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Copland, Aaron

COPLAND, AARON (1900 - 1990)

Simply put, Aaron Copland is one of the most important composers of the twentieth century. He codified a concert music sound that was distinctly "American," and single-handedly created a generous path for composers in his native land, bringing to "the new world" what was mostly, up until that point, an imported and exclusively European art form. He lived a long and productive life, one that spanned almost the entire century, and worked not only as a composer, but as a conductor, pianist, teacher, author, concert promoter and generous friend to music.

His parents immigrated from Poland and Lithuania to New York City in their adolescence; Aaron was their fifth child, born in 1900. He was gifted at the piano, studying with Victor Wittgenstein and Clarence Adler. He took lessons in harmony and counterpoint with Goldmark, an old-fashioned teacher who was dedicated to Beethoven and Fux, and against whom Copland rebelled, as children do, becoming enamoured of Scriabin, Debussy and Ives (whom Goldmark called "dangerous"). Eventually, when he was twenty, the young composer-to-be set sail for Paris and the tutelage of Nadia Boulanger.

Under Boulanger Copland began to write his first full-fledged pieces, as well as keeping an involved notebook of musical ideas, an example of his legendary parsimonious nature, always thrifty with everything, especially notes. Using the new knowledge his teacher had imparted to him about Stravinsky, he also cultivated an interest in Jazz, mostly as seen through the eyes of the French, though he did have some knowledge of it from his time in New York. When he returned to America, it was with the score to a ballet called Grohg, along with sketches that would become the Symphonic Ode and Music for the Theatre in his satchel. He had begun to find his voice.

Copland's legendary compositional output changed it all; Americans no longer had to seek Teutonic refuge, trying to be Brahms. Works like the Third Symphony, with its Fanfare for the Common Man, Rodeo, Billy the Kid, Appalachian Spring, the Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson and El Salon Mexico showed American composers that it was possible to create a sound that was both nationalistic and musically sophisticated. He taught generations to draw influence from what was around, whether that happened to be Gershwin, Debussy, jazz, folk-tunes or hoedowns.

Discography
Image	Title	Price	Release Date	Label
	COPLAND: An Outdoor / Piano Concerto	$8.99	May 27, 2008	Naxos American Classics
	CORIGLIANO / COPLAND: Violin Sonatas / DELLO JOIO, N.: Variations and Capriccio	$16.99	Mar 27, 2007	Artek
	COPLAND: Prairie Journal / The Red Pony Suite / Letter from Home	$8.99	Oct 31, 2006	Naxos American Classics
	COPLAND: Piano Sonata / Piano Fantasy / Piano Variations	$8.99	May 17, 2005	Naxos American Classics
	COPLAND: Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson / Barber: Knoxville - Summer of 1915	$16.99	Nov 16, 2004	CBC Records
	COPLAND / DALLAPICCOLA / CARTER / IVES: Variations for Orchestra	$12.99	May 1, 2003	First Edition
	COPLAND: Appalachian Spring / Clarinet Concerto / Quiet City	$8.99	Nov 1, 2002	Naxos American Classics
	COPLAND: Works for Violin and Piano (Complete)	$8.99	Jul 1, 2002	Naxos American Classics
	COPLAND: Symphony No. 3 / Billy the Kid	$8.99	Apr 1, 2002	Naxos American Classics
	COPLAND / MARTINU / PROKOFIEV / SCHICKELE: Chamber Music	$16.99	Oct 1, 2000	ATMA Classique
	COPLAND: Clarinet Concerto / GOULD: Spirituals / SCHUMAN: Symphony No. 5	$18.99	Sep 1, 2000	Chandos
	AMERICAN SERIES, Vol. 10: HARRIS: Symphoy No. 3 / COPLAND: Symphony No. 3	$18.99	Aug 1, 1996	Chandos
	COPLAND: Piano Concerto / BRITTEN: Piano Concerto in D major	$11.99	Jun 1, 1992	Chandos
	COPLAND: Old American Songs / AMERICAN SPIRITUALS	$18.99	Jun 1, 1991	Chandos
	COPLAND: Appalachian Spring / Rodeo / Billy the Kid	$8.99	Apr 1, 1990	Naxos Classics
	COPLAND / NIELSEN, C.: Clarinet Concertos / LUTOSLAWSKI: Dance Preludes	$18.99	Jun 1, 1988	Chandos

Composer also appears in: (12)
Image	Title	Price	Release Date	Label
	AMERICAN CHORAL MUSIC	$8.99	Nov 21, 2006	Naxos American Classics
	MONUMENTAL WORKS FOR WINDS	$8.99	Oct 31, 2006	Naxos Wind Band Classics
	AMERICAN JOURNEY	$8.99	Jul 25, 2006	Naxos American Classics
	LEAVING HOME : ORCHESTRAL MUSIC IN THE 20TH CENTURY (NTSC)	$139.99	Mar 21, 2006	Arthaus Dvd
	LEAVING HOME : ORCHESTRAL MUSIC IN THE 20TH CENTURY - Vol. 5: The American Way (NTSC)	$24.99	Oct 18, 2005	Arthaus Dvd
	The Story of American Classical Music	$17.99	Jun 21, 2005	Naxos Educational
	CHILDREN'S SONGS - RHYMES, REVERIES, RIMES	$16.99	Oct 1, 2003	CBC Records
	EXPLORE AMERICA	$8.99	May 1, 2003	Naxos American Classics
	Listen, Learn and Grow Around the World	$8.99	Aug 1, 2002	Naxos Special Projects
	AMERICAN SALUTE (AN) - SPIRIT OF THE NATION	$8.99	Jun 1, 2002	Naxos American Classics
	Discover the Classics, Vol. 1	$9.99	Sep 3, 1996	Naxos Classics
	SIMPLE GIFTS	$16.99	May 1, 1991	CBC Records

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