Aaron Copeland :: Biography

Aaron Copland was born on November 14, 1900 in New York City. His musical works ranged from ballet and orchestral music to choral music and movie scores. For the better part of four decades Aaron Copland was considered the chancellor composer of 20th Century American Music. Copland learned to play piano from an one-time(a) sister. By the time he was fifteen he had decided to experience a composer. His starting composing steps included a residuum course. In 1921 Copland traveled to Paris to attend the newly founded music schooltime for Americans at Fontainebleau. He was the first American student of the brilliant teacher, Nadia Boulanger. aft(prenominal) three years in Paris he returned to New York with his first major commission, writing an organ concerto. His "Symphony for Organ and Orchestra" premiered in at Carnegie Hall in 1925. Coplands growth as a composer followed the important trends of his time. after(prenominal) his return from Paris he worked with jazz rhy thms in his "Piano Concerto" (1926). In 1936 he changed his musical style toward a simpler sound. He thought this make his music more meaningful to the music listeners being created by radio receiver and the movies. His most famous works during this period were based on American folk lore including "Billy the Kid" (1938), "Rodeo" (1942), Fanfare for the Common troops (1942), and Appalachian Spring (1944). Other works during this period were a series of movie scores including "Of Mice and Men" (1938) and "The Heiress" (1948). After 1970 Copland stopped composing, though he continued to lecture and conduct through the mid-1980s.