Aaron Copland's Music for the theatre: a transcription for wind band

Abstract

Aaron Copland’s Music for the Theatre: A Transcription for Wind Band Aaron Copland (1900-1990) can be considered one of the most significant musicians of the twentieth century, as his well-documented contributions as a composer, conductor, and author, are internationally celebrated. While some of his most well-known works were crafted during the late 1930s and 1940s (e.g., El salón México, Quiet City, Fanfare for the Common Man, Lincoln Portrait, Appalachian Spring), it is from an earlier, more developmental period in Copland’s life in which the inspiration for a new transcription for wind band can be found: his Music for the Theatre: Suite in Five Parts for Small Orchestra (1925). Copland’s Music for the Theatre was composed for a small orchestra consisting of woodwinds, brass, percussion, and reduced string section. Composed in five contrasting movements, the work displays a strong American sensibility due to Copland’s use of jazz harmonies, popular sounding themes, and unique choices in orchestration. Consequently, because of the composer’s frequent reliance upon woodwind, brass, and percussion timbres in the original orchestral version, Music for the Theatre possesses great potential as a transcription for wind band. Two main objectives exist within this project: to make available a high-quality wind transcription of a substantial orchestral work and to provide historical and formal information relating to the piece. More specifically, the final project will consist of a transcription of Music for the Theatre for wind band, which will include a transposed score with program notes and a set of transposed parts. Secondly, a prose document complete with historical information, formal and theoretical considerations, and correspondence pertaining to the transcription process will be submitted. viii While many transcriptions of Aaron Copland’s music exist, the earliest known work by the composer transcribed for wind band is El salón México (1935). By completing this transcription, I hope to contribute to the wind band repertoire a piece from Copland’s earlier, more formative compositional style and promote interest in a substantial work by one of America’s most important composers.