Aaron Copland (1900-1990) was an American composer who lived and composed music for most of the 20th century.  He was born in 1900 in Brooklyn, New York.  He described his birthplace and early home as a place which was on "a street that can only be described as drab".  He had 4 older sisters and brothers.  His parents were immigrants to the United States from the Eastern European country of Lithuania.  When little Aaron asked his parents for piano lessons, they decided not to spend the money.  Aaron's brothers and sisters had not done well with their own music lessons.  And so, for a while, his sister was his teacher.  But the young Copland was persistent.  When he was 13 years old, he made the arrangements himself to take lessons from a piano teacher.  At his first piano recital, he decided to become a musician.  Two years later, when Copland was 15 years old, he decided to become a composer. 

    Copland was 17 years old when he went to Paris to study "modern music".  In 1921, Nadia Boulanger became his teacher.  Nadia Boulanger was a world-famous teacher during that time.  In 1924, Copland came back to the United States, and decided to make a living as a composer.  His earliest works showed the influence of the French impressionists (like Claude Debussy).  Aaron Copland also tried to blend elements of jazz in his compositions.  By the 1930's, Aaron Copland was experimenting with "nervous and irregular rhythms" and dissonant harmonies.  This music sounded rather strange and different to many Americans.  At this time, America was going through the Great Depression.  Most Americans wanted to hear "older" classical styles with which they were familiar.  Aaron Copland kept working on his compositions.

     By the middle 1930's, Copland's style had become simpler and more melodic.  Often, he would choose American folk melodies to be used in his pieces.  His music became very popular with Americans.

     Copland had a long and distinguished career as an American composer.  He won 2 Guggenheim fellowships, as well as many other awards.  A very famous ballet which he wrote was called "Appalachian Spring" (1944).  He won the Pulitzer Prize for this ballet in 1945.  A good example of the use of folk songs in his compositions can be found in "Appalachian Spring".  There is a "theme and variations" piece which Copland composed to the tune of the American folk song, "'Tis the Gift to be Simple".  He influenced American musicthroughout his life, which was a long one.  He died in 1990.

                                          Copland's Music

     Aaron Copland wrote a great variety of music throughout his life.  Some of these compositions will be mentioned here.  He wrote an opera, "The Tender Land", in 1954.  He wrote a lot of music for movies, including: "Of Mice and Men", "Our Town", and "The Red Pony".  His ballets include "Billy the Kid" (1938), "Rodeo" (1942), and "Appalachian Spring" (1944).  He also wrote orchestra music, as well as chamber music and piano music.  Many of his melodies and arrangements are familiar to us today.   

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