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Essay on A Great Composer

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Inspiration may be a form of super-consciousness, or perhaps of subconsciousness—I wouldn’t know. But I am sure it is the antithesis of self-consciousness.

Only one man could claim the title as probably the greatest composer in American history for writing so many unforgettable works: Aaron Copland. He lived a life inspired by many things as well as inspiring people all across the nation, and it really led to the opposite of being drawn into himself, as he described in the quote above. He was born in Brooklyn, New York on November 14 in 1900. He was the youngest of five children to Sarah and Harris Copland. A musical spark came out in Copland already at the age of 11 as he began piano lessons with his …show more content…

During the 1920’s, Aaron Copland went with the trend and experimented with jazz styles in his music, which proved to be extraordinary in the views of many. His choice for other pieces came through modern music about which he once said, “I just happened upon it in the natural course of my musical exploration.” This was apparent in the way he would use ideals of Neoclassicism in his “Piano Variations.” Copland then hit a downfall in about 1936. He wrote a few works which were harder to perform and not taken in by many audiences due to the use of much more advanced techniques which were uncommon for the time. Copland knew a change had to be made because he quickly saw how many composers were working themselves into a vacuum, so he would follow a new path of the more simplistic American way for much of his life. This “simple to understand” type of writing is what brought audiences back and made Aaron Copland great. He started writing functional music like “The Second Hurricane” and “The Outdoor Adventure” for kids, as well as Of Mice and Men, Or Town, North Star, and The Red Pony for movies; “Music For Radio” for radio; and a few American folk songs. He worked specifically with western themes in three major pieces, “Rodeo” (obvious Western setting), “Billy the Kid” (another setting in the farther west), and the ever so famous “Appalachian Spring” (set in Pennsylvania when it was still America’s frontier).

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