Download Aaron Copland - Rachael Sternhagen

Aaron Copland
By: Rachael Sternhagen
• Copland is one the the most respected
American classical composers of the 20th
century.
• He was born in Brooklyn, New York on Nov.
14, 1900.
• At the age of 16, he went to Manhattan to
study with Rubin Goldmark.
• When Aaron was 22, he went to
the Summer School of Music for
American Students in France.
• Aaron focused on jazz at first, but in the late
20’s he turned his attention to expanding
American classical music.
• He was a member of the American
Composers’ Alliance and the League of
Composers.
• He created Copland-Sessions concerts.
• He also began composing for movies and
ballets like:
-“Of Mice and Men” (1939)
-“The Heiress” (1949)
• He created “A Lincoln
Portrait” in 1949, which was
one of his most important
and successful compositions.
• In the 50’s Aaron began conducting more.
• In 1983 he conducted his last symphony.
• As a scholar he wrote articles, essays, and
books on music.
• He died on Dec. 2, 1990 in North Tarrytown,
New York.
Fanfare for the Common Man
by Aaron Copland
• Cincinnati Symphony asked him to write this
piece during World War II in 1942.
• It was inspired by a famous speech made by Vice
President Henry A. Wallace, who proclaimed the
dawning of the "Century of the Common Man.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NjssV8UuVA
Works Cited
• "Aaron Copland: About the Composer." PBS.
PBS, 11 July 2005. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.