| biography |
| Aaron Copland (1900-December 2, 1990) was born in Brooklyn, New York in November. Of Russian Jewish descent, he spent his childhood living above his parents' Brooklyn shop. His music education included time with Rubin Goldmark, also one of George Gershwin's teachers, and with Nadia Boulanger in Paris from 1921. His first significant work was the necromantic ballet Grohg which contributed thematic material to his later Dance Symphony. Other major works of his first (austere) period include the Short Symphony - 1933 and Music for Theater - 1925.
Copland's second period (vernacular) began around 1936 with Billy The Kid and El Salon Mexico. Perhaps Copland's most famous work, Fanfare for the Common Man for brass and percussion was written in 1942 at the request of the conductor Eugene Goosens. The fanfare was also used as one of the main themes in the third movement of Copland's Third Symphony.
Aaron Copland died in his home in Peekshill, New York.
Major Works:
- Fanfare for the Common Man
- Short Symphony
- Dance Symphony
- Third Symphony
- Appalachian Spring
- Grohg a ballet
- Lincoln Portrait
- Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson
- Dance Panels
- El Salon Mexico
- The Red Pony Suite
- Danzon Cubano
- Three Latin American Sketches
- Rodeo
- Music for Theater
- Music for Movies
Biography at Amazon.com ...
With his large, craggy countenance, Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
was once described as possessing "a kind of Old Testament grandeur."
And indeed his music conveys an almost prophetic majesty and confidence.
Though Copland went abroad to study his craft as a young man,
his best-known works from the 1930s and '40s came to define, like
the music of George Gershwin, an authentic American voice. Copland
was interested above all in communicating with a wide audience
rather than speaking only to an elite. Listen to the selections
on this disc--most of them drawn from his pioneering ballet music
written for Agnes de Mille and Martha Graham--and you will hear
a kind of directness and generosity of spirit that might call
to mind the poetry of Walt Whitman.
[read
more...] |
| recommended
recordings |
|
Copland
- The Music of America / Kunzel, Cincinnati Pops |
Composer:
Aaron
Copland
Conductor: Erich
Kunzel
Performer: Philip
Collins, William
Harrod
Ensemble: Cincinnati
Pops
Telarc - #80339 / January 28, 1997
Click
here for more info |
|
| When it comes to light, folk-flavored listening,
the music of Aaron Copland is some of the best and most popular.
When it comes to crowd-pleasing conducting, Erich Kunzel is
one of the great successes. This album contains most of Copland's
essential compositions, in all or part: "Fanfare for...
Read more |
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|
Bernstein
Century - Copland: Appalachian Spring, Rodeo, etc / Bernstein,
New York PO |
Composer:
Aaron
Copland
Conductor: Leonard
Bernstein
Ensemble: New
York Philharmonic Orchestra
Sony Classics - #63082 / October 28, 1997
Click
here for more information |
|
Happy is the composer who has an advocate as passionate and
talented as Leonard Bernstein. These Copland performances
have been the preferred versions since they were first issued--better
even than the composer's own, later recordings. Originally
they were spread over two discs, but thanks to the extended
playing time of the compact disc, you can now get all three
great Copland ballets together, along with the ever popular
Fanfare for the Common Man. Bernstein brings to this
music the right...Read
more
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Bernstein
Century - Copland: Symphony no 3, etc / Biggs |
|
Composer:
Aaron
Copland
Conductor: Leonard
Bernstein
Performer: E
Power Biggs
Ensemble: New
York Philharmonic Orchestra
Sony Classics - #63155 / October 28, 1997
Click
here for more information
|
|
Leonard Bernstein's performance of Copland's Third Symphony
has had to wait a long time before finally appearing on CD.
Part of the delay no doubt stemmed from the fact that DG released
a second, later recording with the same orchestra, in digital
sound. Comparing the two versions, both of which are very
good, one prefers this first performance. Not only does the
music move a bit more quickly, with sharper rhythms and a
stronger sense of the dance (never far from Copland's musical
thoughts), but...Read
more
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Copland:
The Tender Land / Brunelle, Plymouth Music Series
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Composer:
Aaron
Copland
Conductor: Philip
Brunelle
Performer: James
Bohn, Elisabeth
Comeaux, et al.
Ensemble: Plymouth
Music Series Chorus, Plymouth
Music Series Orchestra
Emd/Emi Classics - #59207 / September 4, 1990
Click
here for more information
|
|
Aaron Copland didn't have the theatrical instinct of a George
Gershwin or even a Gian Carlo Menotti, but that didn't keep
him from writing one of the best operas we have in the "American"
vein. The Tender Land was composed in 1953 on a commission
from Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II--who since the
premiere of Oklahoma! 10 years earlier could afford
such largesse--and received its premiere on April 1, 1954
at the City Center in New York. Concerning a girl transformed
into a young woman...Read
more
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Copland:
Music for Films / Slatkin, Saint Louis Symphony |
|
Composer:
Aaron
Copland
Conductor: Leonard
Slatkin
Ensemble: St.
Louis Symphony Orchestra
Bmg/Rca Victor - #61699 / April 12, 1994
Click
here for more information
|
|
This is a great series of recordings. Leonard Slatkin has
generally chosen the right balance of music for the composers
used in the series (with terrific cover art from Thomas Hart
Benton). This disc is devoted to Copland's film music. The
treat here is a version of The Heiress Suite reconstructed
by Arnold Freed. Copland's talent for writing for films rested
in his ability to identify and maintain themes, at the same
time not slacking on the transitional details. This belongs
in any Copland...Read
more
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Copland
- The Modernist / Tilson Thomas, San Francisco |
|
Composer:
Aaron
Copland
Conductor: Michael
Tilson Thomas
Performer: Garrick
Ohlsson
Ensemble: San
Francisco Symphony Orchestra
Bmg/Rca Victor - #68541 / October 15, 1996
Click
here for more information
|
|
The material covered on Copland the Modernist offers
an important--and highly enjoyable--counterweight to the icon
of folksy Americana that the composer is usually made out
to be. And though such works as Appalachian
Spring and Rodeo have kept Copland high on
the list of the 20th century's most popular composers, his
achievement extends well beyond the familiar beauty of those
musical landscapes. Michael Tilson Thomas, who has evolved
into arguably the finest American conductor of his...Read
more
|
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Benny
Goodman Collector's Edition |
|
Composer:
Leonard
Bernstein, Aaron
Copland, et al.
Conductor: Leonard
Bernstein, Aaron
Copland, et al.
Performer: Benny
Goodman, Bˇla
Bart—k, et al.
Ensemble: Columbia
Jazz Band, Columbia
Symphony Orchestra
Sony/Columbia - #42227 / January 1, 1987
Click
here for more information
|
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This disc collects together the various classical works
that Benny Goodman either commissioned or premiered. Copland's
concerto was written with Goodman's manner of playing very
much in mind. Includes Stravinsky's Ebony Concerto,
Bartók's Contrasts, Bernstein's Preludes,
Fugues and Riffs.
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Long
Time Ago - Copland / Dawn Upshaw & Thomas Hampson |
|
Composer:
Aaron
Copland
Conductor: Hugh
Wolff
Performer: Thomas
Hampson, Dawn
Upshaw
Ensemble: St.
Paul Chamber Orchestra
Wea/Atlantic/Teldec - #77310 / June 7, 1994
Click
here for more information
|
|
Copland's Eight Songs of Emily Dickinson comprise one
of the finest song cycles by an American composer, and a perfect
meeting of minds between poet and composer. Dickinson's verses
and Copland's music alternate plain-spun honesty and wry humor
with sudden, unpredictable bursts of passion and pain and
a complete lack of false sentimentality. The Old American
Songs are simply a good time and you'll recognize many
of the tunes even if you haven't remembered the words. Hampson
and Upshaw are two of the finest American singers alive, and
they perform this music as though they have a proprietary
interest in it. A terrific record. |
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| |
Sallie
Chisum Remembers Billy the Kid / Bonney, Previn |
|
Composer:
André
Previn, Aaron
Copland, et al.
Performer: Barbara
Bonney, André
Previn, et al.
Uni/London Classics - #455511 / January 27, 1998
Click
here for more information
|
|
| Though American, Barbara Bonney has spent most
of her career in Europe and, up until recently, never saw
the need to sing in English. But this collection is entirely
in English, featuring the title piece written for her by Previn--sort
of a tone poem for voice, nice but not great--plus Samuel
Barber's more familiar Hermit Songs, Dominick Argento's
Six Elizabethan Songs and Aaron Copland's Twelve
Poems of Emily Dickinson. It's one of her best recordings
and a big step in the gradual evolution of an artist who began
as another pretty-voiced soprano and is becoming one of the
most memorable recitalists of her generation. |
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| works
& recordings |
Listing
of Major Compositions
|
| resources |
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Aaron
Copland : The Life and Work of an Uncommon Man
by Howard Pollack
|
Henry Holt & Company, Inc.
Hardcover
(March 1999)
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|
Opening with a 12-page chapter that gives a sharper
impression of the great American composer's personality
than many full-length books, this superb biography goes
from strength to strength as it elucidates Aaron Copland's
background, beliefs, affiliations, and achievements.
Music historian Howard...
Read more |
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Aaron
Copland (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers)
by Mike Venezia
|
Children's Press
Paperback - 32 pages
(September 1995)
|
|
Venezia's love and respect for music shine through in
another of the books in his World's Greatest Composers
series. The story of Aaron Copland's life is told in
an interesting and amusing fashion and shows children
how Copland discovered his own style through his experiences
over the years. While...
Read more
|
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| 4. |
|
Copland:
1900-1942
by Aaron Copland, Vivian Perlis
|
St. Martin's Press
Paperback - 402 pages
2nd edition (October 1999)
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Aaron Copland is one of America's most beloved musical
pioneers, famous for Appalachian Spring, Billy the
Kid, and Lincoln Portrait, as well as the
movie scores for "Our Town" and "Of Mice and Men," and
numerous orchestral and chamber works. This candid,
colorful memoir begins with Copland's...
Read more |
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Copland
: Since 1943
by Aaron Copland, Vivian Perlis
|
St. Martin's Press
Paperback - 463 pages
Reprint edition (April 28, 1999)
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Hailed as important, entertaining, and revealing, Copland:
Since 1943 is composer Aaron Copland's irresistible
account of the latter half of his career--a career that
brought us such pioneering works as Appalachian Spring
and Lincoln Portrait, the movie scores for Of
Mice and Men and Our Town, and...
Read more |
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Links
COPLAND
2000 - Introduction, retrospective, upcoming events, biography,
annotations, publications.
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