Aaron Copland (1900-1990) • Orchestral & Ballet Works 1936-1948 3 CDs

Aaron Copland (1900-1990) • Orchestral & Ballet Works 1936-1948 3 CDs

Aaron Copland made numerous recordings of his own music, including an extensive series for CBS during the 1960s and '70s, mostly with London orchestras. His last recordings of his most popular scores have been reissued by Sony on an exceptionally well-remastered 3-CD set. It includes virtually all the orchestral pieces he composed during his "populist phase," from El Salon Mexico (1936) to the Clarinet Concerto (1948). What amazing riches flowed from Copland's pen during the period covered by these three discs! Billy the Kid (1939), Quiet City (1940), Our Town (1940), Fanfare for the Common Man (1942), Rodeo (1942), Lincoln Portrait (1942), Appalachian Spring (1944), and the Third Symphony (1946) - all are here. Some of this music is so familiar, so deeply ingrained in America's cultural consciousness, that we might be tempted to take it for granted. But imagine how much poorer the American concert repertoire would be without it. The ballet music is all presented here in the familiar orchestral suites Copland arranged. Most of the selections are played by the London Symphony Orchestra, although the New Philharmonia and the just-plain Philharmonia get cracks at a few key works. In addition to the fine orchestral playing, another treat is that Henry Fonda narrates the Lincoln Portrait - an almost inevitable pick, given the virtually mythic way his acting style embodied the American spirit and the fact that he had portrayed the sixteenth president in John Ford's classic film Young Mr. Lincoln (1939).

CD 1 (Total timing 73:00)
1. EL SALON MEXICO (1933-1936) (11:25)
2. AN OUTDOOR OVERTURE (1938) (8:57)
BILLY THE KID (ORCHESTRAL SUITE) (1939)
3. Introduction: The Open Prairie (3:22)
4. Street in a Frontier Town (6:37)
5. Prairie Night (Card Game at Night) (3:08)
6. Gun Battle (2:30)
7. Celebration (after Billy's Capture) (2: 13)
8. Billy's Death (1:28)
9. The Open Prairie Again (1:46)
10. QUIET CITY (1940) (9:48)
11. JOHN HENRY (1940, revised 1952) (3:58)
12. OUR TOWN (1940) (11:01)
13. LAS AGACHADAS (The Shake-down Song) (1942) (3:03) (Lyrics: Spanish Traditional)
14. FANFARE FOR THE COMMON MAN (1942) (3:15)

CD 2 (Total timing 77:02)
RODEO (Four Dance Episodes) (1942)
1. I-Buckaroo Holiday (7:44)
2. II-Corral Nocturne (3:46)
3. III-Saturday Night Waltz (4:41)
4. IV-Hoedown (3:31)
MUSIC FOR MOVIES (1942)
5. New England Countryside (from The City) (6: 10)
6. Barley Wagons (from Of Mice and Men) (2:34)
7. Sunday Traffic (from The City) (2:42)
8. Grovers Corners (from Our Town) (3: 10)
9. Threshing Machines (from Of Mice and Men) (3:04)
APPALACHIAN SPRING (Suite from the Ballet) (1945)
10. Very slow (2:46)
11. Fast (3:03)
12. Moderato (3:37)
13. Fast (3: 30)
14. Still Faster (4:05)
15. As at first (slowly) (1:07)
16. Calm and Flowing (3:12) (Shaker tune: Simple Gifts)
17. Moderato; Coda (3:22)
18. LETTER FROM HOME (1943-1944) (7:20)
19. DANZON CUBANO (Orchestral Version) (1944) (7:11)

CD 3 (Total timing 76:01)
LINCOLN PORTRAIT (1942)
1. Lento (4:17)
2. Subito allegro (3:29)
3. Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history... (7:18)
4. - 7. SYMPHONY NO. 3 (1944-1946)
8. CONCERTO FOR CLARINET, STRINGS, HARP & PIANO (1947-1948) (16:45)

New Philharmonia Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Henry Fonda, Benny Goodman, etc.

Sony Classical