Aaron Copland

Aaron Copland is regarded as one of the most influential American composers of his time. His music was largely influenced by his travels and studies abroad, thus resulting in a fusion consisting of both European traditions and his unique style, reflecting the vast open spaces, canyons, mountains, and overall landscape of America. He was also influenced by Classicism, folk music and jazz, which last up to this day.

          Born to Russian-Jewish immigrants in New York in 1900, his life was not entirely easy, especially considering that this was a time when there was much discrimination against those of Jewish descent. Because of this, his surname was changed from “Kaplan” to “Copland” to align themselves with the desires of a predominantly Christian community. Being of Russian heritage would also prove to work against him in later life as he would be subjected to prejudice and discrimination as a result of McCarthyism (he was once excluded from the roster of musicians chosen to help mark the inauguration of President Eisenhower). Nevertheless, he studied piano at an early age and grew fond of composers such as Strauss, Wolff, Debussy, and Ravel. At age 11, he left home for France to study at the newly opened American School of Music at Fontainebleau, where he had the honour of thriving under the guidance of the famous Nadia Boulanger. During his time there, he was awarded the prestigious Guggenheim fellowship which enabled him to return to France. Initially, his music was not widely received by the public because of its modernist nature, which as a result, he was able to recognize the power of radio, film, phonograph, and theater (specifically ballet and dance) as a means of communication. At this time, he toured several countries and continents, including Hollywood, Mexico, South America, Europe, and Asia. Thanks to this, his career took off in the 1940s and would remain a productive one throughout the decades. In the 1960s-70s he retired from composing in favour of guest recording & conducting and continued to do so until he died in 1990 in Sleepy Hollow, New York.

          Copland had a wide range of influences. He was particularly heavily influenced by his studies with his teacher and mentor Nadia Boulanger, whom he regarded as his greatest influence on him at a young age. It was with her that he studied Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical models. He also admired the bold freshness of Stravinsky and his travels to Mexico and his friendship with composer Carlos Chávez allowed him to absorb the culture and traditions of the Mexican people, which is reflected in many of the dances he wrote, including El Salón México which attained international praise. He developed a populist European style overlaid with distinct American elements, and many of his folk and folk-inspired works demonstrate American nationalism, such as in A Lincoln Portrait, where text from the famous Gettysburg Address was used in combination of folk tunes such as Camptown Races. Additionally, unlike many of his contemporaries who infuse their music with the lush sentimentality of neo-Romanticism, he remained true to his own style and gave his compositions a unique American voice (his score for The Heiress earned him an Academy Award). As well, he followed the trends of his time: Copland, like Stravinsky, experimented with Schoenberg’s twelve-tone system, as evidenced in works such as Piano Fantasy, although he did not pursue the path. He also fused together American music and dance vocabulary, as seen in Billy the Kid, where he uses many advanced compositional techniques (changing meter, polyharmonies) along with cowboy songs. As well, influences of urban jazz can be traced in pieces such as Clarinet Concerto.

          To conclude, Copland serves as a triumph that symbolizes what American composers can do, and arguably represents a high point for his time. He gave a unique American “voice” to his compositions which allowed them to become enduring classics through history, and his name remembered for generations.