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In 1942, while composer Aaron Copland was in Hollywood, philanthropist Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge commissioned him to create a ballet for Martha Graham to perform at the Library of Congress. A pioneer of modern dance, Martha Graham was in the midst of creating a series of ballets with a distinctly American flavor. By the time he received the $500 commission to create his ballet for Martha Graham, Aaron Copland was one of America’s most important composers. Throughout the 1920s and early ’30s, he created work in a modernist style, music that was prickly and angular, frequently utilizing elements of jazz. But by the early ’40s, he moved towards a more populist style, with such pieces as “Fanfare for the Common Man,” “Lincoln Portrait” and “Rodeo.” According to conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, one of the ways that Copland made his work more accessible was to incorporate American folk music into his scores.
“Appalachian Spring” is set in a western Pennsylvania community in the early 19th century. Most of the scenario revolves around the courtship and wedding of a young couple. Once Copland’s score was completed, Graham and her dancers went to work. “The first day we heard this music, it was like the sun spread over the floor. Every rehearsal was like that. The music is so clear and so beautiful and so rhythmically alive.”
“Appalachian Spring” premiered on October 30th, 1944, and was a tremendous success. “It is the ultimate statement of his American musical language. In that piece, all of the elements come together and they’re in perfect balance. It is probably the greatest piece of classical music composed by an American. Certainly the greatest dance score composed by an American, completely comparable in quality to the great ballets of Tchaikovsky or Stravinsky. All that is best about mid-century American music is in this piece.”
