My discovery of music was rather like coming upon an unsuspected city -like     discovering Paris or Rome if you never heard of their existence.  The excitement of the discovery was enhanced because I came upon a few streets at a time, but before long I began to suspect the full extent of this city.
 
Aaron Copland continued to study composition with one of the leading instructors  in Manhattan,Rubin Goldmark.  He studied with Goldmark between the ages of 17 through 21.
Aaron knew that to learn the latest about composition, he would have to leave New York and study in Paris, France. In 1921 he won a scholarship to a music school just outside of Paris for American students. He studied with the French composer, Nadia Boulanger and learned to write ballets and symphonies.

In 1924, Aaron Copland returned to America. His ambition was to write music with an
American sound. He used folk music and elements of jazz in his music to create pieces that represented our American heritage.

 The piece you are listening to today is Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring.  The music depicts the story of a young couple's  wedding preparations  in a Pennsylvania farming community in the early 1800's.
The Appalachian song "Simple Gifts" is a theme for a series for variations that follow.  This piece was the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1945.

Aaron Copland was also an accomplished writer. His books include Our New Music, Music and Imagination, and What to Listen for in Music.  Among his other honors were the Academy Award and was given the Congressional Medal for patriotism.
 
 

 

 Bach composed both sacred and secular works.  Bach's duties required him to write music of many kinds. . .organ and choral music for the church, chamber music for court use, and harpsichord music for teaching harpsichord.  He also wrote for his own use and for friends, and music as a theoretical exercise.  These pieces were not performed in his lifetime, but now are the considered some of the best baroque works.

Bach's sacred compositions reflect his working in the Lutheran tradition.  Bach, as a keyboard virtuoso, is
reflected in his organ and harpsichord works.  He also wrote for various other instruments.  Bach performance style has varied over the years.  Massive presentations have been replaced by small ensemble performances, sometimes with one player or singer to a part. . .and often with authentic instruments.

Late in his life Bach's music was considered old fashioned.  One key to Bach's greatness is his development of counterpoint, the weaving of two or more melodies.  Today this often is the focus of our study of Bach.

Perhaps the greatest musical genius who ever lived was Wolfgang Amadeus  Mozart. He was born in Salzburg, Austria, on January 27, 1756.

Wolfgang was known as a child prodigy.  He began composing minuets at the age of  5 and symphonies at the age of  9.  His father took him on a series of concert tours together with his older sister, Maria Anna.

 Wolfgang's father, Leopold was vice-Kapellmeister at the Salzburg court.  The archbishop, Sigismund von Schrattenbach, appreciated and encouraged the activities of Leopold and his children.  In 1772, Archbishop von Schrattenbach died and was succeeded by Hieronymus vol Colloredo.  Von Colloredo became irritated with Wolfang's prolonged absences and stubborn ways.  He retained Wolfgang as concertmaster at a token salary in 1772. Hoping to find a better position outside Salzburg, Mozart was granted permission to take another journey in 1777. He could not find a permanent position, however.

When he returned to Salzburg, Mozart was given the position of court organist (1779) and produced many church works, including the famous "Coronation" Mass.  He proved to be a gifted master of the opera Mozart's greatest success was The Marriage of Figaro, composed for the Vienna Opera in 1786. Another successful opera was Don Giovanni.  Other operas included Cosi fan Tutte and The Magic Flute..

By 1782, Mozart's works were  in constant demand by amateurs and publishers.  In 1782, he married Constanze Weber from Germany.

In 1791, Mozart was commissioned to write a requiem,a piece of music often written at the time of someone's death. His requiem was unfinished.  Mozart was quite ill at the time and imagined that he was writing the work was for himself.  Mozart died on December 5, 1791. Some rumored that he had been poisoned, but he is reported to have died from kidney failure.  After a cheap funeral at Saint Stephen's Cathedral, he was buried in an unmarked grave at the cemetery of Saint Marx, a Viennese suburb.

 Mozart excelled in every form in which he composed.  His contemporaries often found the content of his music hard to understand.  However, with Joseph Haydn, Mozart perfected the grand forms of symphony, opera, string quartet, and concerto that marked the Classical Period in Music.
 
 

                        Click here to hear an excerpt from the Minute Waltz.
 
 

Chopin was born on March 1, 1810 in Zelazowa Wola, Poland.  His father was French and his mother was Polish.  He basically taught himself to play the piano, although he did take lessons when he was six.  It is this self-taught style that may be the source of his inventive composition style.

Frederic started composing when he was still a little boy and he gave his first public concert when he was only eight years old.  His music theory teacher's name was Jozef Elsner.  Elsner was the director of the Warsaw Conservatory.  Frederic performed many acclaimed concerts in the cities of Warsaw, Poland and Vienna, Austria.  In 1831, he was not allowed to come back into Poland because of the insurrection.  As a result, Frederic moved to Paris, France.

In 1832, Frederic performed a concert, which made him quite popular.  Even Robert Schumann acclaimed his works.  Frederic began to work as a private teacher to wealthy young students in Paris.  In addition, he performed many of his works in the salons of Paris.

Frederic wrote most of his music for the solo piano although he did write a few pieces for cello and piano and a few works for piano and orchestra.  Frederic wrote shorter compositions and longer compositions.  The shorter pieces were either dances like the mazurka, or free lyrical forms.  The lyrical forms would be compositions such as etudes or etudes. His longer works were polonaises (an aristocratic dance), nocturnes (night music), and ballads.  In addition, he wrote two piano concertos and some sonatas.

Frederic dearly loved a woman author that went by the name of George Sand.  She used this fake name so she could have her works published.  They met in 1838 and their relationship ended in 1847.  In 1849, Chopin who had tuberculosis, died.

Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky was a famous composer from  central Russia.  He lived from 1840-1893.   As a child he learned to play the piano. As he studied, practiced and improved, he enjoyed playing all the parts of an orchestral piece on one instrument, his piano!  When he grew up he studied composition, and he taught theory to college students.

Throughout his life as a professional musician  he composed many pieces of  differing  musical styles.  He composed chamber music (music for small groups of musicians), concertos (solos with piano or orchestral accompaniment), symphonies, ballets and operas. Some of his music reflected his love for Russia and it's beautiful folk music. Tchaikovsky's music is  often very emotional and dramatic.  It reflected the ups and downs of his personal life.
 
The "1812 Overture" is one of Tchaikovsky's most popular and exciting pieces.  This piece first celebrated the 70th anniversary of  the Russian victory over Napoleon in 1812.   It  was composed in 1880 and it was first performed in 1882, becoming an immediate success.  For over one hundred years this wonderful piece of literature has been enjoyed the world over. The "1812 Overture" was originally written for full orchestra; using all instruments of the woodwind, brass and string sections, and many instruments of the percussion section including bass drum, cymbals, chimes and tympani.America's Independence Day celebrations are never complete without the canons and fireworks enjoyed at the conclusion of a performance of the "1812 Overture"!
 
 

Pictures of the composers are courtesy of Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc.
Music samples:
    Mozart excerpt is used courtesy of Metacom, Inc.
    Tchaikovsky, Copland, Bach, and Chopin excerpts are used courtesy of BMG music.
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