Is there a more American holiday than Thanksgiving? Okay, maybe the Fourth of July, but it’s the wrong time of year to talk about fireworks and blueberry pie. While there is still a parade, we just exchange the blueberries for pumpkin.
Even with all the festivities, there are still new things to discover about this holiday in spite of all the differences we may have. This is why this is one of the most diverse playlists I have curated.
Here’s the lineup—we’ve got Aaron Copland, Edward MacDowell, Morton Gould, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and Florence Price.
Copland—Appalachian Spring Suite is a musical composition that premiered in 1944 and achieved widespread popularity as an orchestral suite. The music, scored for a thirteen-member chamber orchestra, was created from a commission by choreographer and dancer, Martha Graham. Sponsored in part by funds from the Coolridge Foundation, Copland was tasked to write a ballet with an “American Theme.”
MacDowell—Sea Pieces, Op. 55: Composed during his summer holidays between 1896 and 1898. At this stage of MacDowell’s life, the composer was happily engaged in the hard work of establishing a music department at Columbia University. However, these charming vignettes suggest a theme with a sense of recreation and amusement, anyone can sail away on the waves of this music. While it was originally music written for solo piano, this playlist features a recording of all six pieces arranged for orchestra.
Gould—Harvest: Composer and piano virtuoso Morton Gould wrote Harvest in 1945, dedicating the piece to his wife. Harvest is a tone poem, evoking the feelings of rural Americana while drawing on the work of Copland as inspiration. The piece is one of the few classical works which calls for a vibraphone. This piece is rarely performed, and even more rarely recorded. In fact, this piece is only available on the Spotify playlist.
Coleridge-Taylor—Hiawatha Overture, Op. 30: Composed sometime between 1898 and 1900, Coleridge-Taylor drew his inspiration from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s epic poem The Song of Hiawatha—even to the point of naming his own son, Hiawatha. The composer turned the poem into a grand American oratorio, putting Longfellow’s words to music in Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast. This goldmine of choral genius is still performed regularly in concert halls throughout the United States.
Price—Symphony No. 1 in E Minor: Composed in 1932, this was Price’s first full-scale orchestral composition. It became the first symphony to be composed by a black woman to be performed by a major American orchestra—the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Following the same traditional symphonic, Price wrote the piece to be a tribute to he native Arkansas, with the third movement written as a Juba Dance.
Travel through the years on themes of Americana. Get in the mood for Thanksgiving with these wonderful pieces in this new playlist.
Spotify—https://spoti.fi/2QQJiFy
iTunes—https://apple.co/2Oj21rk
