Speaker 1: I'm John Banther, and this is Classical Breakdown. From WETA Classical
Speaker 1: in Washington, we are your guide to classical music. In this
Speaker 1: episode, I'm joined by WETA Classical's Evan Keely, and we
Speaker 1: are diving into the life and music of one of
Speaker 1: the most iconic American composers, Aaron Copland. We look at
Speaker 1: his early life and experiences, how the Great Depression affected
Speaker 1: his outlook, his rise to fame, and his intentional pursuit
Speaker 1: of an American sound. We also look at why he
Speaker 1: was questioned for hours in a Senate subcommittee hearing in
Speaker 1: 1953, and which American composers we can look towards today. "
Speaker 1: The artist should feel himself buoyed up by his community.
Speaker 1: In other words, art and the life of art must
Speaker 1: mean something in the deepest sense to the everyday citizen.
Speaker 1: When that happens, America will have achieved a maturity to
Speaker 1: which every sincere artist will have contributed." That is a
Speaker 1: quote from Aaron Copland, and a quote and a sentiment
Speaker 1: that I fully agree with, and one that we've unfortunately
Speaker 1: still not yet achieved, in part, because, as we know
Speaker 1: of our own failures over the last century, but I
Speaker 1: do see optimism on this front with a living composer
Speaker 1: that we'll mention towards the end. Now Evan, I can't
Speaker 1: think of another composer who has really helped define the
Speaker 1: American sound with all the populist works he wrote with
Speaker 1: the American stories, legends, and folk tales.
Speaker 2: Aaron Copland is a composer, who is throughout his life
Speaker 2: really thinking about the role of music in public life,
Speaker 2: music as an expression of a national culture, a communal culture.
Speaker 1: And we have things like Billy the Kid, Rodeo, Appalachian
Speaker 1: Spring, Tender Land, and so on. These American stories are
Speaker 1: brought in, plenty are left out, as we know, but
Speaker 1: he's not just writing music about pretty mountains. Now before
Speaker 1: we jump into it, I think many might not know
Speaker 1: that there is another side to Copland, that they may have
Speaker 1: not heard before. Did you know these works were written
Speaker 1: by Copland?
MUSIC: ( instrumental music)
Speaker 1: And Evan, these aren't even isolated to a couple of
Speaker 1: years like, " Oh, maybe he was in this place, and he did this
Speaker 1: for a little bit." No. These were over 50 years apart.
Speaker 2: There's a lot of pieces by Copland that get a
Speaker 2: lot of attention, as well they should. You mentioned Appalachian
Speaker 2: Spring, and Billy the Kid, and so forth. They are
Speaker 2: fantastic masterpieces. Copland was actually a very versatile composer who spoke
Speaker 2: in a variety of voices, and as we look into
Speaker 2: his music, we really discover the breadth of his expression.
Speaker 1: Let's go right to his birth. He was born in
Speaker 1: Brooklyn, New York, November 14th, 1900. The youngest of five.
Speaker 1: His mother Sarah taught the children to play piano, and
Speaker 1: it seems that young Aaron might have gotten his first
Speaker 1: lessons from his sister, Laurine, who is someone who also
Speaker 1: supported his career. Also reminds me of Mozart a little
Speaker 1: bit, taking lessons with his sister. And then when he's
Speaker 1: 16 years old, Evan, he gets to study with a well-
Speaker 1: known composition teacher at the time, Rubin Goldmark, who also
Speaker 1: taught Gershwin a little, and this was an important moment
Speaker 1: for Copland as he also wrote, " This was a stroke
Speaker 1: of luck for me. I was spared the floundering that
Speaker 1: so many musicians have suffered through incompetent teaching." And that's
Speaker 1: something we face. Right? When you're in your late teens,
Speaker 1: early twenties, and you're studying with other teachers, you have
Speaker 1: to start undoing some of those bad habits.
Speaker 2: He really was exposed to just the right influences at
Speaker 2: just the right time early on.
Speaker 1: And he was also staying in New York studying with
Speaker 1: this teacher. So, he was exposed to a bunch of
Speaker 1: music. I think the New York Symphony, as it was
Speaker 1: called at the time, Chicago, Philadelphia orchestras, Prokofiev, he even
Speaker 1: saw him. I can't even imagine that.
Speaker 2: This is New York City shortly after World War I,
Speaker 2: a pretty exciting time in American music and life.
Speaker 1: And it makes me wonder a little bit now as
Speaker 1: we enter ... Or we're really in the mid- twenties now,
Speaker 1: what that means 100 years later. Maybe nothing, maybe something,
Speaker 1: but I find myself thinking about that as we get
Speaker 1: into these '20s. He continued studying with Goldmark until he
Speaker 1: was 21 years old, and that's when he wrote his
Speaker 1: piano sonata, and it's one that we heard a little
Speaker 1: bit of before. It's his Piano Sonata in G Major,
Speaker 1: and, Evan, this is something I wish we had a
Speaker 1: little bit more from Copland, maybe it's a little surface
Speaker 1: level, but you can really ... I don't know. There is something
Speaker 1: here. You can tell.
Speaker 2: There is something there, and I think what it is,
Speaker 2: it doesn't sound like Copland. You listen to this music.
Speaker 2: You might think, " This is very nice." You would never
Speaker 2: guess who the composer is, and it shows at the
Speaker 2: age of in his early twenties, he's already got a technical
Speaker 2: mastery. It's not a particularly original piece. He's borrowing this
Speaker 2: late Romantic style. But he shows that he really has
Speaker 2: the technical aspects of crafting a musical composition down very
Speaker 2: solidly for such a young man.
Speaker 1: And that's something that we recognize in musicians too, there
Speaker 1: will be ... Sometimes you have a teacher, and they will
Speaker 1: accept a student into a conservatory, and some might say, "
Speaker 1: Well, wait, they're not playing at that exact same level,"
Speaker 1: but then the teacher might say, " You do not see
Speaker 1: what the rest of us see," and then we all
Speaker 1: know how that stuff plays out. It's also a reason
Speaker 1: that maybe Nadia Boulanger said, " One could tell his talent
Speaker 1: immediately." And we know he studied with Nadia Boulanger. In
Speaker 1: fact, he just meant to go for a year. Right,
Speaker 1: Evan? And then he switched from one teacher to Boulanger,
Speaker 1: maybe he was a little hesitant from what I read,
Speaker 1: but this was a big change for him, staying not
Speaker 1: just one year, but now three, and studying with Boulanger.
Speaker 1: And this was a critical point for him.
Speaker 2: And many years later in 1950, he's in his last forties,
Speaker 2: early fifties, he writes to her, and he says, " It's
Speaker 2: almost 30 years, hard to believe, since we met, and
Speaker 2: I shall count our meeting the most important of my
Speaker 2: musical life. What you did for me at exactly the
Speaker 2: period I most needed it is unforgettable. Whatever I have
Speaker 2: accomplished is intimately associated in my mind with those early
Speaker 2: years, and with what you have since been as inspiration
Speaker 2: and example. All my gratitude and thanks go to you,
Speaker 2: dear Nadia." Now John, you and I had a conversation
Speaker 2: in an earlier episode of Classical Breakdown about the extraordinary
Speaker 2: Nadia Boulanger, and the immense influence that she had on 20th Century
Speaker 2: music, especially as a composition teacher, and, wow, we sure
Speaker 2: see that in the music of Aaron Copland.
Speaker 1: And speaking of, " Oh, you wouldn't guess this was Copland,"
Speaker 1: he writes another work, a Passacaglia when he was studying with Boulanger,
Speaker 1: and I think she had all of her students I
Speaker 1: think maybe write a Passacaglia, but you hear an immediate
Speaker 1: jump I think in the depth of what he's writing.
Speaker 1: Not so surface level of that piano sonata. Now he's
Speaker 1: really thinking about every decision I think because Nadia Boulanger
Speaker 1: was making you think about every decision that you made in
Speaker 1: your music.
MUSIC: (instrumental music)
Speaker 1: After three years in Paris, he comes back to New
Speaker 1: York. It's 1924, and he's 24 years old, but he
Speaker 1: has a little bit of a rough go at it.
Speaker 1: He has a hard time making money playing in a
Speaker 1: dance band. He moves back in with his sister. But
Speaker 1: then he's playing the piano trying to compose, and the
Speaker 1: neighbors are complaining, " This is annoying. Don't do this." He
Speaker 1: gets his own little private studio, fails to get any
Speaker 1: students at first, but, thankfully, he made some connections at
Speaker 1: the right time, got his music in front of some
Speaker 1: people, and he got some support through a patron, and
Speaker 1: then the Guggenheim Foundation. And that allowed him to survive
Speaker 1: for the next three years. Another work he wrote at
Speaker 1: this time, and one that's probably still unfamiliar, but a
Speaker 1: little more familiar than maybe that Passacaglia is that Symphony
Speaker 1: For Organ and Orchestra, and we heard a little bit
Speaker 1: of it earlier. It sounds like audiences, Evan, didn't quite know
Speaker 1: what to make of this at the premiere.
Speaker 2: And he later reorchestrated it without the organ, and replaced
Speaker 2: that with brass, calling it a Symphony No. 1.
MUSIC: (instrumental music)
Speaker 1: One thing I read that was, well, just interesting in
Speaker 1: that we see his life as it's moving forward, it's
Speaker 1: a little bit slow. He writes slow. I read that
Speaker 1: it could take him a year to finish a composition,
Speaker 1: especially, something like that symphony, and then the pain of
Speaker 1: it maybe not premiering as you want, and then having
Speaker 1: to rewrite it. It's a lot of work for a
Speaker 1: time in which he's not necessarily thriving. But starting in
Speaker 1: the '30s, that's when we start to see some examples
Speaker 1: of his populist style, works like El Salón México, and especially Billy
Speaker 1: the Kid. I think that's one that really set the tone
Speaker 1: for how we approach American music, or how the west
Speaker 1: was depicted. And then in the '40s, Evan, everything that
Speaker 1: we come to know that we mentioned-
Speaker 2: Quiet City, Lincoln Portrait is from that period, the Rodeo,
Speaker 2: Appalachian Spring, and I think Billy the Kid is really
Speaker 2: a moment where he's solidifying that, what we think of
Speaker 2: as the Copland voice, that American sound.
MUSIC: ( instrumental music)
Speaker 1: So, our big question right now is, well, how did
Speaker 1: Copland write for the American audience? Why was this important,
Speaker 1: creating an American sound, and was it intentional on Copland's
Speaker 1: part? Part of this is the environment that Copland is living
Speaker 1: and observing in the late 1920s into the '30s. A
Speaker 1: lot of us have grandparents who lived through the Depression,
Speaker 1: and the stories that they'd tell us of just surviving
Speaker 1: this, and Copland was greatly affected when he saw the
Speaker 1: working class surviving, or not surviving during the Depression. And
Speaker 1: he felt that artists have a responsibility to the masses.
Speaker 2: And this is a period of time in music, in
Speaker 2: general, you think of earlier generations, a composer like Béla Bartók, or
Speaker 2: Ralph Vaughan Williams, and their respective settings. They're really taking
Speaker 2: an interest in folk music, and incorporating that into this,
Speaker 2: what we think of as classical music.
MUSIC: (Foreign language) .
Speaker 2: This is also around the time the Library of Congress
Speaker 2: is making these folk music recordings in the United States,
Speaker 2: so there's this recognition of there's a musical voice of
Speaker 2: the people, and Copland is really interested in this trend, and
Speaker 2: he's incorporating it into his compositions.
Speaker 1: That's important to remember, a good point, that this was
Speaker 1: a wider thing too in the early 20th Century, this
Speaker 1: reaching back into folk music. We find these simple folk-
Speaker 1: inspired melodies in his music, open intervals that you find
Speaker 1: on the guitar, or the banjo. There's less emphasis on
Speaker 1: melodic development, and this was something that Copland was seeking
Speaker 1: out to create intentionally. We have two examples we can
Speaker 1: listen to real quick, Evan, that show this I think.
Speaker 1: Here is a little bit of a folk song, a
Speaker 1: cowboy song I think called Great Granddad, and then a
Speaker 1: moment that follows in Billy the Kid.
MUSIC: 21 boys and not one lad. Never got fresh with
MUSIC: Great Granddad. For if they had, it would have been right bad. (inaudible)
MUSIC: to the hickory jab.
MUSIC: (instrumental music)
Speaker 1: Now even for us today, Evan, I don't have any
Speaker 1: real identity, or understanding of the Great Granddad tune, but
Speaker 1: you understand those sentiments and intervals, and it's right there
Speaker 1: in Copland's music.
Speaker 2: And it sounds American.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Even if you and I didn't grow up with this
Speaker 2: music in the same way that earlier generations of Americans
Speaker 2: did, we hear this sound, and it resonates with us
Speaker 2: as Americans I think.
Speaker 1: Here's another example. This is McLeod's Reel, and then a
Speaker 1: moment from Hoe Down in Rodeo.
MUSIC: ( instrumental music)
Speaker 1: A couple things here, Evan. Again, we hear that clearly,
Speaker 1: and also that is a tune I think a lot
Speaker 1: of people might recognize if you were alive in the '90s.
Speaker 5: Beef, it's what's for dinner.
Speaker 1: One, do you have to advertise to the United States
Speaker 1: beef?
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: If your music is used to sell an entire country
Speaker 1: that already eats all the beef, selling them on beef,
Speaker 1: I don't know how more American you get.
Speaker 2: I quite agree, John. And it's also interesting to notice
Speaker 2: the ways in which Copland, if he does incorporate an
Speaker 2: actual folk melody, he doesn't necessarily quote it note for
Speaker 2: note.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: There's almost an homage rather than, " Okay. I'm now going
Speaker 2: to quote this folk tune pitch for pitch and rhythm
Speaker 2: for rhythm."
Speaker 1: And I think that's why his music has endured more,
Speaker 1: because it's capturing all those characteristics, and elements of those
Speaker 1: folk tunes, but bringing it into something more that will
Speaker 1: last longer, because, again, we don't have that same identity
Speaker 1: with these folk tunes. But we do with this music
Speaker 1: of Copland.
Speaker 2: And this is coming out of a lot of these avant- garde
Speaker 2: things that are happening. This is the '20s, the '30s, the '40s,
Speaker 2: you think about the Second Viennese School among German- speaking
Speaker 2: composers, and so forth. Copland's not quite in that vein,
Speaker 2: but he's not without some influence. That has some influence
Speaker 2: on him as well, but as you were saying, John,
Speaker 2: there's really no mistaking this for European music, and you're
Speaker 2: talking too about Copland composing slowly, and the way he
Speaker 2: crafts these different sections together. He once remarked, " I don't
Speaker 2: compose. I assemble materials." Maybe that's a little false modesty,
Speaker 2: but as you listen to his music, you really get
Speaker 2: a sense that that is his working style.
MUSIC: (instrumental music)
Speaker 1: A lot of transitions don't feel necessarily fully prepared, but are
Speaker 1: often quite abrupt, and that makes me think of, yeah,
Speaker 1: he's assembling these things together. Another point, and I know
Speaker 1: someone's eye twitched when I said rodeo instead of rodeo,
Speaker 1: you hear rodeo everywhere, but I'm sorry. It's Copland-
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: ... we have rodeos not too far from where I live.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't call it a, " Let's go to the rodeo."
Speaker 2: Yeah.
MUSIC: ( instrumental music)
Speaker 1: There's a great biography on Aaron Copland by Howard Pollack,
Speaker 1: and I think he describes really what Copland's doing quite
Speaker 1: succinctly. I'll read from his book, " In discussing what made
Speaker 1: Copland's music recognizably American, critics typically mentioned the allusions to
Speaker 1: and quotations of American popular folk musics, the jazzy polyrhythms,
Speaker 1: and irregular meters, the vigor and angularity of some melodies,
Speaker 1: the lean and bare textures, and the favorite extremes of closely-
Speaker 1: knit harmonies and widely spaced sonorities, and the distinctively brittle
Speaker 1: piano writing, and brassy percussive orchestrations. Two things that stick
Speaker 1: out there for me, Evan, are the vigor and angularity
Speaker 1: of some melodies. I think that's an important part of
Speaker 1: this American difference in the music, and you hear it in
Speaker 1: Copland, and then those widely spaced sonorities.
MUSIC: ( instrumental music)
Speaker 2: One of the most famous pieces by Copland, and we'll talk
Speaker 2: a little bit more about this is the Fanfare For
Speaker 2: The Common Man, which has these weird dah, dah, dah, these
Speaker 2: fourths that it's not a melodic line that you hear
Speaker 2: in Mozart, or Haydn where the music is so triadic, and it's the
Speaker 2: core of western music. Copland's not completely divorced from that
Speaker 2: tradition, but he's perfectly going to write these melodies that
Speaker 2: defy the norms, and yet they sound right, and they
Speaker 2: sound American somehow.
Speaker 1: And going back to Billy the Kid we see these
Speaker 1: two things, specifically, the Open Prairie is the first number
Speaker 1: and the ballet. And there is this very strong, song- like melody that
Speaker 1: is introduced, and, although, it's song- like, it's also very
Speaker 1: angular, and then those widely spaced sonorities, they feel like
Speaker 1: those blocks just shifting underneath. Also, heavy downbeats, a marching
Speaker 1: forward I hear in his music.
Speaker 2: And the very first thing we hear in Billy the Kid
Speaker 2: is these parallel fifths. You have these woodwinds playing this
Speaker 2: little duet, this very angular melody, and they're playing in
Speaker 2: parallels fifths, which in European music, that's, like, the great no- no.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: After the Middle Ages. Just completely getting rid of this
Speaker 2: whole sound, and he just jumps right back into it, and
Speaker 2: it sounds right. It doesn't sound like, " Oh, this is
Speaker 2: wrong. My theory teacher will give me a bad grade
Speaker 2: on this exercise." So, there's, again, that sense of defying
Speaker 2: old norms, and creating something new that sounds whole, it
Speaker 2: sounds natural, it doesn't sound forced, it doesn't sound contrived,
Speaker 2: and it gives it that natural sound. We were talking
Speaker 2: about Howard Pollack and he remarks about Copland's music, " If
Speaker 2: there's a school of American composers, optimism is certainly its
Speaker 2: keynote." Now I'm not 100% sure I agree with that,
Speaker 2: in general, about American composers, but, certainly, in Copland's music,
Speaker 2: there's that strain of optimism we were talking about, Fanfare
Speaker 2: For The Common Man and Billy the Kid, and so
Speaker 2: forth. You definitely hear this sense of possibility, this openness,
Speaker 2: this sense of a world to be explored and embraced,
Speaker 2: and this naturalness and wholeness that really comes out in
Speaker 2: this music.
Speaker 1: Also in Billy the Kid, Street and A Frontier Town
Speaker 1: also demonstrates his music is, one, it has a drive.
Speaker 1: Sometimes it's a slow burn, or headed towards one direction,
Speaker 1: and it's often singular, and it's focused, a single idea
Speaker 1: that's being worked through rather than several ideas at once,
Speaker 1: like in that symphony we talked about a couple of
Speaker 1: weeks ago.
Speaker 2: The Pejačević. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Also, we can't forget about film scores with Aaron Copland.
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
Speaker 1: Of Mice and Men, Red Pony, Our Town, and some
Speaker 1: of these have been made into suites that are still
Speaker 1: played on the concert stage.
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
MUSIC: ( instrumental music)
Speaker 1: One thing that he did that I understand was a
Speaker 1: bit different at this time was Copland when he was
Speaker 1: writing for film scores, he often used silence for intense,
Speaker 1: or very intimate moments. I think he said he wanted
Speaker 1: to let the music acknowledge rather than dictate the emotion onscreen.
Speaker 2: And you and I talked about Korngold a couple of
Speaker 2: episodes ago, who was a very successful film composer, and
Speaker 2: I think he had a very different approach, which was to create this
Speaker 2: emotional palette. He wrote great music for films. Absolutely, Korngold
Speaker 2: was a wonderful composer. And I think Copland has this
Speaker 2: very different approach, which it reflects his sense of, again,
Speaker 2: these use of silences, this use of openness, these techniques,
Speaker 2: like, we were talking about parallel fifths, and so forth
Speaker 2: that are part of maybe a more restrained approach, but it's,
Speaker 2: certainly, that distinctive Copland voice comes through.
Speaker 1: And here is something that Copland also does so well
Speaker 1: I think, and that is writing for voice and piano.
Speaker 1: His songs, I think it took a while for American
Speaker 1: composers to really learn how to, or just whatever, figure out how
Speaker 1: to write art song in English, but Copland I think
Speaker 1: really did a great job.
MUSIC: (Foreign language) .
Speaker 2: Yeah. Charles Ives I think laid the groundwork for a lot of that
Speaker 2: in terms of American song. Copland didn't write a huge
Speaker 2: body of this genre of music. 12 Poems of Emily
Speaker 2: Dickinson is the work that's I think best remembered in
Speaker 2: terms of Copland's songs. He completed it in 1950. And
Speaker 2: each of the 12 songs is dedicated to another composer. Some
Speaker 2: of the dedicatees include Elliott Carter, David Diamond, Irving Fine,
Speaker 2: Lukas Foss, Alberto Ginastera, these are some of the composers
Speaker 2: he pays tribute to. And then later on he orchestrated
Speaker 2: eight of those 12 songs, and he completed that orchestral version
Speaker 2: in 1970. The 12 Poems of Emily Dickinson is Copland's
Speaker 2: longest work for the solo voice, and it's typical of
Speaker 2: his vocal writing. It's very syllabic. You don't have these
Speaker 2: long runs with the voice. It's almost like this declamatory
Speaker 2: manner of setting texts very much following natural rhythms of
Speaker 2: spoken American English. And Copland even said about this, " The
Speaker 2: poems themselves gave me direction. One that I hoped would
Speaker 2: be appropriate to Miss Dickinson's lyrical expressive language." He was
Speaker 2: really involved in this too. He really immersed himself in
Speaker 2: this project. He read biographies about Emily Dickinson. Of course,
Speaker 2: he read a lot of her poetry. She was very
Speaker 2: prolific. He even went to her house in Amherst, Massachusetts.
Speaker 2: He's trying to get into her spirit, and seeking insight
Speaker 2: into her genius. And we should also recognize that in
Speaker 2: 1950 when he completed this, the editions of Dickinson's poetry
Speaker 2: that were available to the public were heavily edited, and
Speaker 2: then years after that, people went back to her original texts-
Speaker 1: That's right.
Speaker 2: ... with words had been changed in these earlier editions.
Speaker 2: They took out her ... She had this very idiosyncratic use
Speaker 2: of punctuation, especially dashes, and this is not what Copland is
Speaker 2: working with. So, if you know Emily Dickinson's poetry, and
Speaker 2: you listen to this Copland song cycle, you may feel
Speaker 2: a little cheated. But that's what he had to work
Speaker 2: with. That's what everybody had to work with at that
Speaker 2: point. And, unfortunately, initially, this song cycle was not well-
Speaker 2: received. Critics panned it. So much so, he wrote a
Speaker 2: letter to his good friend Leonard Bernstein that, " Reviews were
Speaker 2: so bad, that I decided I must have written a
Speaker 2: better cycle than I had realized."
Speaker 1: I love that.
Speaker 2: But, of course, we now recognize this as some of
Speaker 2: the finest compositions in the American song literature, and there
Speaker 2: are core components of the art song repertoire, especially in
Speaker 2: America, especially in English language singing. Again, the influence of
Speaker 2: Charles Ives is hard to miss. He wrote a lot
Speaker 2: of songs, but they have a decidedly Copland- esque sound,
Speaker 2: and I really hear them, as among other thins, this
Speaker 2: American composer paying tribute in a very reverent way to
Speaker 2: a great American poet.
Speaker 1: Aaron Copland really showed that you can write beautiful art
Speaker 1: song in English, and I'm going to have to go
Speaker 1: back now and listen to some more Charles Ives, because
Speaker 1: I can't remember the last time I heard an Ives
Speaker 1: song, but in just the few songs that Copland wrote,
Speaker 1: he really cemented something. He also has an opera in English
Speaker 1: called The Tender Land, which he wrote in 1952. It
Speaker 1: was inspired by pictures taken by Walter Evans that appeared
Speaker 1: in the book Let Us Praise Now Famous Men by
Speaker 1: James Agee, which profiled American sharecroppers in the Great Depression,
Speaker 1: which Copland was empathetic towards. This seems important, Evan, this
Speaker 1: tragic, horrible time in history, and it's just 20 years
Speaker 1: later, and Copland is going back, and writing music for
Speaker 1: it. That's, like, if we went back 20 years now
Speaker 1: writing something about 9/ 11 victims, or 9/ 11 first
Speaker 1: responders, for example.
Speaker 2: Yeah. It was fresh in the national consciousness, and this farm
Speaker 2: opera. It's taking this farming community, the central character is
Speaker 2: an 18 year old woman who has just graduated high
Speaker 2: school. So, it's a coming- of- age story, but it's
Speaker 2: set in this very particular cultural context, and the music
Speaker 2: really reflects that. It wasn't a great success initially. It's
Speaker 2: the only full- length opera that Copland wrote.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: But it has endured. It still gets performed today. There's
Speaker 2: a particular number at the end of the first act,
Speaker 2: The Promise of Living, and we often hear that in a
Speaker 2: concert setting. It's actually very moving, this musical tribute to
Speaker 2: this idea of living in that kind of a setting,
Speaker 2: and the hope and the possibility, and the struggle that
Speaker 2: that represents. It's really quite a touching musical number.
MUSIC: (Foreign language) .
Speaker 1: And we will put a link on the show notes
Speaker 1: page at www. ClassicalBreakdown. org for that one. I hope
Speaker 1: there's a more modern commercial recording made at some point,
Speaker 1: because a lot of the recordings are very ... It is
Speaker 1: of its time and place in the 1950s. " Oh, gee willikers, mister."
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: In some of the delivery. It's worth listening to.
Speaker 2: Copland, himself, remarked about this. He said, " I wanted simple
Speaker 2: rhetoric, and a musical style to match. The result was
Speaker 2: closer to musical comedy than grand opera. The music is very
Speaker 2: plain with a colloquial flavor. I think of The Tender
Speaker 2: Land as being related to the mood of Appalachian Spring,
Speaker 2: both the ballet and the opera take place in rural
Speaker 2: America, both make use of folk materials to evoke a
Speaker 2: particular landscape in a real way." So, that's Copland's own
Speaker 2: remarks about The Tender Land, and as you listen to
Speaker 2: it, you really hear that's the effect that he's achieved.
Speaker 1: Now this also ties into another aspect of Aaron Copland's
Speaker 1: life in that he didn't marry, and he never came
Speaker 1: out publicly. This was also the time of things like
Speaker 1: The Hays Code, but he was out as gay to
Speaker 1: people who were closer to him. He had a few long
Speaker 1: relationships, including one with Erik Johns, who wrote the libretto for
Speaker 1: The Tender Land. He also traveled publicly with these people.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Erik Johns is a long relationship, a complicated relationship.
Speaker 2: The two of them for many years had various permutations
Speaker 2: of their togetherness. Erik Johns did, as you said, John,
Speaker 2: write the libretto for The Tender Land. He was a
Speaker 2: dancer and a choreographer. So, you have this creative partnership
Speaker 2: as well, and it gives you a sense of the
Speaker 2: kind of circles in which Copland moved. He was drawn
Speaker 2: to very creative people, and they to him, and the
Speaker 2: kinds of relationships that he had, which in that era,
Speaker 2: as you said, were not necessarily openly talked about. He
Speaker 2: and Leonard Bernstein were very close for many, many years,
Speaker 2: and other very famous people, famous choreographers and composers, and
Speaker 2: conductors, and musicians that were a part of his life. And he
Speaker 2: had this real charisma I think personally that really drew
Speaker 2: people to him, and he also ... You get a sense
Speaker 2: of him as someone who is comfortable with himself, and
Speaker 2: you certainly see that in the kinds of political situations that
Speaker 2: he found himself in.
Speaker 1: Yes. All of this, it sounds like Copland was very open and understanding
Speaker 1: of other people.
Speaker 2: Yes. I think so.
Speaker 1: And we will get into why he was questioned in
Speaker 1: a McCarthy Senate subcommittee hearing right after this. Classical Breakdown,
Speaker 1: your guide to classical music, is brought to you by
Speaker 1: WETA Classical. Join us for the music any time, day,
Speaker 1: or night, at www. WETAClassical. org where you'll also find
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Speaker 1: org. Now if you can imagine it, in the 1920s, in the 1930s, just
Speaker 1: having jazz idioms, or Black idioms in your music, that
Speaker 1: was enough to be labeled as a communist.
Speaker 2: Sure. There was definitely a racist overtone to a lot
Speaker 2: of the anti- communist fervor in the United States in
Speaker 2: this era.
Speaker 1: And Copland, he was very affected by world events, as
Speaker 1: we know with the Great Depression, but also more largely in
Speaker 1: the world, and he was always very up- to- date, well-
Speaker 1: read on current events. He obsessively read newspapers, he read
Speaker 1: progressive writers like Upton Sinclair, and in times of turmoil,
Speaker 1: he found himself unable to focus on composing. Even I
Speaker 1: think he said to Bernstein, " Congrats you can compose during
Speaker 1: this. I can't."
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. He never separates himself from the world, and
Speaker 2: as we began the episode, we began this conversation, John,
Speaker 2: we were talking about the ways in which he sees
Speaker 2: art as being a part of public life.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So, he's immersing himself as a citizen of the country,
Speaker 2: and of the world, and he's really connecting that with
Speaker 2: his creative output.
Speaker 1: Now he was never, technically, affiliated with a, or the
Speaker 1: Communist Party in the United States, which was also not
Speaker 1: an uncommon position for artists to have. But in 1934,
Speaker 1: he wrote a song Into The Streets, and he submitted
Speaker 1: it to a contest for the magazine New Masses, and then
Speaker 1: he ended up winning. I almost think he thought he
Speaker 1: wasn't going to win. Maybe he was surprised. And it was
Speaker 1: performed at the Second Annual American Workers Music Olympiad, and
Speaker 1: this and some other aspects of his life give for
Speaker 1: an easy read between the lines. But he also tried
Speaker 1: to step away from this song too, a little bit saying, "
Speaker 1: Oh, it's the silliest little thing I ever did." He
Speaker 1: didn't even technically publish it I guess, or include it
Speaker 1: in his catalog. Now as absurd as it should seem
Speaker 1: now, the federal government took a serious interest in people
Speaker 1: like Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein, also Charlie Chaplin, and
Speaker 1: even Albert Einstein. They took interest in them as being
Speaker 1: subversive. They're lending their name and credibility to organizations that
Speaker 1: are, well, subversive, and they were labeled communists. Some people
Speaker 1: had issues getting passports, that was Copland, or visas, jail
Speaker 1: sentences, destroyed careers, and just compare that to how you
Speaker 1: think of Copland now.
Speaker 2: Yeah. We think of him as the quintessential patriot, and in
Speaker 2: his own lifetime, not necessarily was he viewed that way.
MUSIC: This is what he said. He said, " As I would
MUSIC: not be a slave, so, I would not be a
MUSIC: master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from
MUSIC: this to the extent of a difference is no democracy."
Speaker 1: And it all comes to a head in 1953, a
Speaker 1: performance of Lincoln Portrait was canceled for the Eisenhower inaugural
Speaker 1: concert when Fred Busby protested on the House floor on
Speaker 1: January 3rd of 1953. And by May 25th, 1953, he was questioned by
Speaker 1: Senators McCarthy and Cohn for a couple of hours in
Speaker 1: a Senate subcommittee hearing, and it's all just because of
Speaker 1: they were asking him about three trips he made, and
Speaker 1: some lectures he made outside of the United States. But
Speaker 1: apparently Copland was calm through this whole ordeal, and he
Speaker 1: just could not be pinned down. And we actually have
Speaker 1: some of an exchange here. I'll read the parts of
Speaker 1: the senators starting with Cohn who is asking Copland a
Speaker 1: question. Cohn, " Do you feel communists should be allowed to
Speaker 1: teach in our schools?"
Speaker 2: " I haven't given the matter such thought as to
Speaker 2: come up with an answer."
Speaker 1: Cohn, " In other words, as of today, you don't have
Speaker 1: any firm thought?"
Speaker 2: " I would be inclined to allow the faculty of
Speaker 2: the university to decide that."
Speaker 1: McCarthy jumps in, " Let's say you were on the faculty, and you
Speaker 1: are making a designation, would you feel communists should be
Speaker 1: allowed to teach?"
Speaker 2: " I couldn't give you a blanket decision on that
Speaker 2: without knowing the case."
Speaker 1: McCarthy again, " Let's say the teacher is a communist period.
Speaker 1: Would you feel that is sufficient to bar that teacher
Speaker 1: from a job as a teacher?"
Speaker 2: " I certainly think it would be sufficient, if he
Speaker 2: were using his communist membership to angle his teaching to
Speaker 2: further the purposes of the Communist Party." So, you hear
Speaker 2: these responses from Copland. He's aware that people's lives are
Speaker 2: being destroyed by some of these inquiries.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And, again, I don't think that he was a firmly
Speaker 2: committed communist in any meaningful sense. I think he had
Speaker 2: some sympathy to ... People threw around the word communist quite
Speaker 2: a lot. I'm certainly no fan of communism, but also
Speaker 2: no fan of destroying people's lives just because they have
Speaker 2: a political view, which might be subversive to some folks
Speaker 2: who are in positions of power. And you see Copland
Speaker 2: really being very careful and thoughtful in his answers. As
Speaker 2: you said, John, he's calm, he's not getting inflamed. He's
Speaker 2: aware of the danger that he's in, and this could
Speaker 2: really ruin him professionally and personally. But he also I
Speaker 2: think is responding with a clear conscience. He doesn't feel
Speaker 2: like he's subverting the ... He's not trying to destroy the
Speaker 2: United States. He's not a threat to national security. And he has
Speaker 2: to go along with this, because that's the environment in
Speaker 2: which he's living, and I think he manages it with a
Speaker 2: great deal of finesse.
Speaker 1: And it shows the absurdity here almost, like, a charade,
Speaker 1: and I had the same sentiments on these topics as you,
Speaker 1: Evan, but I'm always curious why a word, or a thought
Speaker 1: gets such a reaction.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: And Aaron Copland after this questioning said, " When he touches
Speaker 1: on his magic theme, the commies, or communism, his voice
Speaker 1: darkens like that of a minister. He is a plebeian Faustus, who
Speaker 1: has been given a magic wand by an invisible Mephisto.
Speaker 1: As long as the menace is there, the wand will
Speaker 1: work. The question is at what point his power grab
Speaker 1: will collide with the power drive of his own party?"
Speaker 1: That's quite a final sentence there I think from Aaron
Speaker 1: Copland, and then thinking about, Evan, Copland being this patriot,
Speaker 1: how does he go from this to that? Pollack wrote
Speaker 1: in his book, " In November 1955, the State Department said
Speaker 1: there was insufficient evidence to warrant prosecution. Finally, Copland was
Speaker 1: luckier than most, whose lives and livelihoods were destroyed during
Speaker 1: the era. It is rather astounding how Copland's official reputation
Speaker 1: survived, and thrived. His music graced the second inaugural of
Speaker 1: McCarthy colleague and Cold Warrior Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter and
Speaker 1: Ronald Reagan gave him presidential awards and citations, and the
Speaker 1: House of Representatives, which called him un- American in 1953
Speaker 1: gave him the Congressional Gold Medal, it's highest civilian honor
Speaker 1: in 1986." What a change in 30 years.
Speaker 2: Well, certainly, there's changes in the country during that time,
Speaker 2: but it gives you a sense of a number of
Speaker 2: things, one of which is that Copland is able to navigate these
Speaker 2: crises with ... I think he was pretty savvy, and he's
Speaker 2: also unwilling to bend to the ... You think about these comments
Speaker 2: he's making about McCarthy.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: As this Faustian evil wizard. So, he's, clearly, in his
Speaker 2: conscience, not willing to bend to these extremes, but at
Speaker 2: the same time, he's doing so I think because he's
Speaker 2: aware that, in fact, he's not a threat. He loves
Speaker 2: America, and he's expressing that love through his music, and
Speaker 2: through his professional activity, and he endures, he stays on
Speaker 2: the path, and in the 1980s, as he's, himself, in
Speaker 2: his mid to late eighties, there's more and more of
Speaker 2: a national recognition. Like you said, the Congressional Gold Medal
Speaker 2: is awarded to him in 1986, and you really get
Speaker 2: a sense of his reputation just really being cemented at
Speaker 2: that point, as he's often called the dean of American
Speaker 2: composers. Again, that's an awkward thing to say about anybody,
Speaker 2: but there's no question that he really is a representation
Speaker 2: of I think the best of what America is in
Speaker 2: terms of the optimism, the hope, the possibility, and this
Speaker 2: sense of freedom that his music and his life express.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I'm moved by how compassionate he was, and unwilling
Speaker 1: to bend to what he knew was right as an
Speaker 1: artist. That hearing could have gone differently, and we may
Speaker 1: not have the same impression, or popularity of his music
Speaker 1: now. Maybe it would only be rediscovered now, if something
Speaker 1: worse had happened all those years ago. But in the
Speaker 1: 1960s, he stopped composing, and I actually like his honesty
Speaker 1: on this subject. He said, " It was exactly as if
Speaker 1: someone had simply turned off a faucet." I love that.
Speaker 1: He's just being honest. Some artists create until the very
Speaker 1: end, like Elliott Carter, like his music, or not, I
Speaker 1: bet he's still composing, I bet he's a ghost somewhere
Speaker 1: writing music down somewhere. But for some, it's a natural
Speaker 1: end. For other writers too, I think Donald Hall, a
Speaker 1: poet, had the same thing. It just turned off.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Just reached a point of conclusion, and he stops.
Speaker 1: So, he conducts more actually. He recorded all of his
Speaker 1: works for orchestra with himself conducting. Was he the best
Speaker 1: conductor of his music? That's a debate, or whatever. But
Speaker 1: it's great that we do have him conducting. And then his
Speaker 1: health declines in the '70s and '80s, and on December 2nd, 1990, he passes
Speaker 1: away. And then his ashes were scattered at Tanglewood, the
Speaker 1: summer home of the Bosto Symphony Orchestra. Now Tanglewood is something
Speaker 1: that people might not know, but is so important I think
Speaker 1: when we look at his legacy, Evan, because Copland taught
Speaker 1: so many teachers, but he didn't teach at a conservatory
Speaker 1: at a university. Did he?
Speaker 2: Right. He didn't have a formal teaching position, but he
Speaker 2: has an influence not only just because of the popularity,
Speaker 2: and the success of his music, but he has these
Speaker 2: relationships with other composers. Very often, he would just give
Speaker 2: three, or four lessons. He didn't have long- term students
Speaker 2: like someone like Nadia Boulanger did, but even there, you
Speaker 2: see his influence stretching beyond just the concert hall.
Speaker 1: And Tanglewood, the summer home of the BSO is one
Speaker 1: of the greatest musical places really, musical festivals that happen.
Speaker 1: If you ever get to go, you absolutely should try
Speaker 1: doing that. It's in western Mass, in Lennox, but he's
Speaker 1: there, and students are flocking to him in these summers
Speaker 1: to get some lessons, and he has such a profound
Speaker 1: effect, not on just the composers, but also the musicians,
Speaker 1: and the atmosphere at Tanglewood. I think the opening to
Speaker 1: Fanfare For The Common Man is carved in stone at Tanglewood.
Speaker 2: We were talking about The Tender Land, which had its
Speaker 2: first performance at City Center in Manhattan, and then the
Speaker 2: version that we hear today was one that he had
Speaker 2: revised for a performance at Tanglewood. So, there's this Copland
Speaker 2: music that's being performed there during his life, and as
Speaker 2: you said, John, his presence is really ... He's in the
Speaker 2: rocks, he's in the grass, he's in the lakes and
Speaker 2: the trees of Tanglewood. You and I, John, both have
Speaker 2: a Tanglewood connection. We both spent summers there. I can
Speaker 2: certainly attest to his enduring presence. I was at Tanglewood
Speaker 2: during the summer of 1990, which was this last summer
Speaker 2: of his life. He didn't come out to see us
Speaker 2: there. He was in the final months of his life.
Speaker 2: Also, the final summer of his close friend Leonard Bernstein,
Speaker 2: and I attended a concert at Tanglewood in August of
Speaker 2: 1990. Bernstein was conducting. He was visibly ailing. There were
Speaker 2: rumors about his health. In fact, he died in October
Speaker 2: of that year, about eight weeks after this concert that
Speaker 2: I saw, which was the second- to- last concert Bernstein
Speaker 2: ever conducted-
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: ... and it was Aaron Copland's Symphony No. 3, which
Speaker 2: Copland completed in 1946, and Bernstein was dying at that point,
Speaker 2: but his power was certainly not diminished and this was
Speaker 2: one of the most memory, and magnificent concerts I have
Speaker 2: ever experienced. Clearly, you could just feel Bernstein knew, and
Speaker 2: loved his friend's music in a profound way, and, of course,
Speaker 2: he was such an incredible conductor. He could bring that
Speaker 2: out of the orchestra, which gave just a stunning performance
Speaker 2: of this piece. The third symphony, we keep talking about
Speaker 2: the Fanfare For The Common Man, which he wrote in
Speaker 2: 1942, and then 1946, he finishes this symphony, which incorporates the fanfare into
Speaker 2: the third and fourth movements. And, in fact, the beginning
Speaker 2: of the fourth movement, you hear the fanfare in its
Speaker 2: entirety, and then the whole rest of the piece plays
Speaker 2: on it, and builds on it, and I had this
Speaker 2: experience of hearing this live with Leonard Bernstein conducting. And
Speaker 2: for the first time in my life, I really understood
Speaker 2: that old story about the Handel's Messiah, and the king
Speaker 2: standing up during the Hallelujah chorus, because if you know the
Speaker 2: piece, if you know the third symphony, there's this hint
Speaker 2: of the fanfare, and then all of a sudden, it
Speaker 2: just bursts forth. And I actually twitched in my chair, like, "
Speaker 2: Oh, it's time to stand up now."
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And I had to restrain myself, " No. No. We're actually not going to
Speaker 2: do that," but that sense of this affirmation of human
Speaker 2: dignity, that's in that music. 1942. What's happening in the
Speaker 2: world? What's happening in Europe? What horrors are unfolding with
Speaker 2: the Nazis and the Japanese empire in Asia? And Copland
Speaker 2: writes this music to affirm the dignity of the human
Speaker 2: person. It's a defiant no to fascism, and to extremism
Speaker 2: of every kind, and then he creates this whole symphony
Speaker 2: around it. And I'm hearing this piece, Leonard Bernstein is
Speaker 2: conducting it, and that sense of Copland just permeating Tanglewood
Speaker 2: forever and ever is a visceral experience for me as
Speaker 2: a young man in 1990.
Speaker 1: Well, I am very jealous that you got to be
Speaker 1: there in 1990, and it's funny, I'm 99.9% sure we
Speaker 1: had friends in common playing in that concert, or even there.
Speaker 2: Oh, I'm sure. I'm sure. Well, you went to New
Speaker 2: England Conservatory, I went to Boston University, lots of connections
Speaker 2: that you and I could enjoy.
Speaker 1: And you also have a video of Bernstein, a video
Speaker 1: of that I can put on the show notes page-
Speaker 2: Yes.
Speaker 1: ... or maybe a link.
Speaker 2: Yes. Yes. We'll put that on the show notes page. I
Speaker 2: think that emerged many years later this video got discovered,
Speaker 2: but it's so moving to see that.
Speaker 1: So, who is doing this today? Copland's mission of, " The
Speaker 1: artist should feel himself buoyed up by his community." In
Speaker 1: other words, art and the life of art must mean
Speaker 1: something in the deepest sense to the everyday citizen. And
Speaker 1: I don't mean, like, who is exactly the next Copland,
Speaker 1: per se, but along these lines, the first person that
Speaker 1: popped into my head and someone else I asked about
Speaker 1: it too was Carlos Simon.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Maybe we're a little biased, we're in his hometown of
Speaker 1: Washington DC, he's still the composer- in- residence at The
Speaker 1: Kennedy Center. So, we're hearing his music pretty often in
Speaker 1: premieres too, but you look at his music, like, Tales
Speaker 1: of Folklore Symphony, which has a striking depiction of John
Speaker 1: Henry. It is so much fun to listen to, and
Speaker 1: I'll put a link up on the show notes page
Speaker 1: too. Or his Requiem For The Enslaved, which brings together
Speaker 1: multiple styles of music in a tribute to the 272
Speaker 1: men, women, and children that were sold in 1938 by
Speaker 1: Georgetown University. So, he's telling the stories, he's telling the
Speaker 1: folk stories and legends of this country, and the people
Speaker 1: that have been, that we've cast aside, and through all
Speaker 1: of it what I hear in Simons' music is also
Speaker 1: the optimism.
Speaker 2: Yes. The sense of possibility-
Speaker 1: Yes.
Speaker 2: ... and hope and never giving up, even despite the
Speaker 2: horrors and the injustices.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And, again, Carlos Simon I think, like Copland, is a
Speaker 2: composer who is very much rooted in a sense of
Speaker 2: music, composition, performance as elements of public life, and it's
Speaker 2: not just this pedantic lecture about, " Oh, this is how
Speaker 2: our society should be." It's really an artistic exploration of
Speaker 2: the challenges, and the wrongs, and the hurt, but also
Speaker 2: the incredible possibility. Yeah. I agree with you, John, Carlos
Speaker 2: Simon is a wonderful composer who really embodies that spirit.
Speaker 2: Terence Blanchard is another one that I think of, Fire
Speaker 2: Shut Up In My Bones, the opera that he composed
Speaker 2: based on the memoir by Charles M. Blow. Very American
Speaker 2: story about this young man growing up in Louisiana, and
Speaker 2: going to college, and, of course, Terence Blanchard, a great
Speaker 2: jazz composer, and performer incorporates this very American sound into
Speaker 2: that music as well.
Speaker 1: So, that's Aaron Copland. Quite a life from 1900 to
Speaker 1: 1990, someone who really stood up for himself, and for
Speaker 1: those that he thought he should be standing up for
Speaker 1: too. And he wrote in such a style that really
Speaker 1: defined how we were writing orchestral music here.
Speaker 2: And I want to end by reflecting on where he is in
Speaker 2: the course of history in terms of what came before
Speaker 2: him. You think about the so- called the Boston Six,
Speaker 2: American composers like John Knowles Paine and Amy Beach, who
Speaker 2: were trying to create a uniquely American voice. They were
Speaker 2: trying to show in the late 19th and early 20th
Speaker 2: Centuries that American composers had something to say that was
Speaker 2: just as worthwhile as European composers. And they were wonderful
Speaker 2: composers, but they're writing in a very European style. Copland
Speaker 2: comes along, he's the next generation, or a couple of
Speaker 2: generations after that whole movement, and you can definitely see
Speaker 2: the ways in which ideologically, and in terms of a
Speaker 2: moral principle, a cultural principle, he's following in that vein.
Speaker 2: But composers like Charles Ives, Aaron Copland are really trying
Speaker 2: to find a voice that's not only worthy of admiration
Speaker 2: in the context of the Euro- American tradition of music,
Speaker 2: but to write something that's really exceptionally and undeniably American.
Speaker 2: And I think Copland is really a very, very important composer
Speaker 2: to think about in terms of the creation of an
Speaker 2: American sound.
Speaker 1: Beautifully said. And that's Aaron Copland. What a life from 1900 to
Speaker 1: 1990, and everything that he gave us, and everything that
Speaker 1: we are still building off on today. Thank you so
Speaker 1: much, Evan.
Speaker 2: Thank you, John.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to Classical Breakdown, your guide to classical
Speaker 1: music. For more information on this episode, visit the show
Speaker 1: notes page at www.ClassicalBreakdown.org. You can send me comments, and
Speaker 1: episode ideas to www. ClassicalBreakdown@WETA. org. And if you enjoyed
Speaker 1: this episode, leave a review in your podcast app. I'm
Speaker 1: John Banther. Thanks for listening to Classical Breakdown from WETA
Speaker 1: Classical.