| Note: for listings of individual choral pieces, please see Alphabetical Index of Choral Works.
Las Agachadas (The Shake-down Song)
Hugh Ross, conductor of the Schola Cantorum, commissioned a composition to honor the first conductor of the Schola, Kurt Schindler, who had been responsible for bringing to light many unknown and forgotten folk songs. Copland chose a "dance-song" from Burgos in northern Spain. The song is written for two groups of singers — a solo group and an eight-part mixed chorus. Copland wrote, "I hoped to give the song a realistic native feeling."
Choral Finale from Canticle of Freedom
The original version for chorus and orchestra was a commission for the opening of the new Kresge auditorium at MIT. It was replaced by a 1967 revision. Copland was inspired by the famous biblical text: "Let us now praise famous men, and our fathers that begat us..." Hoping the piece would be used often by nonprofessionals, Copland limited himself to two-part choral writing and to introducing the chorus only in the finale.
Four Motets
Nadia Boulanger required her pupils to learn to compose traditional forms, among them the motet. Written under her instruction, Copland's motets make use of biblical texts for an a cappella chorus of mixed voices. He wrote, "I think of these as student pieces that show some influence of Moussorgsky, whom I admired. I agreed to their publication with mixed emotions. while they have a certain curiosity value — perhaps people want to know what I was doing as a student — the style is not yet really mine." The individual titles are listed below:
Four Motets (1921) 13'
Mixed chorus a cappella
text: Bible
1. Have Mercy On Us, O My Lord
2. Help Us O lord
3. Sing Ye Praises to our King
4. Thou O Jehovah, Abideth Forever
In the Beginning
Based on the part of the King James Version of the Bible concerned with the seven days of creation, Copland chose a mezzo-soprano soloist and mixed chorus acapella to tell the oft-told story. As he explained, "I was striving for a gentle narrative style using the biblical phrase ëAnd the next day . . .' to round off each section." Robert Shaw conducted the premiere in Memorial Hall at Harvard and again in New York at Carnegie Hall; Nell Tangemen sang the difficult but extraordinarily effective solo part.
In the Beginning (1947) 17'
mixed chorus a cappella with mezzo-soprano solo
text: from Genesis
North Star
A World War II movie with stars and big names that
was flattering to the Russians had the misfortune to be released as the Soviet Union became an enemy of the U.S. rather than an ally. Copland wrote a great deal of music for the film. He decided to use a style that would suggest, rather than emphasize, the Russian flavor. Several songs were subsequently drawn from the score. The Younger Generation and Song of the Guerrillas, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin, were arranged as choral scores.
Song of the Guerillas (1943) 4'
baritone, TTBB and piano
text: Ira Gershwin
The Younger Generation (1943) 3'
text: Ira Gershwin
arranged by Frederick Fay Swift for:
SA and piano
SSA and piano
SAB and piano
SATB and piano
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Old American Songs, Set I
see also Voice and piano
The Boatmen's Dance
baritone, TTB and piano (arr. Irving Fine)
baritone, SATB and piano (arr. Irving Fine)
The Dodger
baritone, TTBB and piano (arr. Irving Fine)
Long Time Ago
SSA and piano (arr. Ken Straker)
SATB and piano (arr. Irving Fine)
Simple Gifts
SA or TB and piano (arr. Irving Fine)
I Bought Me a Cat
SSA and piano (arr. Ken Straker)
soprano, tenor, SATB and piano (arr. Irving Fine)
tenor, baritone, bass, TTBB and piano (arr. Irving Fine)
Old American Songs, Set II
see also Voice and piano
At the River
SA and piano (arr. R. Wilding-White)
SSA and piano (arr. R. Wilding-White)
TTBB and piano (arr. R. Wilding-White)
SATB and piano (arr. R. Wilding-White)
Ching-a-Ring-Chaw
unison voices and piano (arr. Aaron Copland)
TTBB and piano (arr. Aaron Copland)
SSAA and piano (arr. Irving Fine)
SATB and piano (arr. Irving Fine)
The Little Horses
SA and piano (arr. Irving Fine)
SSA and piano (arr. Irving Fine)
TTBB and piano (arr. Irving Fine)
Zion's Walls
SSAA and piano (arr. Glenn Koponen)
TTBB and piano (arr. Glenn Koponen)
SATB and piano (arr. Glenn Koponen)
The Tender Land
Copland's only full-length opera opened to mixed reviews. Since opera productions are infrequent, Copland welcomed the opportunity to arrange two set pieces from his opera for chorus and piano duet. The Promise of Living and Stomp Your Foot have found an active life outside the opera house. The former is a version of the stirring quintet from the end of Act I; the latter derives from the graduation party scene in Act II.
The Promise of Living (1954) 5'
SATBB and piano duet (arr. Aaron Copland)
text: Horace Everett
Stomp Your Foot (1954) 3'
text: Horace Everett
TTBB and piano duet (arr. Aaron Copland)
SATB and piano duet (arr. Aaron Copland)
Two Choruses
Upon Copland's return to New York City in 1924, at Nadia Boulanger's recommendation, he contacted Gerald Reynolds, conductor of the women's University Glee Club, who commissioned two choruses: The House on the Hill is set to a text by the American poet Edward Arlington Robinson. It is for female voices a cappella and opens with a wordless vocalise divided between two groups of singers. Copland wrote, "It's feeling is deliberately simple and meant to reflect the melancholy expression of the abandoned house in the poem.
An Immorality is to a text by Ezra Pound. Written for
soprano, chorus, and piano, this chorus is complex and lively with snappy, syncopated rhythms. Copland called it "my first real jazz piece."
Two Choruses (1925) 9'
women's chorus and piano (soprano solo in An Immorality)
The House on the Hill
text: Edward Arlington Robinson
An Immorality
text: Ezra Pound
What Do We Plant?
In the thirties, Copland taught part time at the Henry Street Settlement. He wrote this chorus for the Girls' Glee Club. It is a simple setting of a text by Henry Abbey for soprano and alto voices with piano accompaniment. Copland enjoyed composing for young performers. He said, "After all, they grow up and become our audiences."
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