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Appalachian Spring

 
Music Encyclopedia: Appalachian Spring

Ballet in one act by Copland, choreographed by Martha Graham (1944, Washington, dc).



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Dictionary of Dance: Appalachian Spring
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Modern dance work in one act with choreography by Graham, music by Copland, sets by Noguchi, and costumes by Edythe Gilfond. Premiered 30 Oct. 1944 at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC, with Graham, O'Donnell, Cunningham, and E. Hawkins. It portrays a young American bride and her husband taking possession of their land and their future life under the presiding gaze of a revivalist preacher and a pioneer woman. In its celebratory depiction of the pioneer ethos it represents the culmination of Graham's handling of American themes during the 1930s and 1940s.

Classical Work: Appalachian Spring, ballet for 13 instruments
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  • Date: 1943 -1944
  • Composer: Aaron Copland
  • Period: Modern (1910-1949)

Review

The music from Copland's Pulitzer Prize-winning ballet Appalachian Spring is better known in the orchestral suite the composer extracted in 1945 in response to the work's instant popularity. The Suite both expands on and excises the music, in the end eliminating about 10 or 11 minutes from the approximately 35-minute length of the original score. Many listeners may be familiar with the ballet version for full orchestra that the composer made in 1954 at the behest of conductor Eugene Ormandy. In the concert hall the original chamber orchestra scoring here may be the least often performed of the three versions, though it is still used in productions of the ballet.

The ballet story is set in 1830 Pennsylvania and centers on springtime celebrations relating to the completion of a farmhouse built for a young couple planning to wed. The music opens in a somber, almost athematic manner, the mood ethereal and sleepy, as if spring is slowly taking hold, winter's snow still melting. Suddenly the music springs to life with an infectious, lively theme that exhibits a folk-like quality, that spirited sense of Americana that Copland was so famous for. In the Suite a xylophone is used to colorful effect here, but the original score included only piano, strings, flute, clarinet, and bassoon.

The following section is subdued in its slower pacing, with dreamy writing for clarinet, flute, and strings. Another lively folk-like theme, this one a mixture of confidence and humor, is soon presented, and after a contrasting slow section, yet another, even more driven theme is heard. It isn't just the livelier music in the score, though, that exudes Copland's American Frontier manner -- even in the more relaxed sections that alternate, the same unique folk-like flavor emerges, both in the deft instrumentation and in the tunes and harmonies themselves.

The folk-like melodies that sprinkle the work are all original, except for the famous one near the end, which is derived from the Shaker hymn Simple Gifts. It is well known from the Suite, but in the original version it is less epic-sounding -- not least because of the smaller forces -- and its variations are interrupted by the stormy revivalist segment. After the final variation, the music turns subdued and dreamy, and the work ends serenely. ~ Robert Cummings, All Music Guide

Albums with Complete Performances of the Work

Title Date
A Copland Celebration Vol. 1 2000
Copland conducts Copland 1988
Copland: Appalachian Spring 1991
Copland: Appalachian Spring 1988
Copland: Appalachian Spring; Billy the Kid; Rodeo 2005
Copland: Appalachian Spring; Billy the Kid; Rodeo 2007
Copland: Appalachian Spring; Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue 1995
Copland: Appalachian Spring; Gould Spirituals; Gershwin: An American in Paris 1994
Copland: Appalachian Spring; Quiet City; Music for Theatre; 3 Latin American Sketches; Billy the Kid; etc.
Copland: Appalachian Spring; Quiet City; Music for Theatre; Three Latin American Sketches
Humanity Classics: Mozart, Copland, Schnittke 2003
Lenny: The Legend Lives On [Box Set]
Meditations for Spring 2000
Music for Martha Graham 1990
Music for the Theatre, Vol. 2 2006
Seasons: The Greatest Hits 1999
The Aaron Copland Collection 1996
The Americans [Box Set] 2004

Albums with Excerpt Performances of the Work

Title Date
100 Favorite Patriotic Songs 2003
250 Years of Great Music: From Bach to Bernstein 1992
A Copland Celebration Vol. 1 2000
Blue Ridge Parkway 2005
Classical Music 101 2004
Classical Music Prep School 2009
Copland: Appalachian Spring; El Salón Mexico; Billy the Kid; Rodeo [SACD] 2003
Essential Aaron Copland: 12 Greatest Hits 2003
Explore America, Vol. 1 2003
He Got Game [Score] 1998
In Classical Mood: Peace 1997
In Classical Mood: Reflections 1996
Roger Kamien: Music - An Appreciation [5-CD Set to Accompany the 9th Edition and the 6th Brief Edition] 2008
Wikipedia: Appalachian Spring
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Appalachian Spring is a ballet score by Aaron Copland that premiered in 1944 and has achieved widespread and enduring popularity as an orchestral suite. The ballet, scored for a thirteen-member chamber orchestra, was created upon commission of choreographer and dancer Martha Graham with funds from the Coolidge Foundation headed by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge; it premiered on Monday, October 30th, 1944, at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, with Martha Graham dancing the lead role. The set was designed by the Japanese American sculptor Isamu Noguchi. Copland was awarded the 1945 Pulitzer Prize for Music for his achievement. [1] [2]

Contents

The composition process

In 1945, Copland rearranged the ballet work as an orchestral suite, preserving most of the music. The ballet and orchestral work were well received. The latter was credited as more important in popularizing the composer. In 1972, Boosey & Hawkes published a version of the suite fusing the structure of the orchestral suite with the scoring of the original ballet: double string quartet, bass, flute, clarinet, bassoon, and piano. All three versions continue to be performed in full.

Originally, Copland did not have a title for the work, referring to it simply as Ballet for Martha. Shortly before the premiere, Graham suggested Appalachian Spring, a phrase from a Hart Crane poem, "The Bridge", even though it has no direct relation to the story of the ballet:

O Appalachian Spring! I gained the ledge;
Steep, inaccessible smile that eastward bends
And northward reaches in that violet wedge
Of Adirondacks!

Copland was often amused when people told him he captured the beauty of the Appalachians in his music, a fact he alluded to in an interview with NPR's Fred Calland [3]. Furthermore, the word "spring", usually taken in the title to refer to a season of the year, denotes a source of water in the Crane poem.

Storyline of the ballet

The story told is a spring celebration of the American pioneers of the 1800s after building a new Pennsylvania farmhouse. Among the central characters are a newlywed couple, a neighbor, a revivalist preacher and his followers.

Form of the piece

The orchestral suite is divided in eight sections, which Copland describes as:

  1. Very slowly. Introduction of the characters, one by one, in a suffused light.
  2. Fast. Sudden burst of unison strings in A major arpeggios starts the action. A sentiment both elated and religious gives the keynote to this scene.
  3. Moderate. Duo for the Bride and her Intended – scene of tenderness and passion.
  4. Quite fast. The Revivalist and his flock. Folksy feeling – suggestions of square dances and country fiddlers.
  5. Still faster. Solo dance of the Bride – presentiment of motherhood. Extremes of joy and fear and wonder.
  6. Very slowly (as at first). Transition scene to music reminiscent of the introduction.
  7. Calm and flowing. Scenes of daily activity for the Bride and her Farmer husband. There are five variations on a Shaker theme. The theme, sung by a solo clarinet, was taken from a collection of Shaker melodies compiled by Edward D. Andrews, and published under the title "The Gift to Be Simple." The melody most borrowed and used almost literally is called "Simple Gifts."
  8. Moderate. Coda. The Bride takes her place among her neighbors. At the end the couple are left "quiet and strong in their new house." Muted strings intone a hushed prayerlike chorale passage. The close is reminiscent of the opening music.

The original ballet version is divided in 14 movements. The movements that do not appear in the orchestral suite all occur between movement 7 and the last movement. The seventh section, which is a set of variations on the Shaker melody Simple Gifts (1848), is the most widely recognized section from the ballet. Copland published independent arrangements of this section for band (1958) and orchestra (1967) titled Variations on a Shaker Melody. Each variation takes the simple theme with changes limited to key, accompaniment, register, dynamics, tone color, and tempo. The second variation provides a lyrical treatment in the low register while the third contrasts starkly in a fast staccato. The last two variations of this section use only a part of the folk tune, first an extraction treated as a pastoral variation and then as a majestic closing. In the ballet, but not the suite, there is a lengthy intermediary section that moves away from the folk tune preceding the final two variations.

Notes

  1. ^ Dickinson, Peter (2002). Copland Connotations. Rochester: Boydell Press. p. 30. ISBN 9780851159027. 
  2. ^ Pulitzer winners for Music category
  3. ^ Milestones of the Millennium: Appalachian Spring

References

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Copyrights:

Music Encyclopedia. The Concise Grove Dictionary of Music. Copyright © 1994 by Oxford University Press, Inc.. All rights reserved.  Read more
Dictionary of Dance. The Oxford Dictionary of Dance. Copyright © 2000, 2004 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more
Classical Work. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Appalachian Spring" Read more