CHAPTER 50
Sounds American: Copland and Musical Nationalism in the United States
OVERVIEW
The subject of Chapter 50 is music that resonates strongly with notions of American national
identity during the first half of the twentieth century. The chapter focuses on Aaron Copland’s
ballet Appalachian Spring, which, through the incorporation of a traditional Shaker melody, is
able to embody musically the spirit of America.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. To understand Aaron Copland as part of a larger group of American modernist composers
interested in capturing American identity through music
2. To recognize Copland’s signature American sound as heard in his 1945 ballet Appalachian
Spring
LECTURE SUGGESTIONS
After reviewing the American sound of Copland in his music for Appalachian Spring (the “vast
horizon” of the opening motive, the Shaker hymn, etc.), show a clip of ballet excerpts with
Martha Graham’s choreography. Begin a discussion with your students about the extent to which
the movement of the dancers expresses the American tropes in Copland’s music. How do these
two art forms work together to communicate a sense of American identity?
ASSIGNMENT SUGGESTIONS
1. As the textbook mentions, Copland’s success in projecting a musical idea of America was
based partly on his music for films that depicted to the American experience during the
1930s and 1940s (e.g., Of Mice and Men, Our Town, and The Red Pony). Can you think of
any recent movies that similarly take the American experience as a subject? What kinds of
music are featured in the soundtracks of these films? If these movies have a composed
score, how does the music square with the idea of America?
2. Consider the genres that serve as source material for Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever and
the Shaker theme of Copland’s Appalachian Spring: a march and a religious tune. In
thinking about the strong connotations of patriotism and American nationalism tied to these
two pieces, do you find something about these specific genres that evokes feelings of
nationalism and patriotism? Why these genres? Can you think of other genres that are
incompatible with an expression of American nationalism or patriotism? Which, and why
would they not be (as) effective for communicating these kinds of sentiments?
TEACHING CHALLENGES
Teaching American nationalism in the American classroom is a challenge. Although Copland is
discussed as sounding American, his work might not sound like the America that is represented
or understood in your classroom. Prepare to discuss the problems of nationalism with your class.
For example, how well does Appalachian Spring succeed in capturing the spirit of America?
How does one go about representing the spirit of America musically? Why do you think certain
artists have a strong desire to express sentiments of nationalism? What does history teach us
about excessive appeals to nationalism? Are there examples with positive outcomes? Negative
outcomes?
SUPPLEMENTAL REPERTORY
Copland: El Salón México
Ives: Three Places in New England
SUPPLEMENTAL BIBLIOGRAPHY
Crist, Elizabeth Bergman. Music for the Common Man: Aaron Copland during the Depression and
War. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Crist places Copland’s music of the 1930s and
1940s within the political context of the time. Chapter 5 (“In Wartime”) argues that the
accessible American style of Appalachian Spring reflects Copland’s sympathy for the political
ideology of the communist Popular Front.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
Sounds American: Copland and Musical Nationalism in the United States (Chapter 50)
I. Copland and the American Orchestral Soundscape
A. Aaron Copland (1900–1990)
1. Brooklyn-born composer, Jewish immigrant parents
2. studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger
3. victim of McCarthyism in 1950s
4. music embraced as truly American orchestral sound
5. works: symphonies, piano concerto, ballets, operas, film scores (Academy Award),
piano music, chamber music, choral music, songs
B. “American modernist” style
1. designed for wide appeal
2. well-crafted, classically proportioned
3. influences:
a. jazz (early works)
b. Appalachian and Anglo-American folk melodies
c. Mexican folk melodies
d. Stravinsky’s approach to rhythm, orchestration
4. ballet suites: portrayal of American rural life and Far West
C. Appalachian Spring
1. Copland’s best-known ballet
2. Martha Graham (1894–1991): choreographer, lead dancer
3. takes place in early 19th century, rural Pennsylvania
a. pioneer celebration in spring
b. bride-to-be and farmer-husband enact emotions of their partnership
4. quotes Shaker melody Simple Gifts
5. 1945 orchestral suite in seven sections
D. Listening Guide 39: Copland, Appalachian Spring, excerpts (1945)
1. Section 1: very slow, tranquil
a. introduces characters, evokes landscape at daybreak
b. solo clarinet, then flute ascending motive
c. solos in various woodwinds and trumpet
d. clarinet with closing triad over sustained harmony
2. Section 7: theme (Simple Gifts) and 5 variations
a. theme presented by solo clarinet, folklike American tune
b. calm and flowing duple meter
c. variations: individual instruments featured, colorful orchestration
d. variation 5: full orchestra, builds to dissonant fortissimo, dies out