Copland

Copland is a surname most commonly associated with Aaron Copland (1900–1990), an American composer who helped define a distinctly American sound in 20th-century classical music.

Born in Brooklyn to immigrant parents, Copland studied piano and composition in New York before going to Paris, where he studied with Nadia Boulanger. He returned to the United States in the 1920s and gradually moved from modernist experimentation toward a more accessible idiom that incorporated American folk tunes, dance rhythms, and expansive, open textures.

His best-known works include the ballets Billy the Kid (1938) and Rodeo (1942), the ballet Appalachian Spring (1944), and the orchestral Fanfare for the Common Man (1942). Appalachian Spring won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1944. Copland’s style is often described as neoclassical with American vernacular elements, yielding music that is both modern in craft and broadly appealing in character.

Copland’s influence extended to American film music and education, and his approachable yet nuanced language helped shape mid-20th-century concert repertoire. His legacy endures in performances and recordings that continue to define a distinctly American musical voice.