Aaron Copland created an All-American sound for the orchestral hall.
This is the second half of a two-part post. To read the first half, go here.
Finding An American Sound (1930s to 1950s)
After the success of El Salón México for orchestra and his foray to Jazz-inspired works, Copland began to look to folk music of the United States for inspiration. He was soon commissioned to compose music for a ballet based on the story of an Americna folk hero, Billy the Kid. In Billy the Kid, composed in 1938, he incorporated popular cowboy songs and wide intervals to evoke a sentimental feeling in the listener and illustrate the vastness of the American West. These cowboy melodies, characterized by their simplicity and straightfowardness, resonate throughout the ballet, grounding the music in a truly American sound. Copland also began to change his intervalic and chord choices by instead of building harmonies based on third, he choose wide intervals and leaps, along with the open harmonies that fourths and fifths create. The debut performance in Chicago featured a two-piano version of the score, but in its New York premier the following year, a full orchestra accompaniment was used, emphasizing brass and percussion. Through these musical techniques, Copland not only painted a vivid musical portrait of the Old West but also established himself as America's concert composer.
The Great Depression and Copland in the Movies
As the Great Depression took its toll across American life, many Americans, especially artists began to organize and form groups, collectives, leagues, and unions to protect their rights as artsits and to promote American music. Copland was active in several of these groups, including the Young Composers Group and the Composers Collective. In 1937, Copland co-founded the American Composers Alliance, an organization dedicated to advancing the interests of American composers and sharing their works across the country and the globe. Through these collective efforts, Copland and his contemporaries not only sought to protect the rights and promote the careers of American artists but also fostered a vibrant cultural landscape that celebrated the diversity and innovation of American music during a challenging era in history. Addtionally, like many of his contrmpoaries, Copland was notably engaged with the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a federal agency that employed millions of people, including artists, through various cultural projects aimed at revitalizing the arts in America. (We learned about the WPA in the previous post Woody Guthrie, People's Musician. As a composer in cooperation by the WPA, Copland continued to work creating uniqely American music. Such as composing a suite based on his Hear Ye! Hear Ye! (1934) and conducting its performance by the WPA Orchestra in 1937 and composing the score for The City in 1939.
The City was initially conceived as a stage play but became became the basis for a documentary film. The film debuted at the 1939's World's Fair in New York and was immediately recognized as a powerful piece of both "art" and film music. The success of The City made Copland stand out among music critics of his day, who (rather incorrectly) considered film music to be a "lower" form of music writing. Hollywood director Lewis Milestone (Sept. 30, 1895 to Sept. 25, 1980) was so moved by the music when he saw the documentary that he commissioned Copland to compose the score to his Of Mice and Men (1939). Copland continued to compose for the concert hall as his movie music career thrived. His achievement culminated in an Oscar win in 1949 for his score to Romantic drama The Heiress (1948).
Quiet City
Following The City, Copland composed another work based on life in the American urban landscape, Quiet City (1940). Quity City evokes the feeling of a city at twilight with the melody that is shared between an English horn and Trumpet outlining the silhouetted shape of the skyline against sky turning from pastels to grey, while the other instruments form stacked harmonies that are laid one on top of each other like the many floors in a highrise building. As the music progresses, bluesy and Jazz-inspired elements emerge with triplet figuares, lilting dotted rhythms, and sliding techaniues culminating in a sound that is distinctly of urban America.
Copland's Fanfare and Seminal Works
As the 1940s began and war escalted in Europe, Copland was becoming the central composer to the USA's musical identity, composing some of his best loved works. Compositions like his short and instantly recognizable piece Fanfare for the Common Man (1942), as well as the music to the ballets Rodeo (1942) and Appalachian Spring (1945). Fanfare for the Common Man, composed as the US was becoming involved in World War II, was initially a commissioned along with fanfares by 17 additional composers by conductor Eugene Goossens (May 26, 1893 to June 13, 1962) of the Cincinnati Symphony. Goossens explained that the stirring impact of fanfares on the audience with their emphasis on brass and percussion would be a way for thanks Americans for "significant contributions to the war effort.” Copland set to work on his fanfare at first inspired by a speech given by President Franklin D. Roosevelt (Jan. 30, 1882 to April 12, 1945) called The Four Freedoms, in which Roosevelt discussed four freedoms he believed every person had which were: freedom of speech and expression, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and the freedom from fear. However, Copland did not feel that the name of the speech was the proper name for the fanfare. Upon listening to another speech on the radio given this time by Vice President Henry Wallace (Oct. 7, 1888 to Nov. 18, 1965), entitled The Century of the Common Man, Copland realized who his fanfare was elevating, the every day American. Copland, deeply moved by Wallace's words, sought to honor the spirit of all Americans with this piece. The title itself reflects Copland's intention to celebrate the resilience and dignity of ordinary people through grand, majestic music that evokes a sense of patriotism and unity.
Fanfare for the Common Man
In Fanfare, Copland starts with tympani and bass drum then the theme begings with soaring brass playing widely spaced intervals. Copland creates open chords built on fourths and fifths rather than thirds in a technique that has come to be known as quartal-quintal harmony. The instrumentation is sparse focusing on brass and percussion and forgoing the usual lushness of the orchestra by eliminating the strings and woodwinds. The solemn and majestic theme is characterized by leaping intervals, imparting a bold and resolute character that symbolizes strength and solidarity. This character has been so ingrained into the Amerian musical dialect that the average listener has come to associated open fourths and fifths with hero themes. Composer John Williams (b. Feb. 8, 1932) has exploited this to full effect throughtout his career. (See my post Happy Star Wars Day! The Man Behind Its Music – John Williams for more on Williams.) Copland's primarily metric rhythmic choices and percussive punctuation enhance its celebratory and heroic effect, as does Copland's choice to enrich the harmonies as the piece progresses, creating large chords. In the final measures, Copland explores the mediant relationship taking us slowly upward in a series of major chords. The harmonies climb from B-flat to D-flat major and then A-flat to F major, and finally we reach the final cadence. However, rather than taking us back down to the home key of B flat, we end on a chord rooted in its mediant D with a strong D major harmony. Through this, Copland was elevating the common man to his heroic position. Through its clear and direct musical language, repetitive motifs, and gradual harmonic intensification, Fanfare for the Common Man poignantly honors everyday heroism and collective purpose, cementing its status as a powerful expression of American identity and resilience.
Rodeo (Full Ballet score)
In Rodeo, also completed in 1942, exemplifies Copland's ability to incorporate American folk elements into classical music. The ballet tells the story of a cowgirl searching for love amidst the backdrop of the American West. Copland drew inspiration from Irish folk tunes. For good or bad, the piece is remembered by many Americans because one of the sections, Hoedown, featured in the famous "Beef. It's What's for Dinner" advertising campaign.
"Simple Gifts" Theme from Appalachian Spring
As World War II continued Copland continued to connect American listeners. His 1944 work that music for the ballet Appalachian Spring is perhaps Copland's most enduring masterpiece. The music is infused with folk melodies and hymn-like simplicity, drawing from sources like the Shaker tune "Simple Gifts." The use of pentatonic scales and melodies the shape-note singing tradition further enrich the piece, giving it a distinctly American sentimentality.
A More Introspective Approach in Late Life (1960s On)
In the Post-War period, Copland, like many artists and intellectuals in the United States, faced scrutiny and suspicion due to the anti-communist sentiment fueled by Senator Joseph McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). McCarthy rose to power in 1946 and quickly saw anti-communism as a way to establish himself as a powerful individual in Washington, D. C. He led efforts to root out alleged communists or sympathizers from various sectors of American society, especially Hollywood and the arts.
Copland was at the top of his career at the time and continued to compose music the evoked Americana. Despite this, he was not immune to this climate of fear and suspicion. Although Copland was not a communist, his involvement with the Young Composers Group, the Composers Collective and the American Composers Alliance, along with his work with the WPA made him a target during the Red Scare. His opera, The Tender Land (1953) debuted at the same time he was summoned to testify before McCarthy's Senate Subcommittee. In the opera, once again Copland evoke a sense of American, this time the midwest with sparse harmonies and widely spaced melodic intervals and a strong sense of tonality.
Inscape (1967) for orchestra
During his two-hour interrogation, he answered questions candidly, denying any involvement in communist activities but acknowledging past associations with leftist circles. Despite his straightforward responses, the damage was done: Copland found himself blacklisted from Hollywood and faced obstacles orchestrated by McCarthy's influence within the State Department, which even banned his scores from being placed in U.S. overseas libraries. The repercussions were profound. Copland, once celebrated for his distinctly American style, felt compelled to shift into the more introspective and individualistic approach of a more international, atonal style. Works like Inscape marked a departure from his earlier, quintessentially American compositions. Reflecting on the musical environment in 1968, Copland remarked, "The idea of writing specifically American-sounding music is definitely out at the present time. Nobody knows when it might come back again."
Despite the challenges, Copland continued to compose. His last published work, Proclamation for Piano, composed between 1973 and 1982, was arranged for orchestra with Copland's blessing by composer Philip Ramsey in 1985, underscoring Copland's enduring legacy and resilience in the face of political adversity. Copland died at age 90 after years of failing health of Alzheimer's disease and respiratory failure on December 2, 1990 in Sleepy Hollow, New York. Despite the negative impact McCarthy had had on Copland's career, listeners today know his music well and known Copland as a distinctly American composer.
Copland: Distinctly American
Aaron Copland's contribution to American music is monumental and enduring, spanning nearly the entire 20th century, and informing what generations of composers and listeners hear as "American" concert hall music. His desire to define and develop an American sound in concert music resonated deeply with the cultural and social dynamics of his time, from the Jazz Age through the Great Depression and into the Cold War era. Copland's ability to weave together elements of Jazz, folk music, and Ragtime along with his compositional style of wide melodic intervals and harmonies built on fourths and fifths resulted in compositions that vividly incapsulated the vastness of the American landscape and the resolute spirit of its people. From iconic works like Quiet City and Fanfare for the Common Man to his explorations in film music, Copland crafted a musical identity that celebrates both the individualist and collectivist parts of American life. Despite facing unwarranted politically motivated opposition during the McCarthy era, Copland's commitment to artistic integrity and innovation ensured his legacy as one of America's foremost composers, whose music continues to inspire and resonate with audiences worldwide, defining what it means to create, compose, and listen to distinctly American concert music.
For Further Information
Aaron Copland Website
Aaron Copland Collection at the Library of Congress
Copland’s testimony to the committee for un-American activities
Fanfare for the Common Man — Kennedy Center for the Arts
Fanfare for the Common Man — Library’s of Congress
Janae J. Almen is a professional music instructor, composer, sound artist, and writer. She has a BA in Music/Education from Judson University and a MM in Computer Music/Composition from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. She is the founder of Perennial Music and Arts and is passionate about sharing her love of music and arts.
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