Copland Connotations – a belated review
It was with sadness and a tinge of personal regret that I read about the passing of composer, writer and educator Professor Peter Dickinson last month. Peter was a real champion of American music...
Connotations for Orchestra
Just imagine for a minute you are at the Lincoln Centre's opening night back in 1962. You're there with the great and the good. You've paid the $200 ticket price and you're dressed up...
The Tender Land at Piccolo Regio Puccini, Torino – Review
Like most people I have plenty of Bucket List entries that I want to tick off in my life. Many of these are of course associated with the music of Aaron Copland and one...
The women who inspired and influenced Aaron Copland
Throughout Aaron Copland’s life there were very important women who played a major role in inspiring his creativity towards producing his unique sound and some of his most iconic works. His career choices and...
Appalachian Spring MUSA Edition – a long overdue review
Once in a while a book is published that completely fills a void. That is certainly the case with Appalachian Spring Original Ballet Version produced by Music of the United States of America (MUSA)...
Binary Stars – Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein
Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein were two titans of 20th Century Music. In many ways they were inseparable, a 50-year friendship where encouragement and patronage passed in both directions. More than this, like binary...
Copland at the Proms 1: Clarinet Concerto played by the BBC NOW
I was at the Oval in London on Monday. Not the Kennington Oval to see Stuart Broad’s amazing fairytail swansong as a test cricketer. I was 3.5 miles north west inside the oval of...
Mahler 9 – The full human experience with NY Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel – review
I’m not exactly predisposed to be a follower of Gustav Mahler. As a Copland fan I tend to listen to (in the main) short, concise, often leanly orchestrated pieces. Much of Copland’s output couldn’t...
Dvořák’s Prophecy and the Vexed Fate of Black Classical Music – Review
You’ve got to hand it to the team at Post Classical Ensemble – the “experimental music laboratory” based in Washington DC are constantly opening new doors and sharing their enthusiasm for American music through...
The Definitive Guide to Copland Endings: Part 2
Copland was a fabulously talented composer who had the ability not only to paint pictures with his music but also describe many complex emotions. When he wasn’t writing programme music for ballets and film...
