Appalachian Spring

[Zhiliang]

Hi, i am looking for an alternative take on Copland's Appalachian Spring. I have the composer's own recording of it.

Which in your opinion is the (in great sound)

1. most beautiful recording of it?

2. a most unusual, different and interesting recording of it?

As a total newbie to orchestral music, which other Copland's compositions are more accessible and can be tried after the Appalachian Spring?

Thanks a million.

[vandermolen]

Hi, i am looking for an alternative take on Copland's Appalachian Spring. I have the composer's own recording of it.

Which in your opinion is the (in great sound)

1. most beautiful recording of it?

2. a most unusual, different and interesting recording of it?

As a total newbie to orchestral music, which other Copland's compositions are more accessible and can be tried after the Appalachian Spring?

Thanks a million.

I would suggest Symphony No 3, Billy the Kid or Rodeo. If you want something more "difficult" try the Symphonic Ode. Quiet City is a beautiful short work. There are many different recordings of Appalachian Spring. You might like to try one of the recordings for chamber orchestra as an alternative.

I like Copland's own recording but perhaps one of the best recent recordings is with Michael Tilson Thomas on RCA in an album called "Copland, the Populist".

[sound67]

1. most beautiful recording of it?

Depends on what you're looking for: the suite (25 min approx) or the complete (33 min) version - the original version for chamber ensemble or the one for full orchestra? So, essentially, there are four (?!, never had an orchestral version of the full ballet) different versions available. My favorites:


The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Dennis Russell Davies (suite, chamber version / coupled with the edgier Short Symphony and Ives' lovely 3rd Symphony, "The Camp Meeting")


The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Hugh Wolff (complete, chamber version, great twofer with many other attractive Copland works)

Least favorite version:


Los Angeles Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein (complete, full orchestra)

That one takes the edge off of everything. 

On balance, I prefer the chamber version.

2. a most unusual, different and interesting recording of it?

Appalachian Spring doesn't exactly cry out for "different", meaning eccentric, readings. It's just not that kind of work. Also, if there is a version for jew's harp-, or balalaika ensemble, I'm not aware of it. (But there is an arrangement of Dvorák's "New World" Symphony for solo guitar.  )

As a total newbie to orchestral music, which other Copland's compositions are more accessible and can be tried after the Appalachian Spring?

The Red Pony (film score, suite)
Symphony No.3
Rodeo / Billy the Kid
Latin-American Sketches
etc

The twofer above would make for great starting point.

Thomas

[DavidRoss]

I would suggest Symphony No 3, Billy the Kid or Rodeo. If you want something more "difficult" try the Symphonic Ode. Quiet City is a beautiful short work. There are many different recordings of Appalachian Spring. You might like to try one of the recordings for chamber orchestra as an alternative.

I like Copland's own recording but perhaps one of the best recent recordings is with Michael Tilson Thomas on RCA in an album called "Copland, the Populist".

I heartily second this recommendation.  This recording by Copland's protege is very beautiful, the sound is gorgeous, and it includes fine performances of both Billy the Kid and Rodeo.  The performance of Appalachian Spring is also "unusual, different and interesting" for its inclusion of the "Revivalist" episode from the ballet, which Copland did not include in the orchestral suite one usually hears.  As Michael Steinberg says of this passage in his liner notes, "...it will reveal a new and remarkable Copland, dark and possessed, and with its obsessive repetitions this music looks forward three decades to the work of Steve Reich and John Adams...."

For more of MTT's insight into Copland's music, you might be interested in the second and third programs linked on  The MTT files website.

[Zhiliang]

I would suggest Symphony No 3, Billy the Kid or Rodeo. If you want something more "difficult" try the Symphonic Ode. Quiet City is a beautiful short work. There are many different recordings of Appalachian Spring. You might like to try one of the recordings for chamber orchestra as an alternative.

I like Copland's own recording but perhaps one of the best recent recordings is with Michael Tilson Thomas on RCA in an album called "Copland, the Populist".

Thanks Vandermolen, i will certainly look into your suggestions. Quiet City sounds interesting. Is it part of a bigger work or a standalone composition?

[Zhiliang]

Depends on what you're looking for: the suite (25 min approx) or the complete (33 min) version - the original version for chamber ensemble or the one for full orchestra? So, essentially, there are four (?!, never had an orchestral version of the full ballet) different versions available. My favorites:


The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Dennis Russell Davies (suite, chamber version / coupled with the edgier Short Symphony and Ives' lovely 3rd Symphony, "The Camp Meeting")


The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Hugh Wolff (complete, chamber version, great twofer with many other attractive Copland works)

Least favorite version:


Los Angeles Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein (complete, full orchestra)

That one takes the edge off of everything. 

On balance, I prefer the chamber version.

Appalachian Spring doesn't exactly cry out for "different", meaning eccentric, readings. It's just not that kind of work. Also, if there is a version for jew's harp-, or balalaika ensemble, I'm not aware of it. (But there is an arrangement of Dvorák's "New World" Symphony for solo guitar.  )

The Red Pony (film score, suite)
Symphony No.3
Rodeo / Billy the Kid
Latin-American Sketches
etc

The twofer above would make for great starting point.

Thomas

Thanks Thomas, actually i am looking for the suite version and also by a full orchestra. Is the Bernstein one really bad?

Haha, different more in the sense of timbre of the instruments, the orchestra playing, or another kind of sound rather.

The Copland one, when i close my eyes, the visuals are really there..... I am still wowed by it. Now need something also good to compare it with.

[Zhiliang]

I heartily second this recommendation.  This recording by Copland's protege is very beautiful, the sound is gorgeous, and it includes fine performances of both Billy the Kid and Rodeo.  The performance of Appalachian Spring is also "unusual, different and interesting" for its inclusion of the "Revivalist" episode from the ballet, which Copland did not include in the orchestral suite one usually hears.  As Michael Steinberg says of this passage in his liner notes, "...it will reveal a new and remarkable Copland, dark and possessed, and with its obsessive repetitions this music looks forward three decades to the work of Steve Reich and John Adams...."

For more of MTT's insight into Copland's music, you might be interested in the second and third programs linked on  The MTT files website.

Thanks David, for the links, i am reading into that now. Haha looks like the MTT version is a MUST-Buy. Meaning his is the complete ballet version right?

[Zhiliang]

Is this




the reissue of this?



On a side now, how is MTT's Mahler?

[sound67]

Apparently, the MTT is the chamber version, too:

http://www.amazon.com/Copland-Appalachian-Spring-Billy-Rodeo/dp/B0007INY3K/ref=pd_bbs_4?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1219319754&sr=8-4

Bernstein's orchestral version of the suite is too bland, also the Barber Adagio on the same disc is illustrative of the tendency in his later years to milk music for maximum "emotion".

Thomas

[vandermolen]

Is this




the reissue of this?



On a side now, how is MTT's Mahler?

Yes, it is the same CD. There is another one called "Copland, the Modernist", with more "difficult" works on, but I think it's a great disc too.
Quiet City is now a stand-alone composition but it was originally part of music Copland wrote for a play in 1939. Thomas is right to recommend "The Red Pony", a very enjoyable movie score. The CD pictured below is a really good new release. It is a two CD set, does not feature Appalachian Spring but has a great performance of Symphony No 3 with Eduardo Mata conducting the Dallas SO+it also has Quiet City, the Clarinet Concerto and an imaginative selection of other works. It is part of the EMI Gemini series:

[DavidRoss]

Thanks David, for the links, i am reading into that now. Haha looks like the MTT version is a MUST-Buy. Meaning his is the complete ballet version right?

More or less.  It includes all of the music Copland later orchestrated to make the popular suite, plus a substantial section from the ballet left out of the suite, which he later orchestrated for Eugene Ormandy but never published.  MTT uses the manuscript score to produce what is essentially a fully orchestrated version of the complete ballet music--not the shorter orchestral suite, nor the longer ballet for chamber orchestra, nor the suite for chamber orchestra.

I've not been buying MTT's Mahler--I didn't when it started and now plan to wait for the complete box set.  The cycle has received considerable praise.  From what I've heard, his approach is similar to that of his mentor, Bernstein, emphasizing his emotional response to the music, but still with attention to detail and orchestral clarity and in top-notch sound.

[sound67]

So Amazon got it wrong then. The sound sample from this site too suggests a larger orchestra:

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/hnum/9411704

(Track 2)

Thomas

[Zhiliang]

If i do have to get a Bernstein one, which one should i go for?

[Brian]

1. most beautiful recording of it?

2. a most unusual, different and interesting recording of it?

Beautiful, unusual, different - you have to get the conductorless Orpheus Chamber Orchestra recording.



It is both truly beautiful and quite unusual (the Orpheus are always 'different'!) with crystal-clear recorded sound ... unfortunately, the disc is out-of-print, but you can find it at ArkivMusic.com or from independent sellers at Amazon and other outlets.

[karlhenning]

On balance, I prefer the chamber version.

I used to, too, Thos;  it was not until I heard the Michael Tilson Thomas recording with San Francisco, that I actually enjoyed the orchestral version.  This one's worth a listen.

[karlhenning]

If i do have to get a Bernstein one

But, you don't have to  0:)

[karlhenning]

Apparently, the MTT is the chamber version, too:

No, but it seems you already worked around to that point 

The MTT recording is notable in that it includes material not generally recorded in the orchestral version;  but still, he uses the orchestral, and not the chamber, scoring.

[Zhiliang]

But, you don't have to  0:)

Haha, i am biased.... Lenny is my favourite..... 

[hornteacher]

Beautiful, unusual, different - you have to get the conductorless Orpheus Chamber Orchestra recording.



It is both truly beautiful and quite unusual (the Orpheus are always 'different'!) with crystal-clear recorded sound ... unfortunately, the disc is out-of-print, but you can find it at ArkivMusic.com or from independent sellers at Amazon and other outlets.

YES!  LOVE this one.

[hornteacher]

Here's a different twist.  This DVD is MARVELLOUS for getting to know Copland a lot better, plus it includes a beautiful performance of the chamber version of Appalachian Spring.