Aaron Copland :: essays research papers

Aaron Copland     Aaron Copland was the embodiment of what a composer butt joint hope to become.Copland was really much in partake in not only with himself and his feelings, but withthe audience he intended to reach. Very few composers have a concrete idea ofwhat "types" of lot they wish their music to reach. Copland was one of thesefew. The "Common Man" was the central part of much of his volumes of musicstrived to reach. Copland felt that, ". .everyone should have a chance to seethings through this music. Limiting who can understand it only limits yourusefulness" Throughout his 75+ years as a composer and conductor, he touchedthe lives and hearts of as many people as he could.     Copland was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1900 to fairly affluentparents. Because of his familys financial status, he started formally trainingas a teen, and moved to capital of France where he became the first American student ofNadia Boulanger. It was here that Copland developed much of his neo-classicalstyle. Although he enjoyed the precise structure that Boulanger had taught him,Coplands heart was truly in creating music that people other than musicianscould appreciate. It was upon his return to America in 1924 that he decided thathe would write ". . .truly American music." He traveled throughout America,getting a smell of what the "common man" was listening to. During these travelshe strayed into Mexico, and wrote the highly successful El Salon Mexico. A quotefrom the fall of 1932 sums up his intentions in writing this pick "Anycomposer who goes outside his native land wants to return bearing musicalsouvenirs." This is exactly what he did. The piece is a lively adaptation ofFrances Toors Cancionero Mexicano, with a very loose tempo, and heavy use ofthe horn section.     It was after the success of El Salon Mexico that Copland proceeded toproduce what is now consi dered the epitome of "American" music. He combined hisneo-classical school day with jazz-like syncopation and a new, more "open" use ofold chordal progressions. He created Billy The Kid in 1938, producing thefirst "Western" musical. The score achieved a remarkable balance betweenoutright humor and pathos, and oftentimes bordered on tragic. It was this base soul of humanity that made Coplands music what it is. Many texts to a faultrefer to a certain built in sympathy that Copland may have had for the maincharacter, citing his homosexuality as a cause for his deep understanding ofwhat it is to be looked down upon by society.