ABSTRACT
Hoping to supply “historical perspective,” Copland collected his individual essays and articles published elsewhere between 1926 and 1960 to “make more evident one composer’s viewpoint.” He hoped to stimulate the curiosity of young readers by “recapturing some of the excitement of those earlier days in the immediacy of impressions and reactions.” Collectively, the essays illustrate the breadth of Copland’s involvement in contemporary and American music. The chapters are all annotated separately as articles in Section III.B, except for “1959: Postscript for the Generation of the Fifties,” which was first published in this collection. (See below.)
Contents Copland on Music ACKNOWLEDGMENTS FOREWORD
SECTION ONE:
1. Three Talks The Pleasures of Music See: The Pleasures of Music: An Address at the University of
New Hampshire, April 16, 1959 Creativity in America
See: “Creativity in America” Music as an Aspect of the Human Spirit See: “Music: As an Aspect of the Human Spirit” 2. Five Personalities The Conductor: Serge Koussevitzky See: “Serge Koussevitzky and the American Composer” The Teacher: Nadia Boulanger See: “Nadia Boulanger: An Affectionate Portrait” The Composer: Igor Stravinsky See: “Influence, Problem, Tone” and “The Personality of
Stravinsky” The Critic: Paul Rosenfeld See: “Memorial to Paul Rosenfeld” The Pianist: William Kapell See: “The Measure of Kapell” 3. Four Masters At the Thought of Mozart See: “At the Thought of Mozart” Berlioz Today See: “Berlioz Today” and “Composers and Composing” Liszt as Pioneer See: “A Tribute to Franz Liszt” 4. From a Composer’s Journal See: “From a Composer’s Journal”
SECTION TWO:
The Twenties and the Thirties: How It Seemed Then 1. The Younger Generation of American Composers: 1926-59 1926: America’s Young Men of Promise See: “America’s Young Men of Promise” 1936: America’s Young Men-Two Years Later See: “Our Younger Generation: Ten Years Later” 1949: The New “School” of American Composers See: “The New ‘School’ of American Composers” 1959: Postscript for the Generation of the Fifties 2. European Festival and Premières: A Glance Backward: Zurich: 1926 See: “Playing Safe at Zurich” Baden-Baden: 1927 See: “Forecast and Review: Baden-Baden, 1927” Paris: 1928 See: “Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex” London: 1931 See: “Contemporaries at Oxford: 1931”
Berlin: 1932 See: “Stravinsky and Hindemith Premieres” 3. The Composers of South America: 1941 See: “The Composers of South America”
SECTION THREE:
The Reviewing Stand 1. Music By: Darius Milhaud (1947) See: “The Art of Darius Milhaud” Benjamin Britten (1947) See: “Benjamin Britten: The Rape of Lucretia, an Opera in
Two Acts” Stefan Wolpe (1948) See: “Stefan Wolpe: Two Songs for Alto and Piano from
The Song of Songs” Leon Kirchner (1950) See: “Leon Kirchner: Duo for Violin and Piano” William Schuman (1951) See: “Current Chronicle: United States, New York” 2. Books About: Virgil Thomson’s Musical State (1939) See: “Thomson’s Musical State” Schönberg and His School (1949) See: “A World of A-Tonality” The Life and Music of Bartok (1953) See: “The Essence Remained”
SECTION FOUR:
Occasional Pieces 1. “‘Are My Ears on Wrong?’: A Polemic” See: “Modern Music: ‘Fresh and Different’” 2. Interpreters and New Music See: “Interpreters and New Music” 3. The Dilemma of Our Symphony Orchestras See: “The Dilemma of Our Symphony Orchestras” 4. Shop Talk: On the Notation of Rhythm See: “On the Notation of Rhythm”
2. Music and Imagination. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1952. ix, 116 p. ISBN 0674589009 (cloth); 0674589157 (paper). ML3853 .C7. (Reprint-New York: New American Library, 1959. 127 p. ML3853 .C7 1959.)
Music and Imagination is the text of Copland’s six Charles Eliot Norton lectures, presented between 1951 and 1952 at Harvard University. Throughout the lectures, Copland examined the central role of imagination in the creation and perception of music: “The first half of the book treats of the musical mind at work in its different capacities as listener, interpreter, or creator. The second half discusses more specifically recent manifestations of the imaginative mind in the music of Europe and the Americas.” Chapters that are annotated separately as articles in Section III.B are indicated below.
