Pushing the Season: March 12, 2016

Aaron Copland
(Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1900; died in North Tarrytown, New York in 1990)

Appalachian Spring (original version for Chamber Orchestra)

For many, Appalachian Spring has come to represent the “sound of Appalachia” – that ancient chain of low mountains marching up the eastern seaboard, with their dense wilderness, granting views that gently span the horizon through a myriad of brilliant autumnal colors and misty pastels and filled with the folk music of song and fiddles seeming to be as ancient as the mountains themselves. The underlying story of Copland’s ballet is also equally well known: that of a newlywed pioneer family “building a house with joy and love and prayer.” Interestingly, neither the Appalachia theme nor this ballet story appeared in this piece until much later in its creation. Commissioned of Copland in 1942 by the famous American dancer and choreographer, Martha Graham, the grande dame of Modern Dance, together with the Coolidge Foundation, the ballet music that Copland originally conceived of was first titled “Ballet for Martha” and he said that “the music … takes as a point of departure the personality of Martha Graham.” It was only just before the ballet’s premiere in 1944 when Graham herself happened across the lovely phrase that became its title, “Appalachian spring,” finding it in a poem by Hart Crane called The Dance, (from the larger collection titled The Bridge) where the “spring” referred to a water source, not the season. Although a basic outline of the ballet’s story existed from the start, most of the details that we know today were hammered out in the several months prior to its premiere.

Two aspects in the commissioning of Appalachian Spring, however, were essential to its creation from the very beginning: the music had be danceable, and it must be “American” sounding. And these two aspects Copland undeniably achieved in this, his greatest masterpiece. American born and bred, Appalachian Spring has remained peerless as the music that captures the spirit of America. To be sure, its musical canvas conveys a humility and newness that has become easily attached to a nostalgic American perception of itself, and one of its most beloved melodies, the beautiful hymn tune “Simple Gifts*,” gives the musical score a deeply honest and hopeful feel. These characteristics lend themselves wonderfully to any dance interpretation. Originally scored for 13 instruments (1 flute, 1 clarinet, 1 bassoon, piano and strings) to be danced in the small Coolidge Auditorium in the Library of Congress, Washington, DC, Copland revised and condensed the score in 1945 into a suite for full orchestra, now its most well known version. The original version, however, retains its own wonderful charm and is a delight to listen to, especially when accompanied by dance.

The underlying story, according to the original published score, is as follows:

“…a pioneer celebration in spring around a newly-built farmhouse in the Pennsylvania hills in the early part of the last century [1800’s]. The bride-to-be and the young farmer-husband enact the emotions, joyful and apprehensive, their domestic partnership invites. An older neighbor suggests now and then the rocky confidence of experience. A revivalist and his followers remind the new householders of the strange and terrible aspects of human fate. At the end the couple is left quiet and strong in their new house.”

*A note about the tune “Simple Gifts”: The Shakers, a break-off sect from the Quakers, emigrated from England to America in 1774. “Shakers” was a pejorative term for the sect describing their lively and ecstatic form of worship, which involved a lot of their own, original music accompanied by swaying and twirling dance. Music played a part in all aspects of Shaker life, and was thought of, dually, as utilitarian and spiritual in essence, and these songs were referred to as work-song-hymns. In 1875, Shaker member Elder Joseph Brackett composed “Simple Gifts.” It was published in a compendium not long afterwards called The Gift to Be Simple: Shaker Rituals and Songs, which is where Copland found it. The song’s lilting, sweet melody and its humble, yet joyful, lyrics seem to capture the essence of Appalachian Spring as well as any description. They are:

‘Tis the gift to be simple, ‘tis the gift to be free;

‘Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be;

And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gain’d,

To bow and to bend we sha’n’t be asham’d

To turn, turn will be our delight,

‘Til by turning, turning we come round right.

Antonio Vivaldi
(Born in Venice, Italy in 1678; died in Vienna, Austria in 1741)

The Four Seasons, Four Concertos for Violin, Op. 8, Nos. 1-4
I. “Spring” Concerto in E-major
1. Allegro
2. Largo e pianissimo sempre
3. Allegro

II. “Summer” Concerto in G-minor
1. Allegro non molto
2. Adagio
3. Presto

III. “Autumn” Concerto in F-major
1. Allegro
2. Adagio molto
3. Allegro

IV. “Winter” Concerto in F-minor
1. Allegro non molto
2. Largo
3. Allegro

In Venice, just down the quayside from St. Mark’s Square, stands a building called Ospedale della Pieta on whose outer walls there is a hole just big enough to stick a bowling pin through. Underneath reads a plaque which damns to hell the person who slips any infant other than a true orphan through the small passage to the indoors. It was within this orphanage that Vivaldi worked for most of his life, where he taught the girls who had been slipped through as newborns how to play music. And it was here that he composed his incomparable The Four Seasons.

Besides teaching, Vivaldi was a virtuoso violinist as well as composer, and of his 500-plus concertos, 221 are for violin written most likely for himself. Although it’s unknown when the concertos of The Four Seasons were composed, they were first published in 1725 in a larger set titled The Test of Harmony and Invention. Since then, they have become so famous as to almost eclipse the composer himself – so rich in tunefulness and inventiveness, so exceptional in their virtuoso violin solos – indeed, their inspired beauty nearly defy time, place and composer.

One lesser known aspect of the Seasons is that the orchestral parts are accompanied by detailed programs (storylines) which explain many of this timeless masterpiece’s ingeniously clever musical moments. In the original 1725 publication Vivaldi even provided four of his own seasonally-inspired sonnets. As an example of this program-music, the sonnet for Spring describes, in part: bird song, then the babbling brooks of Spring, followed by a storm and then a return of the birds. Once this is known, the musical imitation is almost impossible to miss (the trilling of the strings representing birdsong, the undulating string motives echoing the running brooks, and so on).

Antonio Vivaldi’s Sonnets to the Four Seasons

Spring

1. Spring has come and joyfully the birds greet it with happy song, and the brooks, while the streams flow along with gentle murmur as the zephyrs blow. There come, shrouding the air with a black cloak, lighting and thunder chosen to herald [the storm]; then, when these are silent, the little birds return to their melodious incantations.

2. And now, in the pleasant, flowery meadow, to the soft murmur of leaves and plants, the goatherd sleeps with his faithful dog at his side.

3. To the festive sound of a pastoral bagpipe, nymphs and shepherds dance under their beloved roof, greeting the glittering arrival of the spring.

Summer

1. In the harsh season scorched by the sun, man and flock languish, and the pine is on fire; the cuckoo begins to call and soon after, the turtledove and the goldfinch are heard singing. Zephyr [the west wind] gently blows, but Boreas [the north wind] suddenly enters into a contest with its neighbor, and the little shepherd weeps for he hears the awesome threatening storm and his fate.

2. To his tired limbs rest is denied by the fear of lightning, awesome thunder, and the furious swarm of flies and hornets!

3. Alas, his fears are justified. The sky is filled with thunder and lightning and hail cuts down the proud grain.

Autumn

1. The peasant celebrates the pleasure of the happy harvest with dances and songs; and inflamed by the liquor of Bacchus, many end their rejoicing with sleep.

2. The mild pleasant air makes all abandon dance and song; this is the season that invites all to the sweet delights of peaceful sleep.

3. The hunters, at the break of dawn, set forth with horns, guns, and hounds. The animal flees, and they follow its tracks. Already frightened and tired by the great noise of guns and hounds, the wounded animal makes a weak attempt at fleeing, but is overcome and dies.

Winter

1. Trembling with cold amidst the freezing snow, while a frightful wind harshly blows, running and stamping one’s feet every minute, and feeling one’s teeth chatter from the extreme cold;

2. Spending quiet contented days by the fire while the rain outside drenches people by the hundreds;

3. Walking on ice, and moving cautiously, with slow steps, for fear of falling, spinning around, slipping, falling down, again walking on ice and running fast until the ice cracks and splits; hearing Sirocco, Boreas, and all the winds at war burst forth from the bolted doors – this is winter, but it also brings joy!