Aaron Copland Piano Variations with Sheet music
Aaron Copland: American composer
Aaron Copland, (born Nov. 14, 1900, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.—died Dec. 2, 1990, North Tarrytown [now Sleepy Hollow], N.Y.), American composer who achieved a distinctive musical characterization of American themes in an expressive modern style.
Copland, the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, was born in New York City and attended public schools there. An older sister taught him to play the piano, and by the time he was 15 he had decided to become a composer. As a first step Copland tried to learn harmony through a correspondence course. Haltingly and in an environment not particularly conducive to art, he struggled toward his goal.
In the summer of 1921 Copland attended the newly founded school for Americans at Fontainebleau, where he came under the influence of Nadia Boulanger, a brilliant teacher who shaped the outlook of an entire generation of American musicians. He decided to stay on in Paris, where he became Boulanger’s first American student in composition. After three years in Paris, Copland returned to New York City with an important commission: Nadia Boulanger had asked him to write an organ concerto for her American appearances.
Copland composed the piece while working as the pianist of a hotel trio at a summer resort in Pennsylvania. That season the Symphony for Organ and Orchestra had its premiere in Carnegie Hall with the New York Symphony under the direction of the composer and conductor Walter Damrosch.
In his growth as a composer Copland mirrored the important trends of his time. After his return from Paris, he worked with jazz rhythms in Music for the Theater (1925) and the Piano Concerto (1926). There followed a period during which he was strongly influenced by Igor Stravinsky’s Neoclassicism, turning toward an abstract style he described as “more spare in sonority, more lean in texture.” This outlook prevailed in the Piano Variations (1930), Short Symphony (1933), and Statements for Orchestra (1933–35). After this last work, there occurred a change of direction that was to usher in the most productive phase of Copland’s career.
He well summed up the new orientation: “During these years I began to feel an increasing dissatisfaction with the relations of the music-loving public and the living composer. It seemed to me that we composers were in danger of working in a vacuum.”
Furthermore, he realized that a new public for modern music was being created by the new media of radio, phonograph, and film scores: “It made no sense to ignore them and to continue writing as if they did not exist. I felt that it was worth the effort to see if I couldn’t say what I had to say in the simplest possible terms.” Copland therefore was led to what became a most significant development after the 1930s: the attempt to simplify the new music in order that it would have meaning for a large public.
The decade that followed saw the production of the scores that spread Copland’s fame throughout the world. Most important of these were the three ballets based on American folk material: Billy the Kid (1938), Rodeo (1942), and Appalachian Spring (1944; commissioned by dancer Martha Graham).
To this group belong also El salón México (1936), an orchestral piece based on Mexican melodies and rhythms; two works for high-school students—the “play opera” The Second Hurricane (1937) and An Outdoor Overture (1938); and a series of film scores, of which the best known are Of Mice and Men (1939), Our Town (1940), The Red Pony (1948), and The Heiress (1948). Typical too of the Copland style are two major works that were written in time of war—Lincoln Portrait (1942), for speaker and chorus, on a text drawn from Lincoln’s speeches, and Letter from Home (1944), as well as the melodious Third Symphony (1946).
In his later years Copland refined his treatment of Americana: “I no longer feel the need of seeking out conscious Americanism. Because we live here and work here, we can be certain that when our music is mature it will also be American in quality.” His later works include an opera, The Tender Land (1954); Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson (1950), for voice and piano; and the delightful Nonet (1960).
During these years Copland also produced a number of works in which he showed himself increasingly receptive to the serial techniques of the so-called 12-tone school of composer Arnold Schoenberg. Notable among such works are the stark and dissonant Piano Fantasy (1957); Connotations (1962), which was commissioned for the opening of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City; and Inscape (1967). The 12-tone works were not generally well-received; after 1970 Copland virtually stopped composing, though he continued to lecture and to conduct through the mid-1980s.
For the better part of four decades, as composer (of operas, ballets, orchestral music, band music, chamber music, choral music, and film scores), teacher, writer of books and articles on music, organizer of musical events, and a much sought after conductor, Copland expressed “the deepest reactions of the American consciousness to the American scene.”
He received more than 30 honorary degrees and many additional awards. His books include What to Listen for in Music (1939), Music and Imagination (1952), Copland on Music (1960), and The New Music, 1900–60 (1968). With the aid of Vivian Perlis, he wrote a two-volume autobiography (Copland: 1900 Through 1942 [1984] and Copland: Since 1943 [1989]).
Copland’s sheet music is available for download from our Library.
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Artist or Composer / Score name | Cover | List of Contents |
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Yiruma – First Love – River Flows In You | Yiruma – First Love – River Flows In You | |
Yiruma – Gabriel | ||
Yiruma – Kiss the Rain | Yiruma Kiss the rain | |
Yiruma – Kiss The Rain (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Yiruma – Love Me | ||
Yiruma – Maybe | ||
Yiruma – Mikas Song | ||
Yiruma – One Day I Will | ||
Yiruma – Our Same Word | ||
Yiruma – Passing By | ||
Yiruma – Piano Album BOOK | Yiruma – Piano Album BOOK | |
Yiruma – River Flows In You | ||
Yiruma – River Flows In You – 10th Anniversary Version (Piano) | ||
Yiruma – River Flows In You – Guitar arr. with TABs | Yiruma – River Flows In You – Guitar arr | |
Yiruma – Shining Smile | ||
Yiruma – Sometimes Someone | ||
Yiruma – Sunny Rain | ||
Yiruma – Tears On Love | ||
Yiruma – The Moment | ||
Yiruma – Till I Find You | ||
Yiruma – Time Forget | ||
Yiruma – Wait There | ||
Yiruma – When The Love Falls | ||
Yiruma Be My First | ||
Yiruma Because I Love You | ||
Yiruma Dream A Little Dream Of Me Piano Solo | ||
Yiruma First Love Piano Solo | ||
Yiruma Kiss The Rain | ||
Yiruma May Be | ||
Yiruma Poem | ||
Yiruma River Flows In You Guitar Solo with Tablature | ||
Yiruma River Flows In You Piano Solo | ||
Yiruma Room With A View Sheet Music Songbook | ||
Yiruma The Collection | ||
Yiruma Wait There | ||
Yngwie Malmsteen Trilogy (Full Album, Full Score Guitar Tabs) | ||
Yoasobi (Monster) Easy Piano Solo sheet music | ||
Yoasobi Love Letter (ラブレター) Yoasobi Piano | ||
Yoasobi Racing Into The Night ピアノ Yoasobi Yoru Ni Kakeru 夜に駆ける | ||
Yoasobi アイドル Idol Oshi no Ko OP | ||
Yoasobi あの夢をなぞって Ano Yume Wo Nazotte Tracing that Dream | ||
Yoasobi 夜に駆ける Yoasobi (Marasy Full Ver ) Yoru Ni Kakeru | ||
Yoasobi 群青(gunjou) piano | ||
Yoga Music For Piano Solo 24 Chill Songs To Soothe Your Soul | Yoga Music For Piano Solo 24 Chill Songs To Soothe Your Soul | |
Yoimachigusa Evening Primrose Ohno Tadasuke | ||
Yoko Kanno – Piano Solo from Cowboy Bebop | ||
Yokoyama La Partition Blanche for piano solo | Yokoyama La Partition Blanche for piano solo | |
Yokoyama Masaru Again – Your Lie In April Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso Piano Solo | ||
Yoshimata, Ryo Between Calm And Passion | ||
Yoshimatsu 4 Little Dream Songs | Yoshimatsu 4 Little Dream Songs | |
Yoshimatsu 7 Pleiades Dances IX Op 85 | ||
Yoshimatsu Piano Folio To A Disappeared Pleiad | ||
Yoshimatsu Takashi Wind Color Vector (Guitar) | ||
Yoshinao Nakada – Etude Allegro | Yoshinao Nakada – Etude Allegro | |
Yoshinao Nakada – Japanese Festival (Intermediate Piano Solos 17 Piano Pieces for students)) | Yoshinao Nakada – Japanese Festival (Intermediate Piano Solos 17 Piano Pieces for students)) | |
You (Evanescence) | ||
You (Ten Sharp) | ||
You are the only one (Freddie Mercury) | ||
You Are The Sunshine Of My Life – Stevie Wonder (Musescore File).mscz | ||
You Go To My Head Guitar Tabs Jazz standard by Haven Gillespie J. Fred Coots | ||
You Must Believe In Spring Michel Legrand (Musescore File).mscz | ||
You Raise Me Up (Musescore File).mscz | ||
You take my breath away (Queen) | ||
You Took The Sweet From Sweetheart Alex Sullivan, Al Doyle and Irving Kaufman (Vintage Jazz standard) | ||
You’re A Mean One Mr. Grinch (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Your Song – Elton John (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Youve Got A Friend In Me (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Yugo Kanno – Yoshikage Kiras Theme Piano | ||
Yugo Kanno – Golden Wind Main Theme (Il vento d’oro) | ||
Yugo Kanno – Jolynes Theme Stone Ocean Piano Solo | ||
Yuhki Kuramoto – Piano solo Collection | ||
Yuhki Kuramoto A Scene Of La Seine | ||
Yuhki Kuramoto A Winter Story | ||
Yuhki Kuramoto Lake Louise | Lake Louise1 | |
Yuhki Kuramoto Romance | ||
Yuja Wang Mozart’s Turkish March From Sonata No. 11 As Per Volodos Fazil Say Arr. | ||
Yukie Nishimura – Dances Of Water (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Yukie Nishimura – Letter (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Yukie Nishimura Best composition Vol 1 Japanese New Age music | Best composition Vol 1 Yukie Nishimura 120 Japanese new age music | |
Yukie Nishimura Best composition Vol 2 Japanese New Age music | Best composition Vol 2 Yukie Nishimura 112 Japanese New Age music | |
Yukie Nishimura Best composition Vol 3 Japanese New Age music | Best composition Vol 3 Yukie Nishimura 111 Japanese New Age music | |
Yukie Nishimura Letter | ||
Yukie Nishimura Xi Cun You Ji Jiang – Dances of water | ||
Yumi Kimura Itsumo Nando Demo (Always With Me From Spirited Away) Guitar Arr. With Tabs | ||
Yuna’s Ballad (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Yuriko Nakamura Comme Ce Jour Piano | ||
Yuriko Nakamura Legend | ||
Yves Montand Livre D’or | Yves Montand Livre D’or | |
Zappa, Frank 200 Motels The Suites Full score | ||
Zappa, Frank and the Mothers of Invention The Complete Guide (Book) | ||
Zaz Songbook | Zaz Songbook | |
Zelda Ocarina Of Time Song Of Storms By Koji Kondo (Piano Solo) | ||
Zelda – Breath of the Wild – Fairy Fountain | ||
Zelda – Breath of the Wild – Flight Range | ||
Zelda – Breath of the Wild – Mipha’s Theme | ||
Zelda – Breath of the Wild – Revali’s Theme | ||
Zelda – Breath of the Wild – Riding (day) | ||
Zelda – Breath of the Wild – Rito Village | ||
Zelda – Dungeon Theme | ||
Zelda – Ocarina Medley | ||
Zelda – Ocarina Of Time – Zeldas Lullaby | ||
Zelda – Saria | ||
Zelda – The Light World | ||
Zelda – The Lost Woods | ||
Zelda – The Triforce | ||
Zelda -The Legend Of Zelda (Main Theme)by Koji Kondo | ||
Zelda Medley Piano Solo arr. | ||
Zelda The Legend Of Zelda Great Fairy Fountain (Piano Etude) Erik Correll | ||
Zombies Songbook Music From The Disney Channel Original Movie | Zombies Songbook Music From The Disney Channel Original Movie | |
Zubin Mehta – La partitura della mia vita (Biografia) Italiano | ||
ZZ Top Greatest Hits | ZZ Top Greatest Hits | |
ZZ Top Volume 1 Guitar Vocal CLASSIC Authentic Guitar-Tab Edition includes complete Solos | ZZ Top Volume 1 Guitar Vocal CLASSIC Authentic Guitar-Tab Edition includes complete Solos (Hamstein Music) |