![]() ![]() No, it’s not directed by the man himself. ![]() The definitive recording was made almost 60 years ago. In the end, it doesn’t matter which version they choose to perform. And it breaks the wonderful flow of the Simple Gifts variations. The reinstated music is indeed dark(ish), but also kind of boring. Christopher Hogwood embraced it is as well. Michael Tilson Thomas is a big proponent of this idea. The logic being that this fragment – originally meant to accompany the fugitive slave – is a dark interlude that adds much-needed drama to the musical development. Put the music back in that Copland removed when he turned the ballet music into a suite.Go back to the original chamber ensemble, with nice results such as the reference recording by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra or more this more recent version by Ensemble K.It’s only since accessible music came back into fashion that the work is universally considered to be one of the masterpieces of the twentieth century.Īnd yet, there are some who feel that Appalachian Springs – the orchestral suite – doesn’t have enough depth. They pretended to listen to Boulez and Stockhausen and had no time for ‘commercial’, even ‘regressive’ music such as Appalachian Springs. Just listen to the music in this iconic Ronald Reagan commercial:įor the intellectual classes of the United States, and especially post-war Europe, everything with mass appeal conjured up the trauma of what masses were capable of when they fell into the hands of a ruthless leader. Copland had indeed defined the American sound, but it was now used as musical shorthand for the shiny city on the hill where anyone could make it through hard work. Far from an incitement to class warfare, it was considered a wholesome piece of Americana. Meanwhile, his orchestral suite based on the ballet score of Appalachian Springs soared in popularity. He managed to talk himself out of serious sanctions, but wisely kept a low political profile for the rest of his career. As a Jewish homosexual communist, Copland ticked all the boxes to be summoned to the McCarthy hearings. Wholesome orchestral suiteīut in post-war America, there was no need for left-wing populism, or left-wing anything for that matter. You could say he was a highbrow Woody Guthrie. As an active communist, Copland wrote his ‘populist’ music as a tribute to the dignity and authenticity of the common man, in opposition to the soulless cultural products of the capitalist mass media. It’s a bit of a nationalist agenda, from an era when nationalism was not exclusively linked to the political right. ![]() ![]() In a way, this was what drove Copland throughout his career: defining an American form of art music – sometimes derived from popular and folk idioms such as jazz or Shaker hymns. Appalachian spring was exactly the kind of artwork that could inspire a nation destined to become the leader of the free world. Copland’s pleasant and seemingly uncomplicated musical language was the perfect complement to the cast of rural characters eagerly displaying their moral fortitude. Maybe it’s because of its flimsy story, but Appalachian Spring – first performed in 1944 – immediately became widely popular as a sort of parable for the post-war American spirit of renewal. Moreover, the poem refers to a natural water source, not the season of new beginnings. She took it from a poem by Hart Crane – simply because she liked the sound of it. The end result is more a loose string of tableaux than an actual plot.Īnd the name? Martha Graham came up with it when the music and choreography were already finished. But that part was eventually changed to a dance solo by the possessed preacher. In the original version, all these fun and games were interrupted by the arrival of a fugitive slave. And contains a few interesting sidekicks such as a preacher and his congregation. Its recounts the day of two newlyweds in pioneer country. The story was written by choreographer Martha Graham, and it too had nothing to do with spring. The storyĬopland’s Appalachian Spring started as a score for a ballet that was commissioned in 1942. In fact, the work could have been called Autumn in Arkansas and sounded more or less the same. But as much as that interpretation makes sense, it’s not how Appalachian Spring was intended. ![]()
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