Composer of the Week: Copland

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Composer of the Week

Music: Classical

Composer of the Week - Brand

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

An informative and accessible guide to composers' lives and their music.

Composer of the Week: Aaron Copland (1900-1990): South American Journeys, 1940-1941

South American Journeys, 1940-1941

Aaron Copland (1900-1990)

BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, Aaron Copland (1900-1990), South American Journeys, 1940-1941

Donald Macleod on how Copland’s first trip to Mexico left a lasting impression on him.

Donald Macleod explores how Copland’s first trip to Mexico left a deep impression on him, suggesting a cultural richness he found lacking in the US.

Donald Macleod explores how Copland’s initial trip to Mexico left a lasting impression on him.

This week of programmes explores Aaron Copland’s most productive decade, and features some of his best-loved works in full. During this time, Copland hit his prime. He became recognised as America’s leading composer, winning the Pulitzer Prize in Music and an Academy Award for his work in Hollywood.

He toured Europe and South America, absorbing diverse influences from each, and composed key works including his Third Symphony, Appalachian Spring, Lincoln Portrait, Fanfare for the Common Man and Rodeo.

We get a sense of how Copland’s personal and professional interests developed over the 1940s and learn about his friendships and challenges during and in the aftermath of World War II.

In this episode, Copland is inspired by Mexico, and the cultural riches he discovered there that seemed to him to be so lacking in the US. It spurred him to “awaken the spiritual consciences of the people” in his music. It also encouraged him to travel more widely in South America in 1941, and marked a new stage in his lifelong friendship with the Mexican composer Carlos Chávez.

John Henry: A Railroad Ballet for Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
Aaron Copland, conductor

Quiet City 
Maurice Murphy, trumpet
Christine Pendrill, cor anglais
London Symphony Orchestra
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor

Piano Sonata 
Leon Fleisher, piano

Our Town 
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
Leonard Slatkin, conductor


Produced by Iain Chambers for BBC Wales

Composer of the Week: Aaron Copland (1900-1990)

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Donald Macleod explores Aaron Copland's most productive decade, the 1940s.

Donald Macleod explores Aaron Copland's most productive decade, the 1940s, and features some of his best-loved works.

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Aaron Copland (1900-1990)

South American Journeys, 1940-1941

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