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Aaron Copland

Aaron Copland


Aaron Warner

Aaron Copland was the embodiment of what a composer can hope to become.
Copland was very much in touch not only with himself and his feelings, but with
the audience he intended to reach. Very few composers have a concrete idea of
what "types" of people they wish their music to reach. Copland was one of these
few. The "Common Man" was the central part of much of his volumes of music
strived to reach. Copland felt that, ". .everyone should have a chance to see
things through this music. Limiting who can understand it only limits your
usefulness" Throughout his 75+ years as a composer and conductor, he touched
the lives and hearts of as many people as he could.
Copland was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1900 to fairly affluent
parents. Because of his family's financial status, he started formally training
as a teen, and moved to Paris where he became the first American student of
Nadia Boulanger. It was here that Copland developed much of his neo-classical
style. Although he enjoyed the precise structure that Boulanger had taught him,
Copland's heart was truly in creating music that people other than musicians
could appreciate. It was upon his return to America in 1924 that he decided that
he would write ". . .truly American music." He traveled throughout America,
getting a taste of what the "common man" was listening to. During these travels
he strayed into Mexico, and wrote the highly successful El Salon Mexico. A quote
from the fall of 1932 sums up his intentions in writing this piece: "Any
composer who goes outside his native land wants to return bearing musical
souvenirs." This is exactly what he did. The piece is a lively adaptation of
Frances Toor's Cancionero Mexicano, with a very loose tempo, and heavy use of
the horn section.
It was after the success of El Salon Mexico that Copland proceeded to
produce what is now considered the epitome of "American" music. He combined his
neo-classical schooling with jazz-like syncopation...