Aaron Copland - Music for Films (Leonard Slatkin)

Information

Composer: Aaron Copland

• The Red Pony
• Our Town
• The Heiress Suite (reconstructed by Arnold Freed)
• Music for Movies
• Prairie Journal (Music for Radio)

St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

Leonard Slatkin, conductor

Date: 1994

Label: RCA

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Review

An unmissable Copland collection. Though the front cover bears the title ''Music for Films'', the earliest offering here was written in 1936 following a commission from the CBS radio network. Music for Radio (also known as Saga of the Prairies or Prairie Journal) was one of Copland's first conscious efforts to attain a greater simplicity of utterance and stronger melodic appeal, and its clean-cut, out-of-doors demeanour is relished to the full by these performers. Copland wrote eight film scores in all, the first three of which—The City (1939), Of Mice and Men (1939) and Our Town (1940)—formed the basis for his 1943 concert suite, Music for Movies. Slatkin gauges the differing moods of each of the five tableaux with unerring perception and the playing of his St Louis group easily scores over Copland's New Philharmonia (on a three-disc set) in terms of infectious panache and memorable poise.

Perhaps Copland's most enduring achievement in this particular field remains his 1948 score for The Red Pony. Again, the new performance is all one could wish, possessing a homespun delicacy (''The Gift''), infinitely touching affection (''Walk to the Bunkhouse'') and poignant nostalgia (''Grandfather's Story'') that really capture the imagination. There's real swagger, too, in the joyous ''Happy Ending'' number (such deliciously pointed trombones at 0'32''!) as well as a truly exhilarating sense of wide-screen spectacle. Indeed, neither rival production can match the present display: the composer's own recording is, in all truth, not untainted by a certain stiffness and the hard-edged recording now sounds uncomfortably dated, whilst Sedares's Phoenix account of the film score is just a touch cautious (and his hard-working strings are rather lacking in body and muscle as recorded). In addition, Slatkin also gives us the heart-warmingly evocative concert suite Copland compiled from his score for Our Town (more easefully flowing than Copland's occasionally sticky LSO version), as well as a first commercial recording for Arnold Freed's idiomatic 1990 reconstruction of Copland's Academy Award-winning 1948 score for The Heiress, which happily restores the ''Prelude'' that director William Wyler rejected for the final print. With excitingly full-bodied Powell Hall sonics to match, this compilation is a winner all the way.

— Andrew Achenbach

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Aaron Copland (14 November 1900 – 2 December 1990) was an American composer. Born in New York City, he studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger before returning to the United States, where he absorbed influences ranging from jazz and neoclassicism to folk traditions. Seeking a broader audience, Copland simplified his musical language in the 1930s and achieved international fame with works such as Billy the Kid, Rodeo and Appalachian Spring. He also composed film scores, orchestral and choral works, and later experimented with serialism. Beyond composing, Copland was an influential teacher, writer and conductor.

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Leonard Slatkin (born 1 September 1944 in Los Angeles) is an American conductor. Born into a musical family (his parents were founder and members of the Hollywood String Quartet), he received formal training at Indiana University, Los Angeles City College, the Juilliard School, and the Aspen Music Festival. Slatkin has held prominent leadership positions with major orchestras, including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Orchestre National de Lyon. A six-time Grammy Award recipient, he is widely recognized for his recordings, publications and contributions to music education.

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