Preview

A Great Composer

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1207 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
A Great Composer
Inspiration may be a form of super-consciousness, or perhaps of subconsciousness—I wouldn't know. But I am sure it is the antithesis of self-consciousness.

Only one man could claim the title as probably the greatest composer in American history for writing so many unforgettable works: Aaron Copland. He lived a life inspired by many things as well as inspiring people all across the nation, and it really led to the opposite of being drawn into himself, as he described in the quote above. He was born in Brooklyn, New York on November 14 in 1900. He was the youngest of five children to Sarah and Harris Copland. A musical spark came out in Copland already at the age of 11 as he began piano lessons with his sister. His musical talents needed tutoring from a higher level of teaching and so he studied with a professional piano teacher, Ludwig Wolfsohn, at age 14. Copland said later, "No one ever connected music with my family. The idea was entirely original with me. And unfortunately the idea occurred to me seriously only at 13 or thereabouts—which is rather late for a musician to get started," (Charles Moritz 190). He graduated in 1918 and was able to devote all his time to writing and composing music. Wanting to further his knowledge in music, he was taught harmony and counterpoint by Rubin Goldmark. Understandably, the two men shared different views and Goldmark completely disagreed with Copland's styles, so to demonstrate his own stubbornness, Copland came back to Goldmark with a piece he wrote entitled "The Cat and The Mouse," (Charles Moritz 191). Copland would then attend the newly established American Conservatory at Fontainebleau in Paris, and he was honored in being the first American student of the amazing teacher, Nadia Boulanger. After three years he returned to New York without any knowledge of how a composer got his works published or performed, nor how he planned on keeping himself financially stable. Copland ended his troubling when he was given a

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    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.…

    • 1053 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Aaron Copland essay

    • 1854 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Aaron Copland was the Iconic American Composer who lived a bachelor life. “He lived alone, as he had his whole life, a bachelor; he worked on a plank desk supported by a simple sawhorse” (source 3). He was born on November 14, 1900 in Brooklyn, New York. His parents were Russian-Jewish immigrants and he was the brother of four siblings. His father, Harris Morris Copland was an immigrant who came to America when he was seventeen. His mother, Sarah Mittenthal, came to America with her family at the age of six, and Aaron was closest to his mother. After a year of training, he learned all he could through his sister Laurine’s lessons. She had no more to teach him since she taught him everything she knew, so even though his parents were not supportive in his music, he still pursued to further his education for music. Ludwig Wolfsohn was his first real teacher and after three years with him he advanced to a European trained concert pianist, Victor Wittgenstein. He graduated from Boys High School in Brooklyn and while being there studied theory under Rubin Goldmark, which only increased to further his desire for modern music. The turning point in his life came when he received and won a scholarship for the American Conservatory at Fortainbleu, France.…

    • 1854 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Aaron Copland

    • 430 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Copland was extremely multi talented he was a composer, composition teacher, writer and conductor of music. Between 1935 and 1945 he was a teacher for ten years at the new school for Social Research, a guest lecturer at Harvard University. In 1946 Copland was dean of the Berkshire Music Center at Tangle wood. Copland working with Roger Sessions to fulfilled his dream to organize a Copland Sessions concert series for young American composers. During that time he also founded the American Festival of Contemporary Music in Saratoga Springs, New York known as Yaddo a retreat for artists. Being that Charles Munch was a French orchestra conductor he also enjoyed Aaron Copland work. Munch invited Copland to tour with him through out the Far East 1960. Copland was awarded the Edward MacDowell Medal, and the US Medal of Freedom.…

    • 430 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Both art and politics were great composers who knew what they were doing and their composings had amazing hits.…

    • 350 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Baroque Composers

    • 440 Words
    • 2 Pages

    What advantages and disadvantages did Baroque composers have in the patronage system? What did they gain from this practice? What limitations did it place on them?mdfkjdskjfjdfjssssssssssssssssssssssssllllllllfjldssssssssss-…

    • 440 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In the early 20th century, American artists sought the utility between music and society. Composers faced the dilemma of being a musician in a culture with little serious music tradition. Aaron Copland once wrote: “ (I) lived in an environment (New York City) that had little or no connection with serious music. Artists had deep desires to contribute meaningfully to the life of the nation and to see music filling a real need in American society. As a leading composer who sought the integration of music and life, Aaron Copland expressed his belief in Appalachian Spring that music should appeal to a broader public without losing high musical standards. To achieve this, Copland created the American modern style by combining Neo-classical elements such as motivic unity and variation technique into folk melody and style.…

    • 1539 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    After some researching. the one composer that caught my ear and attention was Cecile Louise Stephanie Chaminade, most commonly known as Cecile Chaminade. She was a French composer and pianist. From the years of her birth in 1857 to her death in Monte Carlo in 1944, she composed over a hundred pieces that gave her a wide range of admirers. What really caught my attention about Chaminade was the fact that her father disapproved of her musical education. With the strong passion she had, she continued forward in her musical career. At eight years old, she played her music to Georges Bizet who was extremely impressed. Chaminade continued the success and gave her first concert at eighteen. From then on, constant music from Chaminade was being published and gaining popularity.…

    • 814 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    George Gershwin is still a prevalent composer who holds high acclaim in the music world and has shaped the way music is written…

    • 851 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    many accomplishments and overcame many obstacles to become one of the greatest musical composers in history. He wrote many amazing works that are still performed often today and his music slingshotted society into the next period of music, the romantic…

    • 272 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Romantic Composers

    • 525 Words
    • 2 Pages

    1.What is nationalism? How did this impact the music of the Romantic period? Nationalism began to emerge in the nineteenth century between nations and groups, it was the rise of a strong identification with a particular political group, sometimes an ethnic group. It had an impact or affected the composers in many ways, composers showed this was basing their music on the songs and dances of their people, they also composers wrote dramatic works based on folklore, and some of the also exploited the scenic beauty of his countryside.…

    • 525 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Igor Stravinsky

    • 597 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky was born on June 17th, 1882 in Oranienbaum, Russia. He was one of four to his polish parents, Anna née Kholodovsky and Fyodor Stravinsky. Igor Stravinsky’s first exposer to music was from his father, who was a bass singer at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. His father helped him learn the love of music. His first musical education began at the age of nine with piano lessons, studying music theory, and attempting composition. By fifteen, he had mastered Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto in G Minor and finished a piano reduction of a string quartet by Glazunov. That same year, Stravinsky rebelled against the Russian Orthodox Church and abandoned it. Even though he excelled in music, his parents still wanted him to become a lawyer. In 1901, Stravinsky enrolls at the University of Saint Petersburg; however he never attends many of his classes during the four years of school. When it came time to take final examinations in 1905, the school was closed for two months because of Bloody Sunday. He then later received a half course diploma in April 1906. In 1902, Stravinsky began receiving private lessons from Nikolai Rimsky- Korsakov, the leading Russian composer at that time. That very same year Stravinsky’s father dies from cancer. In 1905 Igor Stravinsky proposes to his first cousin Catherin Nossenko. Even though the Orthodox Church opposes marriage of first cousins, they got married on January 23rd, 1906. The same of his marriage, Stravinsky’s creates first important composition Symphony in E Flat. The following year they have their first child Theodore and then the next year they have their second child Ludmila. The same year as Ludmila’s birth, Rimsky, Stravinsky’s father like figure, dies.…

    • 597 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Inspiration is a fragile thing. It is like the wind- you can’t see it but you can feel it, running through the ends of your hair, pushing all your papers from the table making them form a tornado out of words. If you are a lucky man, you will be able to twirl along with the words and…

    • 666 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The source of an artistic inspiration is a very broad subject. So many things inspire so many artists. Sometimes even the most unusual or little things can be so inspiring. To answer the question, “What is the source of artistic inspiration?” I would say that question is too general. There are just so many sources that can inspire an artist. For example, if a painter discovers a really great sunset then he/she will most likely be inspired to paint it. So if a musical artist creates a new tune or melody then that could be his/her source and inspiration to creating a new piece of music.…

    • 348 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Composer Paper

    • 674 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Johann Sebastian Bach was born on March 21, 1685 in Eisenhach, Germany. Bach came from a musical family, which comprised composers, performers, and teachers. Bach possessed a soprano singing voice; however, when his voice changed he played violin and harpsichord instead. Bach was a prominent figure in Baroque music and was considered a musical genius. Bach did not receive any formal musical training; however, he did learn from his family and studied works from his predecessors and contemporaries. Bach's childhood was by no means restricted to instrumental playing. He participated in elaborate polyphonic and concerted music at church services.…

    • 674 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Frederic Chopin

    • 921 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Frederic Chopin (1810-1849) was born in a tiny village of Zelazowa about thirty miles away from Warsaw where he was raised as the son of a Polish mother and French father. While growing up in Warsaw much of his childhood compositions are known today as some of the most significant achievements for a composer in the Romantic era. At a very young age his original style of playing and composing astonished the polish aristocracy. After a fire broke out in his village many years later the home of Chopin was one of the few left standing. The house was set up for restoration as a museum and small concert hall. Chopin is the only composer labeled as "great" to write almost exclusively for the piano. Coming from a poor family he found his love for music at an early age. As a gifted child he began writing and composing his own pieces and has his first published by the age of seven. After realizing his fragile stature couldn’t last with composers like Liszt he was left to teach for most of his wages while playing in smaller concerts. Before he even set foot in high school Chopin had already written four polonaises, a variation set, and a rondo though most of his work was concentrated on virtuoso piano music.…

    • 921 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics