Copland, Aaron (kōp`lənd), 1900–1990, American composer, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. Copland was a pupil of Rubin Goldmark and of Nadia Boulanger, who introduced his work to the United States when she conducted his Symphony for Organ and Orchestra in 1925. Although his earliest works show European influences, the American character of the greater part of his compositions is evident in his use of jazz and of American folk tunes, as in the short piece for chamber orchestra, John Henry (1940). Copland's many ballets include Billy the Kid (1938), Rodeo (1942), and Appalachian Spring (1944). He composed music for the films Of Mice and Men (1939), Our Town (1940), The Red Pony (1948), and The Heiress (1949). His major orchestral works are El Salon Mexico (1936) and the Third Symphony (1946). Copland wrote a song cycle, 12 Poems of Emily Dickinson, and a quartet for piano and strings (both 1950), Canticle of Freedom for chorus and orchestra (1955), and a tone poem Inscape (1967). With Roger Sessions he founded the Copland-Sessions Concerts (1928–31) and in 1932 organized the American Festivals of Contemporary Music at Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, N.Y. He lectured extensively and received many awards. His writings include What to Listen for in Music (1939, rev. ed. 1957), Copland on Music (1960), and The New Music: 1900–1960 (rev. ed. 1968).
(born Nov. 14, 1900, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.—died Dec. 2, 1990, North Tarrytown, N.Y.) U.S. composer. Born to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents, he studied composition in Paris with Nadia Boulanger. In his early works he experimented with jazz rhythms and then with an abstract style influenced by Neoclassicism. After the mid-1930s he was concerned with making music accessible to a wider audience and adopted notably American traits in his compositions. Famously public-spirited and generous, he came to be unofficially regarded as the U.S.'s national composer. He is best known for his three ballets based on American folk material: Billy the Kid (1938), Rodeo (1942), and Appalachian Spring (1944, Pulitzer Prize). He also wrote film scores, orchestral works, and operas. In his later years Copland refined his treatment of Americana, making his references less overt, and he produced a number of works using the experimental technique of serialism. He continued to lecture and to conduct through the mid-1980s.
Copland, Aaron (1900–90) composer; born in New York City. In his teens he studied in New York with Rubin Goldmark; in France during 1921–24, he worked with the later-famous pedagogue Nadia Boulanger. Returning to New York, he began the wide-ranging activities that would characterize his career: composing painstakingly, performing as a pianist, promoting new music, and teaching. His first successes came from the performances of such important conductors as Walter Damrosch, who premiered the Symphony for Organ and Orchestra in 1925, and Serge Koussevitsky, who became a leading champion of the composer. Meanwhile, he helped create and performed in forums for new works including the Yaddo Festival (which began in 1932). He also helped found organizations including the American Composers Alliance and Cos Cob Press, taught at schools including Tanglewood (1940–65), and wrote a series of books beginning with the 1939 What to Listen for in Music. After his early jazz-inspired works such as Music for the Theater (1925), and a few severe, avant-garde pieces such as the Piano Variations (1930), his most famous works began with the El Salón México of 1936; this and later pieces, among them the much-loved Appalachian Spring of 1944, are marked by a warm and rhythmically lively style based on a sophisticated adaptation of American folk material. He largely retired from composing in the 1970s.
Bibliography
See biographies by A. Berger (1953, repr. 1987) and H. Pollack (1999); study by N. Butterworth (1986).
Copland, Aaron
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Aaron Copland.
(credit: Courtesy of the Boston Symphony Orchestra)
Copland, Aaron (1900–90) composer; born in New York City. In his teens he studied in New York with Rubin Goldmark; in France during 1921–24, he worked with the later-famous pedagogue Nadia Boulanger. Returning to New York, he began the wide-ranging activities that would characterize his career: composing painstakingly, performing as a pianist, promoting new music, and teaching. His first successes came from the performances of such important conductors as Walter Damrosch, who premiered the Symphony for Organ and Orchestra in 1925, and Serge Koussevitsky, who became a leading champion of the composer. Meanwhile, he helped create and performed in forums for new works including the Yaddo Festival (which began in 1932). He also helped found organizations including the American Composers Alliance and Cos Cob Press, taught at schools including Tanglewood (1940–65), and wrote a series of books beginning with the 1939 What to Listen for in Music. After his early jazz-inspired works such as Music for the Theater (1925), and a few severe, avant-garde pieces such as the Piano Variations (1930), his most famous works began with the El Salón México of 1936; this and later pieces, among them the much-loved Appalachian Spring of 1944, are marked by a warm and rhythmically lively style based on a sophisticated adaptation of American folk material. He largely retired from composing in the 1970s.
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