orchestra21

Copland – Billy the Kid, Introduction: The Open Prairie
WCFSO – February 2007

Each summer I give at least a few outdoor concerts, and rarely does at least one of those performances not include the iconic American music of Aaron Copland. This particular piece – with its big-sky setting and evocation of the western prairie – is one of my favorites for open-air programs. [The recording comes from an indoor concert as most of my outside shows aren’t taped.]

Incidentally William Henry McCarty, the iconic subject of Copland’s 1938 ballet and a host of other artworks, can be glimpsed in just one confirmed photograph:

[Image via the Guardian, which reports that this tintype photo sold at auction in Denver last month for over $2 million.]

Today’s bit of Google fun. Martha Graham FTW!

The animation – widely uncredited here on Tumblr and elsewhere – is by Ryan Woodward, who posted a video version accompanied by music from Copland’s Appalachian Spring:

[Logo first seen at theatlantic]

I think it’s just that you found my blog at the right time! Whenever I have a concert coming up I post material related to the composers and works on the program, and since I was performing Appalachian Spring earlier this month I blew up the Dashboard with Copland material for about a week prior. [Protip: Each post connected to a particular concert is tagged with the performance date like so, and you can also follow any composer tag to see all of my posts related to a specific artist.]

All that aside, I do love Copland’s music and believe that he is one of the most essential American artistic voices of the 20th century.

The first page of Aaron Copland’s 1943 rough draft of Appalachian Spring, from the mind-blowing Library of Congress collection of documents and photos related to the creation and first performances of the piece. About a decade ago I had a chance to view some of this material in person at the Library – a truly unforgettable experience.

This is the last in a series of posts about Appalachian Spring ahead of tonight’s performance of its original thirteen-instrument version at the WCFSO. By way of onstage introduction we’ll be playing extended excerpts alongside a stream of media related to the piece, including most of the documentation I’ve shared with you here this week as well as audio of Copland speaking about his music.

Jerry Cooke – Martha Graham performing in Appalachian Spring, 1944

The opening of Martha Graham’s Appalachian Spring, from Peter Glushanok’s 1958 film version for WQED Pittsburgh. Dancers are Martha Graham as The Bride, Stuart Hodes as The Husbandman, Bertram Ross as The Revivalist, Matt Turney as The Pioneer Woman and Yuriko, Helen McGehee, Ethel Winter and Miriam Cole as The Revivalists’ Flock. The stage design is by Isamu Nogochi.

[I’ll be performing this version of Copland’s score with the WCFSO on Saturday night.]