The score for Pulcinella was something new— not an original composition, but more than just an arrangement.
Read More“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 MoreWe’re all familiar with the ending of Shakespeare’s most famous play: Romeo, discovering the seemingly lifeless body of his bride, drinks a lethal poison. Juliet, awakening from her faked death, finds him and, heartbroken, stabs herself with his dagger. This wasn’t how Sergei Prokofiev thought it should end.
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.
Read More