VOICE ONE:
In nineteen forty-two, the conductor Andre Kostelanetz asked Copland to write music about a great American, Abraham Lincoln. Copland wrote "Lincoln Portrait" to honor America's sixteenth president. Copland's music included parts of American folk songs and songs popular during the American Civil War. He added words from President Lincoln's speeches and letters.
"Lincoln Portrait" has been performed many times in America. Many famous people have done the speaking part. Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of President Franklin Roosevelt, was one of them. Here, actor James Earl Jones performs in Copland's "Lincoln Portrait."
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VOICE TWO:
Also in nineteen forty-two, the music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra asked eighteen composers to write music expressing love for America. For the competition, Copland composed "Fanfare for the Common Man. " This music is played in America during many national events, including some presidential inaugurations.
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VOICE ONE:
Experts say "Fanfare for the Common Man" was an example of Copland's change in direction during the nineteen-forties. He began writing music that was more easily understood and more popular. Copland wrote about this in nineteen forty-one in his book, “Our New Music.”
He wrote that a whole new public for music had developed as a result of the popularity of the radio and record player. He said that there was no reason to continue writing music as if these devices did not exist. So he decided to write music in a simpler way.
VOICE TWO:
Copland spread his ideas about music in other ways. He taught at the New School for Social Research in New York City and at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. One of the many awards he received was the Pulitzer Prize. He won it in nineteen forty-five for his famous music for a ballet called "Appalachian Spring." It is one of his most popular works.
The last part of the ballet is based on a traditional song, "A Gift to be Simple."
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VOICE ONE:
Copland also wrote music for several major motion pictures. He won an Academy Award in nineteen-fifty for composing the music for the film, "The Heiress." Then, he began experimenting with what is called a twelve-tone system of composing. His music no longer was as easy to understand, or as popular.
Copland stopped composing at the end of the nineteen-sixties. Yet he continued to be active as a conductor and speaker. In nineteen eighty-two, Queens College of the City University of New York established the Aaron Copland School of Music.
VOICE TWO:
Copland was a strong supporter of liberal ideas. In the early nineteen-fifties, he and other famous writers, actors and intellectuals were accused of supporting communism. Public opinion changed, though. In nineteen sixty-four, President Lyndon Johnson presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It is America's highest award to civilians. Aaron Copland died in nineteen ninety at the age of ninety. But his music lives on.
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VOICE ONE:
This Special English program was written by Shelley Gollust. It was produced by Lawan Davis. I’m Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Barbara Klein. Join us again next week for another People in America program in VOA Special English.
