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Aaron Copland

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | Date: 2008

Aaron Copland , 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).

Bibliography: See biographies by A. Berger (1953, repr. 1987) and H. Pollack (1999); study by N. Butterworth (1986).

Author not available, COPLAND, AARON., The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2008

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	A CELEBRATION OF COPLAND'S WORK The Boston Globe; 7/2/1989; Richard Dyer, Globe Staff; 1651 words ; Aaron Copland, often dubbed "The President of American Music," will never become the president emeritus -- even though it has been more than a dozen years since he has composed any music. What he did, and the example he set, is permanently with us. His music has helped define the nature of being an Read more
	COPLAND TELLS SOMETHING LESS THAN ALL The Boston Globe; 12/20/1989; Richard Dyer, Globe Staff; 816 words ; COPLAND SINCE 1943 By Aaron Copland and Vivian Perlis St. Martin's Press, 463 pages, $29.95, illustrated All of Aaron Copland's friends speak of his infectious giggle, and the composer has a sense of humor about himself -- in the second volume of his autobiography, he says that at a 1980 master Read more
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