Essay Biography of Aaron Copland

As the son of a percussionist for CBS radio’s Raymond Scott Quintet, Williams learned to love music early on in life. Early in his life, Williams moved from New York to California (to Los Angeles) at the age of 16 (in 1948). He started out as a young pianist, then as the leader of his own jazz band. When he was age 15 he decided that he was going to learn to play the concert piano, and by the time he was 19, he had begun to create his own musical masterpiece- solely from a piano sonata.

In the novel Into the Wild, author Jon Krakauer writes,“They will think they have bought my respect” (21). In this quote by the protagonist in the novel, Chris McCandless explains that his parents tried to buy his respect and honor with gifts, however they did not understand Chris’s loathe for material goods. His parents did not understand that respect is earned, not bought, and they did not earn his respect. His poor relationship with his parents and his history with rebellion are some of the main causes for why he disappeared from his family, this also explains his narcissism as he only ever had to care for himself. In Into the Wild, Chris Mccandless believes that an individual’s purpose is to be unique and to avoid being conformed by

Listen to Aaron Copland’s “Hoe-Down” from Rodeo with the interactive guide in MindTap. Your textbook claims that “[Aaron Copland’s] best known works are examples of music with an American quality.” After listening to “Hoe-Down,” do you agree or disagree with this statement? Why?

Research about the work describes it as “American” and even “patriotic.” The open fifth and fourth intervals represent a pioneer mentality much like in Appalachian Spring. Fanfare for the Common Man is representative of Copland’s conservative style much like the Appalachian Spring Suite “Simple Gifts.” Speaking somewhat to the American/patriotic affiliation of the work, there is a recording of the piece from November 14, 2000 in the Coolidge Auditorium in the Library of Congress records. The original manuscript is also available on the Library of Congress website in PDF form and safely stored in the reserve

His talent is not a result of education but is deeply rooted in his natural abilities. He attended Armstrong Technical High School.(Tirro 1993) He was on a journey to complete high school but left before obtaining a diploma. Instead of school he worked various jobs in the day and was able to make a breakthrough in the music scene at night. (Tirro 1993) His parents recognized his gift and placed him in piano lessons at the age of seven but he did not follow through with the classes.

Chris McCandless was a hero to many people throughout his life and he was often considered a hero to most. But, a lot of people criticized his errors along the journey. When Chris died, his impact on society was mostly positive, and the people who he met remembered his accomplishments that he has made in their life. His passing let people remember him for what he has done to help others along the way. His mistakes and flaws added up from the first day he started this path of life. Throughout the story, Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer, Chris McCandless is claimed to be a hero by many of the few he met across his journey to Alaska. However, a

Chris McCandless, the subject of Jon Krakauer's“Into The Wild,” whose off-the-grid Alaskan adventure ended in starvation is a hero and an idealist whose sense of independence and adventure inspires us to reach for our dreams. McCandless was a courageous man. He wanted to live a life that was completely different than the one his parents lead. And wanted to submerge himself in the world that we live in and be sequestered from people who take it for granted. However, most students see McCandless as a foolish vagabond whose story should be wrong and not an inspiration, arguing that too many people underrate the dangers of nature. Coming to Alaska and dying because of their ignorance.Chris McCandless followed through with his goals and never

He wrote Ethiopian minstrel, plantation melodies, American melodies, parlor ballads, serenades, politics and war, music hall, and hymns. He often wrote very compassionate lyrics, with themes that were very American. He wrote about the love for one’s home, political matters, war, slavery, and working on the plantations in the South.

Aaron Copland is a twentieth century American composer, teacher, and conductor. Schuman (1980), refers to Copland as the “Dean of American Composers”, which he attributes to his stylistic contributions to American culture including film. His works includes songs, chamber music, ballets, theater, symphony orchestra, solos, and chorus. Copland’s approach to composing included twelve-tone, a basic exhibition of serialism. Crawford & Hamberlin (2013), describe this style as organizing twelve pitches of the chromatic scale into a unique pattern. This method expressed a way of organizing notes freely, without focusing on a key center. To non-musical ears, the atonality heard is interpreted as strange, exotic, or in some cases esthetically pleasing. Copland’s musical influence includes his time in Paris during the 1920’s with Stravinsky, a Russian Nationalist. Stravinsky’s style was inclusive of traditional Russian folk music, evident in his ballet Petrushka (Navarro 2011).

Aaron Copland was the son of Jewish immigrants and the youngest of five children. Aaron began studying piano from his older sister, Luarine, who became his first piano teacher. He started composing his own tunes at the age of seven. When Aaron turned twelve years old he began notating short pieces. He had his first formal piano

He died in Cove Neck, New York on January 6, 1919. He was 60 years old.

Hazel Harrison who was a pianist was born on may 12, 1883 in La Porte, Indiana to the parents of Hiram and Olive Harrison. Harrison began playing the piano at the age of four, by the time she was eight she started playing at local parties and dances. Harrison graduated from La Porte High School in 1902. In 1919 Harrison married Bainter Anderson until the late 1920’s, later she then remarried Allen Moton in the late 1950’s. Both marriages ended in divorce.

So what are the musical elements that make Appalachian Spring sound “American”? There is, of course, the score’s mixture of diverse influences – a mixture not unlike the makeup of the country itself. More specifically, Appalachian Spring is characterized by its use of open intervals, extremely long lines which seem to stretch time, wide spacing of instrumental parts, sections of great rhythmic energy and jazzy, displaced accents contrasted by sections of great plainness and simplicity, diatonic (and sometimes modal) harmonies reminiscent of the traditional songs and fiddle tunes (some inherited from England and Ireland), the incorporation of a Shaker tune, and a quality of directness. It also has clear and distinct sections, in contrast to

In the year 1810, on the day of March 1st, right in the middle of Poland, Frederic Chopin was born in a quaint little town called Zelazowa Wola. His father by the name of Nicholas Chopin, and his mother by the name of Tekla Krzyzanowska. His father was originally from Lorraine, France, and was skilled with flute and violin. From this Frederic Chopin received (most likely) his interest with music. Frederic Chopin had 3 siblings, all sisters: Ludwika, Izabela and Emilia. Ludwika gave Frederic his first piano lessons. Frederic’s family made their way to Warsaw right after he was born.

With his first piano lessons, his teachers discovered his unusual talent of ‘playing out of the boundaries.’ After his dream, becoming a piano virtuoso sink, he leaned more on to his composing skills.