The tune is attributed: that section is titled Variations on a Shaker Melody.
#Aaron copland compositions full#
Copland later arranged a suite for full symphony orchestra that became the best-known version. Orchestral Version: "Appalachian Spring" was originally composed for a small theater orchestra of just 12 instruments.Named After Somebody Famous: His ballet Billy the Kid is named after the notorious outlaw of the same name.Mood Motif: "El Salón México" uses a small clarinet in E-flat or D.Literary Allusion Title: "Appalachian Spring" is named after the poem "The Dance" by Hart Crane.
Letting the Air out of the Band: At the climax of the ballet Rodeo, the dancing grinds to a halt and the music loses pitch like a record winding down, as the tomboy reappears in a nice dress.Instrumentals: "Fanfare for the Common Man" is an instrumental piece, as are most of Copland's compositions.Fanfare: Notably, written not for royals but for the Common Man.He Also Did: Copland's best known music comes from the middle period of his career when he composed Americana, but in the early and late periods of his career he wrote many other significant pieces in a more Avant-Garde Music modernist style."Billy the Kid" ,"Appalachian Spring", "Rodeo", "Lincoln Portrait". Eagleland: Copland was fascinated with American folk music, and many of his most popular pieces reflect themes from American history.As does his Third Symphony, which quotes the piece in the fourth movement. "Fanfare for the Common Man" begins with thunderous beats on the timpani and gong.In his ballet Billy the Kid, the timpani are used to depict the sounds of a gun battle.1, the timpani pounding out the work's motto theme in the final movement would be more impressive were they not overshadowed by the organ playing at full power. "Symphony for Organ and Orchestra" note Copland later rewrote the organ part in the brass, added saxophone, and named it Symphony No.The Heiress (1949 Academy Award winner for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture).Hugely influenced by early modernist musicians, like Igor Stravinsky and Claude Debussy, Copland in turn influenced such Hollywood composers as Elmer Bernstein (whose theme for The Magnificent Seven in particular is sometimes mistakenly credited to Copland). Needless to say, Joseph McCarthy didn't like him very much and Copland was put on the Hollywood blacklist at the time. note He eventually abandoned this upon learning of the tyrannies of the Soviet Union, particularly against artists. Ironically, Copland was quite openly gay and left-wing, and for a time sympathetic to socialism. And it worked.īecause of Copland's Americana styles, right-wing politicians frequently use his music or a Suspiciously Similar Song version of his music in their campaign ads. Now.Īside from that well-known piece, Copland is most famous for his ballet music for Billy the Kid, Appalachian Spring, and Rodeo (especially the "Hoedown" movement from the latter, which you've almost certainly heard, either in a Western or in the background while someone told you what beef is for).Ĭopland actually began making music that attempted to emulate the foremost German composers of his time, until his teacher told him he was trying too hard and that he should simply be himself (i.e. Go listen to " Fanfare for the Common Man ".
You know all those things you like about America? The huge tracts of untamed land, the cities bustling as one of the mothers of western industry, the pioneer culture that eventually tamed The Wild West? Well, the music of Aaron Copland (Novem– December 2, 1990) is basically all of that distilled into the purest musical form you could imagine.
The common men may play their fanfare for him now.
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