AMERICA IN SONG

A Written Creative Work submitted to the faculty of San Francisco State University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for 2 -0 18 the Degree WflC Masters of Arts in

Music: Vocal Music Education

by

Spiro Nickolao Tsingaris

San Francisco, California

Spring 2018 CERTIFICATION OF APPROVAL

I certify that I have read America in Song: A Music History Course Focusing on

Aaron Copland, American Composers and Vocal Works that Defined Our Nations

Sound by Spiro Nickolao Tsingaris, and that in my opinion this work meets the criteria for approving a written creative work submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree Master of Arts in Music: Vocal Music Education at San Francisco State University.

Wendell Hannah, Ph.D. Professor of Music Education AMERICA IN SONG

Spiro Nickolao Tsingaris San Francisco, CA 2018

The objective of this music history course is to educate my students as to how the people from around the world came here and expressed their unique experience through song. As America is made up of immigrants from around the world, it is understandable that our music reflects this diversity. Likewise as we are a nation just starting out, we can document our growing pains, struggles, changing attitudes and civic morality through the music and lyrics found in our songs. This course will focus on music around the turn of the 20th century, as this was the time of discovering our

National Musical sound, as well as the time of greatest civic change and unrest.

American nationalism and American music will be thoroughly discussed

and analyzed, as well as the many differing types of vocal music, such as African

American Spirituals, Folk Songs, Choral Works and Gospel Music.

The single composer that has peeked my interest the most and that I feel best

incorporates the myriad of American music forms is Aaron Copland. A portion of this course will focus on the music of Copland. What were the factors in his life and upbringing that created the desire for him to discover his interpretation of the

American sound, and how was this desire realized in both his instrumental and vocal works.

I certify that the Abstract is a correct representation of the content of this

Written Creative Work.

Chair, Written Creative Work Committee Date DEDICATION

This work is dedicated to the most encouraging person I have ever met, and whose belief in me is the single greatest factor in any thing I have achieved.

My mother, Mirta Tsingaris

v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To my Father and Mother, whose sacrifice and love are the greatest gift and example anyone could ask for.

To my wife and kids, Gabrielle, Elena, Lucas and Sophia Tsingaris.

Thank you for your love and continuous support and for allowing me the time to pursue this degree. I hope to make you proud.

To Carol Sherwood, David Martin and F. William Schahn, three of the best music teachers a young boy could have.

To Greg and Lori Arthur, for exposing me to American roots music at a young-ish age.

vi TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Introduction...... 1

Chapter 2: Literature Review...... 5

Chapter 3: Objectives...... 47

National Standard 3...... 48

National Standard 4 ...... 48

National Standard 5...... 49

National Standard 6 ...... 49

National Standard 7...... 49

National Standard 8...... 50

National Standard 9...... 50

Chapter 4: Instruction...... 51

Chapter 5: Conclusion...... 56

References:...... 59

Appendix A: Syllabus...... 61

Appendix B: Vocabulary Words and Quiz Form...... 65

Appendix C: Listening Exercise Questions...... 67

Appendix D: Research Paper Guidelines...... 68

Appendix E: Sample Lesson Plans...... 69

vii 1

Chapter 1: Introduction

What does it mean to be an American? How does this melting pot of a nation

find a unique yet cohesive identity? What music best exemplifies the struggles

and successes of the American experience at and near the turn of the century?

This complex question is one that has been at the core of my studies as well as my professional music life. As a first generation American with a father from Greece and a mother from Guatemala, I wonder how does one celebrate their ethnic heritage yet celebrate being a citizen of the United States? How did immigrants celebrate their ethnic roots yet also take advantage of the opportunity provided them in this new land? How did the experience of slaves, western settlers, and transplants from around the globe add to this young country, and specifically how were their experiences represented in song? How did composers near the turn of the century incorporate music from all of these differing channels and create the sound of America?

As I have led choirs that have sung African American slave spirituals that were arranged in the traditional European style; been a member of a folk and roots music band for over twenty years that has played Irish reels as well as blues and gospel music and have conducted symphonies that incorporate jazz as well as evoke the wild west, 1 have experienced music that is both diverse and eclectic, yet 2

somehow perfectly represents the American sound.

Fret Not is a gospel, folk, bluegrass group that I joined in 1992. We have performed slave spirituals, folk tunes from the Appalachians, and gospel songs from the south. We have followed in the footsteps of Johhny Cash and have performed in

San Quentin and Folsom prison as well as many bluegrass and gospel festivals. The music we play expresses the suffering of the slave who still holds out the hope for heaven. We sing old cowboy songs about the difficulties of life on the trail. The beloved gospel pieces we perform, with their Bible stories, speak of the desire for freedom and justice and reflect the principles this country was founded on. This repertoire was the incubator where the seed of my interest in American music began to grow.

As a choral singer for over twenty years, I have sung Renaissance madrigals,

Mass settings and many art songs. It is the songs that capture the American soul that have had the greatest effect on me. Shenandoah, the song about the Missouri river and the great Indian chief Shenandoah is a piece that exemplifies this. I sang it as a high school student, again in college and I have had my choirs, both student and adult, perform it on numerous occasions. Though the times change and contemporary music styles come and go, this piece always seems to reflect the beauty and longing that our great country invokes. Other pieces, like the Spiritual Ain’a That Good News, and the 3

hymn I Saw the Light are pieces that both celebrate our religious heritage while praising God in a distinctly American fashion. These pieces did not sound like

Handel’s Oratorios or Bach’s Masses, yet they served the same purpose. I realized that even in the celebration of the divine, music could still represent our personal yet shared experience.

I have taught in the classroom for over eighteen years, both Symphonic and

Choral music. We have covered all of the masters, from Bach and Handel to Debussy and Shostakovich and most everyone in between. To say that it has been a joy to prepare, perform and introduce young people to all of these great composers would be a great understatement. The works of these amazing artists are the textbooks for my courses in which I teach music theory, music history, ear training and musicianship all based on the pieces we are preparing for that semester’s performances.

Approximately ten years ago, as Tamalpais High School celebrated in centennial birthday, we held a Day on the Green music event where we performed thrilling and uplifting Symphonic works. One of these pieces was the theme from The Magnificent

Seven, composed by Elmer Bernstein. The response from the students as we worked on this piece, as well as the ovation we received from the audience, caused me to ponder what made this piece so enjoyable for all parties involved. The performance of this piece also led directly to my Creative Work project in which all of my groups, 4

both vocal and instrumental, performed music from the American frontier in a performance I titled How the West Was Won. This performance married cowboy and folk songs with Symphonic works that not only evoked the old west but were often based on old American tunes. I also incorporated multi media and paired video with the performance of the music and this led to a very successful celebration of not only the sounds but also the sights of our young country and the experience of the pioneers near the turn of the century. This event was one of the high points in my career thus far and it stoked the desire in me to continue to study and gain more of an understanding of what American music really is.

American music has been a constant in both my studies, my career as an educator and as a performer. My love for the American Song has led me to designing this course. It is my sincere hope that through the study of the American song, my students will gain a better understanding of their own American heritage and see how our shared history is reflected and celebrated in our music and songs. 5

LITERATURE REVIEW

Aaron Copland and his Development of the American Song

In the same way that the Russian Five and Hungary’s Bela Bartok helped develop their nation’s sound, Aaron Copland was instrumental in developing the sound of America. With his use of American folk tunes and melodies, and his ability to compose and orchestrate music that created a sense of optimism and open space, Copland captured the essence of the American experience and expressed it through his music. Copland was able to compose pieces celebrating and evoking the feelings of the “old West” as well as capture the sounds of urban life in the city. He incorporated jazz elements, folk songs and reels to create an indigenous American sound.

An examination of Copland’s early life, his musical, cultural and political influences, as well as an analysis of his vocal works and songs representing his different compositional styles will affirm Copland’s place as one of the premier forefathers of American music.

The man who was to define the sound of this young country has a story unremarkable in its familiarity. Copland was bom on November 14, 1900 in

Brooklyn, New York. He was the youngest of five children bom to Harris and Sarah

Copland, a successful department store owner and his wife. Perhaps his family’s 6

level of success and devotion to culture was the rare attribute that set him apart from his peers as he was growing up. Two of his older siblings played instruments and Aaron first learned to play the piano from his sister, Laurine. “The young Copland showed precocious interest in the cultural resources of Brooklyn and

Manhattan.”1 Aaron would visit the Brooklyn Museum, which was just ten minutes from his home, as well as the public library where as a teen he would read books by

Sigmund Freud and Havelock Ellis. As we read in Levin:

That New York during the 1910s was home to many cultural and political radicals was not lost on Copland, who responded to challenges to the establishment. . . . Anarchism in New York during the 1910s not only suggested Peter Kropotkin, Mikhail Bakunin, and other prominent political anarchists, but also became a metaphor to label philosophical anarchists who championed radical innovation in the arts.2

Brooklyn, at this time, was both a liberal and progressive hot bed for politics, art and literature as well as a tight knit community of first and second generation Americans trying to discern what it meant to be a citizen of this country.

This created a dynamic dual focus for Copland, and he was pleased to learn that he was not alone in this pursuit. In 1911, the Ferrer School in Manhattan opened. The school was founded by activists and was named in honor of Francisco Ferrer, a

Spanish anarchist. Robert Henri and George Bellows were some of the important artists that led classes at the school. Man Ray and Max Weber, both modernist artists,

1 Gail Levin, Aaron Copland’s America (New York: Watson-Guptill, 2000),

11.

2 Levin, Copland's America, 12. 7

attended these classes and both were sons of Eastern European Jewish immigrants.

This community of Eastern European, forward thinking Jewish Americans was all in the Brooklyn area around the same time; Copland had found a peer group. While the term anarchist was thrown around, especially being hurled at this group of artists, it was Leo Omstein that associated his work with the modernist movement. Copland had attended one of Omstein’s recitals in 1919 where his Danse Sauvage, which was composed in 1914, was performed, as well as works by Scriabin, Debussy, Ravel and

Satie. This recital had a lasting impact on Copland and Omstein’s modernist work also inspired visual artists such as Leon Kroll and William Zorach. Omstein himself borrowed from Picasso and Matisse’s interest in African sculpture for his Pygmy

Suite, also completed in 1914. This shared inspiration of thought, themes and methods inspired Copland and created the desire to band closer together with artists of his time and who shared his progressive philosophy. Copland states himself:

I consciously hoped to forward the cause of contemporary American music by my activities and writings. If I was a leader in contemporary music, I was a follower of the modem movement in the other arts.3

In 1916, a magazine entitled The Seven Arts, was published by James

Oppenheim. The goal of this magazine was to inspire “radical ideas in the arts.”4 Its

3 Aaron Copland, Copland: Since 1943. (New York: St. M artin's Press,

1989), 14.

4 Levin, 14. 8

November 1916 issue contained an article entitled “The American Composer,” by

Paul Rosenfeld.

There is continual agitation throughout the country for the production of American compositions, and among both the native and foreign musicians in control of the situation there exists a corresponding willingness to produce such works, although this impulse is scarcely ever rewarded. The Metropolitan has courted failure after failure by mounting operas recommended chiefly by their domestic origin. The orchestral conductors have been assiduous and unsuccessful in their search for American novelties that please their audience. The repeated offering of huge money prizes as incentives to composition, the frequent festivals and concerts devoted solely to native talent, the never ending discussion in the public prints of questions pertaining to Americanism in music, of remedies suggested for the present conditions, bear witness to a general wish for a grand national expression.5

This article had a profound impact on Copland and he took the challenge of creating a modem, distinctly American sound personally.

While the young Copland was surrounded by forward thinking authors and artists, as he began his serious study of music composition, he found himself being taught by a “maestro that had little sympathy for the advanced musical idioms of the day."6 Rubin Goldmark was a well respected teacher of American music and had even given George Gershwin a handful of lessons. Copland was very appreciative of

Goldmark’s solid approach to harmony, theory and composition, and felt his early teacher laid a very firm foundation on which he would build. During his

5 Paul Rosenfeld, "The American Composer," The Seven Arts, (November,

1916), 91.

6 Copland,16. 9

time with Goldmark, Copland composed the majority of his works in what one would describe as a traditional style, such as his Piano Sonata, which he wrote in the style of the Romantic period. However, Copland was simultaneously composing music of a more modem and risque nature, this music he would not share with his teacher.

Although the seed of Copland’s desire to write modem, American music was already sown, he was keenly aware that the path to musical excellence still wound its way through Europe. Copland decided he must study abroad and in June of 1921 he left for France. The decision to study in France, as opposed to Germany or a different country, had many differing influences. In the world of modem music,

France was a hotbed, with composers such as Debussy and Ravel obfuscating tonality while at the same time weaving dissonances in and out of extended tertian chords. This would be the perfect place for Copland to hone his modernist composing style. It was also beneficial that the American Conservatory of Music at

Fontainebleau had recently opened for the summer. Furthermore Copland states that

“during this time, Germany was the enemy,”7 and therefore he never gave serious consideration to study there.

Upon arriving in Paris, Copland immediately immersed himself in the

7 Day, James. "DAY AND NIGHT-Aaron Copland, Composer" YouTube

video, 27:36, from an interview televised by CUNYTV on December 20,

1973, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnWNjdOO_ek. 10

modernist, artistic community. He attended a performance of The Wedding Party at the Eifel Tower at the Ballets Suedois. This work contained a libretto by Jean Cocteau and music by Darius Milhaud, Francis Poulenc and Arthur Honegger, among others.

Copland attended this performance on his first night in Paris. He was not only struck by the modernity of the piece but also by the audience’s enthusiastic reaction to it. In this one evening, Copland felt he had made the right choice to study in Paris. This feeling of early justification would be strengthened further as Copland met Nadia

Boulanger that same summer.8

While studying with a female teacher took some degree of courage,9 Copland felt an immediate affinity for Boulanger. "This intellectual Amazon is not only professor at the Conservatoire, is not only familiar with all music from Bach to

Stravinsky, but is prepared for anything worse in the way of dissonance. But make no mistake ... A more charming womanly woman never lived."10 The young composer would study with Boulanger for three years. Her association with artists from all walks of life and her Wednesday evening open studios, where artists could come by for a critique of a work or to share a project with other young artists, were

8 Virgil Thomson, American Music Since 1910. (New York: Holt, Rinehart

and Winston, 1970), 24.

9 James Day. "Day at Night."

10 Howard Pollack, Aaron Copland: The Life and Work of an Uncommon

Man. (Univ. IL, Press,1999), 27. 11

a strong vehicle for inspiration and connection throughout the modernist movement in Paris, and especially for Copland. His insatiable hunger for all art modem was being fed in this very lively community. Copland’s confidence as a composer grew and while he was influenced by French surrealists and Dadaists, he noticed his

French counterparts were equally enamored by all things American. Levin states:

The would be American modernist found that Parisian counterparts gave great importance to popular American culture, reinforcing voices Copland had heard already at home in Walt Whitman and from critics like Paul Rosenfeld and Waldo Frank ... In November 1922, American expatriate Matthew Josephson, writing in Dada magazine Broom, challenged Americans to create an indigenous art by drawing on their popular culture.11

In 1923 Copland was given the task of creating a piece for flute and clarinet.

This was assigned at one of Boulanger’s general music classes, which she held on Wednesday afternoons and were attended by all of her current students.

Boulanger would invite different instrumentalists to these meetings and have them perform for her pupils so they would have more direct contact with the sounds of the

orchestra. On this day a flutist and clarinetist were the performers. Copland did not have a specific musical idea at the time but he had been drawn to a poem by Richard

Bamfield entitled “As it Fell Upon a Day.” Copland decided to add a soprano to his assignment and created this early work. While he was still in Paris and had not yet fully realized his American vernacular style, a brief analysis of this piece brings to light certain American and contemporary musical influences.

11 Levin, 21. 12

“As It Fell Upon a Day” (1923) is a song for soprano with flute and clarinet accompaniment. It is an Allegro with brief moderato passages in the middle and at the end. Even at this early point in Copland’s career we can see his tendency towards ascending lines and large ascending intervals.

Example 1. As It Fell Upon A Day, mm. 1-212 Allegro g p a m r ... - _ * ....

...... 1 -— ......

r I j ~ ~ H (/ 1 '' 1

Some contemporary and jazz-like influences can be found in this work as well. In measure four, we hear for the first time the staccato eighth followed by two sixteenths pattern that is very reminiscent of a jazz swing rhythm and is utilized by Copland throughout the piece.

12 Aaron Copland, As It Fell Upon A Day. (New York: Boosey and Hawkes,

1935), mm. 1-2. 13

Example 2. As It Fell Upon A Day, mm. 3-513

The use of major seventh intervals as well as movement through the A, G and F

Dorian modes also seem to imply some jazz-like harmonies.

As with Copland’s later works, it is in the use of complicated and syncopated rhythms where we find his unique and American style most adeptly displayed. The delayed arrivals of the accompaniment in measures eighteen through twenty four diminish the importance of the downbeat and instead place an emphasis on the second beat and on the syncopated rhythms.

13 Aaron Copland, As It Fell Upon A Day (New York: Boosey and Hawkes,

1935), mm. 3-5. 14

Example 3. As It Fell Upon A Day, mm. 18-2414 5

After the second rubato, when Copland has the soprano sing an ascending line that builds in expression and intensity, the flute again plays the dotted eighth, sixteenth note rhythm, this time in a repeated motif (mm 22-23). This rhythmic accompaniment pushes the piece forward and keeps the intensity and pace in the so called pocket, much like the constant riding of the cymbal of a jazz drummer.

14 Aaron Copland, As It Fell Upon A Day. (New York: Boosey and Hawkes,

1935), mm. 18-24. 15

Example 4. As It Fell Upon A Day, mm. 36-3915

Tem po I<> (Allegro) ...... = = ± = = = ...j p = » — i • - 1 * ------l|.4r— — j She poor bird as all for * lorn

- ~ B . . a S g f a J s w ..

t r •-....- ...... * ......

This elevation of rhythm to an equal level of importance to melody is very jazz-like and can be found throughout this and other of Copland’s most famous works.

The text describes a scene with great duality, while the trees and the beasts celebrate a beautiful spring day, a lone nightingale sings a sorrowful song.16

15 Aaron Copland, It Fell Upon A Day. (New York: Boosey and Hawkes,

1935), mm. 36-39.

16 Amanda Cook, "Copland: As it Fell Upon a Day Program Notes," Between

the Ledger Lines[blog), https://betweentheledgerlines.wordpress.com

/2014/09/12/copland-as-it-fell-upon-a-day-program-notes/. 16

Copland adeptly handles the juxtaposition of these two moods by contrasting the allegro, ascending lines with the moderate and rubato sections which employ a slower tempo and more sparse accompaniment.

While Copland’s Music for Theater, which was finished just two years later, is often pointed to as one of his early works that utilized the jazz idiom, it is this assignment from Madame Boulanger where we can see the early influence of this new musical form handled by Copland with great aplomb. It was premiered in Paris in 1924.

At the age of twenty four, Copland returned to America, not filled with the cynicism of so many expatriates, but with the same optimism towards the future and hope for what was to come that his father had when first setting foot on American soil.

Copland returned to New York City in 1924 after three inspiring and fruitful years in France. He rented an apartment in New York’s Upper West Side so he could be near the music publishers, Carnegie Hall and other venues. He would stay in this area for the next thirty years. He immediately began his compositional task of creating music that was distinctly American. We find in Crist’s recounting of

Copland’s feelings and words

The “desire to be American was symptomatic of the period,” he would write in a letter of reminiscence. He recalled being “anxious to write a work that 17

would immediately be recognized as American in character” and so turned to jazz as an easy way to be American in musical terms. Works like Music for Theater and Piano Concert clearly evoke rhythmic and melodic features characteristic of early dance-band jazz and urban blues.17

During this same period Copland became the de-facto leader of the League of

Composers, a society of composers whose mission was to encourage, produce and premiere new music and to develop and promote American composers and their works. Members included Samuel Barber, Leonard Bernstein, Henry Cowell, Paul

Hindemith and Darius Milhaud. In addition to the League, Copland was also teaching classes at the New School for Social Research. Then in 1928 he began a series with

Roger Sessions entitled the Copland-Sessions Concerts. At these concerts new works by both European and American composers were premiered. These positions of leadership within the modern American music community helped establish Copland as a leader as well as put him in touch with a great many composers with similar desires and interests. These fellow composers encouraged and challenged

Copland as he continued to develop optimistic and modem music, spurred on by the approval of critics and the elite leftist community in which he was an active member.

This would all change on October 29, 1929.

As post-war optimism, as well as the Jazz Age, began to wane, the desire for all things modem did as well. The Depression was sweeping across America

17 Elizabeth Crist. Music fo r the Common Man: Aaron Copland

During the Depression and the War. (Oxford University Press: 2005), 4. 18

causing many artists to reevaluate their work. As Copland dealt with the

Depression, although less severely than most, he felt his music needed to change with his homeland. The need for optimism and hope was needed more than ever, but now he was determined to write more accessible music. He had an increased desire to connect with the “average American” rather than the critic or the New

York bourgeoisie.18 From the years 1927 to 1933 Copland composed very little.

This brief period was called his abstract period, in which he moved away from jazz elements and moved more towards absolute music. While his Piano Variations

(1930) and his Short Symphony (1933), two of his most important works, were composed during this time, he composed no vocal works.

A major reason for his lack of compositional productivity at this time is due to his focused energies on his lectures at the New School for Social Research as well as organizing the first Yaddo Festival of Contemporary Music, which was held in May of 1932. This was not a conscious decision to compose less, it was simply due to an overextended schedule. As we read in Crist, “These activities demanded time and energy that might otherwise have been devoted to composing, but whatever the circumstances, at the tail end of the decade Copland was struggling to move beyond his youthful, jazzy iconoclasm.”19

18 Levin, 21.

19 Crist, 2. 19

During this period Copland was constantly evaluating the state of American music as well as the modernist movement. This is articulated by Crist and Copland himself when we find

In 1933 he (Copland) again assessed the development of modem music and reiterated his view that young composers had moved beyond an experimental phase. “The day of the ‘pathfinder’ and the ‘experimenter’ are over. We are in a period of cashing in on their discoveries.” The challenge was not to find new styles and techniques to distance contemporary compositions from the music of the romantic past, but to find new audiences and modes of expression best suited to the modem present. Copland concluded that contemporary music “should no longer be confined to the sphere of the special society” but should “interest the general public.”20

By the mid 30s, Copland shifted his focus back to composing with a plan to reach the general public. He entered a period of composition using two differing styles. A “personal style” with music that was much more lush and lyrical, and a popular approach that he himself called “imposed simplicity.”

While Copland’s Piano Sonata (1941) and Third Symphony (1946) are famous instrumental examples of his personal style of composing, his choral work

Lark is a wonderful piece that also displays his techniques used during this period.

Lark is based on a poem by Genevieve Taggard. “Taggard was a prominent

‘proletarian poet’ on the New York scene in the 1930s and 1940s.”22 While this was not Tagggard’s most political poem, the imagery of the lark rising out of the great

20 Crist, 5.

21 Thomson, 54.

22 Pollack, 327. 20

dark does point to her political hope that America could rise out of its’ financial inequality and someday attain a true democracy.23

Lark O, Lark, from great dark, arise! O, lark of light, O, lightness like a spark, Shock ears and stun our eyes Singing the day-rise, the day-rise, the great day-rise.

O Believer, Rejoicer, say Before Evidence of Day The Sun is Risen_. Where No sun is, come loudly in the air; Let ear and eye prepare To see and hear, truly to see and hear; To hear thy three-fold welcome in the air, To see all dazzle after long despair, To see what none may see now, singer, singer fair, so fair.

O, lark alert, O, lark alive, O lovely, lovely chanting arrow-lark, Sprung like an arrow from the bow of dark, O, lark arise Sing the day-rise, The great day-rise.24

Taggard’s politics matched Copland’s almost perfectly and having just completed his Outdoor Overture, the composer was anxious to explore a choral

23 Pollack, 328.

24 Genevieve Taggard, "Lark” in Calling Western Union (New York: Harper

Bros., 1936). 21

piece. The opening of Lark has a typical Copland beginning with its ascending thirds. The extremely syncopated and staggered entrances also mimic the apparent randomness of a group of larks singing.

Example 5. Lark, mm. 1-5.25

G<>rR'\ I'agL' rd AARON COPLAND

SOPRANO

O O hm h .

AMO “ I - O U fltO Ludk,...... p r ■ - TENOR I * jj j if Q. O JLarfcj......

IASS i

‘..A I » >, f > f fur (1 (& 4 i »

Copland uses a syllabic setting, placing great emphasis on the words of the poem. He is able to create a lyrical, flowing melody while maintaining his use of stretto by elongating the ends of phrases in individual lines and contrasting that with moments of rhythmic unisons at the end of larger phrases. The fact that Copland is able to create this legato field without employing a single melismatic phrase is quite remarkable. Copland also contrasts the “lark of light” and the “hope of rising

25 Copland, "Lark," mm 1-5. 22

out of the dark” by moving between F major and D minor, ending the first section of the piece on a very positive D major chord on the text “the great day rise!” In the subsequent Allegro section we see Copland’s signature use of rhythm to create emphasis and excitement when the time signature moves from % to 14 with an accented quarter note on the text “rise!”

Example 6. Lark, mm. 40-45.26

S A I;«ffa W f t - ! ' ;i ! ff ' | ' R - AIl#f tJz i*»* Scipf SiMi I

| f f d - * | | \'i J i I ¥ If f 'f fl

i I L«li *4 LlgJbt, Lark, #»**< o t ifl Ltrfc, iU ttL | Sopftao il

. »; * is r i ti o t.*»k of I >gk< #!«' O L*,k *| ti*M, l*tk, »>*«!„ AUv

This section is followed by the baritone solo, which is sung in the upper register, creating a pleading or imploring feel. The soloist is crying out for

26 Copland, "Lark," mm 40-45. 23

the believer to truly see and hear, to maintain hope for what has not yet occurred, to maintain the belief that tomorrow will be a brighter day. The use of a single voice, with the choir entering for short, emphasized passages is very effective in creating a sense of hope countered by longing in the listener. Copland briefly tonicizes G major at the opening of this Allegro, with the major third creating this hopeful feeling.

The solo section is followed by unison call and responses between the female and the male voices, followed by an emphatic unison on “singer, fair” as it is the

Lark’s song that symbolizes this hope. Copland then returns to the staggered, ascending, hopeful lines that began the piece finally ending on “the great day rise, ah!” on a picardy third D major chord. This most hopeful ending mirrors Taggard’s hope intrinsic in her poem, as well as Copland’s signature sound. The lushness of the vocal harmonies and the lyrical baritone solo exemplify Copland’s personal style, and while choral writing is not what Copland is know for, the text and mood of this piece is perfectly aligned with his political and compositional belief and style.

Perhaps Copland’s most fruitful and memorable period was his “imposed simplicity.” His works from this period are his most famous and the style of composition is often pointed to as the best representation of his American sound. This method of composing would never leave Copland’s hand and would remain a major influence in all of his remaining works. Instrumental works composed utilizing this populist philosophy and style include El Salon Mexico (1936), Billy the Kid

(1938), Our Town (1940) and later, but still similar in style, Rodeo (1942) and 24

Appalachian Spring (1944). These pieces incorporated triadic harmonies and diatonic melodies and had the goal of easily appreciated melodic lines. The goal of this

“imposed simplicity” was to not just incorporate a compositional style or technique but also, according to Crist, to “indicate an aesthetic orientation, a compositional attitude that focused on accessibility and conceived of the musical work as a functional as well as artistic creation.”27 We read in Crist

What I was trying for in the simpler works was only partly a larger audience; they also gave me a chance to try for a home-spun musical idiom.... I like to think that I have touched off for myself and others a kind of musical naturalness that we have badly needed, along with “great” works. 28

Copland spoke the words above to express his belief that his works during the time of imposed simplicity were still valuable and serious, even if they were

simple in form and more widely accepted by the public.

In the winter of 1950, Copland decided to set a group of American folk melodies. In June of 1950, at the Aldeburgh Festival, Peter Pears and Benjamin

Britten premiered set one of Copland’s Old American Songs. Set two would be premiered by William Warfield and Copland himself in the summer of 1953. The entire collection features ten folks songs from America’s musical roots. An overview of four of these songs will highlight both Copland’s imposed simplicity as well as his personal style of composing during this time. Copland summarizes the first song we

27 Crist, 6.

28 Crist, 7. 25

will look at by writing “The Dodger”, as sung by Mrs. Emma Dusenberry of Mena,

Arkansas, who learned it in the 1880s. Supposedly used in the Cleveland-Blaine presidential campaign. Published by John A. and Alan Lomax in Our Singing

Country29

“The Dodger” was framed explicitly as a means for political protest for those in rural poverty .. . was intended for a broad popular audience, and “The Dodger” is situated as a commentary on the economic hardship of farmers’ lives and as part of a larger tradition of protest about such conditions. 30

The song opens with the piano accompaniment playing a straight forward quarter, eighth, eighth note rhythm in cut time that mimics the sound of the banjo played in the claw-hammer style.

Example 5. “The Dodger,”mm. 1-4"

AARON COPLAND Heavy,„ not too fast Q = 96-100)

heavy stacc. (banjo style) I f

exaggerate all / ./;. accents

29 Kassandra Hartford, A Common Man for the Cold War: Aaron Copland's

Old American Songs. The Musical Quarterly (2016) Vol. 98(4), 319.

30 Hartford, 330.

31 Aaron Copland, The Dodger (New York: Boosey and Hawkes, 2009),

mm. 1-4. 26

Accents are placed on the weak beats of the measure as the rhythms drive the piece forward. The lyrics and melody are unchanged from the original song, however

Copland has the opening word of each verse held for over two measures. This is used to capture the listener’s attention, much like the field call at the beginning of a spiritual. The piece is tonal, with every verse beginning and ending on the tonic, and varies very little from the straight-ahead driving of the banjo-like accompaniment during most of the verses. There is a slowing of the tempo and even a doubling of the note values as the end of each chorus is reached, and as we hear that the preacher is a dodger, we find the tempo slowing to add emphasis to the fact that even the most holy of us can be dodgers as well.

Example 6. “The Dodger,” mm. 37-3932

I p - p -

*** 11 I***,*!* a p c i :m*t n i l yt m ' m ! tt *

! ' ^ m p p

->‘i - ” ___z _ . :s * "

Copland utilizes many of his signature compositional techniques in this song to add interest. He adds a syncopated rhythm on the words “look out boys” to add some vitality and punch. He also has the clarinet play in unison with the vocalist on

32 Copland, The Dodger, mm. 37-39 27

the repeat of the text “yes, we’re all dodging, our way through the world” as a means of emphasizing the point. The long held tonic chord, along with the ritardando at the chorus serves to draw out and draw attention to the crimes of every dodger that is mentioned. It is worth noting that the composer set only three of the seven verses of the song, leaving out mention of the lawyer, doctor, merchant and farmer. Could it be that in his attempt to reach the general populace he decided to leave out these common men so as not to offend?

“Simple Gifts” is, in Copland’s words, “a favorite song of the Shaker sect, from the period 1837-1847. The melody and words were quoted by Edward D.

Andrews in his book of Shaker rituals, songs and dances, entitled The Gift to be

Simple.'"1’3A brief introduction is comprised of the first half of the melody played by the flute and clarinet or in the pianist’s right hand. It ends on a dominant chord which cadences perfectly to the tonic as the singer enters on “tis a gift.” Copland often employed this technique of having an instalment introduce or repeat a portion of the melody that is sung. While the vocalist continues with the verse, the accompaniment is now a sort of pedal point, with chords on the submediant, subtonic, dominant and tonic each being held for sustained beats, and all chordal movement happening on the weak or second half of each downbeat.

33 Hartford, 319. 28

Example 7. “Simple Gifts,” mm. 1-1034

gift to be tree Tis. the gift to come down where you ought to be And

Another Coplandism on great display in “Simple Gifts” is his use of octaves and widely spaced chords. These large intervals give the feeling of openness, and optimism and serve to reinforce the text. In m. 20 where the singer explains that by turning, turning we come round right, the octave E flats in the right hand, is a musical representation of this veiy act.

34 Aaron Copland, Simple Gift (New York: Boosey and Hawkes, 2009),

mm. 1-10. 29

Example 8. “Simple Gifts,” mm. 20-2435

Copland’s setting of a Shaker hymn perfectly portrays his orchestrational adeptness at bringing out the beauty of a simple, haunting melody and interjecting just enough rhythmic interest and harmonic accompaniment to enhance the melodic line and create an easily accessible, yet memorable work.

“At the River” is an old hymn, with words and melody by Rev. Robert Lowry.

Copland again chooses a song with a hauntingly beautiful, yet simple melody for his collection. The piece begins with octave B-flats played in the left and right hand of the piano, or by the brass in his arrangement for small orchestra.

The introduction serves as a brief fanfare, or attention getter. The line then descends in both pitch and dynamics as if a musical plea to have one and all gather at the river where they might experience a holy moment. The melody is unchanged save for one exception. Copland has each verse end on the mediant, rather than the tonic, which

35 Ibid. mm. 20-24. 30

serves to have the verse flow directly into the chorus, rather than having a more cadential feel. The accompaniment is made up mostly of half notes, moving along slowly and consistently, much like a congregation would as they march towards the river.

Example 9. “At the River,” mm. 1-1136

Although the composer keeps the melody and accompaniment very true to the

36 Aaron Copland, At the River (New York: Boosey and Hawkes, 2009),

mm. 1-10. 31

original, we do find some of Copland’s traits present. He adds syncopation in the left hand accompaniment part, to again maintain interest and forward motion.

Example 10. “At the River,” mm. 24-2637

------....I- I . .. ..rz.... w.. r} ----- fj = = E P 2r“- ....! r r - L - i - riiv - Cl. Soon our pil - grim ag e will cease, -

j...... r... ¥ - , eT ------..... ■

r i .A. X — i i b , 1 1 • 1 1 ..— .r ...... 1...r ..-.-..... r = T = - P ------=•

He masterfully sets the mood by having the accompaniment swell and crescendo when they lyric proclaims “yes, we’ll gather by the river!” and then has the mood settle down to a peaceful resolution as the congregation sings the word “peace.”

Much like his often cited score for Thorton Wilder’s play Our Town, Copland uses large, open intervals to create a sense of optimism countered by a sense of longing.

He also has many of his phrases end on ascending intervals, to cause the listener to look forward, with hope. If the cemetery in Our Town represents ancestry, family and our connectedness, the gathering of all the saints at the throne of God in “At the

River” reflects this connectedness as well as reminds us that we all will be together in

37 Ibid. mm. 24-26. 32

heaven. Copland’s simple approach to this song, by focus on the melody and having only sparse accompaniment is very powerful and no less effective in this vocal work as his instrumental compositions, and with the lyrics being emphasized musically, this imposed, simple approach might be most fully realized in song.

“Ching-a-ring Chaw” is an old minstrel song which Copland found in the

Harris Collection of American Poetry and Plays at Brown University. He again employs his “banjo style” of composing for the opening accompaniment. The driving rhythm propels the music forward and creates excitement, which is matched by the crisp articulations of the lyrics. The offensive term “darkee” is replaced by Copland in the song, where he instead uses the word “larkee.” 38

38 Mary A. Kennedy, "Copland and the Folk Song: Sources, Analysis, Choral

Arrangements," Choral Journal 39, no. 10 (1999): 19. 33

Example 11. “Ching-a-ring chaw,” mm. 1 -839

The soloist and the instruments trade accents throughout this piece as if in a conversation. The straightforward rhythm is broken by added syncopation in m. 57 where the accompaniment suddenly enters on the second half of the beat at forte.

39 Aaron Copland, Ching-a-ring chaw (New York: Boosey and Hawkes,

2009), mm. 1-8. 34

Example 12. Ching-a-ring chaw, mm. 57-6040

This syncopation is Copland again raising the importance of rhythm and using it to emphasize the line “nights we all will dance.” The ending of the piece is fortissimo with the instruction to play jubilantly. The accompaniment in the top line now plays up an octave and the singer ends with a shout on the last beat of the song. Copland maintains joy and energy throughout this piece by his use of crisp, short rhythms, dynamic variation and the occasional use of syncopation. While one could describe his arrangement as straightforward, he uses just enough of his usual compositional

devices to maintain energy and interest, while not subtracting from the simple joy of

this piece.

Old American Songs was extremely well received; in fact the second set was

rushed by Copland due to the success of the first. The original setting for piano and

vocalist would soon give way to Copland’s arrangement for small orchestra and

medium voice.

40 Ibid. mm. 55-60. 35

These vocal works have since had many choral arrangements by various composers and have found there way into the traditional American choral catalog as examples and celebrations of American attributes as well as the sound that helps define us.

The beauty found in simplicity, the desire to celebrate all things honest, true, and natural, and the celebration of the common man were not Copland’s aspirations alone. In 1936 two American journalists were to begin an assignment documenting these very attributes.

James Agee was born in 1909 in Knoxville, Tennessee. In addition to being a writer, Agee was a well regarded critic. The death of his father, when James was 6, had a major impact on him. His novel A Death in the Family, based on this event would win Agee the Pulitzer Prize in 1958, posthumously. Agee spent much of his childhood in boarding schools, but his close friendship with Father James Harold Flye would ensure that he was a well read and educated young man, with an awareness of the world around him.

Walker Evans, bom in 1903, was an American photographer who was extremely influential in the second half of the twentieth century. Evans did not seek to be tasteful or “artsy” but rather hoped to uncover the depth, beauty and resonance in the common and everyday. His photographs chronicling the depression are among the most familiar and effective of this era.

In 1936 Evans and Agee accepted an assignment to produce an article on the conditions of families in the American Dust Bowl. Fortune magazine sought to 36

expose the plight of the southern sharecropper and their struggle during the

Depression. Agee, having recently graduated from Harvard, then hired by Time Incorporated, was eager to take on the assignment that summer. Evans and

Agee lived with three families for approximately eight weeks documenting their life and struggles, both in writing and photography. The world of the poor sharecropper was not foreign to Agee, as some of his own relatives in Tennessee led similar lives.

While their article was never published in the magazine, Evans and Agee planned a publication composed of multiple volumes, with Let Us Now Praise Famous Men

(1941) being the first. It would ultimately be the only volume completed. Agee, while documenting the every day lives of his subjects was able to make political and social commentary without being condescending. The dignity with which Agee and Evan’s profiled their subjects, without criticism, brought compassion as well as awareness to their plight. The authors’ rejection of the ordered world, often asserted in Victorian values, enabled the readers to learn about these three families and empathize with them, rather than judge. Their desire to capture American life in its natural and harshly simplistic form, without judgment would strike a chord with Copland and his political views.

Copland’s The Tender Land was written between 1952 and 1954 for the NBC

Television Opera Workshop with a libretto by Erik Johns using the pen name Horace

Everett. Johns states in his notes 37

[Copland] played me several musical sketches he kept in his note-book and with these showed James Agee’s book, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. The photographs in this book related to the music he had played-photos of a sharecropper's family in the south. I knew that this was a signpost showing the direction in which he wanted to go, and an important one for me as librettist, for now, I had my point of departure for The Tender Land.41

The original opera was written in two acts, but was rejected and never aired for the

NBC Television Workshop. It finally premiered on April 1, 1954 at the New York

City Opera but was not well received, despite being directed by Jerome Robbins. The opera was not standard in its form and function. Not only was it only two acts, the story line did not have a dramatic plot. Rather than being overtly intense or containing the typical sturm und drang found in traditional operas, The Tender Land was quiet and simple. It took a homely look at every day life, again reflecting the style and desires of its composer as well as the author of its inspiration.

Critics of the day stated that the lack of character development, as well as a weak storyline, were to blame for its failure. Christopher Patton expressed that the difference between writing for an intimate television audience rather than a large operatic hall could have also led to the opera’s negative response. Copland and Johns would rework the opera, adding a third act for a performance at Tanglewood in 1954.

The setting for the opera is a Midwest family farm in the 1930s. It is June, near graduation and a simple house and its front porch are the location for the action in Act I. Laurie, the eldest daughter of Ma Moss, receives a package. It is her

41 Horace Everett, The Tender Land (New York: Boosey and Hawkes,

1952), program notes. 38

graduation dress, which she will wear the next day. The postman also delivers the news that two strangers have been spotted in town. The two strangers approach the family farm and Grandpa Moss eventually concedes and hires the men for the Spring

Harvest. The family learns that two men are wanted by the sheriff and they wonder if the two strangers are these men. Laurie begins to fall in love with Martin, one of the strangers. Laurie agrees to go away with the men after she learns that they are leaving town. Top, the second man convinces Martin to leave without Laurie, fearing the effect she will have on the pair. Laurie awakens and realizes that the men have left without her. While saddened by this she also becomes keenly aware of the fact that she has changed and cannot remain on the farm. As she leaves the farm Ma Moss turns her attention to the younger daughter, aware that the cycle of life has started again.

Love, loss and the cyclical nature of life are the main themes in The Tender

Land. Laurie’s desire to leave and start her new life is ignited by the intrigue of the stranger in town. The unknown world, beckoning to the young is a pillar in literature; however, the fact that Laurie does not leave with a newfound love, but rather ventures out alone was a relatively revolutionary idea at the time. In a similar way, the idea of rebelling against an unsympathetic authority was also very personal to the creators of the work as we read in Daniel Mather’s Against the American Grain: Sexuality and the Rezoning o f The Tender Land

As homosexuals, Copland and Johns occupied a position outside the boundaries of conventional society that is reflected in the Tender Land’s 39

theme of rebellion against a restrictive social order, and this provides another

level of depth to this remarkable work.«

Musically, Copland employs many of the compositional characteristics found in other works from his imposed simplicity period. Open chord voicings, simple diatonic melodies, widely spaced intervals, most often in the strings and a sort of harmonic ambiguity. This last compositional technique creates a sort of hovering, transparent mood. The listener feels suspended in time without the strong resolution of a typical cadence. This lack of a typical, strong ending communicates the desire for time to stand still, and also conveys the dream or hope of what can be.

42 Daniel Mathers, "Expanding Horizons: Sexuality and Re-zoning of

The Tender Land," in Copland Connotations: Studies and Interviews, ed.

Peter Dickinson (Rochester, NY: Boydell Press, 2002). 40

Example 13. The Tender Land, opening, mm. 1 -15"

Copland also employs dissonance, as in the pedal tone E in the opening of the opera. The E creates a tension against the often recurring F. This creates a sense of sadness, longing, as well as a subtle sense of dread. It foreshadows not only the arrival of the two strangers, but the eventual departure of Laurie. Change is coming

43 Aaron Copland, The Tender Land (New York: Boosey and Hawkes,

1954], mm. 1-15. 41

and it cannot be avoided.

Copland himself spoke of The Tender Land as more of a tone poem than an opera. Despite its not being well received at its’ premiere, it has stood the test of time and has gained in popularity and respect. While by no means being considered grand opera, it is now regarded as a very poignant look at American life, and deals with eternal themes such as change, loss, love and rebellion.

Copland would soon go on to compose his famous Fanfare for the

Common Man (1942) followed by Appalachian Spring (1944) and the score for the film The Red Pony (1949). These works would cement Copland’s position as the preeminent voice for the American sound. While his A Lincoln Portrait was equally well received, due to Copland’s liberal leanings and connections, the work was withdrawn from the 1953 inaugural concert for Dwight D. Eisenhower. He was also called before congress that same year to testify that he was never a communist.44 The artistic community rallied behind him, holding up his music as a “banner of his patriotism.”45 The investigation ceased in 1955 and had little affect on Copland’s career, although he did decide to no longer become an official member of any overtly liberal group.

Later in life Copland turned his attention more towards conducting than

44 Levin, 108.

45 Crist, 190. 42

composing. He said “It was exactly as if someone had simply turned off a faucet,”46 when discussing his lack of new ideas. He remained in New York until his death on

December 2, 1990 due to Alzheimer’s disease.

While his symphonic works are most often pointed to as examples of his compositional style, his vocal works also exemplify what the composer believed personally, politically and musically. By studying his vocal works we can see the growth and changing compositional styles throughout Copland’s life.

Aaron Copland seemed handpicked to be the voice of the American sound.

His family’s immigrant story coupled with their ability to expose him to the arts at an early age was a recipe for success. The fact that Copland came from a stable, loving home where he grew in confidence and developed a positive outlook on life ensured that he was the perfect voice for a country founded by immigrants with the eternal hope of a better tomorrow. By composing music that combined his environment and life experiences with a modern style, Aaron Copland helped articulate the American experience through one of our country’s most challenging and turbulent times.

46 Copland. Copland since 1943, 265. 43

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brookhart, Charles E. "The Choral Music of Aaron Copland, Roy Harris, and

Randall Thompson." 1978. Ph.D. diss., George Peabody College for

Teachers, 1960.

Cook, Amanda. Between the Ledger Lines (blog). "Copland: As it Fell Upon

A Day Program Notes," September 12, 2014.

https://betweentheledgerlines.wordpress.com/2014/09/12/copland-as-

it-fell-upon-a-day-program-notes/

Copland, Aaron. As It Fell Upon A Day. New York: Boosey & Hawkes,

1935.

. Hoe-Down, Rodeo. New York: Boosey and Hawkes, 1946.

. Old American Songs: Complete. New Edition, Medium Voice.

New York: Boosey and Hawks, 2009.

______. Our Town. New York: Boosey and Hawkes, 1940.

______. The Tender Land. New York: Boosey and Hawkes, 1940.

Copland, Aaron, and Vivian Perlis. Copland since 1943. New York: St. M artin’s

Press, 1989.

Copland, Aaron, Richard Kostelanetz, and Steven Silverstein. Aaron Copland: A

Reader: Selected Writings 1923-1972. New York: Routledge, 2004. 44

Crist, Elizabeth B.. Music for the Common Man: Aaron Copland During the

Depression and War. Oxford University Press, 2005.

Day, James. "Day at Night: Aaron Copland, Composer." CUNY TV, December 20,

1973. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnWNidOO ek

Hartford, Kassandra. "A Common Man for the Cold War: Aaron Copland's Old

American Songs." The Musical Quarterly 98, no. 4 (2016): 313-49.

Hitchcock, H. Wiley. "Aaron Copland and American Music." Perspectives of New

Music 19, no.l (1980): 31-33.

http://0-www.jstor.org.opac.sfsu.edu/stable/8325688

Kennedy, Mary. "Copland and the Folk Song: Sources, Analysis, Choral

Arrangements." Choral Journal 39, no. 10 (1999): 17-26.

Knowles, Patricia K. "Folkway: A Suite of Dances Based on Aaron Copland's

Arrangement of Old American Songs.” Master's thesis, University of

Wisconsin-Madison, 1966.

Levin, Gail. Aaron Copland's America: A Cultural Perspective. New York: Watson-

Guptill, 2000.

Mathers, Daniel. "Expanding Horizons: Sexuality and Re-zoning of

The Tender Land," in Copland Connotations: Studies and Interviews,

ed. Peter Dickinson, Rochester, NY: Boydell Press, 2002. 45

Patton, Christopher W. "Discovering "The Tender Land": A New Look at Aaron

Copland's Opera." American Music 20, no. 3 (2002): 317-40.

doi: 10.2307/13 50129.

Pollack, Howard. Aaron Copland: The Life and Work o f an Uncommon Man.

New York: Henry Holt, 1999.

Richardson, Brett Andrew. “Aaron Copland’s Music for the Theater: A

Transcription for Wind Band.” PhD. diss., Indiana University, 2014.

Riley, Owen Howard. "Charles Ives, Duke Ellington, Aaron Copland: A Search for

an American Identity in Early Twentieth Century American Music." Sound

and Light (June 2003), pp. 98-103.

Robertson, Marta., and Robin Armstrong. Aaron Copland: A Guide to Research.

Composer Resource Manuals; v. 53. New York: Routledge, 2001.

Rosenfeld, Paul. "The American Composer," The Seven Arts. New York: The Seven

Arts Publishing Co., November, 1916. 89-94.

Steichen, James. "Aaron Copland: The Tender Land." The Opera

Quarterly 27, no. 1 (2011): 123-129.

Taggard, Genevieve. "Calling Western Union". New York: Harper & Brothers.

1936.

Tawa, Nicholas, The Great American Symphony: Music, the Depression, and War.

Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2009. 46

Thomson, Virgil. American Music Since 1910. Twentieth Century Composers.

edited by Anna Kallin and Nicolas Nabokov. New York: Holt, Rinehart &

Winston, 1971.

Warrick, Kimberly. A Stylistic Analysis of Aaron Copland's Two Operas, "The

Second Hurricane" and "The Tender Land." Ph.D. diss., University of

Northern Colorado, 1995. 47

OBJECTIVE

As Choral music is my area of emphasis in my studies, and because a fair amount of research has been done in this field in regards to symphonic music, I have chosen to focus on vocal works for this course. I will include instrumental music and a discussion of its impact, but the songs of our heritage will be our focus.

The objective of this course is to educate my students as to how the people from around the world came here and expressed their unique experience through song. As America is made up of immigrants from around the world, it is expected that our music reflect this diversity. Likewise, as we are a nation just starting out, we can document our growing pains, struggles, changing attitudes and civic morality through the music and lyrics found in our songs. This course will focus on music around the turn of the 20th century, as this was the time of discovering our

National Musical sound, as well as the time of greatest civic change and unrest.

The single composer that has peeked my interest the most and that I feel best incorporates the myriad of American music forms is Aaron Copland. A portion of this course, as well as the entirety of my literature review, will focus on the music of

Copland. What were the factors in his life and upbringing that created the desire to discover his interpretation of the American sound, and how was this desire realized in both his instrumental and vocal works. 48

NATIONAL STANDARD #3: Improvising melodies, variations, and

accompaniments.

Improvisation is widely used in American music. From scat singing to

ornamentation, it is found throughout the music that will be covered in this class.

Students will listen to and sing back call and response work songs and will then be

asked to improvise using their own ornaments and lyrics. Students will also study the

emotional exclamations made in gospel music and will study how these served as

vocal accompaniments as well as variations of the songs, as in the song Glory, glory,

Hallelujah. As folk songs were handed down from generation to generation the lyrics changed and this example of variation will also be studied, as in the song Cumberland

Gap.

NATIONAL STANDARD #4: Composing and arranging music within

specified guidelines.

This standard will be met as we study the pentatonic scale and its’ uses in

early folk songs. Students will be required to compose their own piece of folk music

using this scale. An assignment consisting of students taking a well known kids playground song and arranging it into a call and response piece will also meet this requirement (ie. Ring around the rosey). 49

NATIONAL STANDARD #5: Reading and Notating Music

Students will analyze and study numerous vocal works. They will also

transcribe and arrange pieces using standard music notation. Their Term Paper

requires them to analyze a vocal work and this requires substantial knowledge and

aptitude in regards to note reading. (See Appendix B)

NATIONAL STANDARD #6: Listening to, analyzing, and describing music

There will be weekly listening examples, where students will listen to vocal

works by American Composers and answer questions and prompts, (see Appendix

D.) Their answers will be in sentence form and there will be a short discussing in

which the class will analyze and describe what they have heard.

NATIONAL STANDARD #7: Evaluating music and music performances.

As this course will utilize a great deal of audio and video examples, students

will have many opportunities to evaluate the music they see and hear. The use of a

musical vocabulary will also be stressed in these evaluations, (see Appendix C.) 50

NATIONAL STANDARD #8: Understanding relationships between

music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.

Our study of American composers, and Copland in particular, will uncover the

close community of artists during the turn of the century. The artists desire to reflect

our changing society was evidenced in literature, paintings as well as music. Through

lecture and in class assignments, as well as a portion of the assigned research paper,

students will see how all of the arts and other areas of our culture overlapped.

NATIONAL STANDARD #9: Understanding music in relation to history

and culture.

This concept is fundamental to this course. As this is a history course, we will

discuss the national climate and investigate how music reflected what was gong on in

society. This will be done through lecture and in class assignments that draw a direct

correlation to the songs of the time and the purpose they served in society, be it

celebration, protest, worship or social commentary.

Substandard #9B: Students identify sources of American music genres, trace the

evolution of those genres, and cite well-known musicians associated with them.

Through group work research and lectures, the differing American music genres will be explored. 51

INSTRUCTION

In this chapter I will describe some, but certainly not all, of the methods, and topics we will discuss in this course. Each section will describe a certain genre of music or song, composer, people group or region that will be an area of focus for this course. Each of these areas will be studied through the lens of the

American song and how it defined and reflected our nation.

Religious Songs

The African American slave spiritual was originally a work song. Sung by slaves as they worked in the fields or on the railroads. Their lives were extremely difficult with out any hope for progress or justice as long as they remained the property of their owners. One of the only ways that a slave could endure seeing their children taken away, or their spouse brutally beaten was to cling to a belief of Heaven. "This world is not my home, I’m just passing through” is a line from a spiritual that exemplifies this belief. Their hope and belief of a hereafter, where they would suffer no more and would rejoice for all eternity gave many the strength they needed to persevere. They would sing songs such a

Steal Away to Jesus, Ain 'a That Good News and Swing Low Sweet Chariot while toiling away to keep their minds and spirits focused on the hereafter.

These songs were made famous by the Fisk Jubilee Singers of Fisk 52

University, a university aimed at educating the children of freed slaves. As these singers traveled and sang these spirituals, the music of the slave was shared both nationally and internationally.

Many of these spirituals have been arranged in the traditional European

Choral style, yet still maintain there distinct Slave Song character. These pieces in their original form, as well as their choral arrangements will be investigated.

Likewise, the content of these pieces, the role of faith in the lives of the slaves and the use of biblical passages as lyrics will also be studied.

The music of the Fisk Jubilee singers and arrangers William Dawson and

Moses Hogan will make up the bulk of the listening and analyzed music.

In addition to Spirituals, old gospel and hymn tunes from Europe found their way to the Smokey mountains and were transformed to early bluegrass and roots music. Many of the songs from the Appalachian region are also early songs of faith. The poor mining families, hillbilly's and mountain folk were extremely poor and while being legally free, were often slaves to the mine owner’s company store. Much of this music came from old Irish fiddle tunes,

Scottish reels and southern gospel. Songs such as Farther Along and Amazing

Grace are examples of the religious music of this early American people group.

The music of Bill Monroe, The Carter family and the Louvin Brothers will be listened to and analyzed. 53

Jazz and Blues Music

Perhaps no other music better exemplifies the American experience than

Jazz and Blues. This music, which was created in Congo Square in New Orleans, is a mixture of West African rhythms, blues music, early gospel as well as

European Military bands. The Blues and Jazz are married together so closely that a student cannot study one without the other.

The blues, with its commentary on the hardships of every day life were accessible to every man. The music itself is uncomplicated and many a southerner picked up a guitar to express their sorrow thru song. The opening lyric in traditional Blues music is always repeated, as a way to emphasize the specific heartache being endured by the singer.

Jazz took many blues elements and expanded on the concept. The early instrumental soloists, such as Louise Armstrong, would play their instruments in such a way to mimic the human voice, be it singing in jubilance or wailing in anguish. By adding swing, improvisation and more upbeat, danceable music we can see the evolution of the African American experience. This specifically will be discussed. Composers Duke Ellington, and George Gershwin and singers,

Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Louise Armstrong will be discussed and studied. 54

Folk Songs

American folk songs are those songs that we shared through the generations orally. Their original composers are very often unknown and their texts and melodies can vary slightly depending on who is singing them. They can be political in nature, as in the case of Which Side Are You On, they can be childish and story like, as in Froggie Went a Courtin' or they can be uplifting and encouraging as in We Shall Overcome. These are the songs sung across our young country and which introduced many Americans to music for the first time. As the library of folk music is vast we will discuss those songs that all children know, as well as look at the folk songs of the Appalachian region and compare it to the south. The folk song as a form of protest will also be studied. The collections of

John and Alan Lomax will be discussed as well as the music of Jimmie Rodgers,

Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger.

As much of this predates recording capabilities the role of the oral tradition will also be a major focus.

Aaron Copland

In the same way that the Russian Five and Hungary’s Bela Bartok helped develop their nation’s sound, Aaron Copland was instrumental in developing the symphonic sound of America. With his use of American folk tunes and melodies and his ability to compose and orchestrate music that created a sense of optimism and open space, Copland captured the essence of the American experience and 55

expressed it through his symphony.

Copland was able to compose pieces celebrating and evoking the feelings of the “old west” as well as capture the sounds of urban life in the city. He incorporated

Jazz elements, folk songs and Irish reels to create an indigenous sound.

While his instrumental works are often sited as justification for his title Father of American Music, in this course we will investigate his vocal works. His settings of

Old American Songs, Twelve Poems by Emily Dickenson and his opera The Tender

Land will make up the majority of his vocal material that will be covered. 56

CONCLUSION

The experiment that is America is an ongoing case study. We have a unique set of problems due to the fact that our citizenry hail from all corners of the globe. How do we celebrate what makes us different, rejoice in our unique heritage and pass along traditions from our motherland while fully embracing our shared American heritage? While these truths do cause problems, they are also the very thing that makes us the greatest nation on Earth. The knowledge, acceptance and celebration of the fact that every person, culture and history has something to offer and share is one of our greatest achievements.

As with any nation, when we do celebrate, mourn, protest and worship it is in our songs and voices that our identity can be seen, felt and heard. While

American History has been taught for generations, and the discipline of Music is also studied across this country, the investigation of our history through its' vocal music is a unique endeavor.

As I approached the end of my studies and began to wrestle with the topic of my culminating experience I was advised to take a look at what specific areas of music were of most interest to me and then to "zoom out” and try to discern a more broad topic that would lend itself to my final project. 57

The four units of study: Religious Songs, Jazz and Blues Music, Folk Songs

and Aaron Copland were arrived at by analyzing the different types of vocal

music that has made up the bulk of my teaching career. As I looked at themes

over my many years of teaching I realized that almost all of the vocal music that 1

had my groups perform or study and that were part of the American music idiom

fell into these three musical categories. Secondly, as 1 studied Aaron Copland

specifically in previous works, I came to realize that his life's story as well as his

music, incorporates all of these genres and he signifies much of what I hope to

teach and covey through this course.

In my personal musical career, the single most successful and enjoyable

component has been my membership in the folk, gospel, roots music group Fret

Not. Over the last twenty five years we have performed the music of early

America across this great state to audiences from all walks of life. I have

witnessed first hand how the singing of old hymns can lift the spirits of

prisoners. I have encouraged the elderly with songs from their past and I have

help children dance and celebrate to songs that were sung to their great grand

parents.

As a Choral Director I have led inner city, single mothers as well as

affluent suburban teens in the songs of the American slaves. We have also

performed art songs that express the beauty of our geography as well as tell the 58

story of our past. In my educational career I have taught music theory as well as led all types of ensembles. In my experience I have seen a lack of knowledge in my students in regards to their National heritage. There is little understanding of other people groups and even less so as to what the content of the music we are singing is about.

I have long felt that there was a great opportunity to teach about the

American experience and to help articulate our heritage to today's students.

Through my study of American songs I have found the vehicle that not only conveys the myriad of perspectives our nation has produced, but does so in a manner that is both engaging and musically relevant. 1 am grateful that by continuing my scholarly work I have arrived at this point and I am eager to teach this course for years to come. 59

REFERENCES

Crist, Elizabeth B. . Music for the Common Man: Aaron Copland During the

Depression and War. Oxford UniverSity Press, 2005.

Crocker, Emily and Audrey Snyder. Experiencing Choral Music.

Glencoe/McGraw Hill, NY. 2005

Fowler, Charles, Timothy Gerber and Victor Lawrence. Music! Its Role and

Importance in Our Lives. Glencoe/McGraw Hill, NY, 2000

Langley, Charles K. and T. Martin Town. ed. Uncle Sam ’s School Songs.

Hope Publishing, Chicago, 1897

Lomax, John and Alan Lomax, ed. American Ballads and Folk Songs.

The MacMillan Co., NY, 1934

Lowinger, Gene. Bluegrass Fiddle. New York: Oak Publications, 1974.

Rosenfeld, Paul. “The American Composer,” The Seven Arts. New York: The

Seven Arts Publishing Co., November, 1916. 89-94.

Santelli, R., George-Warren, H. and Brown, J. American Roots Music.

New York: Abradale, 2002

Steams, Marshall. The Story o f Jazz. Oxford University Press, 1956.

Tawa, Nicholas, The Great American Symphony: Music, the Depression, and War.

Indiana University Press, 2009. 60

Thomson, Virgil. American Music Since 1910. Twentieth Century Composers, edited

by Anna Kallin and Nicolas Nabokov. New York: Holt, Rinehart and

Winston, 1971. 61

America in Song

A Music History Course Focusing on

Aaron Copland. American Composers and Vocal Works that Defined

Our Nations Sound

Course Description

America in Song is a music history course focusing on American composers and the vocal works that defined and reflected our nations sound and culture. This course provides an opportunity for the high school student to gain an understanding of the vocal works of American composers around the turn of the

20th century. The course is designed to take the student with some musical knowledge and educate them in regards to American history and how it was reflected in the vocal works of the time. American nationalism and American music will be thoroughly discussed and analyzed, as well as the many differing types of vocal music, such as African American Spirituals, Folk Songs, Choral

Works and Gospel Music.

Prerequisite: One year of a music class or instructor approval 62

Assignments and Grading

Written Assignments 25%

In class and homework assignments will be assigned weekly and will be collected and graded. Each student will keep a journal in which they take lecture notes, answer listening questions and analyze music in class. These journals will be collected regularly.

Tests and Quizzes 25%

Quizzes based on lecture notes, in class activities and exercises will be given. One mid term test will be given during week 10 of the course. Each quiz and test will be announced at least one week ahead of time in class.

Research Paper 25%

Each student will write one Research paper focusing on a single American composer who composed between the years 1885 and 1960. This paper will contain both biographical information, a detailed description of this composer’s style and how he/she contributed to defining the American sound as well as an analysis of a single work.

Participation 25%

Each student will be graded based on their in class participation. Engagement during class discussions, group work and presentations will make up the largest portion of this grade. Attendance and conduct will also be considered. 63

Content Standards

3: Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments.

4: Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.

5: Reading and Notating Music

6: Listen to, analyze, and describe music.

7: Evaluate music and music performance

8: Explain the relationships between music the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.

9: Explain music in relation to history and culture

Units of Study

Religious Songs

This unit will focus on the gospel tradition of the south, the hymns from Europe and the Appalachian songs of worship that were inspired by them and the

African American Spiritual and work songs that were sung as a means of hope and encouragement during the most difficult of times. lazz and Blues Music

A study of New Orleans, Congo Square and the culture that gave birth to Jazz music will be studied. The influence of African rhythms, European and Creole trained musicians and the Mississippi Delta, where the blues were born will be examined. The specific conditions and the mix of many cultures that were present will be investigated. 64

Folk Songs

Children’s songs, songs of history and folklore as well as political and regional songs will be researched in this unit. Bluegrass, Roots music and the American

Art song, all as instruments of culture, history and education will be the focus.

Aaron Copland

The life, work and influences of Aaron Copland are of eminent importance to the study of American music. As a composer of Instrumental and Vocal works,

Copland utilized Jazz, folk tunes, as well as blues. His desire to create the

American sound by incorporating all styles of music was visionary and effective.

His life and works will be studied as a prime examples of early America and the songs this young country produced. 65

Vocabulary of

Musical Terms Relating to American Music

List 1

1. Atonal - Music that is written without regard to a specific key.

2. Dissonance - Harsh, discordant, and lack of harmony.

3. Motif - Primary theme or subject that is developed.

4. Orchestration - Arranging a piece of music and assigning instruments.

5. Ornaments - Tones used to embellish the principal melodic tone.

6. Theme - A melodic or, sometimes a harmonic idea presented in a musical

form.

7. Timbre - Tone color, quality of sound.

8. Nationalism - the use of musical ideas or motifs that are identified with a

specific country, region, or ethnicity, such as folk tunes and

melodies, rhythms, and harmonies inspired by them.

9. Spiritual (African, Slave)- generally Christian songs that were created by

African slaves in the United States

10. Tone Cluster- based on the chromatic scale and are separated by semitones 66

List 2

11. Blue Note - a minor interval where a major would be expected, used in jazz

12. Improvisation- Simultaneous composition and performance

13. Call and Response- a succession of two distinct phrases usually written in

different parts of the music, where the second phrase is

heard as a direct commentary on or in response to the first.

14. Homophonic- Music that is sung or played in unison

15. Polyphonic- Combining a number of individual but harmonizing melodies.

16. Antiphonal- sung, recited, or played alternately by two groups.

17. Aria- a self-contained piece for one voice

18. Recitative- a style of delivery in which a singer is allowed to adopt the

rhythms of ordinary speech

19. Pentatonic Scale - A musical scale having five notes (usually omitting 4 and 7)

20. A capella- without instrumental accompaniment, voices only

Vocabulary Quizzes

There will be two vocabulary quizzes. The first will be in week 3 of the course, the second will be in week 7. You will need to correctly spell and define all the words from List 1 for quiz 1 and List 2 for quiz 2. 67

Listening Exercise

Questions

1. What Instruments do you hear?

2. How many vocal parts are there?

3. What is the mood/timbre of the song?

4. W hat is the song about? Lyrics?

5. How are tempo and dynamic changes handled in the song?

6. Make an educated guess as to who is the composer.

7. How would you describe the style or category of this piece?

8. Name some musical elements used in this selection, (ie. Improvisation)

9. What are your personal thoughts and feeling about this piece? 68

Research Paper Assignment

Each student will write one Research paper focusing on a single American composer who composed between the years 1885 and 1960. This paper will contain both biographical information, a detailed description of this composer's style and how he/she contributed to defining the American sound as well as an analysis of a single work.

The paper should be 7pages in length, double spaced, and should include a table of contents and a bibliography. The paper will be preceded by a topic proposal which will include a statement defining which composer you have chosen, the specific work you will analyze as well as a preliminary bibliography. The proposal should be 1 page maximum.

Paper Presentation

Each student will present their paper and their findings in class. Each presentation will last 10 minutes and should include a handout as well as recording of the work that was analyzed.

Grading & Due Dates

Topic Proposal 20% 6th week of semester

Paper 60% 12th week of semester

Presentation 20% 13th-17th week of sem. 69

Sample Lesson Plan #1

Ascending Intervals and their role in American Music

Objective: Given a 20 minute lecture/demonstration consisting of audio samples, sung exercises and musical analysis, students will be able to identify ascending intervals in American music and will be able to articulate the impact, role or effect these intervals often have. Proper articulation by the student will consist of their use of musical vocabulary, the correct analysis of ascending intervals

95% of the time, and clear explanation of how these intervals affected them.

Anticipatory Set: Ask students their opinion on why immigrants would come to

America. Have them share family stories and express how they might feel coming here for the first time as an immigrant.

Introduction: "Today we are going to focus on the ascending interval in

American Music. We will look at some specific composers and works that utilized these intervals to create a desired mood or effect."

Modeling: Play the opening of Fanfare for the Common Man, by Aaron Copland.

Have the students focus on the opening, ascending melody. Then play the ending of West Side Story, music by Leonard Bernstein. Have students pay attention to the suspended 2 chord, which resolves upward to the third. 70

Guided Practice: Have the students form small groups and discuss there thoughts, emotions and opinions on these two works, specifically how did the ascending passages make them feel and what they thought the composer's intentions were.

Make sure students are considering the song titles, plot of the musical and any other factors. Hand out musical excerpts and have students identify the ascending intervals. Each small group will choose one representative to summarize the groups’ thoughts.

Closure: Re-play the recordings in light of the discussion

Evaluation: Students will be evaluated on their group discussion and on each individual group summary. Example 1. Copland, Aaron, "Fanfare for the Common Man," mm. 1-8

FANFARE FOR I 111. COMMON MAN

t%m.n

i m i ' r — u r

* * !► i f

U- * ' *

Example 2. Bernstein, Leonard, “Somewhere/' mm. 214-216.

12, El» E V 7 a* Efc

s/TV

some - where. O 72

Sample Lesson Plan #2

Writing Your Own Blues Song

Objective: Given a 25 minute lecture/demonstration on the history and form of the blues, students will demonstrate knowledge of the form by composing their own blues song with a partner and by adhering to the 12 bar blues form exactly.

Original lyrics, expressing sadness or hardship must also be present.

Anticipatory Set: Play "Walkin' Blues" by Robert Johnson. Ask students to share their reactions to this piece.

Introduction: Today we are going to study the Blues, and by the end of class you and a partner will have written your own blues song, which you will perform for the class.

Modeling: The instructor will perform a Blues song and point out the 12 bar blues pattern as well as the IIV V chord progression. The repetition of the first line will also be pointed out.

Guided Practice: Students will pair up and complete The Blues is...Poetry!

Worksheet. 73

Closure: Students will perform their Blues pieces for the class and will discuss their inspiration, as well as the experience.

Evaluation: Students will be evaluated on their performance of their original blues piece. Attention to form and lyrical content will make up the bulk of the grade, not quality of performance. 74

The Blues is . . . f Both simple and complex

A feeling, an emotion

A vehicle for storytelling

A musical structure (form)

Poetry (iambic pentameter) ■The IP m ^ Blues i _ _ *is. _ . .POETRY! ip% ip» *ip* 1**% % # : s lambsc Pentamutot a the poetic k>m j *>11. ■:.■■■■ am Snake<;p<.;»ro it has five accents in each line of verso (Ptmta means a*-- sr> pentagon i For example s j, s f /■ Chat litr is oiiIp, life former more (ITfjoii knoUirsO Clwt life is onli\ life forrUcr more (Together lutng to mnq anb oar to oar -FnMy Wilte Shafcer In a blues |h§ Jir§i tino ts .rep*?aleO u^wiiJy $ -^•.■edod *>th *i or “You know ” The tast ftsm m i i ■ two iir as Ask your language Arts toache u> neip y, ; * . • •* f<*ej*Y which u?;es iambic Pentameter Write two stanzas of the poem m a biues sett>r>:j

First Stanza 1 2. (1 S&d) 3.

Second Stanza 1 2. (Ya Know) 3

Now it's time to write your own trfues -r c

First Stanza 1 ? (1 Said) 3. ______

Second Stanza 1 2. (Ya Know) _ 3 ... 76

Sample Lesson Plan #3

Call and Response in the African American Spiritual

Objective: Given a 25 minute lecture/demonstration on the history and form of call and response in the African American Spiritual, students will demonstrate knowledge of the form by composing their own call and response song with a partner. Attention to simplicity of melody, ease of memorization and lyrical content will be stressed.

Anticipatory Set: Students will listen to and sing the spiritual Soon and Very Soon.

Introduction: "Was there any repetition in this listening example? Who initiated and who responded?" Today we are going to study a form of vocal music called

Call and Response. The form of Call and response as well as the emotional content and lyrics will be discussed.

Modeling: The Instructor will sing 0 Happy Day and have the class sing it back.

Guided Practice: Students will form groups of four and compose their own song that incorporates a call and response section. 77

Closure: Students will perform their call and response pieces for the class and will discuss their inspiration, as well as the experience.

Evaluation: Students will be evaluated on the performance of their original call and response piece. Attention to form and lyrical content will make up the bulk of the grade, not quality of performance.