AARON COPLAND

On Nov. 14, 1900, in Brooklyn New York. No one new that Aaron Copland would be one of the best composers of the 20th Century.

Aaron Copland was the youngest of four kids. His siblings were Ralph, Leon, Laurine, and Josephine. His parents were Harris Copland and Sarah Copland. They worked and lived above an apartment store in Brooklyn, New York.

When Aaron was nine he started making songs up at the piano. When he was eleven his sister taught him how to play the piano. He then wrote his first notated melody of seven bars of an opera called Zanatella. A few months later he started taking lessons from a piano teacher.

In 1914 when Aaron was 13 he studied music with professional piano teacher Ludwig Wolfsohn in Brooklyn, New York.

In 1917 when Aaron was 15 he went to a symphony. That's when he realized he wanted to be a composer. So he started studying the theory of music.

When Aaron turned 20 he left New York to go to a Summer School of Music for American students at Paris, Frace. He studied and learned music from a woman named Nadia Boulanger. She saw potential in him and urged him to share his music with other people.

Copland returned to the U.S in the 1920's and used the facts he learned from Nadia and started writing symphonies.

Copland played Classical music and Jazz. So he decided to put both together and hoped it would turn popular. He also combined Folk music in with Jazz and Classical.

In 1925 is when Copland entered his life into composing. It was Coplands first composition. It was called Organ and Orchestra. The audience loved it! That's when he knew he would keep composing.

Copland wanted bigger audiences so he started writing movies and ballets.

Some of his most famous ballets were Rodeo (1942) and Appalachain Spring (1944)

Coplands popular movies were Our Town (1942) and The Heiress (1949).

Copland received many awards but some of his most famous awards was. The Pultizer Prize from the ballet Appalachain Spring. The other award was in 1964, it was called the Presidential Medal of Freedom the highest civilian honor.

In 1990 Copland suffered from Alzheimers. But he influenced young composers to find there own voice, no matter the style just as he had done for 60 years.

FIVE THINGS I LIKED ABOUT AARON COPLAND IS..

• He won academy Award for best score in the movie The Heiress.
• He never married. He loved his music that's all he needed.
• He incorporated jazz and folk into his classical compositions.
• He loved folk music.
• He was an American composer.

WHAT COPLAND WROTE FOR

• Copland mostly wrote for ballots
• Orchestras
• And symphonies

LINKS AND MUSIC

• http://youtu.be/StjRTrR9A0g
• The symphony is called For Organ and Orchestra
• It is very relaxing.

MUSIC AND LINKS

MUSIC AND LINKS

• http://youtu.be/JIuJVMNNZAM
• This is a ballet called Rodeo
• I love the beat and noise. It makes me feel like I'm in a rodeo.
• The ballet was made in 1942.
• The ballet Rodeo was a big success.
• When Copland made the ballet he wanted to make the sounds sound like you were in a rodeo.
• When Copland made Rodeo he made sure that the songs were right. He didn't want the piece to sound like something he made. He wanted it to sound like something way different.
• Rodeo was written for a symphony.

WEBSITES

• Aaron Copland Biography
• PBS.org
• Making Music Fun.org
• Coplandhouse.org
• Blog sheet music plus.org
• Doskids.org
• Encyclopedia.com
• About.com