Copland - Passacaglia

[@jes9015]

I played this piece as an adolescent (some 50 years ago!!?), my first introduction to 20th-century composers. I loved it, just ate it up! Haven't heard it (or played it) in decades; this was a real trip back in time for me and it reminded me of the excitement I felt for the piece then. Thank you SO MUCH for posting it, including the score.

[@4yerears]

This piece is so powerful, and so brilliantly crafted, and full of arresting melodic ideas. The fact that this serious music was written when Copland was only 22 is amazing. One of the all-time great short works for piano.

[@rudolfserfontein8364]

Attractive piece : thanks for sharing .

[@SeekerSmith]

Gorgeous

[@wonderbebee]

Played this for my Senior recital - hardest piece I ever learned! 6:06 just about killed me, but I got through it! Still absolutely love this complex yet very organized and powerful piece!

[@marcnarkus-kramer3087]

I under what you are saying. Could never quite play it the way I wanted to, but just love it.

[@marcnarkus-kramer3087]

I also played this piece and am totally in love with it. I found it extremely hard to play. I might try again someday. But thanks for your presentation of this magnificent piece.

[@lennytriem1942]

I usually don't like Copland either, but I love this piece. Found it while I was researching Nadia Boulanger; apparently this piece is dedicated to her.

[@erinelizabeth428]

I love that hard swing note section at 3:30 that merges into the recurring theme. Beautiful! Thanks for posting the written music.

[@jomeara75]

This a truly sublime piano piece

[@TiticatFollies]

Copland is constantly surprising. At first I thought this was Satie. What variety and depth among his compositions! Thank you.

[@ruben7801]

+TiticatFollies Reminded me of Satie's Ogives to begin with. I love Copland, his music's always got something new to say!

[@YevgenyMorozov]

+TiticatFollies Satie? He would be dreaming! :-)

[@bertrandjacques6744]

Thanks for posting this very interesting piece which reminds me too of Gubaidulina's chaconne (although less percussive) and possibly of her "musical toys", as well as Snittke's piano music (sonatas 2 and 3). Regards from France

[@sambiermanmusic7512]

3:40 and on reminds me of The Little Shepherd - Debussy

[@BenGabbay]

I was just about to say L'ilse Joyeuse!

[@Glinkaism1]

Another great reason for loving KZbin! Thanks for posting. Cheers.

[@johnnynoirman]

Thank for putting this great work up!

[@gerthenriksen8818]

So why don't you Copland? There are several "Coplands". There are Symphony For Organ, Symphonic Ode, Variations - and then there are Billy The Kid, Rodeo, etc etc. All "kinds" of music - but only music Copland could have written.

[@Digitalmozart93]

I've heard several recordings of this piece. I noticed that in this recording, the "doppio movimento" part was a lot slower than what I've heard it played at. I'm currently playing this piece, so I liked hearing the different interpretations of that section.

[@robertmbruno]

That was nice to read. Thank for taking the time to post it.

[@Eric-xt3os]

That is one meaty, juicy piece.. wow!

[@Kuerales]

Gran pieza, me encanta.

[@gilbertorosales863]

good music will always touch your heart...

[@msandersmusic]

This is a very early work of Copland from his studies with Nadia Boulanger. It was written as an exercise in form. He had already had a large exposure to jazz and the new music on the scene in France, particular the music of "Les Six." It's not exactly his style, but interesting. I wouldn't call it atonal or versatile per se since it's an exercise, but definitely worth noting in his repertoire.

[@theomartin6238]

Dude, this was written in 1922. It has nothing with modern or early jazz. Modern jazz musicians from 50’s borrowed from him and many others 20th century classical composers.

[@williambunter3311]

I'm not a great fan of Copeland's music, but this piece is FANTASTIC!!! It will be listened to many times!!

[@phantomfn8]

The modes are actually Lydian, Ionian, Dorian, Mixolydian, Phrygian, and Locrian. The others such as Pentatonic, whole tone, gypsy minor, blues scale, etc. are not considered modes. Just very interesting scales.

[@anontwilightbreeze5192]

Seriously, that's almost all of them

[@CsrlWiener]

Copland wrote some lovely chamber music like the nonet and the piano quartet

[@TheGrandBrand]

Some people may be wondering "oh wow, aeolian, phrygian, sounds like complex theory". No!!! Aeolian is the "normal" minor scale, something you hear in movies a lot, when the music is sad, longind. Phrygian is a heavy metal kind of sound, think "Harvester of Sorrow" by Metallica. (the opening riff is purely phrygian)

[@gillespoilvet7088]

At 3'40", we are not so far from Debussy Preludes (Book I...) Really an extremely interesting piece, that I will lesten to again !

[@peplicus]

Wow! What an unknown piece, thanks for posting. Copland developed later with the "Piano Variations", but he always maintained his crystal harmonies and perfect structure. Tonal? Obviously this is, but Copland's structures never lose the sense of a center, even if they sound like the wrong notes.

[@JonathanSchmieding]

what's funny is that aaron copland in his book "What to Listen for in Music" explicitly states that a passacaglia is in a slow triple meter...then he writes one in 4. i guess genius doesn't come in a neat package. rules are meant to be broken, especially in art

[@MrStrav81]

Have you heard the Copland Piano Variations? It's fantastic. I also like the Piano Sonata very much.

[@emilygclarinet]

Very nice!

[@Hamiltonharty]

well those are the church modes. septatonic modes essentially. Those other scales actually do have their own modes. A mode is a specific thing, a reorganization of the starting tones within a scale. A scale can be transposed to use different tones and is usually an organization of intervals, modes change the starting tone thus reorganizing the placement of intervals but not the tones. Look up messiaen's modes of limited transposition, sheds a lot of light on the subject.

[@Eppreor]

Cheers!

[@radioplug14]

What if I were to tell you that Aeolian wasn't a "normal" minor scale and that the modes were derived from music in the 10th century and not metal? There is a lot more to modes than just the notes--but I'll just leave it at that. If you're interested, you should check out the modes definition in the Grove Dictionary of Music.

[@MagicDonDino]

Wow!!!

[@RobertBaldwinMusic]

I hope you don’t turn pages like that in real life!

[@hotspur98]

How can you not like Copland??

[@2012musicmaker]

Don't forget the octatonic scale!

[@wjacobr66]

Did I hear an echo of Pictures at an Exhibition in this?

[@MrAkihiros]

+Jacob Russell That's an astute observation, but yes, definitely there is. An orchestral version of this would be superb.

[@떤떼임]

How can I play that passage from the first 3 layer to the last? Is that possible with only two hands?

[@radioplug14]

I wouldn't say it's G# minor. That implies stricter tonality. It's really a mix between G#-Aeolian and G#-Phrygian. Maybe best to just say it's a piece centered around G#. :P

[@somnynightin78]

@nohpiano I know what you're saying. it obviously has a key signature.

[@JoanKSX]

But I'm absolutely loving Copland's Jazzy No. 3 from Three Moods =D

[@taleleny5999]

1:51

[@Barbapippo]

as to me, it reminds (at least, the first bars) Satie's Choral from "Sports and Amusements"

[@radioplug14]

Oh please tell me how the modes emerged into the minor-major system... (because even people with PhDs in musicology and music theory like Harold Powers and Joel Lester cannot accurately sum up the transition--try as they do.)

[@sirrskarr18]

It happened rapidly following Guido d'Arezzo's invention and implementation of solfege (fixed do) in the 11th century. That effectively set the notation from then on, and in Western Europe that became the norm. It developed further with advances in notation to accommodate instruments, which were not used in the early church. However, churches being a reactionary entity, many of them continued to use traditional chants that were still in different modes. Realize that the development of music happened in a series of pockets/vacuums all over the world. It wasn't until much later that theorists began to solidify the concept of "modes" or really to standardize any elements of music whatsoever.

[@Altair122122332345]

Variation 1 0:35

[@Altair122122332345]

Variation 2 1:27

[@Altair122122332345]

Variation 3 1:52

[@Altair122122332345]

Variation 4 2:24

[@chizchizchiz]

don't forget Aeolian!

[@RichardASalisbury1]

I agree that the opening theme of this piece is rather plain, even somewhat ugly--and would become boring if Copland didn't fairly soon begin to thicken and enrich the sound. The further in this piece I listened, the more interesting it became. I'm familiar with a great deal of Copland's music (among his most lauded pieces, I think the only one I can't get with is his Piano Variations--too austere). But this is new to me, and I'm not sure that, if I didn't know it is by Copland, I would recognize it to be. It is different from anything of his I recall hearing. On one listening I don't find it entirely convincing, but like it enough to listen more.

[@punkpoetry]

Variations is his masterpiece, the rough-edged minimalism is exactly what makes it so uniquely modern (according to Bernstein at least)

[@Benjabenja77]

3:35ish, the left hand slips into a triplet rhythm... :/

[@Alvarordonez]

@sanctusignis Ramon Salvatore.....

[@luiz0malucelli]

I wouldn't say nearly atonal, i'd say dissonant but surely tonal.

[@ewreid3333]

There are so many recognizable harmonic functions that I could never call this atonal. Compared to Bartok, this work is rather conventional. What makes it sound atonal is the lack of common cadences and his constant movement between keys so that one key hardly becomes established. Nearly time you expect an authentic cadence, he takes you someplace else. IMO, anyway....

[@FifthContinentMusic]

Stupid comment by Unstable Music. So, you don't like Copland. If so, why upload this memorable work by Copland. It certainly does not remind us of Sofia Gubaidulina's Chaconne.

[@TariqKhan-np2wx]

people are entitled to their own comment whether or not you like it!!!

[@TheGrandBrand]

I know about the modes and the emergence of the minor-major system, trust me. I was trying to explain this to people who have no knowledge of music theory. Your attempt at being smart fell short.

[@MrPaevo]

How CAN you like this?

[@Verschrankung]

Lol, the video description is so politically correct!

[@RadarAlonso1991]

the parts aren't 100% sync... Copland is suberb!

[@PointyTailofSatan]

I don't know why so many passacaglias seem to use unmelodic tone row type subjects. And please, spare me your "They sound wonderful" nonsense. You can bring your Copland and Kosenko, I'll bring my Bach and Godowsky, and may the best music win. lol

[@CanelonVegano]

PointyTailofSatan They were not trying to compare, I think, Bach will always win 😅