Description
Two autobiographical volumes by composer Aaron Copland (1900-1990) were published in 1984 and 1989, the first covering the years until 1942, and the second the years from 1943 on. His intent at that time was not so much a personal memoir, but rather the story of American music during the period as he experienced it. The text was based on oral interviews for Oral History of American Music, Yale U. The present volume combines those two books and includes writings by Vivian Perlis (music history, Yale U.): a prelude tracing the genealogy of the Copland and Mittenthal families, essays that set the historical context, and an essay that covers the period from Copland's death in 1990, tracing the life of his music. The volume, which includes many b&w photos, is in a horizontal, landscape format: 15x9". Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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Aaron Copland and Vivian Perlis collaborated on two books that detailed the life of one of America's most admired and treasured composers, famous for Fanfare for the Common Man, Appalachian Spring, Billy the Kid, El Salon Mexico, Lincoln Portrait, and many more works from movie scores to orchestral pieces and chamber music. These books, Copland: 1900 Through 1942 and Copland: Since 1943 have been combined and updated and Ms Perlis has written a new Introduction for The Complete Copland. This candid, colorful memoir begins with Copland's Brooklyn childhood and takes us through his years in Paris, the creation of his early works, and his years at Tanglewood, through his death in 1990 at age 90. Rich with remembrances from Leonard Bernstein, Virgil Thomson, and Nadia Boulanger, as well as a trove of letters, photographs, and scores from Copland's collection, this is one of our most vivid musical autobiographies, and an enduring record of an American maestro's explosively creative coming of age.
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