Page 271 - ESSENTIAL LISTENING TO MUSIC

sections 3–6
Section 3 is a dance for the two principals, a pas de deux in ballet parlance, ac- companied by lyrical writing for strings and winds. Sections 4 and 5 are musical depictions of the livelier aspects of country life, with Section 4 including a toe- tapping hoedown, while Section 6 recalls the quiet calm of the opening of the ballet.
section 7
“Calm and flowing. Scenes of daily activity for the Bride and her Farmer- husband.” For this section, Copland chose to make use of a traditional tune of the Shakers, an extreme religious sect that prospered in the Appalachian region in the early nineteenth century and whose members expressed their spiritual intensity in frenzied singing, dancing, and shaking. Today this tune is famous, having been featured, among other places, in a John Williams piece for Barack Obama’s inauguration in 2009. But the melody has become well known only be- cause Copland featured it in Appalachian Spring. In fact, the composer plucked it from an obscure book of folksongs in 1944 because he thought the simple, scalar tune (Example 16.4) fit well with the American character of the ballet, and because the text of the Shaker song is harmonious with what occurs on stage: “scenes of daily activity.”
Example 16.4 > shaker tune
&bbbbp˙ œœœœœœœ œœœœœœ œœœœ œœœœœj
’Tis the gift to be simple,
’Tis the gift to be free,
’Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be, And when we find ourselves in the place just right, ’Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
In the five variations that follow, The Gift to Be Simple is not so much varied as it is clothed in different instrumental attire.
section 8
“The Bride takes her place among her neighbors.” Serenity returns to the scene as the strings play a slow, mostly stepwise descent, as Copland says, “like a prayer.” The hymn-like melody from Section 2 is heard again in the flute, followed by the quiet “landscape music” from the beginning of the ballet. Darkness has again descended on the valley, leaving the young pioneer couple “strong in their new house” and secure in their community.
watch . . . an homage to Copland by John Williams, with this famous Shaker tune as played by Yo-Yo Ma and others, online.
LiSTeN TO . . . Example 16.4 online.
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