COPLAND 2000

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The Copland saga has entered the mythology of American music. Central throughout was Copland's deep sense of responsibility to the musical communities that surrounded him, whether of composer-contemporaries or audiences.
Born on 14 November, 1900 to Harris Copland and Sarah Mittenthal Copland, Aaron grew up in a Jewish mercantile family. In 1921, when he left home for Paris, the young Brooklynite didn't know "a living soul" there, but he had the good instincts to select Nadia Boulanger as his teacher. Doing so was the first hint of a gift that consistently characterized Copland--an uncany capacity for sensing the need of the moment, taking action to address it, and making history in the process.

Audio: Aaron Copland interviewed by Vivian Perlis, Director of Oral History of American Music, Yale University.
Copland returned to New York in 1924 and leapt into the battle to establish new music as a credible force on the cultural scene. He never lost sight of this as a collective need, not just a personal one. Over the next several years, he helped found the Copland-Sessions Concerts and Cos-Cob Press, and he went on to play a major role in other such ventures, including the League of Composers, the Yaddo Festivals, Arrow Music Press, the American Composers' Alliance, the American Music Center, and the Berkshire Music Festival (Tanglewood). At the same time, he was visible as a journalist and on the lecture circuit.
Given this lifelong commitment to community, Copland's centennial can be celebrated by performing his works together with those of his contemporaries--both European and American. His music also stands ready for a whole new array of cross-media juxtapositions.




Back \| Begin Audio \| Next	The Copland saga has entered the mythology of American music. Central throughout was Copland's deep sense of responsibility to the musical communities that surrounded him, whether of composer-contemporaries or audiences. Born on 14 November, 1900 to Harris Copland and Sarah Mittenthal Copland, Aaron grew up in a Jewish mercantile family. In 1921, when he left home for Paris, the young Brooklynite didn't know "a living soul" there, but he had the good instincts to select Nadia Boulanger as his teacher. Doing so was the first hint of a gift that consistently characterized Copland--an uncany capacity for sensing the need of the moment, taking action to address it, and making history in the process.
Audio: Aaron Copland interviewed by Vivian Perlis, Director of Oral History of American Music, Yale University.	Copland returned to New York in 1924 and leapt into the battle to establish new music as a credible force on the cultural scene. He never lost sight of this as a collective need, not just a personal one. Over the next several years, he helped found the Copland-Sessions Concerts and Cos-Cob Press, and he went on to play a major role in other such ventures, including the League of Composers, the Yaddo Festivals, Arrow Music Press, the American Composers' Alliance, the American Music Center, and the Berkshire Music Festival (Tanglewood). At the same time, he was visible as a journalist and on the lecture circuit. Given this lifelong commitment to community, Copland's centennial can be celebrated by performing his works together with those of his contemporaries--both European and American. His music also stands ready for a whole new array of cross-media juxtapositions.