Aaron Copland (November 14, 1900 – December 2, 1990) was an American composer of concert and film music, as well as an accomplished pianist. Events 1533 - Conquistadors from Spain under the leadership of Francisco Pizarro arrive in Cajamarca, Inca Year 1900 ( MCM) was an exceptional Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar Events 1409 - The University of Leipzig opens 1755 - The second Eddystone Lighthouse is destroyed by fire Year 1990 ( MCMXC) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar) A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other Classical music is a broad term that usually refers to mainstream music produced in or rooted in the traditions of Western liturgical and Secular music Events 1533 - Conquistadors from Spain under the leadership of Francisco Pizarro arrive in Cajamarca, Inca Year 1900 ( MCM) was an exceptional Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar Events 1409 - The University of Leipzig opens 1755 - The second Eddystone Lighthouse is destroyed by fire Year 1990 ( MCMXC) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar) American classical music is music written in the United States but in the European classical music tradition A composer (literally meaning 'one who puts together' is a person who creates Music, usually in the medium of notation, for Interpretation and Performance A pianist (/'piənɪst/ is a Musician who plays the Piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces play with an ensemble or Orchestra Instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, he was widely known as “the dean of American composers. ” Copland's music achieved a difficult balance between modern music and American folk styles, and the open, slowly changing harmonies of many of his works are said to evoke the vast American landscape. Modernism in music is characterized by a desire for or belief in progress and Science, Surrealism, anti-romanticism Political Advocacy, general He incorporated percussive orchestration, changing meter, polyrhythms, polychords and tone rows. Orchestration is the study or practice of writing Music for Orchestra (or more loosely for any Musical ensemble) or of adapting for orchestra music composed Meter or metre is a concept related to an underlying division of time characteristic of western music In Music and Music theory, a bichord or polychord consists of two or more chords one on top of the other In Music, a tone row or note row ( German: Reihe or Tonreihe) also series and set, refers to a non-repetitive Aside from composing, Copland taught, presented music-related lectures, wrote books and articles, and served as a conductor (generally, but not always) of his own works. Conducting is the act of directing a Musical performance by way of visible gestures

Biography

Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College (part of the City University of New York)

Aaron Copland was born in Brooklyn, New York, of Lithuanian Jewish descent. Brooklyn (named after the Dutch town Breukelen) is one of the five boroughs of New York City. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous Lithuanian Jews (known in Yiddish and Yeshivish as Litvish (adjective or Litvaks (noun are Ashkenazi Jews with roots in the Before immigrating to the United States from Scotland, Copland's father Anglicized his surname “Kaplan” to “Copland”. Anglicisation or anglicization (see -ise vs -ize) is a process of conversion of verbal or written elements of any other language into a more comprehensible English Throughout his childhood, Copland and his family lived above his parents' Brooklyn shop and were active members of Congregation Baith Israel Anshei Emes, where Aaron celebrated his Bar Mitzvah. Congregation Baith Israel Anshei Emes, or Baith Israel-Anshei Emeth ("House of Israel – People of Truth" more commonly known as the Kane Street Synagogue In Judaism, Bar Mitzvah ( Hebrew: בר מצוה "one (m to whom the commandments apply" Bat Mitzvah (בת מצוה "one (f At the age of fifteen he took an interest in music and aspired to be a composer, even though his parents had never encouraged him or directly exposed him to it. His musical education included time with Leopold Wolfsohn, Rubin Goldmark (who also taught George Gershwin), and Nadia Boulanger at the Fontainebleau School of Music in Paris from 1921 to 1924. Rubin Goldmark ( August 15, 1872, New York City - March 6, 1936, New York City) was an American Composer George Gershwin (September 26 1898 &ndash July 11 1937 was an American Composer. Nadia Boulanger (September 16 1887 &ndash October 22 1979 was an influential French Composer, conductor, and Music professor The Fontainebleau Schools started in 1921 with the involvement of the United States in the First World War He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1925 and again in 1926. Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who 1925 US and Canadian Fellows Percival Bailey, Deceased Neuroscience 1925 1926 US and Canadian Fellows Warren Ortman Ault Deceased Medieval History 1926

Copland defended the Communist Party USA during the 1936 presidential election. The Communist Party of the United States of America ( CPUSA) is a Marxist-Leninist Political party in the United States. The United States presidential election of 1936 took place as the Great Depression entered its eighth year As a result, he was later investigated by the FBI during the Red scare of the 1950s and found himself blacklisted. McCarthyism is a term describing the intense anti-communist suspicion in the United States in a period that lasted roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s "Hollywood Ten" redirects here For the 1950 short documentary film see The Hollywood Ten. Because of the political climate of that era, A Lincoln Portrait was withdrawn from the 1953 inaugural concert for President Eisenhower. Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (October 14 1890 – March 28 1969 was President of the United States from 1953 until 1961 and a five-star general That same year, Copland was called before Congress where he testified that he was never a communist. The United States Congress is the bicameral Legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses 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. Copland was never shown to have been a member of the Communist Party.

Copland exerted a major influence on the compositional style of his friend and protegé Leonard Bernstein. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes Bernstein was considered the finest conductor of Copland's works.

Copland was a frequent guest conductor of orchestras in the U. S. and the UK. He made a series of recordings of his music, especially during the 1970s, primarily for Columbia Records. Columbia Records is an American Record label founded in 1888 Columbia is the oldest surviving Brand name in pre-recorded sound being the first record company In 1960, RCA Victor released Copland's recordings with the Boston Symphony Orchestra of the orchestral suites from Appalachian Spring and The Tender Land; these recordings were later reissued on CD, as were most of Copland's Columbia recordings (by Sony). RCA Records (originally The Victor Talking Machine Company, then RCA Victor is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The Boston Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based at Symphony Hall in Boston Massachusetts, USA

Copland is documented as a gay man in Howard Pollack's biography, Aaron Copland: The Life and Work of an Uncommon Man^[1]

Copland died of Alzheimer's disease and respiratory failure in North Tarrytown, New York (now Sleepy Hollow), on December 2, 1990. Howard Pollack is John and Rebecca Moores Professor of Music and Chair of Music History and Literature at the University of Houston. Alzheimer's disease ( AD) also called Alzheimer disease or simply Alzheimer's, is the most common form of Dementia. Respiratory failure is a medical term for inadequate Gas exchange by the Respiratory system. For other uses see Sleepy Hollow. Sleepy Hollow, is a village in the Town of Mount Pleasant in Westchester Events 1409 - The University of Leipzig opens 1755 - The second Eddystone Lighthouse is destroyed by fire Year 1990 ( MCMXC) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar)

Career

Influences

Aaron Copland greatly admired Igor Stravinsky, who was in many ways his model. Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (Игорь Фёдорович Стравинский) ( &ndash 6 April 1971 was a Russian born Composer, considered by many to ^[2] Stravinsky's rhythm and vitality is apparent in many of his works. ^[3] As a result of his training by Nadia Boulanger, he had a special affection for French composers, including Debussy, Ravel, and the members of Les Six. Nadia Boulanger (September 16 1887 &ndash October 22 1979 was an influential French Composer, conductor, and Music professor Les Six is a name inspired by The Five, given in 1923 by critic Henri Collet in an article titled ‘Les cinq Russes les He claimed Gabriel Fauré to be his favorite composer. Gabriel Urbain Fauré ( 12 May 1845 &ndash 4 November 1924) was a French Composer, Organist, Pianist

Another inspiration for much of Copland's music was jazz. Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States His earlier works especially demonstrate the influence of jazz rhythmic, timbral, and harmonic practices, and that influence is again apparent in later works such as the Clarinet Concerto commissioned by Benny Goodman. Certainly this aspect of his work as much as any other contributed to the common identification of his music as representative of a burgeoning school of uniquely American art music in the twentieth century.

Early work

One of Copland's first significant works upon returning from his studies in Paris was the necromantic ballet Grohg. Necromancy ( Greek νεκρομαντία nekromantía) is a form of Divination in which the practitioner seeks to summon "operative spirits" Ballet is a formalized form of Dance with its origins in the French court further developed in France and Russia as a Concert dance This ballet, suggested to Copland by the film Nosferatu, provided the source material for his later Dance Symphony. Nosferatu A Symphony of Horror is a German Expressionist film by F

Copland composed the Symphony for Organ and Orchestra in 1924, whose Boston premiere brought him into contact with Serge Koussevitzky, another figure who would prove to be influential in Copland’s life. WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes -->Dr A composer with a penchant for promoting the promising work of others, Koussevitzky performed twelve Copland works during his tenure as conductor of the Boston Symphony. Copland’s relationship with Koussevitzky was apparently unique, as his interpretations of Copland’s works reflected the particular admiration that the latter had for the young composer.

During this period in Copland’s life, he sought to support himself through teaching and lecturing, before attaining financial security through a grant from the Guggenheim Foundation. Copland’s compositions in the early 1920s reflected a prevailing attitude among intellectuals that they were “chosen” in a way, and that music, like other art, need not be accessible to anyone but a select cadre of individuals who could appreciate it. Toward this end, Copland formed the Young Composer’s Group, modeled after France's “Six”, gathering together promising young composers and acting as a sort of benevolent dictator for their interests^[4]. Les Six is a name inspired by The Five, given in 1923 by critic Henri Collet in an article titled ‘Les cinq Russes les Other major works of his first period include the Music for Theater in 1925, the Piano Variations in 1930, and in 1933 the Short Symphony. The Piano Variations of American Composer Aaron Copland were written for piano solo from January to October of 1930 However, this jazz-inspired period was brief, as his style evolved toward the goal of writing more accessible works.

Music for the Common Man (vernacular)

Mounting troubles with the Symphonic Ode (1929) and Short Symphony (1933) caused him to rethink this paradigm, as the idea of orchestral music for a select group was financially contradictory. In many ways, this shift mirrored the German idea of Gebrauchsmusik, as composers sought to create music that could serve a utilitarian as well as artistic purpose. Gebrauchsmusik is a German term essentially meaning “utility Music,” for music that exists not only for its own sake but which was composed for some Impressed with the success of Virgil Thomson’s Three Saints in Four Acts, Copland wrote El Salón México in 1934, which was met with popular acclaim, in contrast to the relative obscurity of many of his previous works. El Salón México is a symphonic composition in one movement by Aaron Copland, which uses Mexican Folk music extensively This work also marked the return of jazz patterns to Copland’s compositional style, though they appeared in a more subdued form than before, as part of a whole rather than as a centerpiece. At a time when conservatories were teaching more astringent methods of composition, Copland held onto the respect of academics by reasoning that he wanted to see if he couldn't say what he had to say in the simplest possible terms.

Fanfare for the Common Man, scored for brass and percussion, was written in 1942 at the request of the conductor Eugene Goossens, conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Fanfare for the Common Man is a work by American composer Aaron Copland, and one of the most recognizable pieces of 20th century American classical A brass instrument is a Musical instrument whose tone is produced by vibration of the lips as the player blows into a tubular Resonator. As the fifth-oldest orchestra in the United States, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra ( CSO) has a legacy of fine music making as reflected in its performances It would later be used to open many Democratic National Conventions. The fanfare was also used as the main theme of the fourth movement of Copland's Third Symphony, where it first appears in a quiet, pastoral manner, then in the brassier form of the original. A fanfare is a short piece of Music played by Trumpets and other Brass instruments frequently accompanied by percussion, usually for Symphony No 3 was Aaron Copland 's third and final symphony It was written at the end of World War II. The same year Copland wrote A Lincoln Portrait which became popular with a wider audience, leading to a strengthening in his association with American music. Lincoln Portrait is an Orchestral work written by the American composer Aaron Copland. He was commissioned to write a ballet, Appalachian Spring, originally written using thirteen instruments, which he ultimately arranged as a popular orchestral suite. Appalachian Spring is a Ballet score by Aaron Copland that premiered on 1944 and achieved widespread popularity as an Orchestral Suite An orchestral suite is a Suite of stylized dances for orchestra either originally composed (like the four Orchestral Suites by Bach) or as a series ^[5] The commission for Appalachian Spring came from Martha Graham, who had requested of Copland merely "music for an American ballet". See also Martha Graham ( May 11, 1894 &ndash April 1, 1991) was an American Dancer and Choreographer Copland titled the piece "Ballet for Martha", having no idea of how she would use it on stage. Graham created a ballet she called Appalachian Spring (from a poem by Hart Crane), which was an instant success, and the music acquired the same name. Harold Hart Crane ( July 21, 1899 – April 27, 1932) was an American Poet. Copland was amused and delighted later in life when people would come up to him and say: "You were so right - it sounds exactly like spring in the Appalachians", as he had no particular program in mind while writing the music.

The ballet Rodeo, a tale of a ranch wedding, written around the same time as Lincoln Portrait in 1942 is another enduring composition for Copland, and the "Hoe-Down" from the ballet is one of the most well-known compositions by any American composer, having been used numerous times in movies and on television. Rodeo ('rodiːˌo is a Ballet score written by American Composer Aaron Copland in 1942. Lincoln Portrait is an Orchestral work written by the American composer Aaron Copland.

Symphonic Works

Copland composed three numbered symphonies, but applied the word “symphony” to more than just symphonies. His early three-movement Organ Symphony was rewritten omitting the organ, calling the result his First Symphony. His fifteen-minute Short Symphony was the Second Symphony, though it also exists as the Sextet. The Third Symphony in the more traditional format (four movements; second movement, scherzo; third movement, adagio) with a forty-five minute approximate run-time. His Dance Symphony was hurriedly extracted from the earlier unproduced ballet Grohg to meet an RCA Records commission deadline. RCA Records (originally The Victor Talking Machine Company, then RCA Victor is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment.

Later Work

Copland’s work in the late 1940s included experimentation with Schönberg’s twelve-tone system, a development that he recognized the importance of without fully embracing it. Twelve-tone technique (also dodecaphony, especially in British usage twelve-note composition) is a method of musical composition devised by Arnold However, in contrast to the Second Viennese School, Copland’s use of the system emphasized the importance of the “classicalizing principles” in order to prevent the material from falling into “near-chaos”. ^[1] Also, he found the atonality of serialized music to run counter to his desire to reach a wide audience. He would later adapt the twelve-tone system into a ten- or eleven-tone system, reserving one or two notes as tonal anchors.

Despite the difficulties that his suspected Communist sympathies posed, Copland nonetheless traveled extensively during the 1950s and early 1960s, observing the avant-garde stylings of Europe while experiencing the new school of Soviet music. Avant-garde (avɑ̃gaʁd in French) means "advance guard" or "vanguard A soviet (сове́т, "council" originally was a workers' local council in late Imperial Russia. Additionally, he was rather taken with the work of Toru Takemitsu while in Japan, and began a correspondence that would last over the next decade. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> was a Japanese Composer and writer on Aesthetics and Music theory In observing these new musical forms, Copland revised his text The New Music with comments on the styles that he encountered. In particular, while Copland appreciated the importance of the work of John Cage and others, he found these trends in music to render it impersonal and inaccessible to a wider audience. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> John Milton Cage Jr

Later in life, Copland found himself composing less as his career as a conductor expanded. Conducting is the act of directing a Musical performance by way of visible gestures Though not enamored with the prospect, Copland found himself without new ideas for composition, saying “It was exactly as if someone had simply turned off a faucet. ”^[1] In 1976 Copland toured US universities conducting their orchestras in concerts comprising his own works. ^[6]

Copland and Hollywood

While his ballets found success on the stages of America, Copland sought to enter another arena, the emerging industry of motion pictures. He saw this as both a challenge for his abilities as a composer and an opportunity to expand his reputation and audience. However, the tendency of studios to edit and cut movie scores went against Copland’s desire for creative control over his work. Copland found a kindred spirit in director Lewis Milestone, who recognized the benefits of allowing Copland to supervise his own orchestration and refrained from interfering with his work. This collaboration resulted in the notable film Of Mice and Men (1939) that earned Copland his first nomination for an Academy Award. Of Mice and Men is a 1939 film based on the novel of the same title by American author John Steinbeck. In a departure from other film scores of the time, Copland’s work largely reflected his own style, instead of borrowing from the late Romantic period. Additionally, he rejected the common practice of using leitmotiv to identify characters with their own personal themes. A leitmotif (ˌlaɪtmoʊˈtiːf (also leitmotiv; lit "leading motif" is a recurring Musical theme, associated with a particular person place

His score for William Wyler's 1949 film, The Heiress won an Academy Award. The year 1949 in film involved some significant events Events Top grossing films (U The Heiress is a 1949 American Drama film directed by William Wyler. "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film. Several themes he created are encapsulated in the suite Music for Movies, and his score for the film adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel The Red Pony was given a suite of its own. John Steinbeck III (February 27 1902—December 20 1968 was one of the best-known and most widely read American writers of the 20th century "The Red Pony" is a film score after Steinbeck 's short story of the same name The Red Pony. This suite was one of Copland's personal favourites. His score for the 1961 independent film Something Wild was released in 1964 as Music For a Great City. An independent film, or indie film, is a film that is produced outside of the Hollywood Studio system, a series of oligopolistic practices by several Something Wild was a 1961 independent film starring Carroll Baker and Ralph Meeker and directed by Jack Garfein, who was Baker's It is difficult to overestimate the influence Copland has had on film music. Virtually every composer who scored for western movies, particularly between 1940 and 1960, was shaped by the style Copland developed.

Awards

In honor of Copland's vast influence on American music, on December 15, 1970 he was awarded the prestigious University of Pennsylvania Glee Club Award of Merit^[7]. Year 1970 ( MCMLXX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Founded in 1862 the University of Pennsylvania Glee Club is one of the oldest continually running Glee Clubs in the United States. Beginning in 1964, this award "established to bring a declaration of appreciation to an individual each year that has made a significant contribution to the world of music and helped to create a climate in which our talents may find valid expression. Year 1964 ( MCMLXIV) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the 1964 Gregorian calendar. "

Copland was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in composition for Appalachian Spring. His scores for Of Mice and Men (1939), Our Town (1940), and The North Star (1943) all received Academy Award nominations, while The Heiress won Best Music in 1949. The Heiress is a 1949 American Drama film directed by William Wyler.

Notable students

Selected works

Film

• Aaron Copland: A Self-Portrait (1985). El Salón México is a symphonic composition in one movement by Aaron Copland, which uses Mexican Folk music extensively Billy the Kid is a 1938 Ballet written by the American composer Aaron Copland and commissioned by Lincoln Kirstein. This article is about the Irwin Shaw play For the 2007 independent film see Quiet City (film. Our Town is a 1940 film adaptation of a play of the same name by Thornton Wilder starring William Holden, Martha Fanfare for the Common Man is a work by American composer Aaron Copland, and one of the most recognizable pieces of 20th century American classical Lincoln Portrait is an Orchestral work written by the American composer Aaron Copland. Rodeo ('rodiːˌo is a Ballet score written by American Composer Aaron Copland in 1942. Appalachian Spring is a Ballet score by Aaron Copland that premiered on 1944 and achieved widespread popularity as an Orchestral Suite Symphony No 3 was Aaron Copland 's third and final symphony It was written at the end of World War II. "The Red Pony" is a film score after Steinbeck 's short story of the same name The Red Pony. Aaron Copland 's Clarinet Concerto was written between 1947 and 1949 although a first version was already available in 1948 Old American Songs is a set of songs by Aaron Copland, originally scored for voice and piano and reworked for Baritone with orchestral accompaniment The Tender Land is an Opera with music by Aaron Copland and libretto by Horace Everett a pseudonym for Erik Johns. Opera is an art form in which Singers and Musicians perform a Dramatic work (called an opera which combines a text (called a Libretto Connotations For Orchestra or sometimes simply Connotations is a piece for orchestra by Aaron Copland. Something Wild was a 1961 independent film starring Carroll Baker and Ralph Meeker and directed by Jack Garfein, who was Baker's Directed by Allan Miller. Biographies in Music series. Princeton, New Jersey: The Humanities.
• Appalachian Spring (1996). Directed by Graham Strong, Scottish Television Enterprises. Princeton, New Jersey: Films for the Humanities.

• Copland Portrait (1975). Directed by Terry Sanders, United States Information Agency. Santa Monica, California: American Film Foundation.
• Fanfare for America: The Composer Aaron Copland (2001). Directed by Andreas Skipis. Produced by Hessischer Rundfunk in association with Reiner Moritz Associates. Princeton, New Jersey: Films for the Humanities & Sciences.

Bibliography

• Copland, Aaron (2002). What to Listen For in Music, Revised, New York: Signet Classics. ISBN 978-0451528674.  

• Copland, Aaron (2006). Music and Imagination], Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Harvard University Press ( HUP) is a Publishing house, a division of Harvard University, that is highly respected in Academic publishing. ISBN 978-0-674-58915-5

References

External links

• Copland House
• American Masters "Aaron Copland" at www.pbs.org
• The Aaron Copland Collection, 1900-1990, Music Division, Library of Congress
• American Composers - Aaron Copland Centennial
• Review of "Howard Pollack, Aaron Copland: The Life and Work of an Uncommon Man" by R. James Tobin
• Who Was That Masked Composer? by David Schiff
• How a composer cowed McCarthy
• Aaron Copland and His World
• Aaron Copland discography at MusicBrainz
• Brief Copland Bio
• 1990 audio interview with Vivian Perlis, author of Copland by Don Swaim at Wired for Books. MusicBrainz is a project that aims to create an Open content Music database Don Swaim (born 1936 is an American journalist and broadcaster. Wired for Books is an online educational project of the WOUB Center for Public Media at Ohio University in Athens Ohio.
• Keeping Score: Copland and the American Sound - Multimedia website produced by the San Francisco Symphony

Listening

• Art of the States: Aaron Copland
• Audio (.ram files) of a 1961 interview for the BBC
• Audio (.smil files) of a 1980 interview for NPR
• [1]