Aaron Copland

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Biography

Born: 1900   Died: 1990   Country: USA   Period: 20th Century
Few figures in American music loom as large as Aaron Copland. As one of the first wave of literary and musical expatriates in Paris during the 1920s, Copland returned to the United States with the means to assume, for the next half century, a central role in American music as composer, promoter, and educator. Copland's sheer popularity and iconic status are such that his music has transcended the concert hall and entered the popular Read more consciousness; it both accompanies solemn and joyous celebrations the world over (Fanfare for the Common Man) and punctuates the familiar words "Beef: It's What's for Dinner!" (Rodeo) for millions of television viewers.

Copland was the youngest of five children born to Harris and Sarah Copland, Lithuanian Jewish immigrants who owned a department store in Brooklyn. He did not take formal piano lessons until he was 13, by which time he had also begun writing small pieces. Instead of attending college, Copland studied theory and composition with Rubin Goldmark and piano with Victor Wittgenstein and Clarence Adler, and attended as many concerts, operas, and ballets as possible. In 1921, he went to Fontainebleau, France, taking conducting and composition classes at the American Conservatory. He went on to study in Paris with Ricardo Viñes and Nadia Boulanger and spent the next three years soaking up all the European culture, both new and old, that he could. He learned to admire not only composers like Stravinsky, Milhaud, Fauré, and Mahler, but others such as author André Gide. Boulanger's performance of Copland's 1924 Organ Symphony with Koussevitzky was the beginning of a friendship between the conductor and composer that led to Copland teaching at the Berkshire Music Center (Tanglewood) from 1940 until 1965.

After his return to America, Copland drifted toward an incisive, austere style that captured something of the sobriety of Depression-torn America. The most representative work of this period -- the Piano Variations (1930) -- remains one of the composer's seminal efforts. He tried to avoid taking a university position, instead writing for journals and newspapers, organizing concerts, and taking on administrative duties for composers' organizations, trying to promote American music. By the mid-1930s, taking the direct engagement of and communication with audiences as one of his central tenets, Copland's compositions developed (in parallel with other composers like Virgil Thomson and Roy Harris) an "American" style marked by folk influences, a new melodic and harmonic simplicity, and an appealing directness free from intellectual pretension. This is nowhere more in evidence than in Copland's ballets of this period, and it finally earned him the respect of the general public. While Copland gradually became less prolific from the mid-1950s on, he continued to experiment and explore "fresh" means of musical expression, including a highly individual adoption of 12-tone principles in works like the Piano Fantasy and Connotations for orchestra. Still, the fundamentally lyrical nature of Copland's language remained intact and occasionally emerged -- with an often surprising retrospective air -- in works like the Duo for flute and piano (1971). He continued to teach and write and received numerous awards both in America and abroad. In 1958, he began conducting orchestras around the world, performing works by 80 other composers as well as his own over the next 20 years. By the mid-'70s, Copland had for all intents and purposes ceased composing. One of the last of his creative accomplishments was the completion of his two-volume autobiography (with musicologist Vivian Perlis), an essential document in understanding the growth of American music in the twentieth century. Read less

Featured Aaron Copland CDs & DVDs:

Barber, Copland And Harris: Orchestral Works / Keith Clark
Barber, Copland And Harris: Orchestral Works / Keith Clark
Release Date: 04/16/1995   Label: Albany Records  
Catalog: 64   Number of Discs: 1
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Copland: Tender Land Suite, Appalachian Spring / Sidlin, Yunus, Macneil
Copland: Tender Land Suite, Appalachian Spring / Sidlin, Yunus, Macneil
Release Date: 11/18/1997   Label: Koch International Classics  
Catalog: 7403   Number of Discs: 1
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Bernstein Century - Copland: Appalachian Spring, Rodeo, Etc
Bernstein Century - Copland: Appalachian Spring, Rodeo, Etc
Release Date: 10/28/1997   Label: Sony  
Catalog: 63082   Number of Discs: 1
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Copland: The Tender Land / Trevor, U. Of Kentucky Opera, Etc
Copland: The Tender Land / Trevor, U. Of Kentucky Opera, Etc
Release Date: 01/29/2002   Label: Albany Records  
Catalog: 482/83   Number of Discs: 2
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American Classics - Bernstein, Copland, Et Al / Kam, Bühl
American Classics - Bernstein, Copland, Et Al / Kam, Bühl
Release Date: 05/31/2011   Label: Teldec  
Catalog: 884822   Number of Discs: 1
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Work: El salón México

Browse 1-25 of 55 Available Recordings
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  • 1.
    American Brass! / Crees, London Symphony Brass
    American Brass! / Crees, London Symphony Brass
    Label: Musical Concepts   Catalog: 1209 Release Date: 03/26/2013   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Aaron Copland,  Leonard Bernstein,  Henry Cowell,  Samuel Barber  ... 
    Conductor:  Eric Crees
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  London Symphony Brass
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  • 2.
    American Piano Music / Christopher Harding
    American Piano Music / Christopher Harding
    Label: Equilibrium (Us)   Catalog: 116 Release Date: 02/12/2013   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Aaron Copland,  Samuel Barber,  George Gershwin,  William Bolcom
    Performer:  Christopher Harding
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  • 3.
    Brass Americana - Bernstein, Etc / Crees, Lso Brass
    Brass Americana - Bernstein, Etc / Crees, Lso Brass
    Label: Regis   Catalog: 1209 Release Date: 01/29/2013   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Henry Cowell,  Samuel Barber,  Charles Ives,  Aaron Copland  ... 
    Performer:  Andrew Marriner
    Conductor:  Eric Crees
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  London Symphony Orchestra Brass
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  • 4.
    Imaginary Landscapes - Sounds Of America [20-CD Set]
    Imaginary Landscapes - Sounds Of America [20-CD Set]
    Label: Emi Classics   Catalog: 44290 Release Date: 07/03/2012   Number of Discs: 20
    Composer:  John Philip Sousa,  Scott Joplin,  Ferde Grofé,  George Gershwin  ... 
    Performer:  Joshua Rifkin,  Ralph Grierson,  Richard Rodney Bennett,  Barry Tuckwell  ... 
    Conductor:  Timothy Foley,  George Sponhaltz,  Felix Slatkin,  Ferde Grofé  ... 
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Great American Main Street Band,  Southland Stingers,  Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra  ... 
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  • 5.
    Three Pianists / Cheng Chow Trio
    Three Pianists / Cheng Chow Trio
    Label: Arioso   Catalog: 12 Release Date: 10/11/2011   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Johannes Brahms,  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,  Darius Milhaud,  Aaron Copland  ... 
    Performer:  Alvin Chow,  Angela Cheng,  Alan Chow
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Cheng Chow Trio
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  • 6.
    Great American Showpieces
    Great American Showpieces
    Label: Emi Classics   Catalog: 48952 Release Date: 05/17/2011   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Leonard Bernstein,  Aaron Copland,  George Gershwin,  Samuel Barber
    Conductor:  Leonard Slatkin,  Eduardo Mata
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  • 7.
    Two Pianists - Brahms, Lutoslawski , Arensky, Copland
    Two Pianists - Brahms, Lutoslawski , Arensky, Copland
    Label: Twopianists (Label)   Catalog: 1039022 Release Date: 08/31/2010   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Johannes Brahms,  Witold Lutoslawski,  Anton Arensky,  Aaron Copland
    Performer:  Luis Magalhaes,  Nina Schumann
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  • 8.
    Guido Cantelli Conducts American Masters
    Guido Cantelli Conducts American Masters
    Label: Urania   Catalog: 419 Release Date: 07/27/2010   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Walter Piston,  Aaron Copland,  Paul Creston,  Samuel Barber
    Conductor:  Guido Cantelli
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  • 9.
    Southern Harmony / Mikkelson, Ohio State University Wind Symphony
    Southern Harmony / Mikkelson, Ohio State University Wind Symphony
    Label: Naxos   Catalog: 8572342 Release Date: 12/15/2009   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Morten Lauridsen,  Donald Grantham,  John Stevens,  Dmitri Kabalevsky  ... 
    Conductor:  Russel C. Mikkelson
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Ohio State University Wind Symphony
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  • 10.
    Leonard Bernstein - The Royal Edition Vol 27 - Copland, Etc
    Leonard Bernstein - The Royal Edition Vol 27 - Copland, Etc
    Label: Sony   Catalog: 47544 Release Date: 11/10/2009   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Aaron Copland,  Oscar Lorenzo Fernandez,  Ferde Grofé,  Camargo Mozart Guarnieri  ... 
    Performer:  John Corigliano Sr.,  Netania Davrath,  Carl Stern
    Conductor:  Leonard Bernstein
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  New York Philharmonic
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  • 11.
    American Music For Two Pianos
    Label: Arion   Catalog: ARN68375 Release Date: 03/31/2009   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Aaron Copland,  George Gershwin,  Noël Lee,  Samuel Barber
    Performer:  Christian Ivaldi
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  • 12.
    Copland Greatest Hits
    Copland Greatest Hits
    Label: Sony   Catalog: 742560 Release Date: 03/24/2009   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Aaron Copland
    Conductor:  Leonard Slatkin,  Aaron Copland,  John T. Williams,  Leonard Bernstein  ... 
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  • 13.
    Copland: Ballet Suites, Fanfare For The Common Man / Ellis
    Copland: Ballet Suites, Fanfare For The Common Man / Ellis
    Label: Royal Philharmonic Masterworks   Catalog: 28410 Release Date: 02/10/2009   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Aaron Copland
    Conductor:  Philip Ellis
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
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  • 14.
    EMI American Classics - Copland / Mata, Davies, Bátiz, Hubbard, Et Al
    EMI American Classics - Copland / Mata, Davies, Bátiz, Hubbard, Et Al
    Label: Emi Classics   Catalog: 06634 Release Date: 06/24/2008   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Aaron Copland
    Performer:  Bruce Hubbard
    Conductor:  Leonard Slatkin,  Dennis Russell Davies,  Eduardo Mata,  Enrique Bátiz
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  St. Louis Symphony Orchestra,  Orchestra of St. Luke's,  Dallas Symphony Orchestra  ... 
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  • 15.
    Copland: Orchestral Music / Enrique Bátiz
    Copland: Orchestral Music / Enrique Bátiz
    Label: Emi Classics   Catalog: 63153 Release Date: 09/17/2007   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Aaron Copland
    Conductor:  Enrique Bátiz
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra
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  • 16.
    Gershwin: Piano Concerto; Copland, Barber / Peter Jablonski
    Gershwin: Piano Concerto; Copland, Barber / Peter Jablonski
    Label: Decca   Catalog: 430542 Release Date: 06/11/2007   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  George Gershwin,  Aaron Copland,  Samuel Barber
    Performer:  Peter Jablonski
    Conductor:  Vladimir Ashkenazy
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
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  • 17.
    Music From America - Busoni, Gershwin, Et Al
    Music From America - Busoni, Gershwin, Et Al
    Label: Nireo   Catalog: 6 Release Date: 04/24/2007   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Louis Moreau Gottschalk,  Ferruccio Busoni,  Edward MacDowell,  George Gershwin  ... 
    Performer:  Francesco Caramiello
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  • 18.
    Weekend Classics - A Copland Weekend
    Weekend Classics - A Copland Weekend
    Label: Deutsche Grammophon   Catalog: 000658302 Release Date: 07/04/2006   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Aaron Copland
    Conductor:  Leonard Bernstein,  Maurice Abravanel,  William Steinberg
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  New York Philharmonic,  Utah Symphony Orchestra,  Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra  ... 
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  • 19.
    The Copland Collection
    The Copland Collection
    Label: Sony   Catalog: 85239 Release Date: 06/27/2006   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Aaron Copland
    Performer:  Carl Sandburg,  Leo Smit,  Timothy Morrison,  Laurence Thorstenberg  ... 
    Conductor:  Aaron Copland,  Andre Kostelanetz,  Leonard Slatkin,  John T. Williams  ... 
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  London Symphony Orchestra,  New York Philharmonic,  St. Louis Symphony Orchestra  ... 
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  • 20.
    Una Tarde En La Alameda / Sinfonietta Ventus
    Una Tarde En La Alameda / Sinfonietta Ventus
    Label: Urtext   Catalog: 106 Release Date: 05/09/2006   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Leonard Bernstein,  George Gershwin,  Dmitri Shostakovich,  Aaron Copland  ... 
    Conductor:  Jorge Mester
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Sinfonietta Ventus
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  • 21.
    Copland: Symphony No 3, Danzon Cubano / Mata, Dallas So
    Copland: Symphony No 3, Danzon Cubano / Mata, Dallas So
    Label: Emi Classics   Catalog: 31561 Release Date: 10/04/2005   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Aaron Copland
    Conductor:  Eduardo Mata
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Dallas Symphony Orchestra
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  • 22.
    Copland: Billy the Kid, El Salon Mexico, etc / Ellis, Royal PO
    Copland: Billy the Kid, El Salon Mexico, etc / Ellis, Royal PO
    Label: Regis   Catalog: 1004 Release Date: 08/02/2005   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Aaron Copland
    Conductor:  Philip Ellis
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
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  • 23.
    Chopin, Mozart, Turina, Et Al / Andree Juliette Brun
    Chopin, Mozart, Turina, Et Al / Andree Juliette Brun
    Label: Eroica Classical Recordings   Catalog: 3268 Release Date: 06/21/2005   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Joaquin Turina,  Claude Debussy,  Aaron Copland,  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart  ... 
    Performer:  Andree Juliette Brun
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  • 24.
    Touches Of Bernstein - The Complete Published Piano Music
    Touches Of Bernstein - The Complete Published Piano Music
    Label: Centaur Records   Catalog: 2702 Release Date: 01/25/2005   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Leonard Bernstein,  Aaron Copland
    Performer:  Thomas Lanners
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  • 25.
    Copland: Works For Piano Duo / Goldina, Loumbrozo
    Copland: Works For Piano Duo / Goldina, Loumbrozo
    Label: Phoenix Usa   Catalog: 154 Release Date: 05/11/2004   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Aaron Copland
    Performer:  Arianna Goldina,  Rémy Loumbrozo
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