Aaron Copland

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Aaron Copland

• An American Original

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• Perhaps more than any other composer, Aaron
  Copland established American concert music
  through his compositions, promotions, and just
  plain hard work.

• To many, his name is synonymous with American
  Music. It was his pioneering achievement to break
  free of Europe and create a style that is
  characteristically American.

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I was born on November 14, 1900, on a street in
Brooklyn, New York City that could only be
described as drab. - Copland autobiography
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• By the time he was 15, he had decided to become
  a composer.

Little Aaron
At a young age, Aaron learned to play piano from
an older sister.
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Continuing Study
At the age of 21, Copland traveled to Paris to
study with the brilliant teacher Nadia Boulanger,
and was her first American student.
Aaron riding through the French countryside
She encouraged Aaron to explore a serious style
that sounded American, often pointing out the odd
rhythms he would use - the rhythms of Jazz and
American popular music.
Nadia Boulanger
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A New Popular Style
Copland said he thought many composers were
endangered of working in a vacuum - that no one
would be able to understand their works.
An entirely new generation had grown up around
the radio and the phonograph, and it didnt make
sense to ignore them and continue writing as if
they didnt exist.
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He embraced a populist idea, and strove for a
greater simplicity without sacrificing artistic
values and falling into purely commercial
music. Whats this all mean? Basically, Copland
tried to keep the music as simple as possible,
but still creative and new.
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Reaching the People
While his early work was influenced greatly by
Stravinsky, Aaron began to think about getting
serious music to be more appealing to the
general public. He began to write for Theatre,
Ballet, and Films.
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Reaching the People
His new simplified style often used American and
Mexican folk melodies. Here is Copland listening
to a Mexican mariachi band. Copland visited
Mexico many times throughout the 30s and 40s.
He also loved cowboy songs.
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Aarons new style was very popular, and it
brought him fame. His pieces became well known,
and he became one of the leading American
Composers.
Copland was one of the few composers who were
liked by both professional musicians and the
general public.
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His ballet Appalachian Spring uses the folk
melody Simple Gifts a popular song by the
Shaker people that settled in the Appalachian
Mountains.
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Copland won the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1944
for Appalachian Spring.
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A Teacher
Copland wanted to not just create a new American
sound in his own music, but to encourage others
as well. He started the composition department at
Tanglewood Music Center in Boston, wrote and
lectured on modern music, and even produced a
music appreciation book for the general reader.
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Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland
He was also good at spotting new talented
composers. He helped launch the careers of
William Schumann, David Diamond, Peter Mennin,
and Leonard Bernstein, among others.
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In the 1950s, Copland began to become
interested in a new composition technique called
serialism. This abstract style was not as popular
with the public as his earlier music.
Serialism is a type of music that includes
12-tone music. It is often very dissonant and is
not very memorable.
This is one of his serial compositions its
called Emblems. It doesnt sound much like his
other music does it?
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He turned his attention to conducting, and
specialized in his own pieces. In large part to
make money, since his new style pieces werent
selling as well. He was very successful, and
enjoyed a lucrative career.
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Aaron virtually gave up composing by 1970, but
continued to conduct and speak to young musicians
well into the 1980s. When asked about giving up
composing, he said,
Im amazed that I dont miss composing more than
I do. Youd think if you had spent 50 years at
it, youd have the feeling that something was
missing and I really dont. I must have expressed
myself sufficiently. I certainly dont feel
tortured or bitter, only lucky to have been given
so long to be creative. And resigned to the fact
that it seems to be over.
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With Alzheimers setting in, Copland spent the
last years of his life out of the public
spotlight. He passed away on December 2, 1990,
at his home in Peekskill, New York.
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Coplands genius was able to sum up in sound the
vast space of the American landscape, and the
energy of the American people.
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For Nearly Four Decades, he was regarded as the
foremost American composer.
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He is still one of the most important and
influential composers that America has ever
produced.
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According to his wishes, his house was turned
into a center for young composers.
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Listening

1. Fanfare for the Common Man

(Click to start)
2. Hoe-Down from Rodeo
(Click to start)