Aaron Copland is one of those rare American composers whose music is widely recognized without knowledge of the logistics of who authored the work or what the title may be. You've heard him, trust me. Remember the bold music in the "BEEF! It's what's for frikkin' dinner - YEEEAAAHH!!!" commercials that got you all ramped up to go out and feast upon scrumptious bovine? That's Copland. The music was effective enough that I'm willing to bet that some vegetarians rejected their dining preferences for a nice juicy sirloin. American music = eat meat: Therefore, to deny yourself meat is un-patriotic.
During the Olympics everybody's all slobbering over John Williams and his stirring, victorious fanfare completely ignorant of the fact that there would be no John Williams without Aaron Copland. But, I digress...
The following is a quote chunk from Copland's book Music and the Imagination - I found it quite appealing, especially as a fan of instrumental music of all kinds:
“The precise meaning of music is a question that should never have been asked, and in any event will never elicit a precise answer. It is the literary mind that is disturbed by this imprecision. No true music-lover is troubled by the symbolic character of musical speech; on the contrary, it is this very imprecision that intrigues and activates the imagination... I can only recommend reliance on one’s own instinctive comprehension of the un-verbalized symbolism of musical sounds... Without theories, and without preconceived notions of what music ought to be, he lends himself as a sentient human being to the power of music.”
Dig it.
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