Upon returning to the United States in 1924, Copland was determined to compose music with the American voice. That is precisely what he did, showing his ability to rise to an occasion this challenging. His music influences through this period were such as Scriabin, Debussy, Ravel, and most of all Igor Stravinsky (“Encyclopedia of World Biography” 1). The similarities in his work to theirs is present but he still uses his own voice on his many popular works. Just like his very creative and original ideas, his cowboy ballets but his symphonies have had their own personal twists like Appalachian Spring. Those people were also some of the best musicians of that time period, which makes it obvious why he would look to their work for inspiration. …show more content…
In so doing, he has laid the cornerstone of an American art, established a recognizably American musical idiom (“UXL Biographies” 4). His masterpiece, Appalachian Spring (1944) is probably his most popular work to date. This composition won the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1944 and the New York Music Critic’s Award as the outstanding theatrical composition of 1944-1945 (“UXL Biographies” …show more content…
Creating a sound that was distinctively American was Copland’s motive after discovering his passion for music. Along with his awards for Appalachian Spring he also won many other awards such as, The Presidential Medal of Freedom and The Guggenheim Foundation 1st Music Fellowship Award (“Newsmakers” 1). Even during this Copland was not bored with his current successes, he also began scoring films in 1939, in his lifetime he scored five movies, they were: Of Mice and Men (1939), Our Town (1940), North Star (1943), The Red Pony (1948), and The Heiress (1949) (“UXL Biographies” 3). Many people say in his film scores for Of Mice and Men and Our Town he produced perhaps the finest film music ever, honoring rural America by way of an intelligent subservience to a mechanized medium. Hollywood didn't fail to recognize Copland’s achievements. Copland received an Academy Award nomination for best dramatic film score for his first three motion pictures in 1940-1941 and was eventually given the Oscar for The Heiress in 1950 (“UXL Biographies” 3). After that Copland’s media coverage decreased although he was still composing some of his famous
Though Jelly Roll Morton began his career without formal training, he grew to live an influential life. His piano style, musical notations on paper, and creative compositions thrived in the 1910s and the 1920s and even weaved its way into the later eras as musicians used Morton’s music as the foundation for their own. Even past his death, Jelly Roll Morton remains a legendary figure. His works are meticulously preserved and displayed in the prestigious Smithsonian Museum and universities around the world continue his legacy by teaching students about Jelly Roll Morton and his influential career.
"He just got his music out of the air," said one neighbor. One cannot hear the word "ragtime" without thinking of the "King of Ragtime," Scott Joplin. He is clearly one forerunner in the field of American music, particularly at the turn of the twentieth century.
Nearly a century’s worth of compositions has earned Aaron Copland extensive recognition as the foremost American composer of his time. Ironically, Copland was raised the son of Russian Jewish immigrants and inhabitant of a colorless city environment, yet would become known for producing the music of “rugged-souled Americans” (Mellers 4). Unbounded by historical musical constraints such as those present in the culture of France, where Copland studied for many years, Copland found himself free to explore and experiment in pursuit of a unique, undoubtedly American sound.
Howard, John Tasker. Our American Music. 1946. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1954. 666. Print.
Anne Bradstreet: the first American to have her poems published. Throughout her works, she captured what it was like to be a pioneer in a new land. Thanks to her family’s high stature and disposition in life, Anne Bradstreet was given an education: something that was not very common for women in the 1600's. Her poems enable her to speak freely and express the world through a women's eye. In doing so she laid down the foundation to what it truly means to be American.
...from America’s heritage and this is why Antonin Dvorak and his “New World” Symphony is a very important part of the late romantic music period among nationalism composers.
Kaplan, Jon. "Dumped!: Famous and Not-So-Famous Rejected Film Music." Film Score Monthly 8.9 (2003): 24-31. IIMP. Web. 6 Dec. 2010.
This is the second volume of Richard Taruskin's historical work, and it highlights composers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. He examines the progression of different styles and eras of music.
Thomas Newman is the composer of The Green Mile, who has had the distinct honor of collecting his first two Academy Award nominations for Best Dramatic Score in the same year. He competed against himself as the only double nominee in 1994 for both The Shawshank Redemption and Gillian Armstrong’s Little Women. He received a third Oscar nod for his work on Diane Keaton’s “Unstrung Heroes,” and also earned Grammy nominations for “The Shawshank Redemption” and “Unstrung Heroes.”
Charles Ives is known in our day as the “Father of American Music,” but in his day, he was known just like everyone else- an ordinary man living his life. He was born in Danbury, Connecticut on October 20, 1894 (Stanley 1) to his mother, Sarah Hotchkiss Wilcox Ives and father, George White Ives (A Life With Music, Swafford 4). His father was renowned for being the Union’s youngest bandmaster and having the best band in the Army (The Man His Life, Swafford 1). Little Charles was influenced early in his life by his father who had libertarian ideas about music (Stanley 1). Although Danbury prided itself as “the most musical town in Connecticut”, the people did not give the musical profession respect or understanding (The Man His Life, Swafford 1). One day, his father commented on a stonemason’s off-key singing by saying, “Look into his face and hear the music of the ages. Do not pay too much attention to the sounds—for if you do you may miss the music. You won’t get a wild, heroic ride to heaven on pretty little sounds” (The Man His Life, Swafford 2). Thus was young Charles’ introduction to music.
Amy Beach was a very famous and influential composer and pianist from New Hampshire, United States. She fought long and hard to get to where she got in her lifetime. Back in the late 1800’s, it was hard for women to get noticed because they believe that their role in society was to stay at home and take care of the family. Amy Beach defeated all the odds of a female gender role in her lifetime. She became a role model for young girls wanting to become a composer or becoming anything they wanted to be, as long as they fought for it. She has made an enormous impact on music in America. The following paper will discuss Beach’s life, her struggles, her musical training, how her music was shaped by the society she lived in and famous compositions
Aaron Copland and George Gershwin held multiple similarities throughout their pre-composing lives. The two were born around the same time, Gershwin being born September 26th of 1898 and Copland November 14th of 1900 both in Brooklyn New York. Both of the composers came from Russian Jewish immigrant families, and both developed into musical prodigies through piano teachers from the neighborhood which they both rapidly outgrew. It wasn’t until both men began their musical careers that stark differences arose between the two, mainly through their musical education and how immersion in American society versus European society affected their styles. Both artists are still considered to be the most widely celebrated and most successful modern American
...frican American Musicians as Artists, Critics, and Activists. Berkeley, CA: University of California, 2002. 54-100. EBSCOhost. Web. 8 May 2015.
As it mentioned above, the title itself, draws attention to the world-renowned music created by African Americans in the 1920s’ as well as to the book’s jazz-like narrative structure and themes. Jazz is the best-known artistic creation of Harlem Renaissance. “Jazz is the only pure American creation, which shortly after its birth, became America’s most important cultural export”(Ostendorf, 165). It evolved from the blues
In the text book America’s Musical Landscape by Jean Ferris, the book takes us through the history of the evolution of American music. The book delves into the different time periods of America’s music beginning with early North American music all the way to today’s modern music. Additionally, the book also explains how music, theater and film intertwine to provide some spectacular art. Jean Ferris finishes the book by exploring America’s concert music. Let us now take a closer look into the different time periods brought out in the book.