AARON COPLAND LEONARD BERNSTEIN Composers Collaborators Friends WHO

AARON COPLAND LEONARD BERNSTEIN Composers, Collaborators, Friends

WHO WAS AARON COPLAND? • Born 14 November 1900 in Brooklyn, NY • Interested in music from a young age • Influenced by Igor Stravinsky and Nadia Boulanger • Died 2 December 1990, two months after his friend, Leonard Bernstein

COPLAND’S EARLY DAYS • Attended the school for Americans at Fontainebleau • Taught by composer and renowned teacher Nadia Boulanger • Challenged Copland to pen the “American Sound” • Symphony for Organ and Orchestra • Created very modern, abstract pieces

SYMPHONY FOR ORGAN AND ORCHESTRA

A CHANGE OF HEART “During these years I began to feel an increasing dissatisfaction with the relations of the music-loving public and the living composer. It seemed to me that we composers were in danger of working in a vacuum…It made no sense to ignore them and to continue writing as if they did not exist. I felt that it was worth the effort tot see if I couldn’t say what I had to say in the simplest possible terms. ”

COPLAND IN THE 30’S AND 40’S • Composed his most well known works • Three Ballets: Billy the Kid (1938), Rodeo (1942), Appalachian Spring (1944) • El salón México (1936), The Second Hurricane (1937), An Outdoor Overture (1938) • Film Scores: Of Mice and Men (1939), Our Town (1940), The Red Pony (1948), The Heiress (1942) • Created the “Americana” style

RODEO (1942)

WHO WAS LEONARD BERNSTEIN? • Born 25 August 1918 in Lawrence, MA • Began playing piano from a young age • Revered pianist, conductor, and composer • Conductor of the New York Philharmonic • Hosted popular television shows on music such as Omnibus and Young People’s Concerts • Died on 14 October 1990

BERNSTEIN’S EARLY DAYS • Attended Harvard University and the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood • Studied counterpoint, conducting, and orchestration • Met Aaron Copland in 1937 while attending Harvard University

LEONARD BERNSTEIN: CONDUCTOR OVERTURE FROM CANDIDE

THE MEETING OF TWO FRIENDS • Bernstein on their first meeting: • On his right sat “an odd-looking man in his thirties, [with] a pair of glasses resting on his great hooked nose and a mouth filled with teeth flashing a wide grin. ” He then realized who he was sitting next to. “I almost fell out of the balcony. ” He had met renowned composer Aaron Copland.

BEST OF FRIENDS • Copland supported Bernstein’s application to the Curtis School of Music • Copland recommended Bernstein for the conducting Program at Tanglewood

BERNSTEIN AT THE BERKSHIRES • First attended as a conducting student • Assistant to Serge Koussevitzky at Tanglewood • Eventually becomes a teacher and conductor there • Gave the last performance of his career there in 1990

COPLAND IN THE 50’S AND 60’S • Won the Academy Award for Best Original Musical Score for The Heiress • Wrote his opera The Tender Land • Wrote Connotations for the Lincoln Center Inaugural Concert by the New York Philharmonic • Won the Presidential Medal of Freedom • Wrote Inscape and The New Music

THE COMMUNIST STRUGGLE BERNSTEIN • Outspoken about political ideas • Involved with groups such as the Civil Rights Congress, the Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee, and the American Committee for Yugoslav Relief • Blacklisted by Mc. Carthy for having Socialist tendencies • Did not hurt his career like it did other artists COPLAND • Never blacklisted, but put on watch for being friendly with Bernstein and other leftist people and groups.

LEGACY • Influence on 20 th century music • Copland’s film style influenced later film composers • Bernstein’s West Side Story is still regarded as one of the best works of musical theatre • Mentors and teachers • Copland mentored Bernstein, who in turn taught a host of music students • Bernstein’s television series on music is still used to educate students today