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{kohp'-land}
Aaron Copland, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., Nov. 14, 1900, d.
Dec. 2, 1990, was one of the leading American composers
of the 20th century.
Copland began serious musical study in his early teens. He
was the first of many American musicians to study with Nadia
BOULANGER in Paris (1921-24). On his return to the United
States in 1925 and after the performance of his Symphony for
Organ and Orchestra, he became identified with brash modernism.
While maintaining his penchant for the jazzy and experimental,
Copland also developed a folksy American style that won him
a wide audience.
From 1925 to 1927 Copland held a Guggenheim grant, the first
of many awards, commissions, and prizes he received. A prolific
composer, Copland also taught and lectured extensively and
wrote several books. He appeared frequently as a conductor
of his own and other composers' music. In 1964 he was awarded
the Medal of Freedom by the U.S. government.
Copland is perhaps most famous for his superb ballet scores,
such as Billy the Kid (1938), Rodeo (1942), and Appalachian
Spring (1944), which are all based on American folklore. He
also composed two operas, The Second Hurricane (1937) and
The Tender Land (1954), as well as choral works and songs.
He was a leading composer of film scores, and composed music
for films such as Of Mice and Men (1939), Our Town (1940),
The Red Pony (1948), and The Heiress (1949). Copland's Piano
Variations (1930) is the most influential of his many solo
and chamber works. Outstanding among his orchestral scores
are the jazzy Piano Concerto (1927), Music for the Theatre
(1925), the Clarinet Concerto (1948) written for Benny GOODMAN,
El Salon Mexico (1936), the Symphony No. 3 (1946), and A Lincoln
Portrait (1942) with spoken portions from Abraham Lincoln's
speeches.
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