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Article: THE DEFINITIVE 100 CLASSICAL CDs; 3 Aaron Copland: Clarinet concerto.
- Article from:
- The Evening Standard (London, England)
- Article date:
- September 15, 2004
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Solo Syndication Limited. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: NORMAN LEBRECHT
Benny Goodman/Columbia SO
(Columbia/Sony, NY, 1953)
COPLAND, composing in 1947, was already famous for Appalachian Spring, El Salon Mexico and Fanfare for the Common Man.
A shy, ugly, gay, Jewish guy from Brooklyn, he made music that reflected America to itself as a simple, honest, manly, pastoral land. The paradox was present in his music, but it took an acute interpreter to express the inherent tension.
He opened the concerto with a twist on a phrase from Mahler's ninth symphony, which turns from bleak tragedy to pastel elegy. The theme becomes ...