AARON COPLAND

Born November 14, 1900 In Brookyln, New York Died December 2, 1990 AKA Premier American composer who helped bring American music to the forefront. He was also a conductor, a teacher and a writer who wrote books about music as well as his autobiography "Copland: 1900 Through 1942" and "Copland: Since 1943.'

EDUCATION He studied composition with Rubin Goldmark in He began to study composition and orchestration with Nadia Boulanger in the fall of 1921 and remained her student until He was her first full-time student. January 11, 1925: his Symphony for Organ and Orchestra (1924) was performed by the New York Philharmonic, with Nadia Boulanger as soloist and Walter Damrosch as conductor.

COMPOSER He composed chamber and choral music, orchestral and band music, operas, ballets and film scores. The 1930’s and 1940’s established Copland’s popularity. He realized that a new public for contemporary music was being created by the radio and film scores. “It made no sense to ignore the audience and to continue writing as if they did not exist.”

WORKS January 28, 1927: performed his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1926) with the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Serge Koussevitzky. Wrote music for the "Theatre" suite, a jazzy, modified attempt to create a distinctly 'American' sound. In 1928 he wrote his first significant chamber work, Vitebsk, a piano trio based on Hebraic subject matter : With composer Roger Sessions, sponsored the Copland- Sessions Concerts, a series of new music performances in New York.

El Salon Mexico (1936) Part 1: e.com/watch?v=N Mn6EU3yjcc e.com/watch?v=N Mn6EU3yjcc Part 2: e.com/watch?v=7x dzG0VloOU e.com/watch?v=7x dzG0VloOU Billy the Kid (1938) com/watch?v=Mm 4YKSbLR-Y MAJOR WORKS

APPALACHIAN SPRING (1944) “Subtle, as he evokes his sources by distilling their essence into original materials.” Captures the essence of an ideal America, one of open fields and endless possibilities Rhythm: very slow, changing meter is faint. Harmony: overlapping of chords produces dissonance.

THE RED PONY (1948) Film score. (6) "Happy Ending," which, like "Morning on the Ranch," uses material from the beginning and ending of the film. In collaboration with producer-director Lewis Milestone, with whom Copland had worked on other film scores.

AWARDS 1950: Won an Academy Award; published the Piano Quartet and a song cycle based on the poems of Emily Dickinson. 1951: Became the first composer to be honored with the Norton Professor of Poetics at Harvard 1956: Won the Gold Medal of the National Institute of Arts and Letters. 1986: Wins the Congressional Medal of Honor and the National Medal of Arts.

THE AARON COPLAND FUND FOR MUSIC In keeping with his lifelong devotion to contemporary music, Aaron Copland created the Fund and bestowed to it a large part of his estate. The Fund was officially announced to the public in The Fund’s purpose is to encourage and improve public knowledge and appreciation of contemporary American music.

BIBLIOGRAPHY The Enjoyment of Music – 11th edition by Kristine Forney & Joseph Machlis New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians mc