MICHAEL TILSON-THOMAS: COPLAND & THE AMERICAN SOUND (2006/DVD9/Uncompressed)

I wish to thank Schulhoff, who ripped this wonderful DVD and generously gave me permission to repost it here at FANFARE FOR AARON COPLAND. His original links can be found in the 'comments' section. Scoredaddy

This is the latest in the San Francisco Symphony productions which have also been aired on PBS. With the initial production on Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony plus the two mentioned above, the series now totals four "Revolutions in Music."

It would usually be best to start with the documentary portion of each DVD in the series. These productions lift the presentation above most of the concert music DVDs which simply record a performance by the orchestra in question. Conductor Tilson Thomas goes to Europe and investigates aspects of the story of the particular composer being profiled. In this case it means going to Paris and talking about Nadia Boulanger and her effect upon not only Copland but many other American composers.

The videography is top rate, with sweeping views and trenchant but brief commentary by MTT. Not just music-oriented, the commentary delves into the social and political developments around Copland's capturing of that special American sound in concert music. Talking about the diversity of music in early 20th century America and how the different musical styles were transformed in Copland's unique sound brings in references to the Yiddish theater and closeups of sheet music from productions done by Tilson Thomas' ancestors, the Thomashevskys. Discussion of the quintessential Copland Americana, Appalachian Spring, involves fascinating clips from the original Martha Graham dance film which featured Copland's score. I only wish the documentary portions could have been presented in 5.1-channel surround, not just the concert portions.

The concert video portion is a bit different from the other three in that it involves only a small chamber group for a performance of the complete Appalachian Spring ballet. Various instrumental soloists comment on the music and their parts in it. The players are arranged in a semi-horseshoe around MTT with the piano front and center, replicating the layout of the larger orchestra seen in the other DVDs. The shots often feature super closeups of the players and their instruments.

The images are more striking and involving than most symphonic videos, and the 5.1 surround is a superb accompaniment to the widescreen images. The influence of AIX Records' Mark Waldrep as DVD producer is seen in this series being one of the only ones to offer a choice of both "Stage" and "Audience" mixes - the former puts the listener right on the podium with MTT. I found it more exciting listening than the tenth-row Audience acoustic.

All in all, a wonderful treatment - sonically, visually and intellectually, of an important American composer. John Sunier

DVD Details:

Performers: San Francisco Symphony/Michael Tilson Thomas
Studio: San Francisco Symphony Production
Video: 16:9 widescreen color
Subtitles: English on documentary; also German, French, Spanish
Audio: DD 5.1 on concert, with "Audience" or "Stage" acoustics; DD Stereo on documentary; PCM Stereo
Extras: About Keeping Score, About MTT, About the San Francisco Symphony, Trailers for Beethoven's Eroica & Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, Net links

CAMERATA SINGERS: COPLAND WORKS FOR CHORUS

Aaron Copland is best remembered for creating a truly American style of music which is full of folk influences, and melodic and harmonic simplicity. The Old American Songs incorporate folk melodies ranging from minstrel songs (The Boatmen's Dance) to hymns (Simple Gifts) to political satire (The Dodger). Originating as songs for voice and piano, these arrangements by Irving Fine for chorus were authorized by the composer, who himself further expanded the songs for voice and orchestra. 'The House on the Hill' and 'An Immortality' were both arranged by the recently departed Daniel Pinkham, who was a student of Copland's at Harvard.

For a composer whose reputation is so closely connected with the idea of Americanness, Aaron Copland's output of choral music, the central genre of American community music-making, is remarkably sparse. To make an album's worth it's basically necessary to employ the solution chosen here by the Camerata Singers and director Timothy Mount: to perform the two sets of Old American Songs, as arranged for chorus by Irving Fine.

These are delightfully done by Long Island's youthful Camerata Singers, with the words clearly articulated (a good thing, since no texts are given), all the jokes intact (sample I Bought Me a Cat if you're in the mood for a laugh), and a restrained attitude that puts across the cleanness of Copland's lines. That cleanness was a legacy of Copland's French neo-classic training, on view in the Four Motets composed in 1921, during his years as a student of the Paris pedagogue Nadia Boulanger. It is striking how much of Copland's personality comes through in these little works, even as they reflect various French models; they're little crowd-pleasers that deserve to be better known than they are. Indeed, it is the smaller works that provide the real attractions for the potential buyer of this album. Try track 16, Las Agachadas (The Shakedown), a fascinatingly compact slice of Copland's Mexican idiom (it is in Spanish, with an English translation provided).

Two choral songs from 1925, on texts by Ezra Pound and Edwin Arlington Robinson, are also worthy and neglected early Copland works. The sound has a high-school-gymnasium quality, but it doesn't detract from the listener's enjoyment — it's appropriate, somehow, and the texts aren't obscured. The only major negative is the booklet, which needed editorial oversight; among the numerous problems is the appearance of Robinson's name as Edwin Arlington in the track list. James Manheim

Old American Songs, for voice & piano, Book 1 Set 1 (1950)
1. The Boatmen's Dance 03:01
2. The Dodger 02:16
3. Long Time Ago 02:59
4. Simple Gifts 01:31
5. I Bought Me a Cat 02:21

Four Motets (4), for chorus (1921)
6. Help Us O Lord 02:49
7. Thou O Jehovah Abideth Forever 02:14
8. Have Mercy On Us 03:38
9. Sing Ye Praises To Our King 02:10

Old American Songs, for voice & piano, Book 2 Set 2 (1952)
10. The Little Horses 03:12
11. Zion's Walls 02:22
12. The Golden Willow Tree 03:57
13. At the River 02:54
14. Ching-a-Ring Chaw 01:56

15. Choruses (2) An Immorality (1925) 04:36
16. Las Agachadas (The Shake-down Song), for soprano, alto, tenor, bass & chorus (1942) 03:32
17. The House on the Hill (1925) 05:10
18. Lark, for baritone & chorus (1938) 04:44

Camerata Singers, Timothy Mount, conductor
Recorded March & October, 2006 at the State University of New York, Stoney Brook Recital Hall, Stoney Brook, NY

Upgrade to FLAC: THE COPLAND COLLECTION - LATE ORCHESTRAL WORKS (1948-1971)

This is a valuable and distinctive collection, presenting as it does one of Copland’s toughest orchestral works. The Orchestral Variations of 1957 are in fact an orchestration of the Piano Variations of 1930, for long counted Copland's most astringent piece, uncompromising in idiom, pithy and epigrammatic in argument. They represent an ultimate in Copland's early development, after which he felt free to release his more open inspirations. You might argue on principle that 27 years later the composer had no business to play about with them, but in fact, as this fine performance makes very clear, the orchestral version may be a radically different work, but it is a deeply impressive one, quite individual in Copland's oeuvre.

In an interview with Copland published on the sleeve of the original LP issue he admits that though the orchestration diminishes the purely percussive element in the writing, there remains in orchestral terms a hard-bitten sound. He explains that he added no more than a few imitative voices to the original piano score. "With the perspective of 27 years it was not difficult to use the original as a piano sketch with orchestral possibilities". Brief as the variation theme is (a mere eleven bars) there is a cell of four notes merely (E-C-E flat-C sharp) which forms the core of the whole work. The variations are all very brief until the twentieth one leads into a coordinating coda, comparatively extended. Starting at the fifteenth variation Copland relaxes into a more scherzando style with characteristic seven- and five-in-a bar rhythms.

The Preamble for a Solemn Occasion, written in 1949 for the United Nations to commemorate the first anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights, is occasional music in the best sense—a characteristic Copland piece that goes well enough with the two major works, but emotionally says very much less.

In 1964 the London Symphony Orchestra celebrated its sixtieth anniversary; for the occasion Copland was commissioned to write a work, and in due course his Music for a Great City arrived. In this original LP issue of this recording it is suitably packaged, you would think, with a sleeve showing the dome of St. Paul's (see images included with download), a few hundred surrounding roofs, and a few thousand surrounding chimney pots. Indeed, the opening movement of the music is entitled "Skyline". The second "Night Thoughts", the fourth "Toward the Bridge". Which bridge? Tower? Westminster? Waterloo? The clue is given in the third movement: "Subway Jam". And further investigation reveals that Copland's Great City is indeed a newer one than London; it is the New York apostrophized in the 1961 film Something Wild, for it was Copland's score for this film which he rehashed as his tribute to London.

If the processes of thought, where suitability for the occasion is concerned, are not very clear, the music itself certainly is; it is a glorious welter of large-orchestral sound, relieved by quieter and altogether more intimate, personal moments. One can agree readily enough that a wider audience than that of those few film-goers who listen to the music may well find it highly enjoyable.

I already knew The Red Pony Suite in the version which Previn recorded for this same company with the St Louis Symphony—the American coupling for the Britten Sinfonia da Requiem on his first symphonic recording. Copland with the New Philharmonia is fresh and effective, but I confess that I was slightly disappointed by the relative lack of swagger in the most memorable of the numbers, the "Walk to the Bunkhouse". Copland understates it slightly, but some may prefer that.

Copland is one of the few composers who does not have to talk down to his audience in his film music. In each one of these colourful, atmospheric vignettes you get the feeling of Copland uninhibitedly enjoying himself, jotting down his ideas with less weight upon him than in his major works but with comparable intensity to Beethoven in his Bagatelles—equally chips from the master's workbench. This is the very essence of Copland's wide-open-spaces style, just as much as Appalachian Spring or The Tender Land, and as ever the open-eyed simplicity of some piece is always liable to clutch you by the throat just as the famous "Shaker Hymn" does in Appalachian Spring.

The less familiar Three Latin American Sketches of, originally, 1959 are less ebullient than the composer’s better-known El Salon Mexico and Danzon Cubano.In 1971 Copland added a third piece to the Sketches, the Venezuelan "Estribillo", to the original two, to make a finale (but now used as opener). Nevertheless that, collectively, the three sketches are less overwhelming than El Salon Mexico, and less dignified than the Danzon Cubano, is no hardship at all: their extended passages of comparative repose do certainly improve the balance of the record side of Latin-American music as a whole.

Nevertheless, if it is repose that is primarily sought, the listener will find it in greatest abundance in Dance Panels, another first time recording. This is a ballet score of, again, 1959. The ballet itself having no story, Copland obviously felt free to give the music its own balance of styles and durations, creating something much closer to an independent, symphonic, listening piece than is always possible in the medium.

In the process he created a great deal of beauty: if he is lyrical at extended length it is in splendid quality, and also splendidly contrasted for the ear with the livelier, but no less direct and simple, sections of the score. This is a most winning piece and it seems odd that it should only have received its first recording years after it was first composed. E.M. & M.M.

Disc 1:

The Red Pony, Film Suite For Orchestra (1948)
1. I. Morning On The Ranch
2. II. The Gift
3. III. Dream March And Circus Music
4. IV. Walk To The Bunkhouse
5. V. Grandfather's Story
6. VI. Happy Ending

7. Preamble For A Solemn Occasion (1949)

Orchestral Variations (1957)
8. Theme: Grave
9. Variation I - Varation XX
10. Coda: Subito lento moderato

Dance Panels (1959, Revised 1962) (Ballet In Seven Sections)
11. I. Introduction: Moderato (Tempo di Valzer); Espressivo un poco rubato
12. II. Allegretto con tenerezza (un poco rubato)
13. III. Scherzando; Moderato
14. IV. Pas de trois. Lento
15. V. Con brio
16. VI. Con moto
17. VII. Molto ritmico; Coda; come prima; Moderato

London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Aaron Copland except 1-6, New Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Aaron Copland

1-6 Recorded at EMI Studios, London on May 31, 1972; 7 Recorded at Walthamstow Assembly Hall, London on June 14, 1964; 8-10 Recorded at Walthamstow Assembly Hall, London on October 26, 1968; 11-17 Recorded at EMI Studios, London on FRebruary 12 & November 29, 1969

Disc: 2
1. Connotations For Orchestra (1961-1962)

2. Down A Country Lane (1962)

Music For A Great City from Something Wild film score (1963-1964):
3. I. Skyline
4. II. Night Thoughts
5. III. Subway Jam
6. IV. Toward The Bridge

7. Inscape (1967)

Three Latin-American Sketches
8. Estribillo (1971)
9. Paisaje Mexicano (1959)
10. Danza de Jalisco (1959)

London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Aaron Copland except 1 & 7 New York Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein and 8-10 New Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Aaron Copland

1 Recorded at Philharmonic Hall on September 23, 1962; 2 Recorded at Walthamstow Assembly Hall, London on October 26, 1968; 3-6 Recorded at Walthamstow Assembly Hall, London on June 13-14, 1964; 7 Recorded at Philharmonic Hall on October 17, 1967; 8-10 Recorded at EMI Studios, London on June 1, 1972

ERICH KUNZEL & CINCINNATI POPS ORCHESTRA: LINCOLN PORTRAIT & OTHER WORKS

The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, under the direction of Erich Kunzel, turns in a nice set of performances of a group of Copland’s more “populist” compositions (pieces composed in his less challenging, tonal style). The Lincoln Portrait is the featured selection on this disc, and is one of Copland’s best-known and most widely performed and recorded compositions. For those unfamiliar with Copland’s musical tribute to the 16th president of the United States, the piece is a three part composition for standard orchestra and solo speaker. The speaker recites text selected by Copland from Abraham Lincoln’s letters and speeches, supported by Copland’s original music, which includes the interpolation and free use of two popular tunes of Lincoln’s time.

The speaker for this recording of Lincoln Portrait is the famous actress, Katherine Hepburn, whose shaky voice (due to age – almost 80 at the time of this recording- and tremors similar to those of Parkinson’s sufferers) made her a rather odd choice, an emphatic contrast to the stronger-voiced performers who have narrated the Portrait such as Henry Fonda, Charlton Heston, James Earl Jones, and dozens more. However, she gets through it quite nicely and her performance is all the more affecting and touching for her disability.

In addition to Hepburn, we get one set of the two-set Old American Songs, well sung by baritone Sherrill Milnes. The Old American Songs in question are folk songs and ballads chosen and assembled by Copland and arranged for singer and orchestra (initially for singer and piano, but later orchestrated). “Long Time Ago” is incredibly beautiful and is my personal favorite among the five songs in the first set. The fourth song, “Simple Gifts,” is the famous Shaker melody utilized by Copland in his famous ballet score, Apalachian Spring.

The balance of the CD sports several lesser-known but excellent Copland pieces for orchestra. These include The Promise of Living from Copland’s opera, The Tender Land and Jubilee Variations, which receives here its premier (and only, to my knowledge) recording. This is a delightful and very easy-to-listen-to disc with less-complex but highly enjoyable Copland music. Scoredaddy

1. John Henry: A Railroad Ballad for Orchestra (1940)
2. Lincoln Portrait (1942) Katherine Hepburn, speaker
3. The Promise of Living from The Tender Land (1954)
4. Old American Songs, Set 1: The Boatmen's Dance, The Dodger, Long Time Ago, Simple Gifts, I Bought Me (1950) Sherrill Milnes, baritone
5. Jubilee Variations (1945)
6. Ceremonial Fanfare (1969)
7. An Outdoor Overture (1938)

Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, conducted by Erich Kunzel
Recorded in Music Hall, Cincinnati Ohio USA on September 22, 1985 and September 15-16, 1986

Upgrade to FLAC: BERNSTEIN CONDUCTS COPLAND

Here is an upgrade on a disc I had posted over one year ago. Originally posted in MP3 @320, it was the second CD presented on this blog and it has become the #1 most downloaded title here. These are magnificent recordings and dare I say, definitive versions of these signature compositions in Copland's oevre.

These are, of course, Aaron Copland's landmark works and are the pieces he is most remembered for. As stated above, Bernstein recorded what many beleive to be the definitive renditions of these compositions, although there are many, many other fine ones out there, a few of which have already been posted in these pages. Scoredaddy

Happy is the composer who has an advocate as passionate and talented as Leonard Bernstein. These Copland performances have been the preferred versions since they were first issued--better even than the composer's own, later recordings. Originally they were spread over two discs, but thanks to the extended playing time of the compact disc, you can now get all three great Copland ballets together, along with the ever popular Fanfare for the Common Man. Bernstein brings to this music the right sharpness of rhythm but also a typically open-hearted warmth. He coaxes a virtuoso response from the New York Philharmonic, which knows this music as well (or better) than anyone. Self- recommending. David Hurwitz

Fanfare for the Common Man (1942)
1. Molto deliberato (2:00)

Recorded at Philharmonic Hall, New York City, NY USA on February 16, 1966

Appalachian Spring - Suite (1943-1944)
2. Very Slowly (2:43)
3. Allegro (2:42
4. Moderato (3:52)
5. Fast (3:35)
6. Subito Allegro (3:44)
7. As At First (Slowly) (1:15)
8. Doppio movimento (6:45)

Recorded at Manhattan Center, New York City, NY USA on October 9, 1961

Rodeo – Four Dance Episodes (1942)
9. Buckaroo Holiday - Allegro con spirito (7:00)
10 Corral Nocturne - Moderato (4:02)
11. Saturday Night Waltz - Introduction - Slow Waltz (4:11)
12. Hoe-Down - Allegro (3:06)

Recorded at Manhattan Center, New York City, NY USA on May 2, 1960

Billy The Kid – Suite (1938)
13. Introduction. The Open Prairie (3:15)
14. Street In A Frontier Town (3:22)
15. Mexican Dance And Finale (2:01)
16. Prairie Night (Card Game At Night) (4:22)
17. Gun Battle (1:49)
18. Celebration (After Billy's Capture) (2:22)
19. Billy's Death (1:19)
20. The Open Prairie Again (1:47)

Recorded at the St. George Hotel, Brooklyn, NY USA on October 20, 1960

On all: New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Leonard Bernstein

EDUARDO MATA, DALLAS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: SYMPHONY NO. 3/DANZON CUBANO/EL SALON MEXICO

Eduardo Mata's splendid recordings of Aaron Copland's Symphony No. 3, Danzón Cubano, and El Salón México with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra are perennials in EMI's catalog, deservedly so for their remarkable energy, splendid orchestral color, sympathetic interpretations, and wide dynamic range. Mata's renderings of Copland's music -- whether brusque and angular, or smooth and serene -- feel natural, authentic, idiomatic, and as hardy as Leonard Bernstein's popular performances or Copland's own authoritative readings. Since fans still have their pick of their legendary versions on Sony, there is little reason to argue that Mata's recordings are in any way superior. However, they are perhaps equivalent in value, balancing both Bernstein's rawness and Copland's softer touch, and yet never sounding derivative or false. In a blindfold test, it might be difficult to distinguish Mata's recordings from either, so faithful is he to the scores and to their brash spirit.

Symphony No. 3 (1944-1946)
1. Molto moderato, with simple expression 11:00
2. Allegro molto 8:07
3. Andantino quasi allegretto 8:52
4. Molto deliberato 13:10

5. Danzon Cubano (1944) 7:50

6. El Salon Mexico (1933-1936) 10:45

Dallas Symphony Orchestra conducted by Eduardo Mata
Recorded at Cliff Temple Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas USA on May 13-14, 1986

LEO SMIT: AARON COPLAND'S COMPLETE MUSIC FOR SOLO PIANO

Here’s a change of pace for FANFARE FOR AARON COPLAND. Instead of the orchestral music Copland was most renowned for, we offer a survey of his compositions for solo piano, performed by the finest interpreter of this repertory.

Among the selections included is Copland's famous "Piano Fantasy," one of the most highly esteemed piano works of the 20th century on which the pianist, Leo Smit, does an excellent job on music not easy to play correctly.

This is daring music, usually challenging, but worth the investment in time that is necessary to fully appreciate these pieces. Scoredaddy

Most of this set was recorded for LP in 1978, but Leo Smit returned to the studios in 1993 to add some recently discovered short pieces. Smit, a friend of Copland and a composer himself, plays all of Copland's piano music with great comprehension. He sustains the flow throughout the difficult half-hour Piano Fantasy, though he doesn't create as much excitement in the Piano Variations as the composer did in 1935 on 78s (now on Pearl GEMM CD 9279). Much of Copland's piano music is occasional works or pieces for students, but the major works in the set make it well worth hearing. Leslie Gerber

Leo Smit (piano)

Disc 1
1 Scherzo Humoristique: The Cat and the Mouse (1920)
2 Piano Variations (1930)
3 In Evening Air (1966)
4 Passacaglia (1922)

Piano Sonata (1939-41)
5 I. Molto moderato
6 II. Vivace
7 III. Andante sostenuto

Two Piano Pieces (1982)
8 Midday Thoughts
9 Proclamation

Three Moods (1920-1921)
10 embittered
11 wistful
12 jazzy

Disc 2
1 Petite Portrait (1921)
2 Sentimental Melody (1926)
3 Piano Fantasy (1955-57)

Four Piano Blues (1926-48)
4 Freely Poetic (for Leo Smit)
5 Soft and Languid (for Andor Foldes)
6 Muted and Sensuous (for William Kapell)
7 With Bounce (for John Kirkpatrick)

8 Midsummer Nocturne (1947)
9 The Young Pioneers (1936)
10 Sunday Afternoon Music (1936)
11 Down A Country Lane (1962)
12 Night Thoughts (Homage to Ives) (1972)

Disc 1, #1,2,4,7 & disc 2, #3-12 were recorded at the Vanguard Studios, New York City in January, 1978

Disc 1, #3,8-12 & disc 2, #1-2 were recorded at Hit Factory, New York City on July 6, 1993