Aaron Copland--A Brief Biography

The life of Aaron Copland (I've found) is very inspiring with the wide variety of styles that he has experimented with throughout his lengthy career. After doing a similar paper for our weekly listening assignments, I found a mix of rhythms and melodic figures of the many different composers we had studied prior to him. It is really a wonder whether he had heard and studied the works of those other composers, whether his teachers had heard and studied them, or if, with all the traveling that composers were doing, the spirit was just in the air. It would be nice to think the latter.  I am assuming that just as we, in this modern generation pick up on news from all around the world, composers back in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries heard about the music of the times via their own mediums. Whatever method they heard about these compositional techniques, the resulting music proves to be a trend-setter for the culture and a pleasure to listen to several years later.

What struck me while compiling the research for this paper, was the way Copland thought of his works, especially his own criticism of his Piano Fantasy, composed between the years of 1955 and 1957. Citing the work as t merely a sequence of spontaneous events unrelated to one another and, largely an awareness of coherent structures, while realizing the separate parts of the ensemble and the parts they play adding to the whole performance of the work. He means that somewhat unrelated material could worked together to culminate in a coherent piece of many unconventional structures.

Another astounding point that Copland brings up later in his notes is that a composer who assumes the stereotypical position of being a mere "twelve-toner," especially in his day of modernism is rather out of fashion. I believe that it is important for a composer to have sections of consonance with bouts of tasteful dissonance. I emphasize tasteful dissonance because I would think that dissonance in the style of Schoenberg (i.e. writing parts with no ear associated) would be all too painful for the creative ear. From the article that I found on Copland, the Critic, the composer would probably agree. His music would show this agreement because his distinct  style of combined consonances with rather uncertain chromatic, dissonant passages (as in the famous "Appalachian Spring"). It is simply beautiful how he treats the strings in that high quartet between inspired consonant movements, like the Bride's Dance, and the melody based on the Shaker song.

Another interesting critique from the composer is that he really dislikes being stereotyped as a purveyor of Americana. The composer insists that he is merely a composer of absolute music. He doesn't hear that his music, in any way, evokes popular folk or other pop culture materials. He claims to be writing plain, serious, music. I find this astounding because while he denies the fact of evoking folk idioms in his music, the Shaker movement in Appalachian Spring evokes the music of the Shakers. The music of the Shakers is the "folk" music of their time and their unique culture. Aaron Copland is being a synthesizer of this kind of music, promoting certain sounds that he takes in from the music he studied in Paris and America. He truly is a cultured composer who has the ability to soak up This would start a separate discussion on the question of what folk music is. I don't have the space to comment on that in this particular work of research. It would perhaps be more appropriate to discuss this subject in an upcoming book on the meaning or definition of American music.

Being a fan of biography and autobiographies, I find it so interesting to research these composers, especially the ones in the beginning of American musical culture. This paper takes a look a time when American culture and music was just being defined and in its infancy.

His First Works

I always find it interesting to research those works (preferably in the beginning of his career) that didn't get so much attention or are not as famous as his other works. The research of these works are always more difficult to come by, but the discovery of the details of such works is a rewarding experience. As we continue in our study of the genius of Copland, it is found that the majority of his output coming out of his studies in Paris include several examples early piano works and 20th Century song (the former of which would relate to his later Variations for piano and ultimately his mid-career Piano Fantasy).

Upon listening to the opening chords of Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring, I was struck by the open harmonies of fifths and seconds. For example, when Copland first starts the piece, he starts out on a unison A in the strings. Then, he has the clarinet and flute playing the third and the fifth of the chord, the C-sharp and E. From there, the strings go onto play the ninth and eleventh of the chord to form the tonality A, C-sharp, E, G-sharp. On the next two bars he adds one more note to that tonality, the B (the ninth). The string texture ceases followed by the harp plucking one string on the note A. The strings start up again on the C-sharp just above middle C. The strings build the nice A ninth sonority again with the G-sharp in the first violin. Then, he has the English horn and oboe come in the end of the A chord going to a nice, bright D chord. The D chord morphs into D, F#, A, C#, and a D nine chord. This is a harmony that so far, I have not heard paired together in any other concert work I've studied. Thus, it is the beginning of a stunning, new sound.

The texture then repeats the same harmonic gestures, only stopping once more to have the entire movement end as it had begun, on a unison A in the strings with the clarinet filling in the third and the fifth. It is so simply light, colorful, open, and slowly flowing, like that of a slow-moving brook. It personally makes me feel like I am there, in a faraway wood, by the brook just sitting and listening to the slow falling of the water, taking in the blue sky. Just listening to this piece and writing my own description of it makes me relax. There is a fleeting thought in my mind about this piece as could be compared to Beethoven's Pastorale Symphony. That whole aspect of sitting by a wood, brook, or stream, pondering, contemplating nature, listening to the world around us--makes us stop a moment from our busy lives and take in an ounce of nature, in music or in art, which I call true wealth. Upon listening to the harmonies, I thought, "This is so forward-thinking and demonstrative in the tonal language than anything I have heard before." Just as I thought the beauty was over, movement two came along. The allegro with triumphant brass and marching strings syncopated by the boom of a timpani tuned to C, and the brightly metallic sound of the piano in unison with the strings, is simply a exciting and breathtaking affair.

Then, there is a melody started out by the flutes and the brass that was written almost entirely in fourths. For example, the brass start out: C, F, B-flat, C, F, B-flat, C, F, B-flat, F, C, F while the timpani tuned to C, syncopates the texture into a 7/8 meter. The texture trades off between the brass in one figure and the woodwinds and strings in a softer version of this rhythm and melody taken down to a B-flat centered tonality. The texture then goes back and forth between the two.Then the texture suddenly modulates to an F-centered tonality, to a B-flat major 7th, to C major, to B-flat major 7th, to C, and then back to F. The strings in this section are in the middle of their ranges with a melancholy melody that harkens my ear back to something I swore that I've heard before (C, F, B-flat, A, G..). The flute has a scale-like, cantabile melody from the A above the treble clef down to the C space on the treble clef followed by a repeating pattern of thirds (F, F, A, F) while the strings continue their melody. There go the tones in fourths that seem so prominent throughout this work. I’m still trying to figure out which other composer had a similar set of harmonic gestures as is present in this section. Was it Stravinski? Was it Rachmaninov? I can't really remember.

The F-B-flat-F-C texture fades into the third movement with a gesture back and forth between the flute and the clarinet, and oboe. While the strings are playing their last F chord to end the section, the flute, clarinet and oboe start playing notes that are common in A major against the F (A, E, A, C#, A. . .).This playful gesture slips back into a slightly syncopated moderato where the English horn, the oboe and the clarinet sound successive B-flat major chords (1,and, 2, 3, 1, and 2, 3. . .) and sounds the following tonality (B-flat, B-flat/A, G minor, F minor). Then it goes back to the syncopated rhythm in B-flat. The woodwinds hold then fade out with a slight duetting gesture by the first and second clarinet (B-flat, A, F, D, C, C#).  

On the turn of C#, the texture slides to F# sharp chromatically coloring the landscape as it goes along (melody: C#, B, E, C#). After an uncertain moment of chromaticism,the texture thins out to showcase the clarinet and oboe (D#, C#, A#,D#).The texture stops. Then, the strings start up again with a C# tonality with the melody (F, A, G#, F, pause,F, A, G#, F, E, D, F. . .). By now, the strings are playing melody and harmony together in a beautifully chromatic string quartet. After this beautiful chromatic segeway, the woodwinds take over with a previous melody (C#, B, D#, C#), with only one note altered from the previous melodic material. The strings finish off the adagietto texture on a B chord. Then the woodwinds break off into a rather bouncy melody in E major, then modulating to F# and ultimately to an A major tonality (A, D, G, A in chordal language). Then the texture continues this march-like texture in E major and nearby keys with the piano now joining in the fun, with high-reaching melodic flourishes in the flutes. This culminates in a slow flourish in E major.     

In movement five, Allegro, “Dance of the Bride,” the texture starts out with brass, strings and piano snatching staccato notes into snippets of melody, in figure, signifyingthe bride is rising to dance. As the notes and fragmented phrases become more unified, a lively celebration takes place between the brass, strings, and pitched percussion unite in a fast 3/4 meter. After about two minutes of the vivacious dance, the Bride texture closes with the same fragmented entry material as before the dance started, signaling the bride has had her dance and now takes her seat. 

The ending of the Bride texture prompts the beginning of these beautiful violin textures, that sound as if a solo violin is on top of the second violins in a duet or divisi.

In movement seven, the theme based on a shaker song, a magical journey takes place as a beautiful shaker melody starting in A-flat in the high flutes and piccolo decorates the silence. More instruments such as the oboe join in when the tune modulates to G-flat. Then, after a few moments the violas echo what the woodwinds just played of the shaker melody, only this time using diminution (probably playing half notes). This viola melody is further decorated by a flourish of woodwind activity and supporting pitched percussion material. It sounds like you’re taking a walk or a ride through the country until the brass come in with the Shaker melody (C, C, D, E, C, E, F, G, G, F, E, D, D, E, E, D, E, D, B, G. . .) in the key of C. This is greeted by the strings wild flourish of chromatic and melodic material. Then, in a final gasp, the whole orchestra plays the shaker melody in all its splendor at half the original tempo for emphasis.

In the final movement, the strings embark on a second quartet on the chords (G, G7, C, E, D minor, G, G7, C, E minor, F, G, G minor A-flat major) in a kind of chordal exploration. This is followed by a melancholy flute melody accompanied by strings. The melody in the strings seems remarkably similar to the F, F/B-flat, C, F progression we encountered earlier. This structure ends with the ringing of the vibes. The final note the vibes end on is a G. It there that the piece has ended, nice and quiet, after such an interesting ride. It truly is an example of something new to write in the tonal language while still keeping your audience’s attention. There are dissonances in the piece, but they are really tastefully done. This and the next piece are some of the most beautiful within the 20th Century repertoire.

El Salón de Mexico

Upon listening to Copland's El Salón de Mexico, I was struck by the plethora of unique rhythms, the Mexican Hat Dance-esque snaps of the snare drum, the occasional dragging of the beat followed by mini accelerandos to snap the rhythm back into its allegro tempo was particularly interesting, the tasteful brass and strings accompanying a similar figure. The melodic part of this piece starts with the repeated G major triads in that familiar Mexican rhythm. This is followed by the clarinet and oboe trading off altered thirds in the G tonality, the major and minor third, B and B-flat. Then the timpani starts the syncopated beat and the melody B, B, A, B, D, D, D, C, D, F, E, E, D, E, G, F#, E, D. A variation of this melody then follows in a Mexican dance style. For example, the melody in this section goes G, G, G, B, A, G, A, A, C, F#, F#, F#, A, G, F#, G, G, B, B, G, E, E, D#, E, F#, G, G, F#, G, F#, E, D#, E, F#, D, B in the first violin and viola. The second violin is the duetting instrument.The strings then copy this melody in its same duet with added brass in the key of C major. 

Then the tonality shifts back to G major. A selection of each type of instrument in the orchestra play an interesting syncopated phrase that shifts keys from G major to an A-flat and then B-flat orientation. After moments of resting on B-flat and F chords, the texture briefly modulates to C major and repeats the second main melody of the piece (C,C, C, E, D, C, D, D, F. . .). Then the texture takes on a slower stance with a Ravel-esque C# major passage. This is followed by similar voicings in F# major. A modulation to D major and then back to F # major thins out the texture to showcase a high clarinet and a tapping percussion instrument. This adds a very Mexican flavoring to the already-festive piece. This very same texture shows up again some two minutes later, this time with the melody F, B-flat, C, D, B-flat.The texture then takes on a G over D sort of tonality with the strings going (D, G, D, G, D, G, E, C, E, C, D, G. . .). While this melody is going on, many of the other instruments in the orchestra take on a rather dark and searching D minor tonality. As the texture continues to take shifting modulations, a melody (example: E, A, C#, C#, C#, D, C#, D, E, E) is present in different guises.Then the second major melodic motive comes back, this time in A major. Within the last few seconds, the syncopation stops and a dissonant but beautiful melancholy framework takes shape to tie into the next piece and into later periods of his musical career.