Aaron Copland was born on November 14, 1990 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 premier American composer.
Copland learned to play piano from an older sister. By the time he was fifteen he had decided to become a composer. In 1921, Copland went to pAris to attend the newly founded music school for Americans at Fontainebleau. One of his first teachers was Nadia Boulanger. After studying for three years in Paris, Copland returned to AMerica to premier his "Symphony for Organ and Orchestra" at Carnegie Hall in 1925.
Copland's growth as a composer mirrored important trends of his time. After his return from Paris he worked with jazz rhythms in his "Piano Concerto" (1926). His "Piano Variatioons" (1930) was strongly influenced by Igor Stravinsky's Neoclassicism. In 1936 he changed his orientation toward a simpler style. He felt this made his music more meaningful to the large music-loving audience being created by radio and the movies. His most important works during this period were based on American folk lore including "Billy the Kid" (1938) and "Rodeo" (1942). Other works during this period were a series of movie scores including "Of Mice and Men" (1938) and "The Heiress" (1948). In his later years Copland's work reflected the serial techniques of the so-called 12-tone school of Arnold Schoenberg. Notable among these was "Connotations" (1962) commissioned for the opening of Lincoln Center.
After 1970 Copland stopped composing, though he continued to lecture and conduct through the mid-1980's. He died on December 2, 1990 at the Phelps Memorial Hospital in Tarrytown, New York.
Picture and Information were found at http://www.lucidcafe.com/lucidcafe/library/95nov/copland.html
The form of "Hoe-Down" is very complex. Aaron Copland
presents many themes throughout the piece and expands on each one. Many
of the themes get repeated throughout the piece, but while they are being
repeated, Copland tends to re-orchestrate the theme into other instruments.
Click here to see a call chart that can be used
to follow along with a recording to "Hoe-Down."
The melody of "Hoe-Down" is very repetitive. Each theme
occurs at least twice in the piece. Sometimes, a theme can be heard underneath
a different theme. The melody of the piece usually stays within the woodwinds
and strings, but there are a few times that the melody can be heard in
the brass section, especially the trumpets. Most of the melodies can be
played in the classroom, but the tempo will have to be much slower than
the recording. Click here to see some lesson
plans and activities for melody.
There really isn't much harmony in the piece. It tends
to stay in one key, but sometimes go to the Sub-Dominant and Dominant.
Usually, each phrase is in a different key. Copland tends to take each
theme and expand it in the Sub-Dominant or the Dominant.
There are some really good expressive sections in "Hoe-Down." There aren't any slow parts in "Hoe-Down," but Copland does use a lot of dynamics in the transitions and the theme changes. The tempo stays consistent throughout the piece, but there are some instances where there might be a small ritardando. The articulation of the piece is very staccato and accented. The melodies of "Hoe-Down" consist of short notes with heavy accents.
Click here to he