Aaron Copland

Aaron Copland (1900-1990) is often called the “Dean of American Music,” and his most characteristic style, which blossomed during the 1930s and 40s, typically combines folk-like tunes with irregular, often jazzy rhythms and spacious harmonies creating a distinctly American sound. Along with Gershwin, Barber and Bernstein, the 1949 Oscar®-winning composer (for The Heiress) remains among the most-frequently performed and recorded American composers—his Fanfare for the Common Man (1942) is recognized even by those who don’t know the composer’s name, and his ever-popular ballet Appalachian Spring (1944) won him the Pulitzer Prize.

Violin Sonata (1943)

1. Andante semplice -- 2. Lento -- 3. Allegretto giusto

Composed between these two concert staples, his wartime Violin Sonata (1943), written in memory of a friend who died in the South Pacific, displays both the jauntiness and pensive melancholy of Copland’s best-known works while it also demonstrates elements of his less populist, more intellectual style in its sophisticated harmonic language and unpredictable formal elements.

--Intermezzo Sunday Concerts, June 1, 2008 (Huls Clark Duo: The Intermezzo Series Finale)