- Appalachian Spring; and “Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson”.
Aaron Copland was the son of Russian/Jewish immigrants. Yet ultimately his music became associated with the typical American sound. Think about this: His parents likely spoke either Russian and or Yiddish at home. Copland might have heard the old Russian music of his parents at their first home in the US.
Yes, Mr. Copland traveled to many places in the US and in Mexico; and he was trained as a composer by none other than Nadia Boulanger in Paris. In my view, the SOUNDS that he created were unique.
Copland knew how to challenge what he heard. He had once told Leonard Bernstein the following about Bernstein’s music:
“This sounds like warmed over Mahler; and that sounds like Richard Strauss. Go to work on these two bars of your music. THAT’S Bernstein!”
On this CD we hear the following:
Copland:
- Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson, with Emma Matthews (soprano).
- Appalachian Spring
Performed by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Benjamin Northey conducting.
Aaron Copland described Dickinson’s work as “fresh, precise, utterly unique”.
“Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson” are the perfect vehicle for Emma Matthews’ technical brilliance. In this recording there is a wonderful sense of the humane, of vulnerability and exquisite tenderness, her expressive genius delivering these one-way conversations most convincingly.
The orchestration for the Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson is in a chamber music style calling for a small orchestral group. And Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” for 13 instruments proves the ideal coupling. This is a work that defines the essence of America in music: The sound of wide open skies, the pioneering spirit, and the values of simplicity and directness.
Here is Andre Previn conducting Copland’s “Poems of Emily Dickinson”, with the great Barbara Bonney, soprano (photo at left):
And next, here is Copland’s “Appalachian Spring”, Part I, performed by the Sidney Camerata Chamber Orchestra:
Tags: Aaron Copland, Nadia Boulanger, Appalachian Spring, Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson, Barbara Bonney
