During his long career, Aaron Copland composed in many diverse styles. Among his output were scores for films (The Red Pony, Our Town, The Heiress), works incorporating jazz (Piano Concerto, Music for the Theater) and the 12-tone technique (Piano Quartet, Piano Fantasy). But in the mid-1930s he began to feel “an increasing dissatisfaction with the relation of the music-loving public and the living composer.” In order to reach a wider audience, he began simplifying his style to make it more accessible, but without sacrificing sound artistic values. The first work in this more popular vein was El Salón México, completed in 1936. Then followed the works for which he is best known today: his three American ballets Billy the Kid, Rodeo and Appalachian Spring. Copland’s “American” sound has become iconic, making its way into Hollywood and TV westerns, and even commercials.
Copland was uneasy about tampering with Mexican folk music. He wrote to Mexican composer Carlos Chávez: “I am terribly afraid of what you will say of the Salón México – perhaps it is not Mexican at all, and I would feel so foolish. But in America del Norte it may sound Mexican.” But Chávez asked to conduct the piece once the orchestration was finished. El Salón México was premiered in Mexico City in 1937 to great critical and popular acclaim, one critic stating that “Copland had composed Mexican music…embodying the very elements of our folk song in the purest and most perfect form.” El Salón México incorporates a couple of authentic Mexican melodies as well as the atmosphere of a lively bar where the partying has been in progress for some time.
Program notes by: Joseph & Elizabeth Kahn