COPLAND 2000

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Audio: A Lincoln Portrait
Harry Fonda, narrator
London Symphony Orchestra
Aaron Copland, cond.
Sony Classical SM3K 46559
From his First Symphony (originally conceived as Symphony for Organ and Orchestra) of 1924 to Proclamation, completed nearly sixty years later, Copland kept the orchestra at the core of his compositional life. Most of his ballets and film scores were reworked as orchestral suites, and other compositions were transformed into orchestrated versions, whether the Piano Variations (which became the Orchestral Variations) or Old American Songs.
There are genuine hits in the Copland orchestral catalogue. Next to Fanfare for the Common Man stands Lincoln Portrait, the Third Symphony, and the Clarinet Concerto (premiered by Benny Goodman). But in an output of some thirty symphonic compositions (not including the suites from ballets and films), this is a modest number of unambiguous home runs. Within Copland's remaining orchestral output, some works have a strong reputation (that is, they have made the history books) but are only occasionally performed. These include the First Symphony (premiered by Nadia Boulanger at the organ), Music for the Theatre (which launched Copland's string of performances by Serge Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra), and the Piano Concerto

Beyond this lies the connoisseur's Copland: a series of challenging compositions covering the span of his career. Staging a one-man campaign both to reach American audiences and reform them, Copland's more quickly understood works captured popular attention, and his complex ones provided an opportunity to stretch an audience's aesthetic horizons. This remains the case today. Symphonic Ode, Short Symphony, Statements, Connotations, Inscape--all continue to assert their modernist beauty.

Yet another strain in Copland's orchestral output merits highlighting: his strong connection to Latin America. Beginning in the late 1920's, through a close association with the composer Carlos Chavez, many early performances of Copland's works took place in Mexico. The two men built a sense of hemispheric collegiality and cross-cultural awareness that is relevant to our time. El Salon Mexico, Danzon Cubano, and Three Latin American Sketches are symphonic manifestations of this connection.




Back \| Begin Audio \| Next Audio: A Lincoln Portrait Harry Fonda, narrator London Symphony Orchestra Aaron Copland, cond. Sony Classical SM3K 46559	From his First Symphony (originally conceived as Symphony for Organ and Orchestra) of 1924 to Proclamation, completed nearly sixty years later, Copland kept the orchestra at the core of his compositional life. Most of his ballets and film scores were reworked as orchestral suites, and other compositions were transformed into orchestrated versions, whether the Piano Variations (which became the Orchestral Variations) or Old American Songs. There are genuine hits in the Copland orchestral catalogue. Next to Fanfare for the Common Man stands Lincoln Portrait, the Third Symphony, and the Clarinet Concerto (premiered by Benny Goodman). But in an output of some thirty symphonic compositions (not including the suites from ballets and films), this is a modest number of unambiguous home runs. Within Copland's remaining orchestral output, some works have a strong reputation (that is, they have made the history books) but are only occasionally performed. These include the First Symphony (premiered by Nadia Boulanger at the organ), Music for the Theatre (which launched Copland's string of performances by Serge Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra), and the Piano Concerto Beyond this lies the connoisseur's Copland: a series of challenging compositions covering the span of his career. Staging a one-man campaign both to reach American audiences and reform them, Copland's more quickly understood works captured popular attention, and his complex ones provided an opportunity to stretch an audience's aesthetic horizons. This remains the case today. Symphonic Ode, Short Symphony, Statements, Connotations, Inscape--all continue to assert their modernist beauty. Yet another strain in Copland's orchestral output merits highlighting: his strong connection to Latin America. Beginning in the late 1920's, through a close association with the composer Carlos Chavez, many early performances of Copland's works took place in Mexico. The two men built a sense of hemispheric collegiality and cross-cultural awareness that is relevant to our time. El Salon Mexico, Danzon Cubano, and Three Latin American Sketches are symphonic manifestations of this connection.