By JUNE SULLIVAN
Art exhibit, collaborative events celebrate centennial of composer Aaron Copland
He is part of our everyday lives. Schools are named for him. Television commercials use his music to sell automobiles and beef. One of his most famous compositions, "Fanfare for the Uncommon Man," continues to thrill audiences as the musical theme of the Olympics. And he is Brooklyn's own.
"Aaron Copland's music has become so enmeshed in our culture and so much a part of our everyday music, that we don't even realize it," suggests Beth Leventhal, interim director of the Heckscher Museum in Huntington
"Even a century after his birth [November 14, 1900], his music and his style is very accessible to young music students," she continues. "So in addition to the visual arts parallels of our exhibition, we wanted to introduce a new generation to Copland's music and continue the tradition of young people learning from this master."
The Heckscher Museum of Art's centennial exhibition, "Aaron Copland's America," which opened Nov. 4 and runs through Jan. 21, weaves sight and sound while examining the relationship between Copland, his music, and the visual arts of his time. Aaron Copland's music and style, explains Ms. Leventhal, began when he was a young man, and throughout his life he helped other up-and-coming musicians. "He taught such legends as Leonard Bernstein and one of today's premier American composers and conductors, Lukas Foss."
The exhibition's curator, Gail Levin, has co-authored a book, "Aaron Copland's America: A Cultural Perspective," in conjunction with this exhibition. Ms. Levin and co-author Judith Tick will participate in a daylong symposium Nov. 20 at the Museum as one of many workshops, discussions, and concerts being sponsored by the Museum in conjunction with the exhibit.
Among the exhibition themes of "Aaron Copland's America" is the influence of jazz on both the composer and on visual artists. It features works such as Man Ray's "Jazz" (1919) and Charles Demuth's "Negro Jazz Band" (1916). In addition, abstract and avant-garde representations of sound will be shown by e.e. cumming's "Sound" (1919), Salvador Dali's "Le Piano Surrealiste" (1937), and Marcel Duchamp's "Sonata" (1911).
"He was the first American composer to create a distinct American sound in classical music," Ms. Leventhal says of Mr. Copland "This was the focus of his life and he did that by looking at American folk culture, the culture of Mexico and of South America, and the Southwest of the United States."
Ms. Leventhal adds that folk music and jazz were the only American musical entities before Aaron Copland came along. "Jazz, folk and ragtime helped Copland to create his sound in classical music. Jazz was a very important part of his early life."
His interest in folk cultures' music and artists is exemplified at the exhibition "by the visual parallel of Marc Chagall's ' Green Violinist' (1923-30), a painting which corresponds to Copland's Vitebsk (1928)," says Museum publicity information.
Among other works that comment on folk themes as a source of inspiration for Copland are Rufino Tamayo's "Guitar Player" (1926-30) and "Mermaids" (1926-30).
The Museum exhibition includes images of the composer himself by such noted photographers as Hans Namuth, Arnold Newman, Gordon Parks, Irving Penn and Ralph Steiner, as well as depictions of him in sculpture, works on paper, and on canvas. Also represented is the artwork of such Copland contemporaries as Georgia O'Keefe, "Evening Star No. 2" (1917); Carl Van Vechten, "Gertrude Stein" (1934), and Paul Meltsner, "Martha Graham" (1938). In addition, photographs of the performance of Agnes de Mille's choreography in Copland's "Rodeo" (1942) are on view.
An audio tour is being offered by the Museum for the first time. "This audio tour," explains Ms. Leventhal, "is different from other museum audio tours, as it will not go into depth about the art. Instead, there is more information about Copland's esthetic and what his music was about. You can hear Copland's voice, as well as his music. It will take you from art work to art work and give you the connections between that artist and his music."
Ms. Leventhal adds that works on exhibit are from the Musee de Picasso in Paris, from the Guggenheim, the Whitney, the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Fine Arts, the Detroit Art Institute, Cleveland Museum of Arts, and private collections.
The Heckscher Museum of Art is in Heckscher Park, Main Street (Rte. 25A) and Prime Avenue in Huntington Village. Voluntary suggested admission is $3 for adults and $1 for children. For Museum hours and a complete schedule of events related to the Copland exhibition, call (631) 351-3250 or visit info.heckscher.org or www.heckscher.org.
OTHER COLLABORATIONS
Members of the famed American Ballet Theatre will join the C.W. Post Orchestra and the Pierrot Consort in a program "Fanfare For An Uncommon Man," a tribute to composer Copland on his centennial and named after his most famous work.
This narrated program at Tilles Center for the Performing Arts will be at 2 P.M. Saturday, Nov. 18, and will "introduce young listeners to the work of a composer renowned for bringing an exuberantly American spirit to classical music," explains Tilles Center publicity information.
Reeva Cooper, director of marketing at Tilles Center, the program was developed by Andrew Berger, the center's arts and education director, as part of Tilles' "Stage Two: The Arts Start Here" series for children 8 and older and their families.
The Tilles program will open with "Fanfare for the Uncommon Man" performed by the C.W. Post Orchestra. Copland's "Appalachian Spring" will follow, by the Pierrot Consort and guest artists. The program will continue with American Ballet Theatre performing four dance episodes from "Rodeo" to music by the orchestra and the chamber music ensemble.
Ms. Cooper says the Agnes DeMille choreography of Copland's "Appalachian Spring" was a landmark hit for the American Ballet Theatre and is a large part of Copland's legacy. She adds, "the program's narrator, David Gonzalez, is a former host of WNYC radio program "NY Kids," which is on Sunday nights and is very popular with young people."
Tickets for "Fanfare for An Uncommon Man" at Tilles Center are $18. Tickets may be purchased in person at the box office, by telephone through TillesCharge (516) 299-3100, or on Tilles Center's Web site, www.tillescenter.org. Tilles Center is on C.W. Post's campus, Route 25A in Brookville.
