Why I hear you cry? Simple I have a history with this CD. My recording of this CD is a copy taken from my Dad’s collection. I think he originally purchased the CD, Copland: Fanfare For The Common Man, Appalachian Spring, Rodeo, Billy Kid, conducted by Leonard Bernstein: New York Philharmonic Orchestra, in the early 1990s, and it had a blue colour. Of course, Fanfare For The Common Man is a very familiar piece of music with a cracking trombone part which incited me in, and Shaker Melody The Gift to be simple was the tune to one of the hymns we sang at Girls Brigade (and we would later sing at my wedding). The first time I think I really listened to the music was with my sister who talked my through all the different pieces in the Billy the Kid Ballet Suite. If you think this might sound really odd for sisters to talk about teenage music in their teens. Both of us studied music at high school and come from a very musical family so we’ve always had a wide range of music available to listen to. I don’t know or remember what led us to listen to talk about that music but from that day, I think I was enchanted and engaged with this CD from that moment on.
So much so, that I adopted the CD as part of my exam preparation and for every exam I have sat (Standard Grade, Higher, University etc), I have listened to this CD and it has given me both hope and courage. For me, the different tempos of the pieces from Springtime - Allegro to the Rodeo - Buckaroo dance gave me whatever I needed to get myself in the mood to sit exams and give me the strength to get through the test.
Although this music takes me back to exam times, it doesn’t make me think of exams. It is not like having songs which remind you about a past relationship. In fact, it just reminds me that with the right music you can get through anything. Someone said to me last week that I am a very positive person, which I am, but it doesn’t mean that I’m not wobbling during this time of COVID19, because I am but music is one of the things which settles me and brings me back to a place of calm. You may have no interest in ever listening to Copland’s music but I hope if you enjoy listening to music there are pieces that are helping you get through the strange times we live in.
As I would normally do, here is a little bit of knowledge on Arron Copeland. Born in Brooklyn New York in 1900, he started writing songs at the age of eight and took piano lessons with Leopold Wolfsohn between 1913 - 1917. After a period in Paris in the early 1920s, Copland to New York enthusiastic about the future and his musical opportunity. Living in the Upper West Side, he stayed there for nearly 30 years of his life. In America, the Jazz movement in the 1920s which brought George Gershwin and Louis Armstrong to the front of popular, Copland felt his own musically style had moved away from this style of music however the swing bands of Benny Goodman and Glenn Millar renewed his interest in the genre.
At the same time (in the 1930s) Copland established himself as a spokesman for composers of his generation and became a well-respected lecturer and writer on European music. During the 1930s and the great depressions, Copland travelled extensively to Europe, Africa and Mexico. His time travellers would influence the development of his ballet Billy The Kid, which together with El Salón México, which was his first commercial successes. Music like Stravinsky’s ballet scores in Russia, Copeland established himself as an authentic composer of American music and give choreographers music for their dance repertory.
The end of 1930s lead to a very productive 1940s, where his ballet Scores for Rodeo (1942) and Appalachian Spring (1944) were huge successes along with Fanfare for the Common Man (1942) and his Clarinet Concerto (1948) and a number of film scores.
Unfortunately, Copland’s political views in the 1950s didn’t sit while with the FBI and he was caught up with the Red Scare in America in the 1950s and much of his music was discarded, much to the annoyance to the musical community. Although the politics didn’t stop his musical composition, the moon of the period changed and Copland spent much of his later life focusing on conducting, rather the creating music.
Before I leave you with the links to some of my favourite parts of this CD, I would like to talk briefly about the Shaker Melody “Simple Gifts.” This was composed in 1848 and is attributed to Joseph Brackett, and it was Sydney Carter who turned the medley into a hymn entitled Lord of the Dance, for those who will be quick to correct me that Copland didn’t write it.
What’s interesting about these pieces of music in today’s world is all three of them were written at a time of great uncertainty; the Great Depression and WW2 and it make you wonder what the great composers of this century are up to during this period of isolation the whole world is in. Perhaps we will feel like the pioneers of Appalachian Spring and look at life with an unnerving excitement when it is safe to go out and explore again. Until next time, happy listening.
- Appalachian Spring - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e3rVcSy3IQ
- Rodeo - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3_FRgBKD4o
- Billy the Kid - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KL-j2etBTek
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