Aaron Copland: Symphony No. 3. L. Bernstein - New York Philharmonic.

[@terbhang]

A superb performance in, remember, a rather wretched hall. I heard the NYP in the newly redone David Geffen Hall in Feb 2023 and was so relieved that the Phil finally has a home where its audience can hear the whole group properly. Lenny understood and loved this music to perfection....and Copland, yes, one of my top American 20th century composers. Thank you for posting!

[@louismastrangelo3781]

What a wonderful rendition of this piece. I irst heard this done by, of all groups, Emerson, Lake and Palmer in the 70's as a teen; ELP and Bugs bunny should receive more credit than they seem to get for introducing younger people to the great classics!!!!!

[@michaelvaladez6570]

The greatest American composer ever in my opinion.

[@clementreid907]

One of the great Copland masterworks, and Lenny is just the best, embodying every nuance in this fabulous music.

[@nataliabenedetti3639]

Fantastici tutti!!!!!!! What an Orchestra!!!!! Great gift Leonard Bernstein 🌹🎶🎶🎶#3rdsinfonyCopland💞

[@georgealderson4424]

My first hearing of this symphony today and it is unmistakably AC!

[@b1i2l336]

The greatest American symphony in the greatest performance I ever heard of it, despite the less than stellar recorded sound.

[@DavidGainesVeganComposer]

Charles Ives would like to submit his 4th symphony for consideration as well. ;-)

[@sidpheasant7585]

Just how beautiful and meaningful and self-assured can a piece of music be? Sure signs of the beloved Holy Spirit being present. Ever-active, like the wind, blowing where He will, raising human genius to the point where we have to seek answers.

[@b1i2l336]

@@sidpheasant7585 Well and beautifully said! Thank you!

[@jbut1208]

I have traveled a bit in America and it always seems to me that Copeland gets America better than most other American composers. This music reminds me so much of the American countryside!

[@brucebirchman7057]

A somewhat extended and expansive Fanfare to a Common MAn

[@abankse83]

@@brucebirchman7057 Actually, Fanfare was taken from the 3rd Symphony

[@williamkoeppen2102]

​@@abankse83 Actually, it's the other way around. He used the previously written Fanfare as the theme for the final movement.

[@gerthenriksen8818]

...and the big cities.

[@fredsnook8122]

I LOVE this entire piece, and to see Bernstein direct it is just incredible!

[@richardwalker9826]

seeing mr bernstein and the new york philharmonic live almost 50 years later is just an unbelievable uplifting and inspiring experience for me too! i could listen to coplands works all day long- rodeo, appalachian spring and billy the kid just to name a few

[@kathleenegbert1989]

Thanks for the just-in-time post. Have forwarded the link to members of the orchestra in which I play who must perform it all too soon. Note to Copland wannabees: Do NOT write unison piccolos on high sustained notes. (In general, do NOT write unison piccolos for anything.) While I have no idea how these NYP masters handled it, the only sane solution to what may be the worst piccolo writing in the literature, is for the two piccolo players to agree on who sits out when.

[@jgm5856]

Thank you very much for your comment.

[@gerthenriksen8818]

How coulda a master orchestrator like Copland write "the worst piccolo writing n the literature"? Is that a general view among musicians? Maybe exactly that same writing contributes to the effect that Copland wanted ? (high ,thrilling, jubilant)

[@DanielFletcherFlute]

@@gerthenriksen8818Absolutely not. It’s horrible piccolo writing and is why the end of the second movement sounds horrendously out of tune even with the NYPhil. Best case scenario it’s inoffensive. Worst case, it ruins the performance. Many of these so-called “master orchestrators” didn’t really understand EVERY instrument. I’m not sure if it’s THE worst piccolo writing in the literature, but it’s certainly up there.

[@christinebeckett5511]

40:50 to end... 42:10 to end... never mind: The Whole Thing---the great energy, the essential, coiled, *intensity* of this amazing work.

[@pawdaw]

I always get goosebumps when the opening theme of the first movement returns at 40:18 - from there to the end - staggering, overwhelming, every time.

[@colinli1827]

Clickable timestamps: I Molto moderato (00:00) II Allegro molto (10:28) III Andantino quasi allegretto (19:00) IV Molto deliberato (29:16)

[@georgekelk9575]

Thanks

[@veevalaveeda]

Thank you! Super helpful. 👍

[@buzzbrayable]

For me, the definitive performance!

[@davidkuder4356]

If Anyone would know how to play Aaron Copeland, that would be Lenny.. ! LOVE 💘 that "Fanfare for the Common Man" was included. . ! Thanks for posting.

[@joseantoniofernandezpalaci485]

Una de las mejores sinfonías del siglo XX dirigida por quien era el más apropiado para hacerlo, Leonard Bernstein, un americano dirigiendo con una orquesta americana una sinfonía profundamente americana. Esta interpretación no tiene rival.

[@HughBarton-yc9uu]

Well, I guess that's the whole deal...thatMr. Copland, Lenny( a protean force...), and the NYP...... Now, I'm a Philly guy.....as far as I am concerned,ain't nobody beats the PSO in a gunfight.... But , you, these guys. They have mad skills. Thanks so much, Lenny!!!! .

[@mlconlanmeister]

I had a crude cassette tape off the air recording of a PO concert in the 80's: on tour, Buenos Aires, South American premiere, Riccardo Muti conducting - such electricity in the air, quite something (wish that concert [w/ Brahms 2] were available).

[@gerthenriksen8818]

Thanks a lot! Great!!! Listening to this in 2019 - not at all like other US-symphonies from the same period - Barber, Randall Thompson, Harris, etc( a lot more US-European "classical")...to this day Copland's Third is something of a wonder, he takes huge chances in his orchestration for the period, very high notation, big distance between low instruments to high, which gives the symphony that big, wide open sound, etc - extremely difficult to play and to get right for any orchestra. But Bernstein kind of nails it here.

[@bolemirnoc604]

Yes, poor trumpets.

[@jimwilt4944]

To be fair, this is a very tough piece, and most trumpet sections struggled with it around the time this recording was made. A notable exception would be the Chicago Symphony. Compare this to the recording Bernstein made a decade later. Totally different band.

[@johnrandolph6121]

@@jimwilt4944 The trumpets in the later recording had an advantage these guys didn't. Yes, the later recording was a "live recording" but it was still spliced together from three performances with a "cleanup" session afterwards. This is purely a live performance.

[@jimwilt4944]

@@johnrandolph6121 The later recording also had Phil Smith, Joe Alessi and Phil Myers, among others.

[@DavidGainesVeganComposer]

If I'm not mistaken, orchestras perform this with additional brass on stage for this reason - or at least while watching videotapes of performances, I've counted more on stage than are called for in the score....

[@literatuurfan1500]

A inspiring composer and a brilliant conductor! Great together!

[@louismastrangelo3781]

Not to mention a great orchestra- Interestingly enough, all three are American!

[@estevaocoutoteixeira7939]

Lindo! Leonard Bernstein, meu Regente preferido!!!!🎶

[@tanakaasuka]

38:27 this bit of trumpet is my favorite bit in the whole symphony, ironically in the two concerts I attended(one of them being nyphil) and some other recordings this bit is played with a mute, which is far from prominent compared to Bernstein version. It is so satisfying seeing him enjoying this motif and giving it such vitality🎉🎉

[@tanakaasuka]

Also the build up is really great, with the tension and expectations. I used to play only this bit with the recording and felt so motivated starting my practice, I guess I am an expert in this particular trumpet entry lol😅

[@selfmadepeach]

First mvt 00:00 open 3:15 third 6:30 Climax 7:08 Quiet Second mvt 10:30 Rodeo theme 14:11 First theme 18:10 Second theme Third Mvt 19:22 Theme from first mvt 22:54 Second Theme 24:20 Fast section Forth Mvt 29:19 Opening 32:37 Turn theme 36:02 7/8th theme 43:00 Ending

[@georgealderson4424]

Thank you for all your hard work Jingyu. Blessings and peace

[@selfmadepeach]

@@georgealderson4424 Thank you, these were for a presentation of mine :D

[@mendax1773]

Gotta love a piece that ends with a bang!

[@Twentythousandlps]

In the summer of America's Bicentennial, 1976, Bernstein and the Philharmonic went on a long tour covering Western Europe and America, for which Bernstein had programmed only American music. Most of the pieces were popular things like the West Side Story Dances and the Rhapsody in Blue, but Bernstein got the Copland 3rd in as well, representing our music's more serious side. This was recorded by Amberson/Unitel in Germany in June.

[@johnrandolph6121]

Copland Sym. #3 is pretty popular.

[@MusicMan-dv7jg]

It was recorded in 1986 www.unitel.de/en/product/do/detail.html?id=483

[@Twentythousandlps]

@@MusicMan-dv7jg No, 1976.

[@MusicMan-dv7jg]

@@Twentythousandlps You are right!! I was wrong, I found the program in NY Philharmonic Archives archives.nyphil.org/index.php/artifact/ce47f773-2215-43be-b3ff-9afb1efb1d5a-0.1. It was on June 8, 1976 in the Jahrhunderthalle Hoechst in Frankfurt. The UNITEL website said 1986, but it is surely a typographical error, as there is no performance of this Symphony in 1986 by the orchestra. Thanks for the correction.

[@Twentythousandlps]

@@MusicMan-dv7jg It's possible the video was issued in 1986, I don't know.

[@manuelcerqueranogales1307]

Lo vi por primera vez en un programa a benedito en antena 3 grandísimo berstein hace años ya

[@fflambeauutube]

You can see Gerard Schwarz as the trumpet at about 1:30.

[@culturehorse]

This was when a concert was a Concert. LB the Magister Mundi himself, live, Lincoln Center! A near cosmic civilised social event..

[@sidpheasant7585]

With the Holy Spirit present, it would seem...

[@richardwalker9826]

inspiring! - long orchestral pieces aren't so popular anymore people just don't have the time to spare to listen and admire the depth and beauty

[@georgealderson4424]

It is a shame as there are still 24 hours in a day and we can all benefit by listening! Blessings and peace

[@marshallartz395]

Richard Walker: Don’t tell that to Gustav Mahler! 😎🎹

[@georgealderson4424]

@@marshallartz395 Actually with lockdown, isolation and so on we all (should) have more than enough time to listen several times over!

[@richardwalker9826]

@@marshallartz395 there are so many short catchy tunes on the air waves nowadays classical radio stations are few and far between. each new generation of kids are being educated in rap disco rock and pop and the great classics are disappearing from the mainstream

[@ikuokitamura3175]

great performance and dynamic sound.very powerful .This symphony is comfortable.Thank you.

[@georgealderson4424]

I agree with you Ikuo

[@richardrandall6714]

I first heard this in 1968: I was a barracks orderly, and not training that day. As I pushed this big mop I heard this extraordinary music, and was soon sitting with the radio in my hands. Fifty years later It is still so very exciting and uplifting!

[@jeffreyhooper3678]

I carried this symphony in my mind nearly constantly for years, but under the baton on Leonard Bernstein, so his interpretation was the only one I knew. Sometime in the late 70s Copland came to Eastman and conducted it. His tempos were generally too slow and it wrenched my whole body having to sit there and listen to this "misinterpretation". I wanted to scream out, "faster, Aaron, faster!!"

[@paulrosa6173]

Who do you think had the original tempo? Was Copeland just slowing down with old age or do you think he wanted it slower as he intended it?

[@jeffreyhooper3678]

@@paulrosa6173 Good question. I was 26 or 27 years old at the time and "used" to and totally enamored by Berstein's interpretation. Copeland was a frail figure on the Podium. I ascribed his slower tempos and low energy gestures to age. I am now only a few years younger than he was then and so my memories are tempered. On the other hand, listening to Berstein's version will always put a spring in my step.

[@paulrosa6173]

@@jeffreyhooper3678 . I'm 73 and living on rosa time. He was living on Copeland time? And they probably both feel the same as real time. Have to keep an eye on the clock.

[@jeffreyhooper3678]

@@paulrosa6173 1958 I was in 1st grade and heard Copeland for the first time. This wonderful Jewish man from New York was the embodiment of the American sound from that day until this.

[@paulrosa6173]

@@jeffreyhooper3678 - I think Copeland put the Shakers on the map. I thought Billy the Kid was a stupid little boy turned habitual killer. Copeland really makes you stop and think about that. I don't know how he does it but he makes you mourn for him in a very profound way. That mournful couple of bars can be done too fast. The three part video of the extended ballet seems too fast just for that lament. The Billy Stewart posting to the side here does it well I think. Knowing something about Billy's history is a factor but the sound is heart wrenching. I think Copeland was being sincere. Do you think the wonderful jewish man cared very deeply for the state of Israel? He never lived there but I think performed there. Freud didn't seem to be highly wedded to his ethno/religious roots. I wonder if Copeland may have felt similarly? Gertrude Stein wasn't either. I don't think he'd be enthusiastic for current developments? I want to think he wouldn't be, anyway. I think he deeply loved this country, its culture and his music wasn't just popular propaganda. There doesn't seem to be any video on KZbin of the ballet. I think it hasn't been performed in over 60 years.

[@markhelfgott2619]

Powerful 😊

[@vicentenietomartin5886]

No! Boringful!

[@brianswitzer]

Can someone timecode the movements? I’m too lazy. I mean, busy.

[@georgealderson4424]

I hope you are enjoying whatever you are busy with Brian! If not, stop and listen for a while!

[@richardwilliams473]

A young Roland Koloff without a beard playing timpani at 30:20

[@MrKlemps]

Yes. RK's 4th year in 1976. His teacher Saul Goodman retired in 1972, having begun in 1926. Imo Kohloff and Chico Espino were the best of the Goodman students after Vic Firth.

[@BeeMichael]

Each movement ends with a sus 4 chord which then resolves. Brilliant.

[@ElvisKalpa]

they never show the tuba :(

[@ertatta]

same tuba playing is a bit rough and raucous in the fanfare opening of the 4th mvmnt.

[@bolemirnoc604]

So the anvil and some other unusual percussion. :(

[@drdougjue]

On 13:09 You can see the tuba playing next to the 3rd (base) trombone.

[@yodservant]

What year was this recorded? I'm thinking late 80s? What was the venue? Superb performance.... Lenny is the Master of Masters, saw him in the late 70s at Tanglewood, he was born in Lawrence Massachusetts where my brother was also born. My dad was friends with Yo Yo Ma in Winchester MA way back in the day .. .🦁

[@elijahscall718]

Fourth movement is heavenly.

[@davidkuder4356]

Just caught the Copeland episode of San Francisco Orchestra's "Keeping Score" last night. HIGHLY Recommended. Check er Out.. !! Their whole series of foci on key composers are worth Subscribing. Especially (to my tastes) Gustav Mahler and Dmitri Shostakovich..!!

[@AtlantaRagtimeBand]

Joe Novotny sounds great!!!

[@MisterMalleable]

At the beginning of the fourth movement it sounds like Copland borrowed the melody from the Fanfare for the Common Man at 30:00

[@sidpheasant7585]

yes ... but he wrote that too!

[@leonardchileungman4925]

he incorporated ‘Fanfare For Common Man’ with variations from the transition at the end of the third movement swelling into the explosion at the beginning of the fourth movement…

[@paulrosa6173]

The 2nd movement sounds like Appalachian Spring in a blender. I never heard any of the Symphonies before tonight on this video. Did the symphony come first?

[@ertatta]

And times I see a silver plated D trpt that’s positioned to the left of Gery Schwarz. I’m not sure if it’s an assistant principal, but it doesn’t seem like the trpt section is agreeing much on how to phrase the fanfare along with articulations. At times it seems like some of the strings are sight reading their parts especially in 4 mvmnt.

[@nervyvariable4985]

29:16 nice little tribute to the fanfare for the common man. Fanfare For The Common Man is such a great piece that Copland wrote separate from this piece

[@schrap72]

When bought the recording of Symphony No. 3, I didn't know the fanfare was within the final movement. When I heard it start in the upper woodwinds I was amazed and when it got to the brass fanfare, it blew my socks off! I had always been a fan of Fanfare for the Common Man but until then I only knew of it as a stand alone composition. I love it when it modulates to the original key signature of the fanfare. That was what really got me!

[@georgealderson4424]

@@schrap72 Found your socks yet or had to buy new ones?

[@alex_squeezebox]

@@schrap72 I know right? Such a glorious moment!

[@luisangelsalazaravila9059]

Violin Excerpt 33:00

[@yodservant]

We Saved America 2024🌎🦁🌵🦁

[@douglasigelsrud6648]

Who is playing timpani?

[@wwrunk5551]

@ Douglas Igelsrud........Roland Kohloff

[@michaelfischer5800]

the timpanist!

[@jaydonheadrick6713]

3:45

[@vastylebbq5203]

Some Phat brass! Awesome

[@cyranor.2956]

34:05 violin excerpt

[@fflambeauutube]

Note too that Copland was more than a friend; he was one of Lenny's lovers.

[@jgesselberty]

Is this comment really necessary? Who cares. They were both geniuses and would be so if they were celibate monks.

[@johnrandolph6121]

What's your source for that? That's nothing more than speculation.

[@happy-composer]

They had a wonderful relationship, and it’s amazing what kind of music they were able to make as a result.

[@happy-composer]

John Gesselberty I have to disagree. Bernstein said that he loved people more than he loved music itself, and that everything he did was for the people around him. If Bernstein hadn’t communicated with the people, none of what he did would have been possible. Copland, too, was inspired by his contemporaries and the relationships he had with the American people to write his music. As such, Bernstein’s almost-compendium of Copland’s work would not have happened if they had not been lovers. It’s an important part of the lives of both musicians.

[@happy-composer]

John Randolph There are letters detailing the relationship in “The Leonard Bernstein Letters” book of letters compiled by Nigel Simeone. Bernstein’s daughter also mentions the same letters that she is in possession of,

[@jeffreyemge5435]

13'45" one horn comes in a measure early. HOW COULD YOU

[@O-sa-car]

Interesting that the average age of the orchestra seems to be 60

[@creativemindplay]

Not really

[@georgealderson4424]

You will be too one day! May you have a long and blessed and peaceful life.

[@ruhstill1399]

That’s because the orchestra is full with great artists and not nay players !

[@올레-w4i]

33:07

[@O-sa-car]

too bad they don't show his facial expression at 36:33 in the Molto deliberato, which is the most beautiful part of the piece

[@bolemirnoc604]

It reminds me Martinů.

[@christinebeckett5511]

Just listen to the music! Why do you need to see LB's face? You know what he looked like in such moments, use yr inner eye!! ... or equip yourself with a nice photo. Copland's work sings for itself.

[@georgealderson4424]

Sometimes I think LB gets a little bit carried away with himself and is over dramatic.

[@janflewelling6277]

@George Alderson: Maybe that's just the way music moves him, and maybe that's why he's just that good. What a blessing to make your passion your life's work.

[@michaelcarroll7621]

​@@georgealderson4424Sometimes?

[@alexanderelliott3284]

Why do I not see Any women in this Orchestra???

[@bzrkr138]

sounds like he wrote it about space travel

[@sidpheasant7585]

Interesting. He began the work just before the end of WW2, but finished it after the War was over. The work was done while he was in Mexico. Certainly, he was thinking about war and what would follow it.

[@s4nt19]

POV : you cane her to do a music homework

[@vicentenietomartin5886]

First time I hear about this guy Copland. Not bad. I've just got interested in exotic (non European) concert music. However, to be honest, if this buddy was European, he would certainly be second or third line author. I mean, it is interesting, but I cannot imagine it to be in the repertoire of any European orchestra, not even in towns. In fact, at right, in the column of suggestions, I see just only other two performances: one by the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester (NOT a mmmmm...REALLY GREAT ONE, precisely, LOL) and just because it is inserted as a special feature in a festival, with a miscellaneous program. The other one, WOW, is the MALAYSIAN PHILARMONIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL, LOL, LOL, LOL. The other suggestions, to be serious include MAHLER, DVOŘÁK, РИМСКИЙ-КОРСАКОВ, MAHLER (AGAIN), BEETHOVEN, MAHLER (AGAIN), DVOŘÁK, MENDELSSOHN, DVOŘÁK (again), DVOŘÁK (again), CARL ORFF, ЧАЙКОВСКИЙ, ЧАЙКОВСКИЙ (again), WAGNER, RAVEL, BEETHOVEN (again), SIBELIUS, DEBUSSY, РИМСКИЙ-КОРСАКОВ (again), BEETHOVEN (again), СТРАВИНСКИЙ, Leonard Bernstein itself (well, I suppose it's logic, even if is a rather mediocre as a composer being one of the great directors of the XXth Century), MOZART, and BEETHOVEN, ЧАЙКОВСКИЙ (a zillion times), BACH (4 times) ONLY FOR OPTIMISTIC U.S.A.-people. "U.s.a. music, EVER OPTIMISTIC, if some"., as that lesser group of composers are usually derided here in Europe. ONLY FOR DOMESTIC CONSUMPTION, OR IF SOMEONE IN THE REST OF THE WORLD WAKES UP IN THE MOOD TO EXPLORE PECULIAR, OBSCURE, LESSER MUSIC, NOT REALLY WORTH OF FURTHER INTEREST, YOU WILL END SOON HATING FANFARES. Frankly, I prefer ШОСТАКОВИЧ. I assure to everyone there is nothing comparable to his 7th Symphony " LENINGRAD". If you're really are into XXth Century music, you are wasting time at listening that fellow COP-LAND. Forget it and try REALLY GREAT MUSIC. And I also strongly suggest French Baroque. U.s.a. dindn't get any Baroque, mainly because It didn't existed, LOL, LOL, LOL, LOL. Believe me only European music can satisfy a deeply sensitive soul. This U.s.a. thing is not in any European Ochestre repertoire, and I doubt about such u.s.a. composers get one of their works performed more than twice if any per year. They don't deserve it. It's a waste of time and money. The World doesn't need them.

[@vanhouten64]

Orchestras were so much less integrated back then (1976)...now there are many women players and even sometimes you see lady conductors.

[@culturehorse]

There's a lady there, playing in the string section 6:00 >

[@paulhenner8914]

This symphony says every thing about America until Trump pissed all over it !

[@wwrunk5551]

Irrelevant comment from an irrelevant person.

[@paulhenner8914]

Better than being ignorant

[@georgealderson4424]

Oh well. DT is history now and America will learn and move on (please God)

[@paulhenner8914]

I will pray with you. I love what America once stood for but Trump the evil bastard destroyed that ! @@georgealderson4424

[@laurenlofton9039]

How did this get political?

[@stephenjablonsky1941]

Wonderful performance and terrible camera work.

[@LauBeDeg]

Stupid camera work. Instead of focusing on the orchestra, we mostly get every twitch of the megastar conductor.

[@Cherubini47]

A "symphony " of crying demented and destroyed souls.

[@georgealderson4424]

Interesting. Sounds a bit like Mahler in places to me.

[@jbut1208]

Visit the US! See the ordinary people yourself! Your comment says a lot about your biases!

[@sidpheasant7585]

some of the time, but there is also beauty, reconciliation and transcendence in there, wouldn't you say?

[@michaelfischer5800]

just americans....

[@mhenrikse]

Lame camera work. Too many shots of the conductor and percussion.

[@silentgreybox]

This is not a great performance.

[@sarahjones-jf4pr]

Stuart F. Quite agree I thought it was harsh ,very rough at the edges,and hard to listen to.

[@sidpheasant7585]

@@sarahjones-jf4prParts of the subject-matter are also harsh and rough. Personally, I don't need perfection, just meaning...

[@sarahjones-jf4pr]

@@sidpheasant7585 Your "Personal" opinion. not mine.

[@sidpheasant7585]

@@sarahjones-jf4pr You gave yours and I mine, and nobody was left in any doubt. Most opinions are personal by definition. But a glass can still be half full, rather than half empty...

[@BeeMichael]

That's exactly what America is. Harsh, rough at the edges coupled with profound beauty and open space. It's the epitome of Americana and what makes America great! @@sarahjones-jf4pr

[@sarahjones-jf4pr]

Cannot ever like Copland music just cannot, too loud and screechy lacking culture and depth ......

[@josephmarcello7481]

Poor Aaron, He always wanted to write the Great American symphony, without having the inspiration or the way with all to do so, unlike some of his skilled colleagues, such as Samuel Barber or Howard Hanson or Roy Harris. Harris. Copeland progresses into a monotonous orchestral fabric of monolithic proportions comprise mainly of your perfect intervals force and fifths with a gradual amassing of orchestral forces in the most uninspired and flat-footed way, all in order to produce the grand climax of which he is so persistently fond. Despite his many attempts to master this form, such as the Oregon symphony where the second short symphony, he felt pretty miserably in all three works, because against his better judgment he did not write organically and from the heart, but rather strategically and from the head, producing a skillful but arid fabric, devoid of spontaneity and joy... Unlike his fresh and brilliant Billy, the kid, Appalachian spring, rodeo, which fall from the stage as naturally as water from a fountain. Unfortunately, as life progressed, Copeland moved from the heart into the head into on the almost cerebral self-restriction which was determined to teach listeners. How to appreciate beautiful dissonances and crunchy harmonies that, while dance and thorny, have a certain old testament righteousness to them. Indeed, subconsciously, one gets the impression that Copeland considers himself a kind of intellectual rabbi of the musical tradition. Once, went discussing the rapturously beautiful work by Samuel Barber, Knoxville, Summer of 1915, which is nothing if not a sustained and ecstatically beautiful outpouring of human emotion in the most heartfelt and unscripted way, he stopped when I paused and mentioned that Copeland had said he would have loved to have get a hold of the text before Barbara had and do it, adding, within ironic smile, ' he could never have done what Barbara did. He simply didn't have the gift of melody , or emotional passion.: Which is quite true. While I love Copland for his textural clarity and economy and intensity of seniorities that convey so much atmospheric color, I find him often pretentious, and intellectually superior in his musical choices, far to involved in musical strategy rather than inspired composition. Composition. Yes, he was the dean and the spokesman for generations of American composers, and his books have much of value in them, but his brain was too much with him and betrayed him in the end, so far as his music was concerned.

[@clementreid907]

What a strange and very academic impression, as if you hadn't even listened to the music. Pretentious is the very opposite of who he is. And for goodness sake, spell his name correctly.

[@michaelcarroll7621]

There are no words to describe the ridiculousness of your comment so I will just ask two questions. Who is Barbara and when did Copland write an Oregon symphony? Maybe a newly discovered work not previously performed or recorded?

[@hnk1871]

3:47

[@Rosie-t4b]

33:02

[@nathanthomeer9169]

33:05