Hey Kids, Meet Aaron Copland!
from the Hey Kid's Meet the Composer Index

Aaron Copland (1900-1990) American Composer, Conductor and Pianist

Aaron Copland was born in Brooklyn, New York, on November 14, 1900 to Jewish parents who immigrated from Russia. His first experience with music came from his older sister who taught him how to play the piano. By age 17, Aaron decided that he wanted to be a composer so he began taking composition lessons from Rubin Goldmark, a respected private music instructor in Manhattan. During this time, Aaron attended many music performances at the New York Symphony and Brooklyn Academy of Music where he listened to the music of contemporary and classical composers. Like many other young musicians that Aaron knew, he was very interested in music history and European musicians. Following his interests, Aaron left New York for Paris where he became a student of Nadia Boulanger, a French music professor who taught many of the most important composers of the 20th century.

It was during his study with Boulanger that Copland began to write his first full-fledged pieces. He soon sold his first musical composition and was asked to write a piece of music for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. This piece, Symphony for Organ and Orchestra (1925), marked the beginning of Copland's life as a professional music composer. Copland followed with Music for the Theater (1925) and Piano Concerto (1926). Both compositions incorporated elements of jazz because Copland believed jazz would inspire a nationalistic sound that was distinctly American.

In the late 1920's, Copland shifted his interests to popular folk music. It was with this new interest that Copland would forge a new and dynamic symphonic style. In 1935, Copland introduced El Salon Mexico which began his most productive and popular years as a composer. El Salon Mexico, inspired by a dance hall of the same name which Copland visited, presented a new sound to symphonic concert audiences with roots in Mexican folk music.

In search of a wider audience for his music, Copland began composing music for the ballet and for the movies. His most popular film scores include Of Mice and Men (1939), Our Town (1940), and The Heiress (1949) for which he won an Academy Award for Best Score. For ballet, he composed for Agnes DeMille's Rodeo (1942) and Martha Graham's Appalachian Spring (1944) for which he received the Pulitzer Prize. One of his most unique and highly successful pieces from this time period was A Lincoln Portrait (1942) which was written for orchestra and a narrator. The piece presented quotes from Lincoln's writing over Copland's musical score.

From the 1950's until the end of his life, Copland produced few new musical compositions but instead conducted and taught. His devotion to teaching at Tanglewood and Harvard University gained him the respect of many musicians. As an author, he wrote five books and more than 60 articles and essays. Aaron Copland is remembered as one of the most important musicians in twentieth-century American music. On December 2, 1990 Aaron Copland died in North Tarrytown, New York.

Homeschool Lesson Plans

Create a Writing Assignment
Write a few paragraphs on Aaron Copland that includes facts about his life, music and culture. Then allow your child to be creative in their response to the YouTube Video clips.

Download a New Ringtone
Download Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man as your cell phone's new ringtone. Ask your kids who the composer is, or facts about the composer, when the phone rings. You may often find yourself asking, "Is that my phone" because you don't remember the ringtone, but your kids will be enriched.

Print a Word Search
Print an Aaron Copland Word Search. Build reading skills with our free printable Great Composer Word Search worksheets. Let your students know how many words there are to find, and then ask them to complete the wordfind by identifying and circling the keywords found in the biography.

Watch a YouTube Video
Watch a YouTube video of Hugh Downs interview with Aaron Copland recorded in July 1980. Listen to Copland's Hoedown from Rodeo, or his Fanfare for the Common Man.

Play the Music
Give your kids a hands-on music making experience. Ask your child's piano teacher about including the study of one of these pieces in their music lesson.

Simple Gifts for Intermediate/Level 3 Piano Solo - Available Free from MMF!

Down A Country Lane by Aaron Copland for Intermediate Piano Solo available from SheetMusicPlus.com. 4 pages. Published by Boosey & Hawkes. See more info...

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