|
|
Article: `Aaron Copland: The Life and Work of an Uncommon Man,' by Howard Pollack; Henry Holt ($37.50).
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
- Article date:
- July 21, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. 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)
|
Cowboys and common men, Appalachian settlers and Abraham Lincoln: Aaron Copland created the very definition in music of what it means to be American. Which brought him his share of pooh-poohers, who could sniff at a musical Norman Rockwell enshrining rose-tinted myths of masculinity, family and community.
The truth, of course, was much more complex. On the eve of the composer's centenary _ he was born Nov. 14, 1900 _ we now can see him as a true giant of 20th-century artistic creation.
If his music sometimes tapped into American myths, well, Bach and Wagner did the same with the myths of their own culture, Lutheran and Nordic. And by now surely it's ...