Although the German romantic tradition was a strong influence on American composers during the early twentieth century, French impressionism, jazz, and other styles were beginning to have an influence. Some early innovators, too, began experimenting with new approaches. One of these individuals was Charles Ives. Ives was the son of a band leader, organist, music teacher, and composer who liked to experiment with unconventional sounds. He passed this interest on to his son.

     Ives developed an interest in music that led to his study at Yale. Ives, though, decided to keep his passion for composing separate from a career and launched an insurance business. His composing was done in the evenings and on weekends in a barn on his property that he had converted into a music studio.

     Like to Haydn, Ives worked in virtual isolation. This allowed him to experiment freely and develop his own philosophy of music. This isolation also kept his music from becoming widely known until the publication of the Concord Sonata (for piano) in the 1920s. 

     Aaron Copland was another American nationalist. Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1900, he began taking piano lessons a young boy, first from his sister, then from professionals. He traveled to Paris in 1920 and studyied composition with Nadia Boulanger. He returned  to the United States in 1924 and began producing works with a distinctive American sound. His Music for Theatre is filled with jazz and blues elements.

    One of Copland’s concerns was the divide that was growing between the concert-going audience and the modern composer. To that end he began drawing on regional themes for his inspiration. Many of his most successful works use simple folk tunes as their basis. His use of a variant of the Shaker tune “Simple Gifts” for the theme and variations section of Appalachian Spring is a wonderful example.

     Copland wrote film music, too, including scores for Of Mice and Men, The Red Pony, Our Town, and The Heiress. He won an Academy Award for this last score. He also received a Pulitzer Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and numerous other awards in his long and distinguished career.

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS 

1. Aaron Copland became known as the dean of American composers. He was the first to travel to Paris in 1920 and study with Nadia Boulanger. Many other young American composers followed.  He wasn’t content with simply being a composer but also taught, conducted, and wrote. He embraced a variety of styles, including twelve-tone technique. He was the first American composer of the twentieth century to achieve international recognition.

2. Charles Ives’s father was a well-known bandmaster who experimented with tuning and acoustics. He transmitted this interest to his son, who received initial training from him. He then studied music at Yale. He chose to earn a living with his insurance business (a joint venture with Julian Myrick) rather than as a composer, perhaps because he knew his works wouldn’t be readily accepted and to allow himself the independence he needed to develop his unique approach.

3. Ives had a heart attack in 1918 brought on by exhaustion and undiagnosed diabetes. He resolved during his recuperation that he would begin to devote more time to promoting his music than to composing. The Concord Sonata was the first piece that received his attention, having been completed between 1910 and 1915. So after more than fifteen years of working in isolation not only did he become known to the music world, but he also launched his recognition as a composer by publishing a piano sonata that became a significant contribution to the modern repertoire.

4. Although he was born and raised in Brooklyn, several of Copland’s most successful works have a distinctively Western aura. His use of cowboy songs and the Mexican jarabe in Billy the Kid, for instance, reinforces the sense of the Old West. Likewise his approach to lyric melody using wide leaps and sustained pitches gives a sense of expansiveness that clearly represents the open prairie.

 FURTHER TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION

1. What aspects of nationalism can be found in Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man?

2. What elements of Ives’s sense of humor are evident in the variations?

3. Note that both Gershwin and Copland shared the same cultural background, were about the same age, started their musical lives with the piano, and shared a passion for music, but went in somewhat different directions.