Aaron Copland : The Life and Work of an Uncommon Man

by Pollack, Howard

• ISBN13: 9780805049091
• ISBN10: 0805049096
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-03-15
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.

Summary

A candid and fascinating portrait of the American composer. The son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, Aaron Copland (1900-1990) became one of America's most beloved and esteemed composers. His work, which includes Fanfare for the Common Man, A Lincoln Portrait, and Appalachian Spring, has been honored by a huge following of devoted listeners. But the full richness of Copland's life and accomplishments has never, until now, been documented or understood. Howard Pollack's meticulously researched and engrossing biography explores the symphony of Copland's life: his childhood in Brooklyn; his homosexuality; Paris in the early 1920s; the Alfred Stieglitz circle; his experimentation with jazz; the communist witch trials; Hollywood in the forties; public disappointment with his later, intellectual work; and his struggle with Alzheimer's disease. Furthermore, Pollack presents informed discussions of Copland's music, explaining and clarifying its newness and originality, its aesthetic and social aspects, its distinctive and enduring personality.

Author Biography

Howard Pollack is associate professor of music history and literature at the University of Houston. He has written four books on classical music and has served as music critic for the Houston Press, among other publications. He lives in Houston.

Table of Contents

Introduction	ix
1. A Copland Portrait	3	(12)
2. Background Matters	15	(15)
3. Early Education and First Works	30	(15)
4. Paris	45	(12)
5. Copland and the Music of Europe	57	(19)
6. From Sonata Movement to Grohg (1921-24)	76	(12)
7. Return and Rediscovery	88	(19)
8. The Usable Past	107	(14)
9. From the Organ Symphony to "Vocalise" (1924-28)	121	(21)
10. From Vitebsk to the Piano Variations (1928-30)	142	(17)
11. Copland Among His Peers	159	(19)
12. Copland and Younger American Composers	178	(38)
13. South of the Border	216	(18)
14. Personal Affairs	234	(23)
15. Copland and the American Theater	257	(13)
16. An Engaged Citizen	270	(18)
17. From the Short Symphony to A Prairie Journal (1933-37)	288	(26)
18. From Billy the Kid to John Henry (1938-40)	314	(22)
19. Music for the Movies and for Keyboard (1939-41)	336	(21)
20. From Lincoln Portrait to Danzon Cubano (1942)	357	(21)
21. From The North Star to Appalachian Spring (1943-44)	378	(29)
22. From "Jubilee Variation" to Four Piano Blues (1945-48)	407	(21)
23. From The Red Pony to the Piano Quartet (1948-50)	428	(23)
24. The Changing Scene	451	(16)
25. From Old American Songs to the Piano Fantasy (1950-57)	467	(19)
26. From Dance Panels to Connotations (1959-62)	486	(17)
27. From Emblems to Proclamation (1964-82)	503	(15)
28. Identity Issues	518	(14)
29. The Later Years	532	(18)
Conclusion	550	(6)
Appendix: List of Works	556	(8)
Notes	564	(101)
Selected Bibliography	665	(6)
Index	671