enjoying dinner together.
Who composed the fanfares for the common man?
His work, Fanfare for the Common Man, was composed at the request of Eugene Goossens, the conductor for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. In 1942, Goossens commissioned a total of 18 fanfares from various American composers in response to the U.S. officially entering World War II, but Copland’s is the only one that has remained in orchestral ...
Overview
1920–1929
• Old Poem for voice (1920)
• The Cat and the Mouse for piano (1920)
• Pastorale for voice (1921)
• Honkytonk Blues (1921)
Before 1920
• Night for voice (1918), text by Aaron Schaffer
• A Summer Vacation for voice (1918), text by Aaron Schaffer
• My Heart is in the East for voice (1918), text by Aaron Schaffer
• Three Sonnets for piano (1919)
1930–1939
• Piano Variations (1930)
• Miracle at Verdun (1931)
• Elegies for violin and viola (1932), later partially used as "Subjective" for Statements
• Short Symphony for orchestra (1933)
1940–1949
• Quiet City for trumpet, cor anglais, and string orchestra (1940)
• Our Town; film score (1940)
• John Henry for orchestra (1940, revised in 1952)
• Piano Sonata (No. 2, 1941)
1950–1959
• Quartet for violin, viola, violoncello, and piano (1950)
• Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson for medium voice and piano (1950)
• Old American Songs First set for voice and piano (also adapted for voice and orchestra) (1950)
1960–1969
• Nonet for 3 violins, 3 violas, and 3 cellos (1960)
• Something Wild; soundtrack (1960)
• Connotations for orchestra (1961–62)
• Down a Country Lane for piano (1962)
1970–1990
• Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson (1958-70) (orchestral arrangement of part of Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson)
• Duo for flute and piano (1970–71)
• Threnody No.1: In Memoriam Igor Stravinsky for flute, violin, viola, and cello (1971)
Who Was Aaron Copland?
Early Years and Travels
- Composer Aaron Copland was born on November 14, 1900, in Brooklyn, New York to parents of Jewish and Eastern European descent. The youngest of five children, Copland went on to develop an interest in the piano, receiving guidance from his older sister. He later studied under Rubin Goldmark in Manhattan and regularly attended classical music performances. At 20 years old C…
A Visionary Composer
- Studying a variety of European composers while abroad, Copland made his way back to the U.S. by the mid-1920s. Having been asked by Boulanger to write an organ concerto, Copland eventually debuted Symphony for Organ and Orchestra on January 11, 1925 with the New York Symphony Society under Walter Damrosch. The decade that followed saw the production of the scores tha…
Oscar For 'Heiress'
- Copland was a renowned composer of film scores as well, working on Of Mice and Men (1939), Our Town (1940) and The North Star (1943)—receiving Academy Award nominations for all three projects. He eventually won an Oscar for The Heiress (1949). And more than a decade later, Copland composed a stark, unsettling score for the controversial Something Wild (1961). Selecti…
Death
- Copland died on December 2, 1990 in North Tarrytown, New York at 90 years old. Having received an array of accolades in his later years, the iconic composer had also worked with Vivian Perlis on a two-volume autobiography, Copland: 1900 Through 1942 (1984) and Copland Since 1943 (1989). A well-received, lengthy biography on his life was published in 1999—Aaron Copland: Th…