Aaron Copland was born on this date in 1900, and went on to write some of the most iconically American works of classical music, evoking the wide open spaces of the prairies, and babbling brooks of Appalachia… A far cry from his Brooklyn roots. With music for the concert hall, ballet and film scores, Copland’s sound, with wide intervals and identifiable orchestration have become part of what we think of when we think of “American” works.
Wish Aaron Copland Happy Birthday with a Musical Quiz
Here are the works in the feature (click and drag over space below to see them – for mobile devices, scroll down)
- An Outdoor Overture
- Appalachian Spring
- Rodeo (Buckaroo Holiday)
- Rodeo (Hoedown)
- El Salon Mexico
- Clarinet Concerto
- Our Town
- Fanfare for the Common Man
- Lincoln Portrait
Copland was both a composer and conductor – and here’s an appropriate arrangement he made of “Happy Birthday” for Leonard Bernstein’s 70th (conducted here by Seiji Ozawa):
- An Outdoor Overture
- Appalachian Spring
- Rodeo (Buckaroo Holiday)
- Rodeo (Hoedown)
- El Salon Mexico
- Clarinet Concerto
- Our Town
- Fanfare for the Common Man
- Lincoln Portrait
