Copland and Barber

Aaron Copland (1900 - 1990)

American Composer who did alot of experimenting with American folk tunes. His most important pieces for solo piano are the Variations, and the Sonata. I will be listening to the Variations.

Awesome piece! The theme is based around 4 notes, and moved all around and played with extensively. It is often displaced by octaves, and appear only in close form once I believe. It's a very "ugly" piece, but it is incredibly cool. The story is that it was meant to be premiered by Walter Gieseking, but he refused, saying that no ordinary concert-goers would enjoy such an ugly piece, so Copland ended up premiering it himself, and thereafter it was famous. I love this piece, and deffinitly want to play it one day.


Sammy Barber (1910 - 1981)

Only famous for a few pieces for piano, the excursions being the most popular, also the piano concerto, and the Sonata, Op. 26. The first movement of the Barber Sonata open with rapid reverse-dotted rhythms which sound like some kind of antiphonal dialogue. The second movement begins with a falling figuration which is repeated a couple of times, softly, before it is played with and varried, then repeated. The same figuration persits, expands, and eventually unfolds and contracts, with different accompaniment. The best one is the um-pa pa accompaniment that appears for only a measure or two, but it comes out of nowhere. The third movement is slow. The opening sounds almost like the opening to the Copland variations, but then a real melody comes in. Of course the whole thing is over "odd" accompaniment, which sounds kind of modal, but not quite atonal. The final movement is a fast fugue, and sounds like a bitch to play. It just keeps going..