- 10:00 I'm bloggingthe PBS/San Francisco Symphony tv special Keeping Score: Revolutions in Music based on the life and music of Aaron Copland, America's greatest composer. It's rated TV G. "A great nation deserves great art." Just sayin'.
- 10:01 It's the man in black, conductor Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT), asking why the music of Aaron Copland (henceforth AC) sounds "American." The San Francisco Symphony (SFS) plays Fanfare for the Common Man (FCM) accompanied by anonymous but possibly American musicians giving pithy statements about AC.
- 10:04 Dixieland jazz in Prague as MTT rides the train to the city to conduct the Third Symphony. Europeans are startled by American classical music. We probably startle them in other ways as well.
- 10:06 Now from Prague, SFS plays the Third although a hundred years ago, Europeans gave the US our musical culture and as a bonus. Dvorak showed up later in the century. This material is not covered in quite the depth as say the Horowitz book, although the gratuitous NYC videos here are nice.
- 10:09 Hello immigrants George & Ira, Irving, Aaron etc. And we see buildings where AC grew up and sheet music for Jewish Yankee Doodle Dandy. Brooklyn also had jazz and streets. Hello, gramophone.
- 10:12 Aaron takes the Paris Metro. AC knew he could find a teacher, a Stravinsky and musical action, all in Paris. "Says you!" was the modern attitude of the time and included, gasp, tone clusters.
- 10:14 Back to NYC. Hello, Rockefeller Center, the Today Show, and modernist abstraction.
- 10:15 All that noise so we'll make a quick trip to the retreat at Yaddo. Then, MTT plays a bit of Piano Variations. "The notes are dealt out one by one like tough cards in a poker game." MTT now wearing blue. The orchestral version is "big and defiant" and may be headache-inducing for those who prefer their AC "populist."
- 10:20 Bread lines as the depression hits. Music and video gloomy. AC gloomy until he gave talks at the New School for Social Research where the proletariat brotherhood rallied.
- 10:23 The Library of Congress released folk music recordings which got composers thinking of how to incorporate native material into their work, leading to mash-ups, remixes etc. But first, hello El Salon Mexico, AC's first populist work, "a user-friendly version of the Piano Variations." That's essentially what he's about, isn't it?
- 10:27 Drum corps arrangement of AC music played at Kezar Stadium in SF. Amoeba Records down the block of course. Oh wait, it's Viking Stadium instead. No Amoeba near Concord I'm afraid, though 40% off at the Tower Records there if you hurry. That Harry Partch DVD is still in stock.
- 10:28 MTT meets AC, circa the sixties? LB meets AC, circa 1937. Such American enthusiasm. And our first cowboy scene shown to the tune of, wait for it, Billy the Kid. Will the Russian/Hollywood movie composers be mentioned? MTT still in blue.
- 10:32 Open chords, open sound, open prairie, open sadness. Jazz guitarist Bill Frisell does this best, by the way, on the greatest Americana recording ever including songs by Muddy Waters, Madonna, Dylan, Ives etc.
- 10:34 World War II approaches. Copland's music has new purpose and unites without scaring. Now we're on a houseboat playing Fanfare for the Common Man, where tourists on their way to Alcatraz Island may also be approaching. Battle stations. More guitar-like open intervals. Take it home, MTT. Salute.
- 10:39 Appalachian Spring via a YouTube-quality ballet video. Hello, Martha Graham. Then, a woman wrestling some modernist fabric to the tune of Lamentation. AC as quiet, gentle synthesizer and then some cow footage, probably downtown San Jose in the sixties. MTT back in black, then returning to blue. Harmony "slowed-down" a la Mahler.
- 10:44 Now back to YouTube battle footage. Simple Gifts melody and variations, of course. Over the shoulder shot of MTT conducting the clarinetist to break any monotony.
- 10:47 Some monotony so quick check of late-breaking posts over at Bloglines. But I'm back. The music is agitated and furious and a struggle and about all the sacrifice necessary to get to the final melodic closure you know you want. MTT in fighting black.
- 10:52 Finally, Gift to be simple! Gift to be free! Such deep passion, all via MTT!
- 10:53 Summation time: Outsider gets self, art, music, society, belovedness. Queue the flute, then fade to black.
- 10:55 Hello Diane Nicolini, which means it's time to hawk DVDs. Wait, finally a shot of a wood block.
- 10:56 Closing credits. "No dated, silly, Canadian performances by ELP were used in the making of this production. Major funding and pseudo-commericals until the top of the hour brought to you by..."
aaron copland: aworks wikipedia wikipedia en español appalachian spring: aworks wikipedia fanfare for the common man: aworks wikipedia
No question, American Classic music has advanced so much and has made a great contribution to the world classical library. However, I think more needs to be done. Traveling to places and spreading contemporary American classic music is of great importance. See for example how can American Classical music be "married" to the music of another culture in a festival such as American Armenian Music festival. Here is a nice articlea appearing at HULIQ citizen news site at http://www.huliq.com/166/festival-of-american-and-armenian-music-is-held-in-yerevan
Posted by: Jakobson | November 22, 2006 at 06:15 PM
u stink!
Posted by: | November 06, 2007 at 02:46 PM
ur website stinks!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: | November 06, 2007 at 02:51 PM
ur website stinks!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: | November 06, 2007 at 02:51 PM