Aaron Copland's Fanfare For The Common Man

The CD I review was “Fanfare for the common man, The man and his music on Aaron Copland” conducted Michael Tilson Thomas. The style of music is classical and the music is played by the San Francisco symphony. Michael Tilson Thomas had a personal relationship with Aaron Copland and admired him in many ways. Aaron Copland was an American composer of concert and film. He was also a well known pianist. He was born in 1900 and died in 1990. The style of music Aaron Copland wrote was modern music with a combination of American folk styles. He has said he wanted his music to make people feel alive and what it’s like to live in Brooklyn where he is from. Aside from composing he was a teacher, writer and critic for music. He studied in Paris and got under the wing of many famous composers. He learned many things and got influenced heavily while studying in Paris. When he returned from Paris he became well known through his composing in ballet, film and musicals, and also his lectures. The first song on the CD is called “Fanfare for the common man”. This piece was written in 1942 by Aaron Copland for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under conductor Eugene Goossens. During World War II many composers were asked to create fanfare music to celebrate for the war effort.
Fanfares are music pieces representing an army, a leader or a royal person but Aaron Copland had this idea about creating a fanfare for the “common man”, the people themselves. Aaron Copland also uses the piece for the opening of the last movement of his third symphony. It’s now recognized as freedom, free speaking and free music. It’s a short piece written for brass and percussion instruments. There are French horns, trumpets, trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum and a tam tam. The piece makes you feel happy . It sounds like a victory song. In the piece the trumpets are polyphonic and in between there is a drum playing a different line. The harmony is pleasing and kind of at rest. This makes it consonance. The music gradually changes throughout the piece. It helps make the mood of the music. There are long and short durations in the piece. In between the change in trumpets to drums the durations are short, but in between lines the duration is a little longer. The tempo is slow. The trumpets hold their notes for a long period making the speed of the music slow. You cannot really distinguish a beat because of the long notes and the polyphonic texture. The climax of the piece comes at the very end when the drums beat really fast and then all for a sudden stop. Another piece that Aaron Copland wrote in his day was “Billy the kid”.
Billy the Kid is a 1938 ballet. This piece is one of Aaron Copland’s more popular pieces. And has been performed worldwide for years. The ballet is known for its combination sound of a cowboy tune and an American folk song. The song and ballet is about a boy’s mother being killed by an outlaw. The boy then kills the outlaw that murdered his mother and goes on the run. For years the boy runs the desert as an outlaw but get but gets caught one day and gets put in jail. He manages to escape jail and returns to his hideout. The law then catches up with him once again and kills him. The ballet ends with the open prairie
theme.
The ballet is one act and ten movements. Each movement has a different sound so it can describe and set the mood of that section. The first section is the open prairie. It has a soothing feeling. The texture is homophonic with a flute being the strong line and trumpets playing quietly in the back ground. The tempo is slow and there is not much of a beat. The flute is playing long notes creating a slow feeling.
The second movement is called “street in a frontier town”. It has a lot faster tempo then the first one. The mood is jumpy and happy. The texture is homophonic for the most part with the flute and trumpets alternating the strong line. Towards the end the piece all the instruments come together and the texture changes to polyphonic.
The third movement is called “Mexican dance and finale”. The tempo is fast. The sounds changes from softer to louder. There are short durations in between the different instruments. The kinds of instruments in the movement are brass and percussion.
The forth movement is called “Prairie night”. This piece is a lot slower than the last. Its texture is homophonic. There are brass and woodwind instruments playing. The mood is soothing and calming. There is not much of a beat because of the long notes the instruments are playing.
The fifth movement is called “Gun battle”. This movement is when the law catches Billy and puts him in jail. The texture is monophonic. The mood is dark and dangerous. There is mostly percussion instruments playing representing the gun shots.
The sixth movement is called “ Celebration”. This section is when they celebrate after catching Billy the outlaw. The texture is polyphonic with percussion and brass instruments playing. The mood is happy and excited. The tempo is fast and there is a recognizable beat to it.
The seventh movement is called “ Billy in the prison”. The tempo is fast. The instruments used is brass and woodwind. The mood is scared and antsy. This movement is when Billy escapes from prison. The texture is homophonic.
The eighth movement is called “ Billy in the Desert”. The texture is polyphonic. The instruments in this piece are stringed and brass. The sound is peaceful and at rest which makes it consonance. The music is duple meter. There are short and long durations in this piece. The brass instruments play long notes making it feel slow.
The ninth movement is called “ Billy’s death”. The mood is sad. The texture is polyphonic. It is a consonance and the instruments have long notes which makes it sound sad. The tempo is slow and there is not much of a distinguishable beat. The last movement is the opening prairie movement.