Aaron Copland was born in Brooklyn, New York, on November 14, 1900, and died in North Tarrytown, New York, on December 2, 1990.  The first performance of the Symphony No. 3 took place in Symphony Hall in Boston, Massachusetts, on October 18, 1946, with Serge Koussevitsky conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra. 

The Symphony No. 3 is scored for three flutes (3rd doubling 2nd piccolo), piccolo, three oboes (3rd doubling English horn), E-flat clarinet, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, four trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, two harps, piano, celesta and strings. Approximate performance time of the final movement is fourteen minutes.

Aaron Copland remains America’s foremost composer of concert music. Copland’s masterful and heartfelt incorporation of American folklore and melodies into such works as the ballets Billy the Kid (1940), Rodeo (1942), and Appalachian Spring (1944), the Lincoln Portrait (1942) for speaker and orchestra, and his arrangements of Old American Songs (1950 and 1952), have long inspired the affection and admiration of performers and concert audiences.

Copland also composed pieces that built upon the traditions of European concert music. The Clarinet Concerto (1948), written for Benny Goodman, represents one such venture, although the stylistic influence of American jazz is also quite prominent. Copland’s Third Symphony, commissioned by the Koussevitsky Foundation, represents perhaps the composer’s most ambitious work in this traditional vein. Copland’s Third followed two relatively brief Symphonies, completed in 1925 and 1933.

Copland composed his Third Symphony between 1944 and 1946. He completed the orchestration of the final movement on September 29, 1946, just a few weeks before the Symphony’s premiere on October 18, with Serge Koussevitsky conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The New York Music Critics Circle selected Aaron Copland’s Third Symphony as the best work by an American composer played during the 1946-7 season.

In Copland’s program notes for the premiere of his Third Symphony, he cautioned:

"One aspect of the symphony ought to be pointed out: it contains no folk or popular material. During the late twenties it was customary to pigeonhole me as a composer of symphonic jazz, with emphasis on the jazz. More recently I have been catalogued as a purveyor of Americana. Any reference to jazz or folk-material in this work was purely unconscious."

While it is true that all of the melodies are Copland’s own, the spirit of such works as Appalachian Spring and Lincoln Portrait may be found in the Symphony’s transparent orchestration and beautiful, arching themes. In addition, Copland acknowledged the presence in the Third Symphony of one of the most familiar and beloved American concert works:

"I do borrow from myself by using Fanfare for the Common Man (1942) in an extended and reshaped form in the final movement. I used this opportunity to carry my Fanfare material further and to satisfy my desire to give the Third Symphony an affirmative tone. After all, it was a wartime piece – or more accurately, an end-of-war piece – intended to reflect the euphoric spirit of the country at the time."

The Fanfare for the Common Man (Molto deliberato) serves as the introduction to the main portion of the Symphony’s finale (Allegro risoluto) that journeys to a majestic close.