Aaron Copland

by Pollack, Howard

• ISBN13: 9780252069000
• ISBN10: 0252069005
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-04-01
• Publisher: Univ of Illinois Pr

Summary

One of America's most beloved and accomplished composers, Aaron Copland played a crucial role in the coming of age of American music. This substantial biography is the first full-length scholarly study of his life and work.A conductor, music critic, and teacher who wrote clearly and accessibly about music, Copland composed some of the twentieth century's most familiar works -- Billy the Kid, Rodeo, Appalachian Spring, Fanfare for the Common Man -- in addition to a wealth of music for opera, ballet, chorus, orchestra, chamber ensemble, band, radio, and film. Howard Pollack's expansive and detailed biography examines Copland's musical development, his political sympathies, his personal life, and his tireless encouragement of younger composers, presenting a balanced and skillfully wrought portrait of an American original.

Table of Contents

Introduction
A Copland Portrait	p. 3
Background Matters	p. 15
Early Education and First Works	p. 30
Paris	p. 45
Copland and the Music of Europe	p. 57
From Sonata Movement to Grohg (1921-24)	p. 76
Return and Rediscovery	p. 88
The Usable Past	p. 107
From the Organ Symphony to "Vocalise" (1924-28)	p. 121
From Vitebsk to the Piano Variations (1928-30)	p. 142
Copland Among His Peers	p. 159
Copland and Younger American Composers	p. 178
South of the Border	p. 216
Personal Affairs	p. 234
Copland and the American Theater	p. 257
An Engaged Citizen	p. 270
From the Short Symphony to A Prairie Journal (1933-37)	p. 288
From Billy the Kid to John Henry (1938-40)	p. 314
Music for the Movies and for Keyboard (1939-41)	p. 336
From Lincoln Portrait to Danzon Cubano (1942)	p. 357
From The North Star to Appalachian Spring (1943-44)	p. 378
From "Jubilee Variation" to Four Piano Blues (1945-48)	p. 407
From The Red Pony to the Piano Quartet (1948-50)	p. 428
The Changing Scene	p. 451
From Old American Songs to the Piano Fantasy (1950-57)	p. 467
From Dance Panels to Connotations (1959-62)	p. 486
From Emblems to Proclamation (1964-82)	p. 503
Identity Issues	p. 518
The Later Years	p. 532
Conclusion	p. 550
App. List of Works	p. 556
Notes	p. 564
Selected Bibliography	p. 665
Index	p. 671
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.