Aaron Copland and the American Legacy of Gustav Mahler - (Eastman Studies in Music) by Matthew Mugmon (Hardcover)

About the Book

Reveals how Aaron Copland's complex relationship with the music of Gustav Mahler shaped his vision for American music in the twentieth century.

Book Synopsis

Reveals how Aaron Copland's complex relationship with the music of Gustav Mahler shaped his vision for American music in the twentieth century.

The iconic American composer Aaron Copland (1900-1990) is often credited with creating an unmistakably American musical style, a style free from the powerful sway of the European classics that long dominated the art-music scene inthe United States. Yet Copland was strongly attracted to the music of the late-romantic Austrian composer Gustav Mahler (1860-1911), whose monumental symphonies and powerful songs have captivated and challenged American audiencesfor more than a century.

Drawing extensively on archival and musical materials, Aaron Copland and the American Legacy of Gustav Mahler offers the first detailed exploration of Copland's multifaceted relationshipwith Mahler's music and its lasting consequences for music in America. Matthew Mugmon demonstrates that Copland, inspired by Mahler's example, blended modernism and romanticism in shaping a vision for American music in the twentieth century, and that he did so through his multiple roles as composer, teacher, critic, and orchestral tastemaker. Copland's career-long engagement with Mahler's music, as Mugmon compellingly illustrates, intersected with Copland's own Jewish identity and with his links to such towering figures in American music as Nadia Boulanger, Serge Koussevitzky, and Leonard Bernstein.

MATTHEW MUGMON is Associate Professor of Music at the University of Arizona.

Review Quotes

'Persuasively argued and engagingly written, Matthew Mugmon's Aaron Copland and the American Legacy of Gustav Mahler sheds considerable light not only on Copland's artistic indebtedness to Mahler, but also on his important role as and advocate for Mahler's music in the United States.--Howard Pollack, John and Rebecca Moores Professor of Music, University of Houston

Illuminating, thought provoking...well researched... it is certainly a very welcome addition to academic treatments of Copland's life and works as it fills a void that has not really been dealt with in the past...essential reading for Copland fans and scholars.-- "AARON-COPLAND.COM"

Mugmon builds his argument superbly...there are revelations: Boulanger's attempt to make the French look objectively at an Austro-German in the spirit of post-war internationalism; Koussevitzky's championship of the Ninth Symphony (Copland's favourite purely orchestral Mahler) which involved grievous cuts; and how Bernstein virtually plagiarised Copland for his own educational projects.Fascinating and very much worth the general reader's time.-- "BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE"

The relative brevity of [this] book belies the complexity and thoroughness of the discussion. Conversational in tone, Mugmon's contribution represents a very enjoyable and well-documented contextualized musicological look at Mahler's growing legacy in 20th-century American musical culture through the career of Aaron Copland. A fine addition to any music library, it counts as an essential for scholars of 20th-century American music.--Gary Galván "Music Reference Services Quarterly"

'Based upon extensive archival research, this book offers many fresh insights into American concert music from the 1930s to the 1960s, especially regarding Copland's role in promoting the music of Gustav Mahler in the United States. Matthew Mugmon has approached this significant topic with considerable savvy and integrity.--Paul Laird, professor of musicology, University of Kansas