0/-*/&4637&: *ODPMMBCPSBUJPOXJUI6OHMVFJU XFIBWFTFUVQBTVSWFZ POMZUFORVFTUJPOT UP MFBSONPSFBCPVUIPXPQFOBDDFTTFCPPLTBSFEJTDPWFSFEBOEVTFE 8FSFBMMZWBMVFZPVSQBSUJDJQBUJPOQMFBTFUBLFQBSU $-*$,)&3& "OFMFDUSPOJDWFSTJPOPGUIJTCPPLJTGSFFMZBWBJMBCMF UIBOLTUP UIFTVQQPSUPGMJCSBSJFTXPSLJOHXJUI,OPXMFEHF6OMBUDIFE ,6JTBDPMMBCPSBUJWFJOJUJBUJWFEFTJHOFEUPNBLFIJHIRVBMJUZ CPPLT0QFO"DDFTTGPSUIFQVCMJDHPPE THE A M E R I C A N S T R AV I N S K Y THE A M E R I C A N S T R AV I N S K Y The Style and Aesthetics of Copland’s New American Music, the Early Works, 1921 – 1938 Gayle Murchison T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F M I C H I G A N P R E S S :: ANN ARBOR T O T H E M E M O R Y O F M Y M O T H E R S :: Beulah McQueen Murchison and Earnestine Arnette Copyright © by the University of Michigan 2012 All rights reserved This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publisher. Published in the United States of America by The University of Michigan Press Manufactured in the United States of America Printed on acid-free paper 2015 2014 2013 2012 4 3 2 1 A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978 - 0 - 472 - 09984 - 9 Publication of this book was supported by a grant from the H. Earle Johnson Fund of the Society for American Music. “Excellence in all endeavors” “Smile in the face of adversity . . . and never give up!” Acknowledgments Hoc opus, hic labor est. I stand on the shoulders of those who have come before. Over the past forty years family, friends, professors, teachers, colleagues, eminent scholars, students, and just plain folk have taught me much of what you read in these pages. And the Creator has given me the wherewithal to ex- ecute what is now before you. First, I could not have completed research without the assistance of the staff at various libraries. I express gratitude to the library staff at Tu- lane and Yale universities and the University of Arkansas. At the Music Division of the Library of Congress, Wilda Heiss and Lloyd DePinchback made available to me the Aaron Copland Collection, which in the early 1990 s was uncataloged. Thanks also go to the attorney for the Copland Estate, the late Ellis Freedman, who granted permission to use the collec- tion, which was not open to the public at the time I conducted my re- search. I also am indebted to the Aaron Copland Foundation and Boosey and Hawkes. The staff at the American Composers’ Alliance and the American Music Center in New York opened their files to me. Any work on Aaron Copland owes much to Vivian Perlis, for her vision in founding the Oral History Project in American Music at Yale, and because she so generously shares her memories of her dear friend. Mrs. Perlis, I hope this study does justice to Copland and all he accomplished. This book could not have been published in its present form without the support of the Earl Johnson Bequest for Book Publication Subvention awarded by the Society for American Music and a Publication Subvention from the Amer- ican Musicological Society. I am immensely grateful to these societies for their support. I have not worked in a vacuum. Many professors have lit my path. I thank Michael Friedmann and Reinhard Strohm. The late Claude V. Palisca provided a sterling scholarly model. I coined the term Paliscare when studying Italian in graduate school; it means to work hard, thor- oughly, and productively. I hope that this present work does justice to the word. I also wish to thank V. Kofi Agawu, Carol Oja, and William Lowe. I also express immense gratitude to Josephine Wright and Kay Kaufmann Shelemay. When I first began work on Copland, I had few colleagues working in this area, unlike today. I acknowledge and thank my Copland colleagues Sally Bick, Elisabeth Crist, Jennifer DeLapp, Howard Pollack, and Marta Robertson. I also wish to thank Gayle Sherwood. Special thanks is due my extraordinarily patient and understanding editors at the University of Michigan Press, Chris Hebert, Marcia LaBrenz, and Ellen Bauerle. So many dear friends have offered support along the way: I wish to thank Dr. Merlyn Hurd and the late Hugh Hurd; Denise Hurd for hous- ing me during the New York stage of the research; and Pam Potter for the many kitchen table conversations. I also apologize for the impositions: to Miriam Jaffe and Karen Robinson in Baltimore; to Pamela Jaffari and Kimberly Williams in Washington, D.C.; to Ned Lochaya, Ellie Murphy, and Kelly Parr in New York; to John Gough in Glasgow and London; to Claire Detels and Lewis Chamness in Arkansas; and to Jacqueline McLendon and Hermine and Don Pinson in Williamsburg. I also thank my Tulane colleagues Felipe Smith and Amy Koritz. Michael Cunning- ham, Pam Franco, Joy V. Fugua, and Rosanne Adderley have been tremendous; you cannot find better. Und auch, veilen Dank, Herr und Frau Herrmann, Karin Herrmann, und Baerli. Joan Capra also opened her home to me, welcoming my many boxes and papers. Violet Fitz- patrick, Hillary, and Buster played a major part in the early stage of this work. Jerise Fogel went above and beyond: without her love and sup- port, my dissertation would not have gotten to Yale on time during that week when my mother died. I thank other friends for their support: C. Evelynn Hawkins, Tammy Kernodle, Georgiary Bledsoe, and LisØ de Lay. Special thanks go to Wayne D. Shirley and the late Catherine Parsons Smith. I cannot express how important it has been to say that you are my friends. Two others are now no longer with us in this life, but their work and memories live on: Mark Tucker and John Blassingame. “Blass” is my Du Bois. Ingrid Mon- son and Okolo Ewunike listened in many telephone conversations, espe- cially during a time when I lost my parents a year apart, and moved halfway across the country—twice. And Angus, feline, who played kitten on the computer keys. I finished this manuscript in New Orleans in August 2004 and ed- ited it over the next year. In August 2005 Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Fortunately, I had left the city several days earlier, but many of my relatives and friends suffered through the hurricane and its aftermath. Work on the final edits was interrupted as I watched events unfold and I tried to wrap my mind around what was happening in the Crescent City. Key people in New Orleans welcomed and accepted me when others did not. They have touched my life for- ever. Though dispersed, the Millennium Band lives on: Charles Baker, Richard Fultz, Ed Wills, Rial Diles, Brian Alexander, and Alvin “Apple” viii Acknowledgments Battise. I give a nod to trombonist Doc Lewis and the Hot Sauce Band, Zion Trinity, and the other musicians I had an opportunity to perform with or just sit in with. Thanks for keeping it real. The members of Cor- nerstone United Methodist Church buoyed me during my years there, especially the mothers of the church, Mrs. Marian Roussel, Mrs. Cora Charles, Mrs. Janet Jackson, and the late Mrs. Laura Good. I am a fourth-generation educator. Mrs. Roussel taught generations of school- children in New Orleans. Miss Cora and Miss Laura taught generations of nursing students at Dillard University. Thank you for reminding me how far we have come. Work could not have been pursued without my family and teachers, who first encouraged my interest in music. Never forget the bridge that carries you over. Thanks to my first piano teachers, Mrs. Brown and Carol Sykes. Special praise goes to my high school piano teacher, the late Mrs. Judith Aycock, who first said I could be a(n) (ethno)musicologist. My late godparents, Mr. Isaiah and Mrs. Mildred Jones, told me, “Take God with you.” I also thank my aunt, Gay A. Killens—blood is thicker than water. My late father, Theodore W. Murchison, set an example of how to live life. Most importantly, this book is dedicated to the memory of my moth- ers: Beulah McQueen Murchison, who both made numerous sacrifices (now I understand what you were teaching me—you were my rock) and prescribed the simple edict of excellence in all endeavors; and to master musician Earnestine Arnette—pianist, choral conductor, church musi- cian—who saw that I gravitated to the piano when I was three and who gave me my first musicology test when I was eight (you were my inspira- tion). Teen, your indomitable spirit, tenacity and perseverance will forever be unmatched. “Smile in the face of adversity . . . and never give up.” —Ama, New Orleans, August 2004 /Williamsburg, December 2011 Acknowledgments ix Contents List of Tables xiii List of Musical Examples xv Introduction 1 CH A P T E R O N E Scherzo humoristique (Cat and Mouse): Copland’s American Petrushka and His Debt to Stravinsky 9 CH A P T E R T W O Boulanger and Compositional Maturity 35 CH A P T E R T H R E E Popular Music and Jazz: Authentic or Ersatz? 55 CH A P T E R F O U R Paris and Jazz: French Neoclassicism and the New Modern American Music 72 CH A P T E R F I V E Back in the United States: Popular Music, Jazz, and the New American Music 95 CH A P T E R S I X European Influence beyond Stravinsky and Les Six: HÆba and Schoenberg 124 CH A P T E R S E V E N Toward a New National Music during the 1930 s: Copland’s Populism, Accessible Style, and Folk and Popular Music 148 CH A P T E R E I G H T Copland’s Journey Left 160 CH A P T E R N I N E “Folk” Music and the Popular Front: El Salón MØxico 190 CH A P T E R T E N Billy the Kid 208 CO N C L U S I O N A Vision for American Music . . . 230 Notes 235 Bibliography 259 Index 277 Tables Table Introduction 1 Cowell’s Categories of American Composers According to Style and Aesthetic 5 Table 1 1 Copland’s Diagram of Rounded Binary Form 19 Table 1 2 Copland’s Diagram of Sonata Form 19 Table 1 3 Scherzo humoristique (The Cat and the Mouse), Overall Form 24 Table 1 4 Scherzo humoristique, Introduction 26 Table 1 5 Scherzo humoristique, Section A 26 Table 1 6 Scherzo humoristique, Section A 27 Table 1 7 Scherzo humoristique, Section B 27 Table 2 1 Two Pieces for String Quartet, “Rondino,” Soggetto cavato, FaurØ 41 Table 2 2 Two Pieces for String Quartet, “Rondino,” Scale Types Derived from Subject 42 Table 2 3 Two Pieces for String Quartet, II. “Rondino,” Sonata-Rondo Form ABACBA 43 Table 2 4 Two Pieces for String Quartet, “Rondino” Section C, the “Development” 43 Table 2 5 Two Pieces for String Quartet, “Rondino,” Ostinati 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , and 6 44 Table 2 6 Symphony for Organ and Orchestra, Form 51 Table 3 1 Ragtime versus Jazz Rhythm 61 Table 3 2 “Jazzy” from Trois Esquisses, Formal Organization 68 Table 4 1 Dance Symphony, Movement II, “Dance of the Adolescent,” Form 85 Table 4 2 Milhaud, Le boeuf sur le toit, Overall Tonal Scheme Outlining Interval Cycles 87 Table 5 1 Music for the Theatre, Prologue, Overall Form 98 Table 5 2 “The Sidewalks of New York,” Verse 1 and Chorus 114 Table 10 1 Billy the Kid Chronology Based on Autobiographical Accounts 212 Table 10 2 Cowboy Songs Used in Billy the Kid and Their Sources 215 xiv Tables Musical Examples Example 1 1 Copland, Scherzo humoristique (The Cat and the Mouse), mm. 1 – 4 25 Example 1 2 Copland, Scherzo humoristique (The Cat and the Mouse), Pentatonic occurrences in section B, mm. 21 – 30 25 Example 2 1 Copland, Two Pieces for String Quartet, II. Rondino, Canon Subject (T 1 ) 42 Example 2 2 Copland, Two Pieces for String Quartet, II. Rondino, Interlocking Ostinati 4 , 5 , and 6 45 Example 2 3 Copland, Two Pieces for String Quartet, II. Rondino, Octatonicism, mm. 58 – 67 46 Example 2 4 Copland, Symphony for Organ and Orchestra, mm. 1 – 6 , Theme 1 , flute 49 Example 2 5 Copland, Symphony for Organ and Orchestra, T 1 inv and ostinato 1 50 Example 2 6 Copland, Symphony for Organ and Orchestra, Theme 2 and, ostinato 2 51 Example 2 7 Copland, Symphony for Organ and Orchestra, “Scherzo,” ostinato 3 52 Example 2 8 Copland, Symphony for Organ and Orchestra, “Scherzo,” Theme 1 52 Example 2 9 Copland, Symphony for Organ and Orchestra, “Scherzo,” harmonic pedal points, □ 21 4 52 Example 3 1 Copland, Example of Ragtime and Jazz Rhythm 1 61 Example 3 2 Copland, Example of Additive Rhythm 65 Example 3 3 Copland, Example of Polyrhythms 67 Example 3 4 a) Walter Donaldson with lyrics by Gus Kahn, “My Buddy,” b) “My Buddy” quotation in “Jazzy” 70 Example 4 1 Copland, Dance Symphony, Movement I, □ 4 2 – □ 6 3 , Theme 2 , Ostinato 1 , 2 , and 3 84 Example 4 2 Copland, Dance Symphony, Movement I, “Dance of the Adolescent,” Theme 1 , □ 3 1 – □ 4 7 86 Example 4 3 Copland, Dance Symphony, Movement I, □ 11 , counterpoint 88 Example 4 4 Copland, Dance Symphony, Movement III, “Dance of Mockery,” □ 27 6 , polymeter 89 Example 4 5 Copland, Dance Symphony, Movement III, “Dance of Mockery,” □ 29 , shifting metrical accents and Rebarring 90 Example 4 6 Waltz from Petites Valses, later used as “Theme of the Adolescent” in Dance Symphony 91 Example 5 1 Copland, Music for the Theatre, Prologue, Section A, mm. 1 – 5 99 Example 5 2 Copland, Music for the Theatre, “Prologue,” □ 5 – □ 6 100 Example 5 3 Copland, Music for the Theatre, “Interlude,” mm. 1 – 11 102 Example 5 4 Copland, Music for the Theatre, “Burlesque,” □ 47 – □ 48 2 102 Example 5 5 Copland, Music for the Theatre, “Prologue,” reduction of □ 2 – □ 3 104 Example 5 6 Copland, Music for the Theatre, “Prologue,” □ 8 – □ 8 3 105 Example 5 7 Copland, Music for the Theatre, “Prologue,” m. 2 , m. 5 , m. 11 , and 13 , chords and the two versions of the octatonic 108 Example 5 8 Charles B. Lawlor and James W. Blake, “The Sidewalks of New York,” Chorus 112 Example 5 9 Copland, Music for the Theatre, “Dance,” □ 25 – □ 26 113 xvi Musical Examples Example 6 1 Copland, “Poet’s Song,” mm. 1 – 5 , Row and bass ostinato 130 Example 6 2 Copland’s arrangement of folk song “Banu (We’ve Come)” 139 Example 6 3 Copland, Vitebsk, □ D , folk song treated as a canon 142 Example 6 4 Copland, Vitebsk, mm. 1 – 5 , intonation 143 Example 6 5 Copland, Vitebsk, □ B 144 Example 6 6 Copland, Vitebsk, □ H 144 Example 7 1 Copland, “What Do We Plant,” Whole-Tone Scale, mm. 12 – 14 157 Example 7 2 Copland, “Sunday Afternoon Music,” the progression in the inset box 158 Example 7 3 Copland, “The Young Pioneers”; a) Inset box explaining rhythm; b) mm. 1 ; m. 17 158 Example 8 1 Copland, “Into the Streets, May 1 st” 181 Example 9 1 a) Complete son “El Palo Verde”; b) Copland, El Salón MØxico, Motives a, m. 2 – 3 ; motive, b, m. 3 – 4 197 Example 9 2 a) Complete “La Jesusita”; b) Copland, El Salón MØxico, □ 2 4 , “La Jesusita” as it appears in the trumpet and clarinet 198 Example 9 3 “El Mosca” as it appears □ 4 6 199 Example 9 4 Copland, El Salón MØxico, □ 8 , Section five of the Introduction 200 Example 9 5 Copland, El Salón MØxico, □ 22 – □ 22 4 and □ 23 – □ 23 4 201 Example 9 6 Copland, El Salón MØxico, □ 12 and □ 12 6 203 Example 9 7 Copland, El Salón MØxico, □ 14 3 203 Example 9 8 Copland, El Salón MØxico, □ 15 and □ 36 203 Example 9 9 Copland, El Salón MØxico, mm. 1 – 4 of “La Jesusita,” reduction showing thirds G-B and A-C; □ 25 204 Example 9 10 Copland, El Salón MØxico, □ 31 204 Musical Examples xvii Example 9 11 Copland, El Salón MØxico, □ 38 205 Example 10 1 a) Copland, “Violin Piece,” Billy the Kid sketches, p. 55 ; b) E b Quintal Chord (F, E b , G, B b moving to A b , F, G) 213 Example 10 2 Copland, Billy the Kid, mm. 14 – 26 melody in flute and oboe 213 Example 10 3 Copland, Billy the Kid, mm. 1 – 8 , harmonic progression 213 Example 10 4 a) “Great Grandad,” from The Lonesome Cowboy; b) “Great Grandad” as it appears in Billy the Kid 217 Example 10 5 a) “Whoopee Ti, Yi Yo, Git Along Little Dogies” from The Lonesome Cowboy; b) Copland, Billy the Kid, “Old Grandad,” 2 nd statement, □ 9 218 Example 10 6 a) Copland, Billy the Kid, □ 40 ; b) Copland, Billy the Kid, □ 45 219 Example 10 7 a) “The Dying Cowboy (Oh Bury Me Not on the Lonesome Prairie),” The Lonesome Cowboy; b) “The Dying Cowboy (Oh Bury Me Not on the Lonesome Prairie),” as it appears in Billy the Kid 221 xviii Musical Examples