The American Composer

Art Form: Music
Type/Genre: Classical

<-----Aaron Copland is one of the most respected and praised American Composers and Classical musicians in the history of the Americas. He is noted for his impeccable style, musicianship, and years of devotion to the craft. I think Aaron Copland is a genius. I first heard his music when I saw Spike Lee's He Got Game. Spike used some of Aaron's music to score the film. I thought it was a brilliant move by Spike because the sound fit the scenes. There was only one scene where I thought Spike could have used another segment of Aaron's music (its the first scene of the guys playing basketball in the The Garden in Coney Island where Spike uses parts of Rodeo/Hoe Down of The American Album). I'm digressing. I definitely don't want to act on my impulses as a cinephile right now so back to the composer. I had youtubed some of the music that I liked composed by Aaron Copland and I had stumbled upon a video of him speaking on a broadcast. What I found out that I like most about Aaron is that he was the first classical musician in America to incorporate Jazz into his music. At the time, Jazz was a pre-dominantly Black form of music in America (as it still is) so when Aaron released his music, the pundits maligned him for using Jazz. For a long period of time classical music moguls viewed Aaron as a joke because he used Jazz. But Aaron was very steadfast about his music and didn't pay attention to what people were saying, but rather did what he felt was right in his heart. What inspired him most was that when he was young, he noticed that most of the world's classical music hailed from Europe. America didn't have any kind of classical music to claim as its own. And thus, FanFare For The Common Man of The American Album was born. Fanfare For The Common Man is probably one of the most popular and wide-spread pieces of music ever used. You'll often hear it on network television and in stadiums at significant sporting events. Finally, the critics came around. And the same people who said his music was a mockery of American tradition began to crown him as one of America's own great musicians. Aaron Copland was born and raised in Brooklyn and thus his exposure to Jazz music happened easily. From the beginning of his career as a musician, he never discriminated against any type of music. When I was watching him being interviewed, one of the things he said that I loved the most was, that he made music that came from his heart. When he was scoring music for orchestras, stages and screens, he was never pressured to conform. He said it was his intuition that guided him. Whenever something was right, he felt it inside of him. I can totally relate to that. When you feel something inside, you know its right; especially when it comes to art. And that's exactly why I'm excited about the ideas that I have in regards to kinds of films that I want to make. I'm definitely a fan of all art, and I think of all the artists I like, he's one of my favorites across the board.

My favorite piece written by Aaron is a Ballet entitled Billy The Kid.

I think I'm going to let my children fall asleep to some of his music when they're infants.