Aaron Copland (November 14, 1900 in Brooklyn, New York, United States β Dec… Read Full Bio ↴Aaron Copland (November 14, 1900 in Brooklyn, New York, United States β December 2,1990) was an American composer who achieved a distinctive musical characterization of American themes in an expressive modern style.
Copland, the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, was born in New York City and attended public schools there. An older sister taught him to play the piano, and by the time he was 15 he had decided to become a composer. As a first step Copland tried to learn harmony through a correspondence course. Haltingly and in an environment not particularly conducive to art, he struggled toward his goal.
In the summer of 1921 Copland attended the newly founded school for Americans at Fontainebleau, where he came under the influence of Nadia Boulanger, a brilliant teacher who shaped the outlook of an entire generation of American musicians. He decided to stay on in Paris, where he became Boulangerβs first American student in composition. After three years in Paris, Copland returned to New York City with an important commission: Nadia Boulanger had asked him to write an organ concerto for her American appearances. Copland composed the piece while working as the pianist of a hotel trio at a summer resort in Pennsylvania. That season the Symphony for Organ and Orchestra had its premiere in Carnegie Hall with the New York Symphony under the direction of the composer and conductor Walter Damrosch.
In his growth as a composer Copland mirrored the important trends of his time. After his return from Paris, he worked with jazz rhythms in Music for the Theater (1925) and the Piano Concerto (1926). There followed a period during which he was strongly influenced by Igor Stravinskyβs Neoclassicism, turning toward an abstract style he described as βmore spare in sonority, more lean in texture.β This outlook prevailed in the Piano Variations (1930), Short Symphony (1933), and Statements for Orchestra (1933β35). After this last work, there occurred a change of direction that was to usher in the most productive phase of Coplandβs career. He well summed up the new orientation: βDuring these years I began to feel an increasing dissatisfaction with the relations of the music-loving public and the living composer. It seemed to me that we composers were in danger of working in a vacuum.β Furthermore, he realized that a new public for modern music was being created by the new media of radio, phonograph, and film scores: βIt made no sense to ignore them and to continue writing as if they did not exist. I felt that it was worth the effort to see if I couldnβt say what I had to say in the simplest possible terms.β Copland therefore was led to what became a most significant development after the 1930s: the attempt to simplify the new music in order that it would have meaning for a large public.
The decade that followed saw the production of the scores that spread Coplandβs fame throughout the world. Most important of these were the three ballets based on American folk material: Billy the Kid (1938), Rodeo (1942), and Appalachian Spring (1944; commissioned by dancer Martha Graham). To this group belong also El salΓ³n MΓ©xico (1936), an orchestral piece based on Mexican melodies and rhythms; two works for high-school studentsβthe βplay operaβ The Second Hurricane (1937) and An Outdoor Overture (1938); and a series of film scores, of which the best known are Of Mice and Men (1939), Our Town (1940), The Red Pony (1948), and The Heiress (1948). Typical too of the Copland style are two major works that were written in time of warβLincoln Portrait (1942), for speaker and chorus, on a text drawn from Lincolnβs speeches, and Letter from Home (1944), as well as the melodious Third Symphony (1946).
In his later years Copland refined his treatment of Americana: βI no longer feel the need of seeking out conscious Americanism. Because we live here and work here, we can be certain that when our music is mature it will also be American in quality.β His later works include an opera, The Tender Land (1954); Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson (1950), for voice and piano; and the delightful Nonet (1960). During these years Copland also produced a number of works in which he showed himself increasingly receptive to the serial techniques of the so-called 12-tone school of composer Arnold Schoenberg. Notable among such works are the stark and dissonant Piano Fantasy (1957); Connotations (1962), which was commissioned for the opening of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City; and Inscape (1967). The 12-tone works were not generally well-received; after 1970 Copland virtually stopped composing, though he continued to lecture and to conduct through the mid-1980s.
For the better part of four decades, as composer (of operas, ballets, orchestral music, band music, chamber music, choral music, and film scores), teacher, writer of books and articles on music, organizer of musical events, and a much sought after conductor, Copland expressed βthe deepest reactions of the American consciousness to the American scene.β He received more than 30 honorary degrees and many additional awards. His books include What to Listen for in Music (1939), Music and Imagination (1952), Copland on Music (1960), and The New Music, 1900β60 (1968). With the aid of Vivian Perlis, he wrote a two-volume autobiography (Copland: 1900 Through 1942 [1984] and Copland: Since 1943 [1989]).
Copland, the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, was born in New York City and attended public schools there. An older sister taught him to play the piano, and by the time he was 15 he had decided to become a composer. As a first step Copland tried to learn harmony through a correspondence course. Haltingly and in an environment not particularly conducive to art, he struggled toward his goal.
In the summer of 1921 Copland attended the newly founded school for Americans at Fontainebleau, where he came under the influence of Nadia Boulanger, a brilliant teacher who shaped the outlook of an entire generation of American musicians. He decided to stay on in Paris, where he became Boulangerβs first American student in composition. After three years in Paris, Copland returned to New York City with an important commission: Nadia Boulanger had asked him to write an organ concerto for her American appearances. Copland composed the piece while working as the pianist of a hotel trio at a summer resort in Pennsylvania. That season the Symphony for Organ and Orchestra had its premiere in Carnegie Hall with the New York Symphony under the direction of the composer and conductor Walter Damrosch.
In his growth as a composer Copland mirrored the important trends of his time. After his return from Paris, he worked with jazz rhythms in Music for the Theater (1925) and the Piano Concerto (1926). There followed a period during which he was strongly influenced by Igor Stravinskyβs Neoclassicism, turning toward an abstract style he described as βmore spare in sonority, more lean in texture.β This outlook prevailed in the Piano Variations (1930), Short Symphony (1933), and Statements for Orchestra (1933β35). After this last work, there occurred a change of direction that was to usher in the most productive phase of Coplandβs career. He well summed up the new orientation: βDuring these years I began to feel an increasing dissatisfaction with the relations of the music-loving public and the living composer. It seemed to me that we composers were in danger of working in a vacuum.β Furthermore, he realized that a new public for modern music was being created by the new media of radio, phonograph, and film scores: βIt made no sense to ignore them and to continue writing as if they did not exist. I felt that it was worth the effort to see if I couldnβt say what I had to say in the simplest possible terms.β Copland therefore was led to what became a most significant development after the 1930s: the attempt to simplify the new music in order that it would have meaning for a large public.
The decade that followed saw the production of the scores that spread Coplandβs fame throughout the world. Most important of these were the three ballets based on American folk material: Billy the Kid (1938), Rodeo (1942), and Appalachian Spring (1944; commissioned by dancer Martha Graham). To this group belong also El salΓ³n MΓ©xico (1936), an orchestral piece based on Mexican melodies and rhythms; two works for high-school studentsβthe βplay operaβ The Second Hurricane (1937) and An Outdoor Overture (1938); and a series of film scores, of which the best known are Of Mice and Men (1939), Our Town (1940), The Red Pony (1948), and The Heiress (1948). Typical too of the Copland style are two major works that were written in time of warβLincoln Portrait (1942), for speaker and chorus, on a text drawn from Lincolnβs speeches, and Letter from Home (1944), as well as the melodious Third Symphony (1946).
In his later years Copland refined his treatment of Americana: βI no longer feel the need of seeking out conscious Americanism. Because we live here and work here, we can be certain that when our music is mature it will also be American in quality.β His later works include an opera, The Tender Land (1954); Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson (1950), for voice and piano; and the delightful Nonet (1960). During these years Copland also produced a number of works in which he showed himself increasingly receptive to the serial techniques of the so-called 12-tone school of composer Arnold Schoenberg. Notable among such works are the stark and dissonant Piano Fantasy (1957); Connotations (1962), which was commissioned for the opening of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City; and Inscape (1967). The 12-tone works were not generally well-received; after 1970 Copland virtually stopped composing, though he continued to lecture and to conduct through the mid-1980s.
For the better part of four decades, as composer (of operas, ballets, orchestral music, band music, chamber music, choral music, and film scores), teacher, writer of books and articles on music, organizer of musical events, and a much sought after conductor, Copland expressed βthe deepest reactions of the American consciousness to the American scene.β He received more than 30 honorary degrees and many additional awards. His books include What to Listen for in Music (1939), Music and Imagination (1952), Copland on Music (1960), and The New Music, 1900β60 (1968). With the aid of Vivian Perlis, he wrote a two-volume autobiography (Copland: 1900 Through 1942 [1984] and Copland: Since 1943 [1989]).
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Appalachian Spring
Aaron Copland Lyrics
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The Magician
As an American I may be biased. I love my country. and perhaps that is why I consider this the most beautiful symphony ever written. It fully captures the most beautiful aspects of my homeland.
Charles Fleming
Iβm English and I agree.
MEV
This is without a doubt not the most beautiful symphony ever written but it is a great work of art from a jewish american composer
Charles West
Copland was a genius.
Sky Notaname
You are biased, no maybe about it, but it is a beautiful symphony and it's absolutely iconic though it reflects an era of usa that I think is decaying.
Dean Moore
Aaron Copeland captured in music all of the hope and promise of what our country could be. Perhaps someday we can actually live up to the vision he captured in "Simple Gifts."
S Salerno
Yes!
Matthew Brazille
Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring Suite is beautiful beyond words. It always gives me visions of our country's beautiful Landscapes from the Atlantic to the Pacific. May God continue to bless our great and beautiful country.
Sophie Robbins
Amen to that. America matters. xx
Zuzanna Wisniewska
My favorite piece from Aaron Copeland.So soothing and beautiful to me.