Topic: Aaron Copland: A Complete Survey (or as damned near complete as you could hope!)

[Benji]

I wanted to do something interesting to mark my 1000th post, so after a good ponder i've decided to embark on a survey of one composer who is very close to my heart: Copland. I have found what seems to be a pretty complete list of works and I think I own, or have access to, a recording of almost all of it. So over the next few weeks i'll be listening to it all in order, some of it for the first time, much of it for the umpteenth and posting some thoughts and facts and history. I hope this is a worthwhile thing to offer to my good friends here and I hope we'll all learn something and perhaps i'll even encourage others to take a stroll away from Copland's well-beaten track.

So, first things first: the list! I don't think suites and transcriptions and such are included in it, except for the most popular ones but if anyone sees any omissions let me know.

1918	NIGHT	vocal
	A SUMMER VACATION	vocal
	MY HEART IS IN THE EAST	vocal
1920	OLD POEM	vocal
	THE CAT AND THE MOUSE	piano
1921	PASTORALE	vocal
	THREE MOODS	piano
	FOUR MOTETS	choral
	PETIT PORTRAIT	piano
1921-24	MOVEMENT FOR STRING QUARTET	chamber
1922	ALONE	vocal
	PASSACAGLIA FOR PIANO	piano
1922-25	GROHG (revised 1932)	ballet
1923	CORTEGE MACABRE	orchestra
	AS IT FELL UPON A DAY for soprano,   flute, and clarinet	vocal
1923-28	TWO PIECES FOR STRING QUARETT	chamber
1924	SYMPHONY FOR ORGAN AND ORCHESTRA	orchestra
1925	DANCE SYMPHONY	orchestra
	MUSIC FOR THE THEATRE	orchestra
	TWO CHORUSES ("The House on   the Hill," "An Immortality")	chorus
1926	PIANO   CONCERTO	orchestra
	TWO PIECES FOR VIOLIN AND PIANO	chamber
	SENTIMENTAL MELODY	piano
1926/48	FOUR   PIANO BLUES	piano
1927	POET’S SONG	vocal
1927-30	SYMPHONIC ODE (revised 1955)	orchestra
1928	VOCALISE	vocal
	FIRST SYMPHONY (arrangement of   Organ Symphony)	orchestra
1929	VITEBSK for piano, violin, and   cello	chamber
1930	PIANO   VARIATIONS	piano
1931	MIRACLE   AT VERDUN	incidental
1933	SHORT   SYMPHONY	orchestra
1934	HEAR   YE! HEAR YE!	ballet
	STATEMENTS FOR ORCHESTRA	orchestra
	INTO THE STREETS MAY FIRST	chorus
1935	WHAT   DO WE PLANT?	chorus
	SUNDAY AFTERNOON MUSIC	piano
	THE YOUNG PIONEERS	piano
1935-36	EL SALON   MEXICO	orchestra
1936-37	THE SECOND   HURRICANE	opera
	PRAIRIE JOURNAL (originally called   MUSIC FOR RADIO)	orchestra
1937	SEXTET   (arrangement of Short Symphony) for string quartet, clarinet, and piano	chamber
1938	BILLY THE   KID	ballet
	AN OUTDOOR OVERTURE	orchestra
	LARK	chorus
1939	THE CITY	film
	OF MICE AND MEN	film
1939-41	PIANO   SONATA	piano
1940	OUR TOWN	film
	QUIET CITY	orchestra
1940	JOHN   HENRY (rev. 1952)	orchestra
1941	EPISODE	organ
1942	DANZON CUBANO for 2-pianos	piano
	LAS AGACHADAS	chorus
	FANFARE FOR THE COMMON MAN	orchestra
	LINCOLN PORTRAIT	orchestra
	MUSIC FOR MOVIES	orchestra
	RODEO	ballet
1943	SONG   OF THE GUERILLAS	orchestra
	NORTH STAR	film
	SONATA FOR VIOLIN AND PIANO	chamber
1944	APPALACHIAN   SPRING	ballet
	LETTER FROM HOME (revised 1962)	orchestra
1944-46	SYMPHONY   NO. 3	orchestra
1944/82	MIDDAY   THOUGHTS	piano
1945	JUBILEE   VARIATIONS	orchestra
	THE CUMMINGTON STORY	film
1947	IN THE   BEGINNING	chorus
1947/77	MIDSUMMER   NOCTURNE	piano
1947-48	CLARINET   CONCERTO	orchestra
1948	THE RED   PONY	film
	THE HEIRESS	film
1949	PREAMBLE FOR A SOLEMN OCCASION	orchestra
1949-50	TWELVE POEMS OF EMILY DICKINSON	vocal
1950	OLD   AMERICAN SONGS, SET I	vocal
	QUARTET FOR PIANO AND STRINGS	chamber
1952	OLD AMERICAN SONGS, SET II	vocal
1952-54	THE TENDER LAND (revised 1955)	opera
1954	DIRGE IN   WOODS	vocal
1955	CANTICLE OF FREEDOM (revised   1967)	orchestra
1955-57	PIANO   FANTASY	piano
1957	THE WORLD   OF NICK ADAMS	television
	ORCHESTRAL VARIATIONS   (transcription of Piano Variations)	orchestra
1958-70	EIGHT POEMS OF EMILY DICKINSON   (orchestral version)	vocal
1959	DANCE PANELS (revised 1962)	ballet
1959-72	THREE LATIN AMERICAN SKETCHES	orchestra
1960	NONET FOR STRINGS	chamber
1961	SOMETHING   WILD	film
1962	DOWN   A COUNTRY LANE	piano
	CONNOTATIONS	orchestra
1963	DANZA DE JALISCO (in Latin   American Sketches) for 2-pianos	piano
1964	EMBLEMS FOR WIND ENSEMBLE	chamber
	MUSIC FOR A GREAT CITY	orchestra
1966	IN   EVENING AIR	piano
1967	INSCAPE	orchestra
1969	INAUGURAL (CEREMONIAL) FANFARE	orchestra
	HAPPY ANNIVERSARY	orchestra
1971	DUO FOR FLUTE AND PIANO	chamber
	THRENODY I: IN MEMORIAM IGOR   STRAVINSKY for flute, violin, viola, and cello	chamber
1972	NIGHT THOUGHTS: HOMAGE TO IVES	piano
	3 LATIN AMERICAN SKETCHES	orchestra
1973	THRENODY II: IN MEMORIAM BEATRICE   CUNNINGHAM for flute, violin, viola, and cello chamber	chamber
1973-82	PROCLAMATION	piano

[Bulldog]

You are embarking on a very time consuming project.  I applaud your dedication and motivation.

[DavidW]

I love the piano trio btw, good luck!   And mail me a rip of your project when you're done.

[Benji]

You are embarking on a very time consuming project.  I applaud your dedication and motivation.

It will be a labour of love! 

I love the piano trio btw, good luck!   And mail me a rip of your project when you're done.

That'll be a new one to me so i'm looking forward to that!

Now if I can only get the whole damned list to post... Done! That's as good as it's getting... 

[Benji]

First things first!

Four Early Songs:
I. Night (1918)
II. A Summer Vacation (1918)
III. My heart is in the East (1918)
IV. Alone (1922)

Recorded on this Barbara Bonney album



The first three of these songs (to texts by Aaron Schaffer) were written when Copland was just 18, only three years into his musical education and prior to departing for Paris to study with Nadia Boulanger. However, none of the four songs were published until 1989.

The first, Night is rather impressionistic; it shows a strong influence of Debussy. in fact all four songs are very much European in their sound. There is no detecting what Copland would soon become, but that is not to say that they sound immature. I'm no expert on piano, or vocal music, but if there are any weaknesses in the composition they're well disguised. To my ears Copland seems entirely confident even at this early stage. Prodigious indeed.

The final of the four songs, Alone, written a whole four years later certainly seems more mature to me. Based on an Arabic text by J. Duncan, it certainly has the feeling of a nocturnal Arabesque.

I wish I could comment more on Copland's vocal writing. Vocal/piano music is a genre i've barely dipped my toes into so if there is anyone with experience who knows the songs and can provide some insight i'd love to hear.

So nothing especially profound here, but certainly delightful and enjoyable. I loved listening to Barbara Bonney I must say. 

[DavidW]

That is a stupid name for that album!

[karlhenning]

"Zeke, angle the camera to maximize the cleavage, there's a  good fellow."
 
Thread duty:
 
Fine list, and an outstanding thread, Ben!

[mc ukrneal]

Great idea! Will be following along....

[Maciek]

I remember someone saying something quite funny about that cover...

(I like Copland's music very much - will be following this thread with great interest.)

[The new erato]

Very fine idea for a thread about a composer I appreciate a lot and want to know more about. I hope you stay the course; the board has dried up for good threads recently.

[Guido]

That is a stupid name for that album!

No it isn't. She is called Barbara it is true, but it's actually the name of one of the Bernstein songs she sings on it.

[karlhenning]

Doesn't necessarily mean that the name isn't stupid. Just saying.

[DavidW]

No it isn't. She is called Barbara it is true, but it's actually the name of one of the Bernstein songs she sings on it.

Oh   Well I feel stupid now.  Thanks for the correction.

[Benji]

Thanks for all the positive encouraging comments, folks. I've found a lot of useful resources via the power of the web so i'm very excited to share what i'm finding with you all. All in good time! 

The hardest part is actually not listening to the later music. I usually listen to the piano concerto probably once a week and quiet city fairly often as well, two pieces I never tire of. It'll be fun to find out more about them when their time comes.

[Bogey]

Cool thread!

[Benji]

Cool thread!

I knew you'd enjoy it 

[Mirror Image]

I enjoy Copland a good bit. He's not one of those composers I could live without, but he wrote some good compositions nontheless. I'll be interested to see what you own out of his works and will be following the thread to see if you've got a lot of the early works, which aren't performed as much as the mid to later period works.

[Guido]

Maybe it would be good to say why you thought Copland was such a great composer first. I have to say that he's probably my least favourite of what I think of as the five biggest names in American composing: Barber, Ives, Copland, Gershwin and Carter.

In my my mind, the first two and last two fall nicely into pairs  - Barber the consummate professional and master of traditional technique opposite Ives the "amateur" with his striving transcendental experimentalism, and Gershwin the popular, melodic and sentimental against Carter the dissonant, spiky, phantasmagorical "musicians" composer. Copland is somewhere in the middle of these pairings, but actually not as good as any of them I think. I love some of his best work (Appalachian Spring, Piano Sonata, Dickinson Songs) but too much of the oeuvre seems to be significantly below par considering that he is now almost universally seen as one of the Great Composers of the 20th century.

Cage and Feldman are very dear to me also but are far too strange/individual to seem in any way reflective of some kind of national aesthetic.

[Mirror Image]

Maybe it would be good to say why you thought Copland was such a great composer first. I have to say that he's probably my least favourite of what I think of as the five biggest names in American composing: Barber, Ives, Copland, Gershwin and Carter.

In my my mind, the first two and last two fall nicely into pairs  - Barber the consummate professional and master of traditional technique opposite Ives the "amateur" with his striving transcendental experimentalism, and Gershwin the popular, melodic and sentimental against Carter the dissonant, spiky, phantasmagorical "musicians" composer. Copland is somewhere in the middle of these pairings, but actually not as good as any of them I think. I love some of his best work (Appalachian Spring, Piano Sonata, Dickinson Songs) but too much of the oeuvre seems to be significantly below par considering that he is now almost universally seen as one of the Great Composers of the 20th century.

Cage and Feldman are very dear to me also but are far too strange/individual to seem in any way reflective of some kind of national aesthetic.

I think there are many fine American composers. Two of my favorites are Piston and Diamond. I also have found pleasure in the minimalism of Reich and Adams. For me, there were significant American composers who helped contribute to the United States becoming a country that produces original and individual classical music.
 
A matter of opinion, but I don't think Barber, Ives, Copland, Gershwin and Carter tell the whole story. Schuman, Cowell, Harris, Creston, Bernstein, Thomson, etc. were all inventive American composers as well.

[Guido]

Absolutely, I think so too, but to me they are all secondary in quality and importance to the 5 (plus 2) that I mentioned. I would not be without Piston's second, Schuman's violin concerto, Bernstein's clarinet sonata, Ruth Crawford Seeger's String Quartet or Ruggles' Suntreader to name but five pieces off the top of my head. The "whole story" of American music would need to mention every American composer. But there are of course as in every art form of every period, more and less important artists.