Fanfare for the Common Man
This brassy blast of pure Americana was one of 18 fanfares commission by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
Recommended recording: London Symphony Orchestra/Aaron Copland Sony Classical SMK 89874
Rodeo
A ‘cowboy ballet’ with American folk tunes within its five-movement structure, Rodeo is fun, sassy and jazzy. The final ‘Hoe-down’ is its signature movement.
Recommended recording: San Francisco Symphony Orchestra/Michael Tilson Thomas RCA 82876658402
Appalachian Spring
A beautiful ballet celebrating American pioneers of the 1800s. Copland evokes the wide open spaces of his rural homeland.
Recommended recording: Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra/Leonard Bernstein DG 477 6352
Clarinet Concerto
The opening movement has been called ‘a perfect fusion of Satie and Mahler’. Jazz rhythms combine with a classical scope for a thoroughly modern masterpiece.
Recommended recording: Benny Goodman (clarinet), Columbia Symphony Orchestra/Bernstein Sony SK 43337
Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson
Copland didn’t write many songs, but this cycle is one of the finest written after the Second World War. Deeply personal, it deals with love, death and self-discovery.
Recommended recording: Barbara Bonney (soprano), André Previn (piano) Decca 455 5112
