One of America's most beloved and accomplished composers, Aaron Copland played a crucial role in the coming of age of American music. This substantial biography is the first full-length scholarly study of Copland's life and work. A conductor, music critic, and teacher who wrote clearly and accessibly about music, Copland composed some of the twentieth century's most familiar works - Billy the Kid, Rodeo, Appalachian Spring, Fanfare for the Common Man - in addition to a wealth of music for opera, ballet, chorus, orchestra, chamber ensemble, band, radio, and film. Howard Pollack's expansive and detailed biography examines Copland's musical development, his political sympathies, his personal life, and his tireless encouragement of younger composers, presenting a balanced and skillfully wrought portrait of an American original.
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Opening with a 12-page chapter that gives a sharper impression of the great American composer's personality than many full-length books, this superb biography goes from strength to strength as it elucidates Aaron Copland's background, beliefs, affiliations, and achievements. Music historian Howard Pollack depicts Copland (1900-90) as a man whose inner serenity and self-confidence enabled him to encompass "startling dichotomies" in his life and work. "A participant in the avant-garde, he wrote works of popular appeal," comments the author. "A Jewish, homosexual, liberal New Yorker, he became a national hero." Moving forward in a generally chronological manner, the narrative mixes two kinds of chapters. Some pursue themes over time: his feelings about European music (he adored Stravinsky, was ambivalent about Mozart), his political commitments (which got him into trouble during the McCarthy era), and his relationships with fellow composers and a host of nonmusical artists all equally determined to give America its own distinctive culture. Others concentrate on describing and analyzing groups of compositions: perennial favorites like Appalachian Spring and Billy the Kid, of course, but also the concertos and symphonies respected by his peers. In either mode, Pollack writes with a clarity and dignity eminently suitable to his subject, who seems as warmly appealing as his music. --Wendy Smith
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"Now is the time for a comprehensive, insightful biography of Aaron Copland, and Howard Pollack has answered the call... This is a professional, open-minded and understanding look at a composer and a man who epitomized those qualities himself... A book as sober, respectful, and finely nuanced as this is just what [Copland's] legacy deserves." John Rockwell, New York Times Book Review "In this honest, exhaustive, well-written, and loving biography, Copland appears as the quintessentially American composer." Booklist "The quintessential biography of one of the 20th century's most influential composers." American Songwriter "As Pollack ably shows, one finds much to admire in both Copland's music and life. His purpose, responsibility, generosity, optimism, clarity of thought, friendliness, and vast influence have given the U.S. a musical leader of whom it can be proud. Highly recommended." Choice "Taut and clear... Not only a success in its own right, but a valuable model of what biography can and probably should be." Kirkus Reviews
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In maturity Copland stood just under six feet tall, a lanky figure weighing only about one hundred and fifty pounds. Lesen Sie die erste Seite
Buchdeckel | Copyright | Inhaltsverzeichnis | Auszug | Stichwortverzeichnis | Rückseite
In maturity Copland stood just under six feet tall, a lanky figure weighing only about one hundred and fifty pounds. Lesen Sie die erste Seite
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Von Nicholas Stix
Format:Gebundene Ausgabe
While occasionally indulging in tendentious "theory," University of Houston professor of music Howard Pollack's ambitious, uneven book is redeemed by the author's encyclopedic knowledge, informed affection for Copland's (1900-1990) person and music, and the biographer's ability, more often than not, to write technically sophisticated musical analyses without obscuring the music.
Given the identity politics dominating the new musicology, for all its flaws, Aaron Copland: The Life and Work of an Uncommon Man, is a good and valuable book. It contains information from previously unavailable letters and interviews with the late composer's friends and relations. But why does a tenured, respected professor writing for a trade house adopt the method of cobbling on end chapters dealing with tendentious, identity-political theory that can only detract from the work? And yet, at present, this may be as good as can be hoped for: Some theory as encore, to satisfy the commissars. The alternative is, increasingly, all tin-eared theory, and no music.
Format:Gebundene Ausgabe
Howard Pollack has, quite simply, written the finest account of Aaron Copland' life and music thus far. I have all of the other biographies - including the excellent autobiography by Copland and Vivien Perlis. As worthwhile as these earlier publications are, it is Howard Pollack who has given all Copland devotees the quintessential story of the life and the music of America's greatest composer. I can think of no better place to start exploring Copland's genius than with this book as an introduction to the music, without which the world would be a poorer place and the 20th century would be missing a unique body of sound. It is inconceivable, to me at any rate, to imagine a world without Copland's music. No one else comes close to creating his sound world.
Thank you Mr Pollack for making it so clear to all of your readers that Aaron Copland is not only America's greatest composer but is, historically, and without question, one of most important composers the world has ever produced.
Von Ein Kunde
Format:Gebundene Ausgabe
I have just finished reading Howard Pollack's biography of Aaron Copland.This monumental work provides the diffinitive account of the life and works of America's greatest composer.This is a "must read" for classical music lovers or anyone interested in American culture in the 20th century.
Von Ein Kunde
Format:Gebundene Ausgabe
For me, a young American composer, this book was inspirational! It had a perfect balance between Copland's personal life and his music. My only minor complaint is its organization. I have recommended this book to many friends both, musician and layman; and I recommend it to you!
Von Jeff Abell
Format:Gebundene Ausgabe
Up until now, the scholarly information about Aaron Copland has been curiously skewed. The 2-volume book about his life and work by Vivian Perlis relied primarily on an oral history conducted with the composer. Unfortunately, Copland was very reticent to discuss his personal life. Accounts by "friends" and colleagues like Virgil Thomson seemed to have an ax to grind, usually on Copland's neck. So the need for a book that could place the composer's work in the context of his personal life and the larger milieu he lived in was greatly needed. Howard Pollack's new biography has all the goods, from Copland's boyfriends to his collaborations with Martha Graham and Agnes DeMille. It's hard to say, however, who deserves a swift kick in the pants for the book's structure: the author or his editors at Henry Holt. Pollack structures the book like an anthology of articles. While this might ostensibly makes it easier to find specific topics, and use the biography as a reference book, it also means that you are constantly jumping back and forth in time as you try to read the book, which becomes increasingly annoying as one goes along. About halfway through, I stopped trying to read it in sequence and started jumping around from topic to topic. This structural problem also creates other dilemmas. For example, one might assume that since there is a chapter devoted to Copland's personal relationships that one would find all of his significant others there. Not so: to read about his on-and-off relationship with Leonard Bernstein, you must consult the chapter on Copland's relationship to younger composers. Moreover, what is lost in this structure is the unity of the composer's life.... Lesen Sie weiter... ›
Von Ein Kunde
Format:Gebundene Ausgabe
Howard Pollack has synthesized an enormous amount of material into an engrossing survey of Copland's life and work. The book reads as at once a personal and critical account of America's greatest composer. Pollack's is (and will be for years to come) the definitive study of Aaron Copland.
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