FAME VI, Lesson 1
Aaron Copland
(1900-1990)
September 2015
Costume1.Blue jeans (you provide)
2.hankerchief (in cart)
3. Cowboy hat (in cart)
4. Western Shirt (in cart)
Aaron Copland, one of the most famous American composers of the 20th century wrote the following piece in 1942. As you listen to the song, think about where the song takes place and what kind of dancing would be done to this music. (Answer: square dancing and the American West).
Play Hoe Down (track #1)
The name of this song is Hoe-Down and it was written for the ballet Rodeo. Rodeo is a story about a girl who fancies a cowboy, who happens to be a champion roper. She decides the best way to get his attention is to compete with other cowboys, in riding and roping. Unfortunately, this plan doesn’t work for it sets her apart from the other men and girls. (Remember this is before women’sliberation movement. Not common for women to compete against men.) At the dance she realizes her mistake. Hoe-Down takes place at the Saturday Night dance. The girl dresses in a fancy red dress and catches the attention of her cowboy. She leads everyone in a brisk square dance. At times the music slows down as the fiddlers and dancers catch their breaths. In the end, she wins her cowboy’s heart and we assume they live happily ever after.
Square Dance Activity
Have eight student’s forma square, 4 girls, 4 boys, girls on right. The other students can clap softly to the music. Show the students the movements, then play Hoe-Down and call out the square dance steps you showed them.(steps listed below) Give them plenty of time for each step before you switch.
Bow to Your Partner, Bow to Your Corner: At the beginning of a square dance, each pair of dancers on each side of the square forms a couple, and therefore the partners join inside hands. Boys bow; girls curtsy and then boys turn to left and bow. Girls turn right and bow.
Circle Left Circle Right: Dancers join hands to form a circle, face slightly left or right as directed and move forward around the circle the distance directed.
Forward and Back:Step3 steps forward, to center step3 steps back. If holding hands put up in the air when stepping forward and back down when stepping back. Can also break it up and say boys step forward and back. Girls step forward and back.
Swing-yer Partner: Students stand side by side and hook arms and make a circle in place.
Promenade:Partners cross hands, students walk once around the square until they are back to where they started.
Do-si-do: Students face their partner with arms folded in front of their chests. Each walks forward so that shoulders pass on one side, then back to back and around so they’re opposite shoulders pass.
For more info:
His Earlier Years
Aaron Copland was born on November 14, 1900, the youngest of five kids. His parents were immigrants from Lithuania. His father operated a store in Brooklyn New York and the family lived in an apartment three stories above the shop. When Aaron was 12 he wanted to take piano lessons but his mother refused. All his brothers and sisters had lessons and she thought it had been a waste of money. So Aaron’s older sister Larine gave him lessons. He taught himself composition and finally when he was 15 he persuaded his parents to hire a teacher. Aaron studied composition, harmony and piano with Rubin Goldmark, who had studied under Dvorak (dvor-zjak). You might remember Dvorak from FAME last year. He really wanted American composers to develop their own “identity”. Later in Aaron’s life he went to Paris to study.
His Music
Copeland returned to New York and was inspired by jazz music in the mid 1920’s. In the 30’s and 40’s he moved away from jazz and his style became more abstract and modern. As the 1930’s progressed, (remember this was the time of the Great Depression). He sympathized with the common man and his music now reflected a simpler style with many of his pieces based on American folklore and country life including the ballets Rodeo, Billy the Kid and Appalachian Spring, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize.
Does anyone know what happened in the 1940’s? (World War II) How do you think this influenced Copland? Well he started composing patriotic pieces. In 1942, Copland composed A Lincoln Portrait, which presented quotes from Lincoln’s writings. Many famous people have narrated this piece including Eleanor Roosevelt, Gregory Peck and Charlton Hesston. Also in 1942, Copland was commissioned, along with 17 other American composers to write a patriotic piece for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. The pieces were to honor soldiers and sailors during WWII. What do you think the titles would sound like for this? Something patriotic. Well out of this came Copland’s Fanfare to the Common Man. He was late delivering his piece so they decided to debut the piece on March 12th, as taxes were due on March 15th and this would be an excellent way to honor the common man.
Play Fanfare for the Common Man (track 2)piece scored for brass and percussion. Listen for the horns ,trumpets, trombones, tuba, timpani, tam-tam (type of drum), bass drum.
You might have heard this piece in the Bollywood film Parinda,which it is featured in the background score. Also Fanfare was used in the 1977 Olympics played by the rock band Emerson, Lake and Palmer. On Sept 21, 2012 it was played in Los Angeles International Airport as the Space Shuttle Endeavour touched down after its final flight.
During the 1930’s and 40’s he also composed the scores for nine movies including “Of Mice and Men”
In the 1950’s Copland slowed down his composing. His style had become more abstract and was not well received. He continued conduction, writing and teaching. During his lifetime hew authored over 60 music articles and essays and wrote 5 books. In the 1970’s Copland stopped composing. His final work was “Proclamation” which he wrote in 1982. He suffered from Alzheimer’s and had several strokes. He died shortly after his 90th birthday on December 2, 1990.