Aaron Copland and The American Tone Poem

"Inspiration may be a form of superconsciousness, or perhaps of subconsciousness - I wouldn't know. But I am sure it is the antithesis of self-consciousness."

"To stop the flow of music would be like the stopping of time itself, incredible and inconceivable."

Aaron Copland was the quintessential American music composer. Aaron Copland was born in Brooklyn, New York, of Lithuanian Jewish descent. Before emigrating to the United States, Copland's father anglicized his surname "Kaplan" to "Copland." Copland learned to play piano from an older sister and by fifteen, he decided to become a composer enrolling in a correspondence course which included writing harmony.

In 1921, Copland was the first American student of Nadia Boulanger in the new music school for Americans at Fontainebleau. He spent three years studying in Paris where many young composers were experimenting with jazz trying to bring their compositions into the 20th century. This influence is evident in his 1926 "Piano Concerto." Copland's early works were also influenced by Igor

Stravinsky's School of Neoclassicism. By 1936, music had become very popular because of radio and movies. Copland felt to make his music more meaningful to this new music-loving audience. He created several tone poems based on American folk lore including "Billy the Kid" and "Rodeo." Other works included a series of movie scores.

In his later years, Copland was influenced by Arnold Schoenberg and the 12-tone school. He was commissioned to write "A Lincoln Portrait," a patriotic composition for the Cincinnati Symphony and later "Fanfare to the Common Man."

Components that make Aaron Copland's compositions 'American' in character are the traditional orchestra setting and the fact that he possessed a strong interest in jazz. DH