The Socialist Movement in The United States and Copland’s American Music

1081 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Impact of the Great Depression on capitalism in the US

During the Great Depression, there was a large surge in the socialist movement in the United States. This was particularly true among the artists as these bitter years brought people to realize individual expressionism and self-scrutiny (Dobrin 116). In that regard, much of the art during the period was created as a response to cope and understand the hardship that the nation was facing. Ballet pieces such as Billy the Kid (1938), commemorating an outlaw similar to Robin Hood, showed Copland exploring a prelapsarian state before the loss of innocence under capitalism (Ross 276). Although, Copland was never formally associated with these socialist views or a true member of any communist movements (Ross 275), many of his philosophies at this time. It is quite ironic that these communistic ideologies are what propelled Copland to make an American sound. However, ideologically, communism, which has nationalistic tendencies, does indeed spur culturally representative music. Copland, who had already been leaning leftward since his European trips of 1927 and 1929, was interested in the concepts of finding music to represent and distinguish the working classes of America (Ros 272). This was the extent to Copland’s wishes of radicalism. His essay in a Communist funded periodical Music Vanguard (1935) stated his interest in finding a clear communicative style for the people rather than the political intentions (Ross 275). The Communist party also provided a means of financial support during the Great Depression time for artists (Ross 272). However, it was unquestionable that Copland had strong ties and influences to the socialist movement and Popular front, even called “an active, vocal ‘red’,” (Crist 422). Copland was particular intereste...

... middle of paper ...

...American Musicological Society 56.2 (2003): 409-65. JSTOR. Web. 11 May 2014. .
Dobrin, Arnold. Aaron Copland, His Life and times. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1967. Print.
Hitchcock, H. Wiley. "Aaron Copland and American Music." Perspectives of New Music 19.1/2 (1980): 31-33. JSTOR. Web. 11 May 2014. .
Pollack, Howard. "Copland in Paris." Tempo No. 212.French Music Issue (2000): 2-7. JSTOR. Web. 11 May 2014. .
Rockwell, John. "Copland, Dean of American Music, Dies at 90." New York Times 3 Dec. 1990: n. pag. Print.
Ross, Alex. The Rest Is Noise. S.l.: Clipper, 2009. Print.

Show More
Related

  • Scott Joplin

    1042 Words  | 3 Pages

    The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie, 20 vols. (London: Macmillan, 1980)9: 708-709

    Read More

  • Aaron Copland American Sound Analysis

    738 Words  | 2 Pages

    Nearly a century’s worth of compositions has earned Aaron Copland extensive recognition as the foremost American composer of his time. Ironically, Copland was raised the son of Russian Jewish immigrants and inhabitant of a colorless city environment, yet would become known for producing the music of “rugged-souled Americans” (Mellers 4). Unbounded by historical musical constraints such as those present in the culture of France, where Copland studied for many years, Copland found himself free to explore and experiment in pursuit of a unique, undoubtedly American sound.

    Read More

  • Dufay's Piece for Peace: an Ironic Battle Between Structure and Word

    2636 Words  | 6 Pages

    1Grout, Donald J. and Claude V. Palisca, A History of Western Music, (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1996) 104-105.

    Read More

  • Black Artists in Country Music

    2843 Words  | 6 Pages

    ... Bohlman, Philip V. Music and the Racial Imagination. University Of Chicago Press, Chicago. 2001. Print.

    Read More

  • Biography of Composer John Dowland

    809 Words  | 2 Pages

    Poulton, Diana. John Dowland: His Life and Works. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1972.

    Read More

  • A Feminist Journey through Beethoven's Musical Structure

    3005 Words  | 7 Pages

    Subotnik, Rose Rosengard. Developing Variations: Style and Ideology in Western Music. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1991.

    Read More

  • Black Music and the Civil Rights Movement

    3872 Words  | 8 Pages

    On July 5, 1954, forty-nine days after the Supreme Court handed down the decision on the Brown vs. Board of Education case, a nineteen year old truck driver recorded an Arthur Crudup blues track called “That’s All Right Mama” (Bertrand 46). Memphis disc jockey Dewey Phillips found the cut and played it on his radio show a few weeks later. He received calls all over from people, mostly white, who wanted to hear more. He quickly located the musician and brought him into the studio for an interview, audiences were shocked to learn that Elvis was white (Bertrand 46). Elvis’s music brought black music into white mainstream pop culture almost overnight. The breakthrough of Elvis happening almost simultaneously with the dawn of the Civil Rights Movement was no accident. As any scholar of the humanities would tell you that often times after a great war there exists a time of enlightenment, prosperity and reformation. One such cultural revival took place in this nation after the closing of the Second World War. The progressive thought of the ‘50s nurtured new ideas and cultures including the Civil Rights Movement and the fast spread of rock and roll. In an essay entitled “Color” written to Esquire magazine in 1962 the essayist James Baldwin describes the revival of white culture after WWII with the following passage:

    Read More

  • Music of the Civil Rights Era

    1022 Words  | 3 Pages

    The words “civil rights” trigger a sense in the human mind. One of remorse, passion, and hope in a cause worth fighting for. Those weathered by its raging storms refer to it as a turning point in American life after over a century under segregation that can only be described as a necessary silence that African Americans were forced to take on the matter. However, the human mind found itself a way to express those feelings that flowed from its veins. That expression of power and revolt was music. Music acted as the horses that pulled pearlescent chariots of liberty and freedom to the front doors of the White House through public protests, involvement of musical artists, and its impact on the lives and culture of those who were oppressed. As a person against “civil rights”, it was viewed as a very simple matter, the music of the era was the devil’s work and needed to be stopped. Those approving of “civil rights” just pushed the activists further and further to the freedoms they believed that African Americans deserved.

    Read More

  • Copland

    852 Words  | 2 Pages

    Copland wrote a ballet about one of the most famous "western gangsters" in history: Billy the Kid. The work was written in 1938 and remained popular for over a decade. Unfortunately, his works are no longer

    Read More

  • History of the Piano

    2050 Words  | 5 Pages

    Hanning, Barbara Russano, and Donald Jay Grout. Concise History Of Western Music. 4th. New York: W W Norton & Co Inc, 2010. print.

    Read More

  • Dmitri Shostakovich and the Soviet State

    2101 Words  | 5 Pages

    Burkholder, J. Peter, Donald Jay Grout, and Claude V. Palisca. A history of western music. 8th ed. New York: W. W. Norton, 2010. Print.

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby: America in the 1920s

    2392 Words  | 5 Pages

    Also known as the Jazz Age and the Roaring Twenties, the American people felt that they deserved to have some fun in order to forget the emotional toll and social scars left from the war. The Jazz Age was appropriately named due to the illegal activities and good times, which included music, parties, and flapper girls. Jazz was a new style of music that originated out of the New Orleans area, where one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time – Louis Armstrong – began his career. The energy of jazz was a very new and almost uncomfortable style for the very traditional, rigid family of the 1920s. Young people in particular seemed to enjoy this new music the most, as it made them feel carefree. The energy of jazz was symbolic of the era’s trans...

    Read More

  • Communicating Through Music in Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin

    2888 Words  | 6 Pages

    ...frican American Musicians as Artists, Critics, and Activists. Berkeley, CA: University of California, 2002. 54-100. EBSCOhost. Web. 8 May 2015.

    Read More

  • Copland: 1900 through 1942 and Copland: Since 1943

    2137 Words  | 5 Pages

    In their books: Copland: 1900 through 1942 and Copland: Since 1943, Aaron Copland and Vivian Perlis give a detailed account of the life of one of America’s most influential composers. The books are arranged similarly to the Shostakovich biography that our class reviewed earlier this semester. That is, through personal accounts by Copland himself along with accounts of Copland’s friends and acquaintances, the authors manage to paint an accurate and interesting picture detailing the life of the great composer. When combined, the two books recount Copland’s entire life, dividing it into two periods for the purpose of easier organization and reading.

    Read More

  • George Gershwin: Classical Music And American Music

    1432 Words  | 3 Pages

    George Gershwin was one of America's most well-known composers and respected pianists that introduced the sounds of Broadway and Hollywood together. He coordinated the elements of classical music style and the robust sounds of American jazz; Gershwin created a musical style that made the music of jazz acceptable to the classical listeners, and brought in American music into the mix. “Gershwin wrote mainly for the Broadway musical theatre.” He blended, in different variations, techniques and forms of classical music with the stylistic hints and techniques of popular music and jazz.

    Read More

More about The Socialist Movement in The United States and Copland’s American Music

Open Document