Listening Companion - Listening Example 5:
String Quartet 1931, Mvt. IV (1931) Ruth Crawford (Seeger)
A person who benefited from Cowell’s support was a young woman named Ruth Crawford (1901–53). Ohio-born Crawford enrolled in the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago in 1921 with the goal of acquiring a teacher’s certificate in piano. That one degree turned into three—the teacher’s certificate, a bachelor of music, and a master of music. Moreover, she made the acquaintance of Cowell, who was a strong advocate for her increasing ambition to become a composer. Although she had a growing reputation in Chicago, both she and Cowell felt she needed to broaden her horizons, so in 1929 she moved to New York where she hoped to study with Charles Seeger (Cowell’s former teacher at Berkeley). Seeger was reluctant, having a low opinion of female composers, but Cowell insisted, “This woman is different.” Influenced by the New Deal, Ruth switched her focus to the preservation of American folk tunes. She believed that “this would be a greater contribution to the nation’s musical life than writing modernist works that few would hear or appreciate.” She went on to publish various anthologies of folksongs—one of which would influence the American composer Aaron Copland (1900–90).
String Quartet 1931, Mvt. IV (1931) Ruth Crawford (Seeger)
A person who benefited from Cowell’s support was a young woman named Ruth Crawford (1901–53). Ohio-born Crawford enrolled in the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago in 1921 with the goal of acquiring a teacher’s certificate in piano. That one degree turned into three—the teacher’s certificate, a bachelor of music, and a master of music. Moreover, she made the acquaintance of Cowell, who was a strong advocate for her increasing ambition to become a composer. Although she had a growing reputation in Chicago, both she and Cowell felt she needed to broaden her horizons, so in 1929 she moved to New York where she hoped to study with Charles Seeger (Cowell’s former teacher at Berkeley). Seeger was reluctant, having a low opinion of female composers, but Cowell insisted, “This woman is different.” Influenced by the New Deal, Ruth switched her focus to the preservation of American folk tunes. She believed that “this would be a greater contribution to the nation’s musical life than writing modernist works that few would hear or appreciate.” She went on to publish various anthologies of folksongs—one of which would influence the American composer Aaron Copland (1900–90).
Dancing through History
For most listeners today, the best-known American composer from the mid-twentieth century is Aaron Copland. He tried a number of different compositional approaches, some of which were abstract and experimental. He was very interested in the “Frontier” period of American history, and it is for his nationalist works that Copland is most remembered. Three of Copland’s best-loved pieces were composed as the scores to ballets. Although each of them did exceedingly well as dance music, they also have lived on in the concert hall.
For most listeners today, the best-known American composer from the mid-twentieth century is Aaron Copland. He tried a number of different compositional approaches, some of which were abstract and experimental. He was very interested in the “Frontier” period of American history, and it is for his nationalist works that Copland is most remembered. Three of Copland’s best-loved pieces were composed as the scores to ballets. Although each of them did exceedingly well as dance music, they also have lived on in the concert hall.
Copland’s next frontier ballet was composed during World War II, which, if anything, intensified the audience response to its nationalist spirit. Rodeo (1942) was commissioned by the dancer and choreographer Agnes de Mille (1905–93). It had the subtitle “The Courting at Burnt Ranch,” and de Mille danced the role of the Cowgirl herself. The audience was in raptures at the New York premiere of Rodeo, giving de Mille twenty-two curtain calls. Moreover, her success in conveying the western spirit through dance would lead Rodgers and Hammerstein to hire her as choreographer for their first collaboration, Oklahoma! (Listening Example 8). Copland’s third frontier ballet, Appalachian Spring (1944), is often viewed as his greatest. After the ballet’s premiere, he quickly arranged two concert versions, one for a small group, and one for a full orchestra, and that larger version earned him the Pulitzer Prize in Music in 1945.