Download File

Aaron Copland
American Composer, Teacher, Writer and
Conductor
by Ian Dazley
Early Years
•Born in Brooklyn, New York on
November 14th, 1900
•Parents were Jewish
immigrants from Lithuania
•Started formal piano at 13
•Graduated from Boys High
School in Brooklyn 1918
•1918-1921 studies music with
Ruben Goldmark and Clarence
Adler
•Drawn to JAZZ
Game Changer
•
•
•
•
1921 Moved to France
Studied at the new
American
Conservatory
Took harmony classes
from Nadia Boulanger
Influenced by new
music
Nadia is Nice
•
•
•
•
Aaron was her first
American pupil
She helped shape his
musical development
Helped him get music
published
Secured a commission
for the Boston
Symphony - she was
well connected
Copland the
Gringo goes
to Mexico
•Carlos Chavez invites him to
Mexico
•Loved the people
•Visits a Dance Hall
•Writes El Salon Mexico
El Salon Mexico
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqGKz46BJ
wk
folk influence
•Uses Mexican Folk Songs
•El Palo Verde
•Le Jesusita
•El Mosco
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEQck5bA958
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSHbjnwuNoQ
http://app.rhapsody.com/artist/various-artists/album/bernsteinconducts-copland
I’m an AmeriCAN
• Wants to influence Americans through
music
• Uses folk songs
• Writes Ballets that are American
themed
• Wins a Pulitzer
Folk influence in
Hoe-Down, theBallets
Rondo from
Rodeo
http://app.rhapsody.com/artist/various-artists/album/stars-fora-summer-night-all-star-festival/track/hoe-down-from-rodeoaaron-copland
Folk Melodies
Bonaparte’s Retreat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yeQucos9-M
McLoed’s Reel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3j-6hDbXV0
Gilderoy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUJgrqRdvEQ
Appalachian Spring
Simple Gifts
a Shaker Dance
http://app.rhapsody.com/search?query=appalachian+Spring+si
mple+gifts
Writes 5
Variations
Hoe-Down Video
http://vimeo.com/5020134
Ever the AmeriCAN through
his Movie Scores
• Deeply patriotic
• Connected with everyday people with
movie scores
• Wrote scores for Of Mice and Men, The
North Star, The Red Pony, and the
Heiress
Still an AmeriCAN even
though accused of
Communism
• Creates Fanfare for the Common Man
• A Lincoln Portrait
• Accused of Communism
• Forced to testify before McCarthy
• Keeps his cool
It was over and the
fat lady didn’t sing
•
•
•
•
Composes full length opera The Tender
Lands
His Companion, Erik Johns aka Horrace
Everett write libretto
Not well received by critics
The Promise of Living, a polyphonic song
from the Opera still became popular.
TONS OF AWARDS
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts,1925
Pulitzer Prize - Appalachian Spring, 1945
Academy Award - The Heiress , 1950
Grammy Award - The Tender Lands, 1961
Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom, 1964
Kennedy Center Honors - 1979
Congressional Medal of Honor and National Medal of
Arts from Pres. Reagan, 1986
Later Years
•
•
•
•
•
Becomes a conductor
Reworks some of his earlier works
Starts getting Alzheimers Disease
Dies on December 2nd, 1990
Ashes scattered at Tanglewood Music
Center
Bibliography
http://www.loc.gov/collection/aaron-copland/about-this-collection/
http://www.biography.com/people/aaron-copland-9256998
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/aaron-copland/about-the-composer/475/
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/aaron-copland39s-appalachian-spring-premieres-at-the-library-of-congress
http://www.notablebiographies.com/Co-Da/Copland-Aaron.html
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200182578/default.html
http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/03/14/specials/copland.html
https://www.atlantasymphony.org/aso/asoassets/downloadcenter/DNGStudentGud.pdf
http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/copland/notes.html
http://nmphil.org/concerts/repertoire/copland-rodeo/
http://www.northbsr.com/PDF/41057383-El-Salon-Mexico-Analysis.pdf
http://vimeo.com/5020134
http://mq.oxfordjournals.org/content/89/4/524.extract
http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/music/kamien7e/locop.html
https://www.atlantasymphony.org/aso/asoassets/downloadcenter/DNGStudentGud.pdf
http://kgvmusicnotes.tumblr.com/elsalon_analysis_1
http://quizlet.com/10278067/experiencing-music-quiz-2-listening-part-1-flash-cards/
https://www.mondaviarts.org/education/education_pdfs/1213/1213_Teachers_Guide_2013_03_15_St_Louis_Symphony.pdf
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/fromthetop/for-teachers/season-2/213/appalachian_spring.php
http://www.judyspitzberg.com/index_files/copland.pdf