1. Aaron Copland

2. Early Years  Aaron Copland was born in Brooklyn of Lithuanian Jewish descent, the last of five children.  Copland's father had no musical interest at all, but his mother, Sarah Mittenthal Copland, sang and played the piano, and arranged for music lessons for her children.  Of his siblings, oldest brother Ralph was the most advanced musically, proficient on the violin, while his sister Laurine had the strongest connection with Aaron, giving him his first piano lessons, promoting his musical education, and supporting him in his musical career.  She attended the Metropolitan Opera School and was a frequent opera goer. She often brought home libretti for Aaron to study.  Copland attended Boys' High School and in the summer went to various camps.  Most of his early exposure to music was at Jewish weddings and ceremonies, and occasional family musicales.

3. Early Years  At the age of eleven, Copland devised an opera scenario he called Zenatello.  Copland's first public music performance was at a Wanamaker recital.  By age 15, Copland decided to become a composer.  Copland took formal lessons in harmony, theory, and composition from Rubin Goldmark, a noted teacher and composer of American music (who had given George Gershwin three lessons).  After graduating from high school, Copland played in dance bands.

4. Life in Paris  From 1917 to 1921, Copland composed juvenile works of short piano pieces and art songs.  On arriving in France, he studied at the Fontainebleau School of Music with noted pianist and pedagogue Isidor Philipp and with Paul Vidal. He did not like Vidal’s teaching style so he switched to Nadia Boulanger.  Upon returning to the US, Copland was determined to make his way as a full-time composer. He rented a studio apartment on New York City’s upper west side which kept him close to Carnegie Hall and other musical venues and publishers.

5. Copland  Copland's compositions in the early 1920s reflected the prevailing "modernist" attitude among intellectuals: that they were a small vanguard leading the way for the masses, who would only come to appreciate their efforts over time. In this view, music and the other arts need be accessible to only a select cadre of the enlightened. Toward this end, Copland formed the Young Composer's Group, modeled after France's "Six", “gathering together promising young composers, acting as their guiding spirit.”

6. Later Life  From the 1960s onward, Copland's activities turned more from composing to conducting.  Copland was a frequent guest conductor of orchestras in the US and the UK. He made a series of recordings of his music, primarily for Columbia Records.

7. Film Work  This collaboration resulted in the notable film Of Mice and Men (1939), from the novel by John Steinbeck, that earned Copland his first nomination for an Academy Award (he actually received two nominations, one for "best score" and another for "original score").

8. Famous Works  Appalachian Spring (1996). Directed by Graham Strong, Scottish Television Enterprises. Princeton, New Jersey: Films for the Humanities.  Appalachian Spring (1944) (ballet)  El Salón México (1936)  Fanfare for the Common Man (1942)  Rodeo (1942) (ballet)