“I was anxious to write a work that would immediately be recognized as American in character,” Copland later recalled. Music for the Theatre was a five-movement suite exploring several different moods while trying very consciously to create a new national sound.
Read MoreThe tragedies and triumphs of war have inspired composers to create some of their greatest work. In World War II, governments realized that artists could be more useful to the war effort in their trained discipline than as conscripted soldiers, and composers were encouraged to produce work supporting national morale and the education of the public.
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