Copland / Music for a Great City (Copland, cond.)

Aaron Copland (1900-1990)

Music for a Great City, for orchestra (1963-64)

00:00 - Skyline
07:48 - Night Thoughts
15:18 - Subway Jam
18:45 - Toward the Bridge

Boston Symphony Orchestra, dir. Aaron Copland (broadcast performance of 10 April 1965)

"Music for a Great City was commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra in celebration of its sixtieth anniversary season, and is dedicated to the members of the orchestra. The music was first performed in London's Festival Hall on May 26, 1964, the composer conducting. It was introduced to the United States when the London Symphony Orchestra performed it in Washington, D.C., on October 13, 1964.

Aaron Copland has explained the origin of this music as follows: 'I began to work on the score during the latter part of 1963, completing it in April of 1964. The musical materials are derived in part from a film score I composed in 1961. Starring Miss Carroll Baker and directed by Jack Garfine, the script was based on a novel by Alex Carmel called "Mary-Ann." The picture was released for distribution in December 1961 under the title "Something Wild." The action of the story takes place in New York where all of the film was shot. Indoor scenes of tense personal drama are interspersed with the realistic sights and sounds of a great metropolis.

'The nature of the music in the film seemed to me to justify extended concert treatment. No attempt was made to follow the cinematic action. The four movements of the work alternate between evocations of big city life with its external stimuli, and the more personal reactions of any sensitive nature to the varied experiences associated with urban living. Music for a Great City reflects both these aspects of the contemporary scene.'" - John N. Burk

Painting: New York City, Jan Matulka