If I Could Choose Only One Work By...COPLAND

It Would Have To Be...Appalachian Spring (complete original ballet)
The work that defined the sound of American classical music.
The List So Far...
1. Ravel: Ma Mère l’Oye (Mother Goose Ballet)
2. Bruckner: Symphony No. 7
3. Schubert: String Quintet in C major
4. Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4
5. Mahler: Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection”
6. Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker
7. Debussy: Preludes for Piano (Books 1 & 2)
8: Handel: Saul
9. Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro
10. Brahms: String Sextet No. 2 in G major
11. Vaughan Williams: Job
12. Bach: Goldberg Variations
13. R. Strauss: Four Last Songs
14. Berlioz: The Damnation of Faust
15. Haydn: “Paris” Symphonies (Nos. 82-87)
16. Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen
17. Beethoven: String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor
18. Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor
19. Chopin: Preludes
20. Verdi: Rigoletto
21. Roussel: Symphony No. 2

[@MarauderOSU]

For me, it would have to be the Third Symphony. I think it was the work in which Aaron Copland put it all together.

[@Delius1958]

Some days ago I listened again to Appalachian Spring - and for the first time it came to my mind that this could be an hommage to Delius‘ Appalachia: the haunting opening, the variations, the folk song near the end, the quiet ending - similar structure. - Thanks again, Dave, for your ever educating and entertaining videos. Harry

[@barryguerrero6480]

As an alternative, Symphony #3 (with a good tam-tam).

[@metroidfoosion73]

I have to say, I would put his 3rd Symphony. I really feel like that piece encompasses everything in Copeland’s sound world, and what would make up the “American” sound. It is full of those Billy the Kid and Appalachian Spring idioms, as well as many aspects unique to the work, and not to mention also incorporates the fanfare for the common man. Just my 2 cents. Either way, Appalachian Spring is a great option as well. I’m a bassoonist and played the chamber(original) version a few months ago. Always a pleasure

[@danielmoriarty18]

Absolutely agree. His music is "American" as well as other things. Appalachian Spring is the epitome of "American," and Simple Gifts is a big part of it.

[@michaelmurray8742]

Can somebody recommend a recording of the chamber vers? Thanks

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Copland's own on Columbia is the reference.

[@dionbaillargeon4899]

Terrific choice. I remember an anecdote by Leonard Slatkin. In his final years Copland was virtually unable to comunicate due to Alzheimer's, but he and other musicians kept visiting once in a while. In one of their last meetings, Copland sat at the piano and played the haunting opening chord of Appalachian Spring. He was already almost unable to talk, but still remembered the notes. Slatkin said that everyone in the room understood that it was the work he wished to be remembered for.

[@michaelmurray8742]

Thanks Dave. I’ll try and hunt it down 👍

[@musicianinseattle]

I heard a similar story that involves Copland’s lifelong friend and interpreter, pianist Leo Smit. Smit was visiting Copland not long before Copland died, and found him similarly uncommunicative due to Alzheimer’s. Smit went to the piano and started playing one of Copland’s signature works - it was either “Appalachian Spring” or “Billy the Kid”. Copland’s eyes suddenly registered comprehension, and he said to those in attendance, “You hear what Leo’s playing?” Someone said, “What?” And Copland replied, a little sadly and dreamily, “…Me.”

[@eddihaskell]

Agreed! As conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony with Copland's original instrumentation. I believe it is part of MTT's Keeping Score series.

[@ericleiter6179]

Yes, I have seen that MTT special on KZbin and it totally won me over for the original chamber version too!

[@frankjordan269]

Another voice added for Symphony no 3 - and a dark horse for The Tender Land Suite. But I suppose I can accept Appalachian Spring - as a bassoonist I have performed the original orchestration many times and it is always a pleasure for the player and the audience.

[@johnmarchington3146]

This was difficult because there is so much to admire with AC. I love Appalachian Spring but, after some thought, I've chosen the magnificent third symphony

[@Tom_Theodore]

I’m happily Canadian but listening to Copland makes me want to emigrate to the US. I can’t be the only one.

[@bill_clarkus]

Arnold Schoenberg: Pierrot lunaire When I think of Schoenberg, this is the first work that jumps to mind (probably my favorite work of his too - sorry!). Just iconic. Combines his freely atonal style with classical forms. A nice, bracing slap to the face delivered in the creepiest way possible 😀...

[@eddihaskell]

I do not get Schoenberg. My musical ears simply do not enjoy it, and I have tried. My best friend attended Columbia University undergrad and everyone had to take one arts appreciation class - or something - during their freshman year. It was assigned. His course was listening to this nutsy professor playing endless recording of Schoenberg and expecting very bright 18 year olds to write a thesis about Schoenberg's 12 tone system and how it revolutionized Western civilization or some crap like that. My friend said it was brutal but managed to get an A in it. I would die.

[@bill_clarkus]

@@eddihaskell I completely understand. With Schoenberg, the struggle is real. Everything he wrote is difficult in one way or another (at least what I've heard). For me, however, he scratches an itch that no other music can reach. Granted, it's a pretty particular itch. Also, I'm sure there's a crab canon in Pierrot lunaire and that's got to count for something with Cancrizans, right?

[@MDK2_Radio]

How coincidental - just yesterday afternoon my local classical station did the unthinkable and aired the full ballet rather than just the Simple Gifts variations and it prompted me to wonder if that was worthy of inclusion (I could make a case for the 3rd Symphony but no need at this point, it’s a terrific choice).

[@zdl1965]

Classic Copland. Even any version of Appalachian Spring will do! Wonderful melodies, lively rhythms and sonorous harmonies. What's there to dislike?

[@AlexEwan1]

My thoughts exactly. Couldn't have have put it any better myself.

[@leestamm3187]

Totally agree. Loved it since childhood.

[@richardwilliams473]

I agree with you wholeheartedly. Copeland s compositions are distinctive of the American sweeping landscape. His Fanfare For The Common Man is a sonic masterpiece albeit for Brass and Percussion only. The KZbin with the New York Philharmonic conducted by James Levine is fantastic!

[@stephenmarmer543]

So I’ll give my choice for some other composers. I agree Puccini is between La Boheme and Tosca. I vote for Boheme. Dvorak gets Slovenia Dances - both groups. Schumann piano quartet. Prokofiev could be Symphony #5 but I vote for Romeo & Juliette

[@iankemp1131]

Maybe the obvious choice, certainly the only Copland piece that gets played with any regularity in the UK though the Rodeo dances also get an outing. Wondered if you would come up with something left-field, but Appalachian Spring is iconic.

[@stephenmarmer543]

More suggestions: Rossini Barber of Seville though I have a special fondness for his string symphonies and also•Sins of my old age” that Respighi turned into a ballet. Sir Arthur Sullivan Mikado.

[@chadweirick67]

gosh -- I feel like I should buy a lottery ticket now ! THank you :)

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Thank YOU.

[@bbailey7818]

Yes! Appalachian Spring. And if the dreaded Cancrizans allows an album, sneak in El Salon Mexico and also the pre-Americana phase Short Symphony, both incredibly rhythmically complex and stimulating.

[@robertdandre94101]

i agree with you yes for me too it's the complete original version of the appalachian spring ballet... i like the version directed by copland on columbia masterwork (you know this record with the bird on the cover)... .there is also rodeo directed by bernstein on columbia masterwork....exciting.....!

[@dennischiapello3879]

Another reason supporting the choice of the chamber version is to strengthen its tie to the Martha Graham dance--itself an iconic evocation of American mythology. If you attend a performance of the dance today, that's the version they'll be playing in the pit. Your words about the changes in ballet music after the 19th Century were illuminating. My nomination for Puccini is Madame Butterfly. It's the composer's best combination of inspired melody and searing drama, and many of its scenes are iconic. For its death scene to make it onto The Ed Sullivan Show tells you something. (OK, not the best argument.) Boheme has iconic moments, but it's also marred by terrible attempts at comedy. Turandot has more harmonically advanced music, but the reason Puccini could never finish it is because of its central dramatic flaw. Don't talk to me about Tosca. It's Butterfly all the way.

[@jaykauffman4775]

Copland also wrote the Oscar winning score to The Heiress. He was pissed at Willy Wyler for changing the music to opening titles but felt better when he won the award anyway

[@dirkh.44]

Hereby I ask Sony for a Copland CD-box.

[@fredericmorris2931]

Great choice! But chamber versions of the complete ballet seem scarce. Hogwood/Basel Chamber Orchestra? Others?

[@burtcolk]

I'm aware of two other recordings: Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra / Hugh Wolff, and Atlantic Sinfonietta / Andrew Schenck, both in 1990. And there's also the film version Martha Graham made in 1958.

[@Kyle-ur4mr]

Can I suggest a series on the most popular works by each composer? Works that the layman would recognize. Maybe discuss what they originally meant and what they are used for today. E.g. Tchaikovskys 1812 overture in furniture sales commercials

[@marks1417]

I think that would be a waste of Dave's unique talents

[@phongpit]

My list of the five greatest names in American music: Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, and Frank Sinatra.

[@jaykauffman4775]

Agree completely. For those who have an issue with Sinatra- he was a genius

[@phongpit]

@@jaykauffman4775 I like the quote I once heard about Irving Berlin. I can't remember who said it: "Irving Berlin is not the best thing that ever happened to American music, he IS American music!" (I have often thought of adding a female name to my list, it would probably be Peggy Lee.)

[@RichardGreen422]

Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, and Carole King should all be on any list of greatest names in American music. I would take any one of them over Sinatra and Berlin. Wonder and Ellington are in the pantheon of all music, anywhere, period.

[@GG-cu9pg]

​@@RichardGreen422 Well said. There are so many but you’ve included most of my favourites. Otis Redding?

[@GG-cu9pg]

And of course Louis Armstrong.

[@composaboi]

Just pointing out that you forgot the word ‘one’ in the title :)

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Whoops! Thanks!