Piano Quartet - Aaron Copland (Score Video) [1950]

[@jeffabell6604]

Copland began experimenting with serial procedures around 1950 because he said he’d “run out of chords.” Not surprisingly, he found in this 12-tone work sonorities that abound in his other works (I especially hear echoes of the Piano Sonata.) Copland was also being influenced by Mahler at this time, and his last movement makes telling use of three descending whole tones, that Mahler used in his Ninth Symphony, and that recalled for him Beethoven’s Lebewohl Sonata. I don’t know what Copland was bidding farewell to in that last movement, but it’s music of real melancholy. I’ve loved this piece since I was a teenager.

[@coreylapinas1000]

The exposition is breathtaking!

[@skopvag3793]

I can't understand why American composers are so underrated in Europe. in my country, for example, the American composers have been exclusively identified with the musical, cinema or jazz. I see there is a tradition but there are masterpieces out there like this one which we don't know about.

[@dennisfleitz794]

there is no way european music students don't know who aaron copland is

[@broemml]

i get so easily tempted to think about making variation pieces when listening to chamber music... Thanks for the uploaf :)

[@RichardASalisbury1]

One of my favorite pieces!--which I haven't listened to for a while.

[@chengjinkoh]

so expressive....

[@ronaldbwoodall2628]

Copland's Piano Quartet is a true masterpiece, a terrific work with a central "allegro" that's a truly unforgettable experience, and an atmospheric finale that a fellow music lover many years ago called my attention to as being variations on "Three Blind Mice". I hadn't heard the Quartet again until now, and can see a resemblance; at least I can enjoy and appreciate it more than I could then.

[@maurotemperato7133]

wow thanks for uploading this material. Do you have the pdf to share? I would appreciate

[@kuang-licheng402]

nice

[@davidabarnes1993]

Thanks for this, Stuart. I've been on a Copland binge for the past few days, and this work is a bit of a palate-cleanser following his more "popular" works (in all meanings of the word)... which are also fantastic, of course! In fact, I've arranged several of his works for solo piano on my channel, mostly for selfish reasons since the piano is my main instrument... the arrangement of the Third Symphony took about a century to complete, but was very much worth it! Any lesser-known/under-appreciated American composers you would recommend? Thanks again

[@silentgreybox]

I’ve been on a binge of my own with Walter Piston all this Summer. His 6th and 7th symphonies are very close to my heart. I’m also personally working on scanning and making score videos for his absolutely wonderful string quartets, I uploaded the first a couple of weeks ago. There’s an incredible fluidity and confidence to his music, as well as a great sense of wit and irony. His rousing, charming, athletic finale movements are always a blast! Check out Piston’s 6th Symphony here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oXa6oqpsnrumm9U I’ve also become a great fan of Ned Rorem, his lieder especially, but I’d recommend his third symphony as an entry point.

[@davidabarnes1993]

@@silentgreybox Thanks for the suggestions, I only knew Piston through his book on orchestration. String quartets are fantastic to analyse as a musician. Will check out Ned Rorem - it seems that with American symphonies the third time's the charm!

[@silentgreybox]

Dave's Music Box I’ve found that some people have unfortunate preconceptions about what Piston’s music is or can be based on his text books. It’s not dry or academic in the least!

[@jonobester5817]

Not one of Aaron's more danceable tunes.

[@craigvanhise3014]

I first became interested in serial music almost 30 year ago. I was very curious about Arnold Schoenberg and the allure of serious academic music. Over the years I have listened to hundreds of serial works, and have found *none* that I care to hear again. I have approached it with a very open mind towards appreciation, and I have studied the techniques involved. In all that time, my honest assessment is that engaging is serial music is a sure method of producing dreck. There is no "masterpiece" here. The emperor has no clothes and I find it embarrassing to still fall for the empty promise that this style is somehow actually the most sublime use of musicianship. Intellectual cult click-bait.

[@johnrandolph6121]

This is kind of an odd place for your post since most of this piece doesn't even sound serial. And that's because it's really not a serial piece......more a piece with serial elements and influences. But maybe you don't like serialism and the Copland Piano Quartet.

[@pikachuchujelly7628]

I hate serial music as well (can't stand any of the atonal junk from Schoenberg, Webern, and especially Boulez). But I kind of enjoy this piece mainly for the rhythm and dialogue between the strings and piano. If you view the harmony here not as traditional chord progressions, but instead as consonance vs dissonance, it's a lot more approachable. For example, a lot of the accented parts use harsh, dissonant chords to make them stand out, while the softer resolved parts use consonant intervals like thirds, fourths, and fifths (the piece even ends on an Ab major chord). To me, tonal music always reigns supreme, but I still see beauty in this piece.

[@AndrewRudin]

I'd love to know what you'd make of my Viola Concerto, Piano Concerto, and Cello Sonata.... all of them serial works. All available on KZbin. However, if you've already decided that the "technique" automatically produces dreck than it'd probably be an exercise in futility.