Coordinates

35°0′41.69″N135°46′5.47″N

{{infobox england county unitary | name

Northumberland | image | map | status Ceremonial county & Unitary district | origin Historic | region North East | arearank Ranked 6th | area_km2 5013 | adminarearank Ranked | adminhq Morpeth | iso GB-NBL | ons 00EM | nuts3 UKC21 | poprank Ranked | popestdate | pop | density_km2 | adminpoprank Ranked | ethnicity 99.9% White | council 200px| Northumberland County Councilhttp://www.northumberland.gov.uk | mps | subdivmap | subdivs N/A }}

Northumberland () is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region (code UKC21) and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region. It borders Cumbria to the west, County Durham to the south and Tyne and Wear to the south east, as well as having a border with the Scottish Borders council area to the north, and a North Sea coastline of outstanding natural beauty with a 64 mile (103 km) long distance path. Since 1981, the county council has been located in Morpeth, situated in the east of the county.

The historical boundaries of the county of Northumberland included Newcastle upon Tyne, the traditional county town, as well as Tynemouth and other settlements in North Tyneside, all areas transferred to Tyne and Wear in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. The historical county boundaries are sometimes taken to exclude Islandshire, Bedlingtonshire and Norhamshire (collectively North Durham), exclaves of County Durham which were incorporated into Northumberland in 1844.

Being on the border of England and Scotland, Northumberland has been the site of many battles. The county is noted for its undeveloped landscape of high moorland, a favourite with landscape painters, and now largely protected as a National Park. Northumberland is the most sparsely populated county in England, with only 62 people per square kilometre.

History

The area was once part of the Roman Empire and as Northumberland it was the scene of many wars between England and Scotland. As evidence of its violent history, Northumberland has more castles than any other county in England, including the castles of Alnwick, Bamburgh, Dunstanburgh and Warkworth.

The region of present-day Northumberland once formed the core of the Anglian kingdom of Bernicia, which was later united with Deira south of the River Tees to form the kingdom of Northumbria. The historical boundaries of Northumbria under King Edwin stretched from the Humber in the south to the Forth in the north, though it was reduced to having its traditional northern border of the River Tweed after the area from the Tweed to the Forth was ceded to the Kingdom of Scotland in 1018, including Lothian, the region which contains Edinburgh. Northumberland is often called the "cradle of Christianity" in England, because it was on Lindisfarne, a tidal island north of Bamburgh, also called ''Holy Island'', that Christianity flourished when monks from Iona were sent to convert the English. Lindisfarne was the home of the Lindisfarne Gospels and Saint Cuthbert, who is buried in Durham Cathedral.

Bamburgh is the historic capital of Northumberland, the "royal" castle from before the unification of England under one monarch. In contemporary times, although Northumberland County Council's offices are in Morpeth. Alnwick and Morpeth contest which of the two is the county town.

The Earldom of Northumberland was briefly held by the Scottish Royal Family via marriage from 1139–1157 and 1215–1217. Scotland relinquished all claims to the region as part of the Treaty of York. The Earls of Northumberland once wielded significant power in English affairs because, as the Marcher Lords, they were entrusted with protecting England from Scottish invasion.

Northumberland has a history of revolt and rebellion against the government, as seen in the Rising of the North in Tudor times. These revolts were usually led by the then Dukes of Northumberland, the Percy family. Shakespeare makes one of the Percys, the dashing Harry Hotspur, the real hero of his ''Henry IV, Part 1.''

The county was also a centre for Roman Catholicism in England, as well as of Jacobite support after the Restoration. Northumberland became a sort of wild county, where outlaws and Border Reivers hid from the law. However, the frequent cross-border skirmishes and accompanying local lawlessness largely subsided after the Union of the Crowns of Scotland and England under King James I in 1603.

Northumberland played a key role in the industrial revolution. Coal mines were once widespread in Northumberland, with collieries at Ashington, Bedlington, Choppington, Netherton, Ellington and Pegswood. The region's coalfields fuelled industrial expansion in other areas of the country, and the need to transport the coal from the collieries to the Tyne led to the development of the first railways. Shipbuilding and armaments manufacture were other important industries.

Today, Northumberland is still largely rural. As the least densely populated county in England, it commands much less influence in British affairs than in times past. In recent years the county has had considerable growth in tourism due to its scenic beauty and the abundant evidence of its historical significance.

Physical geography

The physical geography of Northumberland is diverse. It is low and flat near the North Sea coast and increasingly mountainous toward the northwest. The Cheviot Hills, in the northwest of the county, consist mainly of resistant Devonian granite and andesite lava. A second area of igneous rock underlies the Whin Sill (on which Hadrian's Wall runs), an intrusion of Carboniferous dolerite. Both ridges support a rather bare moorland landscape. Either side of the Whin Sill the county lies on Carboniferous Limestone, giving some areas of karst landscape. Lying off the coast of Northumberland are the Farne Islands, another dolerite outcrop, famous for their bird life.

There are coal fields in the southeast corner of the county, extending along the coastal region north of the river Tyne. The term 'sea coal' likely originated from chunks of coal, found washed up on beaches, that wave action had broken from coastal outcroppings. Being in the far north of England, above 55° latitude, and having many areas of high land, Northumberland is one of the coldest areas of the country. It has an average annual temperature of 7.1 to 9.3 °C, with the coldest temperatures inland. However, the county lies on the east coast, and has relatively low rainfall, between 466 and 1060 mm annually, mostly falling in the west on the high land. Between 1971 and 2000 the county averaged 1321 to 1390 hours of sunshine per year.

Approximately a quarter of the county is protected as the Northumberland National Park, an area of outstanding landscape that has largely been protected from development and agriculture. The park stretches south from the Scottish border and includes Hadrian's Wall. Most of the park is over 240 metres (800 feet) above sea level. The Northumberland Coast is also a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Ecology

There are a variety of notable habitats and species in Northumberland including: Chillingham Cattle herd; Holy Island; Farne Islands; and Staple Island.

Economy and industry

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Northumberland at current basic prices published (pp. 240–253) by ''Office for National Statistics'' with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling. Regional Gross value added2,585 2,773 3,470

Year	Gross Value Added ||	Agriculture	Industry	Services
1995	|	130	943	1,512
2000	|	108	831	1,833
2003	|	109	868	2,494

Northumberland has a relatively weak economy amongst the counties and other local government areas of the United Kingdom. The county is ranked sixth lowest amongst these 63 council areas. In 2003 23% of males and 60% of females were earning less than the Council of Europe's decency threshold. As of May 2005 unemployment is at 2.3%, in line with the national average. Between 1999 and 2003 businesses in the county grew 4.4% to 8,225, making 0.45% of registered businesses in Great Britain.

A major source of employment and income in the county is tourism. The county annually receives 1.1 million British visitors and 50,000 foreign tourists who spend a total of £162million in the county.

Education

Northumberland has a completely comprehensive education system with 15 state schools, two academies and one independent school. Like Bedfordshire, it embraced the comprehensive ideal with the three tier system of lower/middle/upper schools with large school year sizes (often around 300). This eliminated choice of school in most areas – as instead of having two secondary schools in one town, one school became a middle school and another became an upper school. A programme introduced in 2006 known as Putting the Learner First has eliminated this structure in the former areas of Blyth Valley and Wansbeck, where two tier education has been introduced. Although the two processes are not officially connected, the introduction of two tiers has coincided with the move to build academy schools in Blyth, with Bede Academy and in Ashington at Hirst. One response to these changes has been the decision of Ponteland High School to apply for Trust status.

Cramlington Learning Village has almost 400 pupils in each school year; making it one of the largest schools in England. Blyth Community College situated in south east Northumberland is able to hold 1500 students throughout the building. Astley Community High School which is situated in Seaton Delaval and accepts students from Seaton Deleval, Seaton Sluice and Blyth has been the subject of controversial remarks from politicians claiming it would no longer be viable once Bede Academy opened in Blyth, a claim strongly disputed by the headteacher. Haydon Bridge High School, in rural Northumberland, is claimed to have the largest catchment area of any school in England, reputedly covering an area larger than that encompassed by the M25 motorway around London.

The county of Northumberland is served by one Catholic High School, St. Benet Biscop Catholic High School, which is attended by students from all over the area. Students from Northumberland also attend independent schools such as the Royal Grammar School in Newcastle.

Demographics

At the Census 2001 Northumberland registered a population of 307,190, estimated to be 309,237 in 2003. In 2001 there were 130,780 households, 10% of which were all retired, and one third were rented. Northumberland has a very low ethnic minority population at 0.985% of the population, compared to 9.1% for England as a whole. 81% of the population reported their religion as Christianity, 0.8% as another religion, and 12% as having no religion.

Being primarily rural with significant areas of upland, the population density of Northumberland is only 62 persons per square kilometre giving it the lowest population density in England.

Politics

Northumberland is a unitary local authority area and is the largest unitary area in England. The County Council is based in Morpeth.

Like most English shire counties Northumberland had until April 2009 a two-tier system of local government, with one county council and six districts, each with their own district council, responsible for different aspects of local government. These districts were, Blyth Valley, Wansbeck, Castle Morpeth, Tynedale, Alnwick and Berwick-upon-Tweed. The districts were abolished on 1 April 2009, the county council becoming a unitary authority.

Elections for the new unitary authority council took place on 1 May 2008.

Northumberland is represented in the House of Commons by four Members of Parliament, of whom one is a Conservative, one is a Liberal Democrat and two are Labour.

Northumberland is included within the North East England European Parliament constituency which is represented by 4 Members of the European Parliament.

Culture

Northumberland has traditions not found elsewhere in England. These include the rapper sword dance, the Clog dance and the Northumbrian smallpipe, a sweet chamber instrument, quite unlike the Scottish bagpipe. Northumberland also has its own tartan or check, sometimes referred to in Scotland as the Shepherd's Tartan. Traditional Northumberland music sounds similar to Lowland Scottish music, reflecting the strong historical links between Northumbria and the Lowlands of Scotland.

The Border ballads of the region have been famous since late mediaeval times. Thomas Percy, whose celebrated ''Reliques of Ancient English Poetry'' appeared in 1765, states that most of the minstrels who sang the Border ballads in London and elsewhere in the 15th and 16th centuries belonged to the North. The activities of Sir Walter Scott and others in the 19th century gave the ballads an even wider popularity. William Morris considered them to be the greatest poems in the language, while Algernon Charles Swinburne knew virtually all of them by heart.

One of the best-known is the stirring Chevy Chase, which tells of the Earl of Northumberland's vow to hunt for three days across the Border 'maugre the doughty Douglas'. Of it, the Elizabethan courtier, soldier and poet Sir Philip Sidney famously said: 'I never heard the old song of Percy and Douglas that I found not my heart moved more than with a trumpet'. Ben Jonson said that he would give all his works to have written Chevy Chase.

Overall the culture of Northumberland, as with the north east of England in general, has much more in common with Scottish Lowland and Northern English culture than with that of Southern England. Firstly both regions have their cultural origins in the old Anglian Kingdom of Northumbria, this is borne out by the linguistic links between the two regions, which include many Old English words not found in other forms of Modern English, such as ''bairn'' for child (see Scots language and Northumbria). The other reason for the close cultural links is the clear pattern of net southward migration. There are more Scots in England than English people north of the border. Much of this movement is cross-county rather than distant migration, and the incomers thus bring aspects of their culture as well as reinforce shared cultural traits from both sides of the Anglo-Scottish border. Whatever the case, the lands just north or south of the border have long shared certain aspects of history and heritage and thus it is thought by some that the Anglo-Scottish border is largely political rather than cultural.

Attempts to raise the level of awareness of Northumberland culture have also started, with the formation of a Northumbrian Language Society to preserve the unique dialects (Pitmatic and other Northumbrian dialects) of this region, as well as to promote home-grown talent.

Northumberland's county flower is the Bloody Cranesbill (''Geranium sanguineum'') and her affiliated Royal Navy ship is her namesake, .

Flag

Northumberland has its own flag, which is a banner of the arms of Northumberland County Council. The shield of arms is in turn based on the arms mediæval heralds had attributed to the Kingdom of Bernicia (which the first County Council used until it received a regular grant of arms). The Bernician arms were fictional but inspired by Bede's brief description of a flag used on the tomb of St Oswald in the 7th century.

The current arms were granted to the county council in 1951, and adopted as the flag of Northumberland in 1995.

Media

Having no large population centres, the county's mainstream media outlets are served from nearby Tyne and Wear, including radio stations and television channels (such as BBC Look North, BBC Radio Newcastle, Tyne Tees Television and Metro Radio), along with the majority of daily newspapers covering the area (The Journal, Evening Chronicle). It is worth remembering however that although Northumberland, like many administrative areas in England, has been shorn of its geographical regional centre, that centre – Newcastle upon Tyne – remains an essential element within the entity we know as Northumberland. Newcastle's newspapers are as widely read in its Northumbrian hinterland as any of those of the wider county: the ''Northumberland Gazette'', ''Morpeth Herald'', ''Berwick Advertiser'', ''Hexham Courant'' and the ''News Post Leader''.

Lionheart FM, a community radio station based in Alnwick, has recently been awarded a five-year community broadcasting license by OFCOM. Radio Borders covers Berwick and the rural north of the county.

People

Famous people born in Northumberland

Ashington was the birth place of the three famous footballers Bobby and Jack Charlton in 1937 and 1935 respectively; and Jackie Milburn previously in 1924. The basketballer Alan Hoyle was born here in 1983 whilst in 1978 Steve Harmison, an international cricketer was born here.

Mickley was the birth place of Thomas Bewick, an artist, wood engraver and naturalist in 1753 and Bob Stokoe, a footballer and F.A. Cup winning manager (with Sunderland in 1973) born 1930.

Other notable births include:

Thomas Addison, a physician born at Longbenton in 1793

George Airy, an astronomer and geophysicist born at Alnwick in 1802

Alexander Armstrong, a comedy actor born at Rothbury in 1970

Lancelot 'Capability' Brown, landscape and garden designer born at Kirkharle in 1715

Josephine Butler, social reformer born at Milfield in 1828

Basil Bunting, a poet born at Scotswood-on-Tyne in 1900

Eric Burdon, singer and leader of The Animals and War born at Walker-on-Tyne in 1941

Grace Darling, a heroine born at Bamburgh in 1815

Pete Doherty, a musician born at Hexham in 1979

Bryan Donkin, an engineer and industrialist born at Sandhoe in 1768

Daniel Gooch, an engineer and politician born at Bedlington in 1816

Sir Alistair Graham (1942 –), noted public figure

Tom Graveney, former England cricketer and President of the Marylebone Cricket Club 2004/5, born in Riding Mill in 1927.

Robson Green, an actor and singer born at Hexham in 1964

Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, British Prime Minister born at the family seat of Howick Hall in 1764

Jean Heywood actress born at Blyth best known for Our Day Out and All Creatures Great and Small.

Matt Ridley, a journalist, writer, and businessman, and son of Viscount Ridley

John Rushworth (1793–1860), an historian born at Acklington Park, Warkworth

George Stephenson, an engineer born at Wylam in 1781

Trevor Steven, footballer born in Berwick-upon-Tweed in 1963

Percival Stockdale, poet and abolitionist

Ross Noble, a stand-up comedian born and raised in Cramlington in the 1970s and 1980s

Hugh Trevor-Roper, an historian born at Glanton in 1914

William Turner, ornithologist and botanist born at Morpeth in 1508

Sid Waddell, a sports commentator and children's television screenwriter born at Alnwick in 1940

C. V. Wedgwood, an historian born in 1910

The Right Reverend Dr. N. T. Wright, Anglican theologian and author, born in Morpeth in 1948

Gordon Dodds (1941–2010), Provincial Archivist of Manitoba and author, born in Wideopen

Famous people linked with Northumberland

Thomas Burt, one of the first working-class Members of Parliament and was secretary of the Northumberland Miners' Association in 1863

Matthew Festing, 79th Grand Master, the Order of Malta.

Gordon Sumner, better known by his stage name of Sting, a school teacher turned musician was born in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1951

Henry 'Hotspur' Percy (1365–1403), borders warlord and rebel

Billy Pigg, a 20th century musician who was vice-President of the Northumbrian Pipers Society

Alan Shearer footballer, lives in Ponteland.

Algernon Charles Swinburne, a poet raised at Capheaton Hall

Kathryn Tickell, a modern-day player of the Northumbrian smallpipes

Turner, Thomas Girtin and John Cotman all painted memorable pictures of Northumberland. Turner always tipped his hat towards Norham Castle as the foundation of his fame and fortune.

Jonny Wilkinson, English rugby player, currently lives in rural Northumberland.

The site contains exhaustive detailed entries for famous deceased Northumbrians.

Settlements

Parishes

NOTE: New parishes have been added since 2001. These are missing from the list.

See also

Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland

High Sheriff of Northumberland

Anglo-Scottish border

Duke of Northumberland

List of Parliamentary constituencies in Northumberland

List of places of interest and tourist attractions in Northumberland

List of people from Northumberland by occupation

Northumbria

Northumberland Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear

Notes and references

Bibliography

External links

Northumberland County Council

Visit Northumberland – The Official Visitor Site

Enjoy Northumberland

Category:English unitary authorities created in 2009 Category:Local government districts of North East England Category:Unitary authorities of England Category:NUTS 2 statistical regions of the United Kingdom

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Coordinates	35°0′41.69″N135°46′5.47″N
name	Miley Cyrus
background	solo_singer
full name	Miley Ray Cyrus
birth name	Destiny Hope Cyrus
birth date	November 23, 1992
birth place
genre	Pop, pop rock, country pop, dance
occupation	Actress, author, entrepreneur, fashion designer, singer-songwriter, musician, dancer
instrument	Vocals, guitar, piano
years active	2001–present
label	Walt Disney, Hollywood
associated acts	Hannah Montana, Disney's Friends for Change, Billy Ray Cyrus
url	100pxSignature of Miley Cyrus.
notable instruments	}}

Miley Ray Cyrus (born Destiny Hope Cyrus; November 23, 1992) is an American actress and pop singer-songwriter. She achieved wide fame for her role as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel sitcom ''Hannah Montana''. Cyrus recorded music for the soundtracks, ''Hannah Montana'' (2006) and ''Hannah Montana 2/Meet Miley Cyrus'' (2007), released by Walt Disney Records. With the success of the ''Hannah Montana'' franchise she established herself as a teen idol. In 2007, Cyrus signed to Hollywood Records to pursue a solo career. She embarked upon the Best of Both Worlds Tour the same year, in which she performed as both herself and in character as Hannah Montana. The tour was eventually turned into a high-grossing concert film entitled ''Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert'' (2008). In July 2008, Cyrus released her first solo album, ''Breakout'' (2008), which was commercially successful.

She began her foray into film by providing the voice of "Penny" in the animated film ''Bolt'' (2008). Cyrus earned a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for her performance of ''Bolt''s theme song, "I Thought I Lost You". She also reprised her role as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana in ''Hannah Montana: The Movie'' (2009). The ''Hannah Montana: The Movie'' soundtrack introduced her to new audiences within country and adult contemporary markets.

She began to cultivate an adult image in 2009 with the release of ''The Time of Our Lives'' (2009), an extended play which presented a more mainstream pop sound, and by filming ''The Last Song'' (2010), a coming-of-age drama film. The former included Cyrus's best-selling single, "Party in the U.S.A." (2009). A studio album titled ''Can't Be Tamed'' was released in 2010 and presents a new dance-pop sound. The music video and lyrics of the album's lead single, "Can't Be Tamed", portrays a more sexualized image for the entertainer. Cyrus ranked number thirteen on ''Forbes'' 2010 Celebrity 100. In April 2011, Cyrus was named the 64th hottest woman in the world on ''Maxim'''s Hot 100. In May 2011, Cyrus was also named the 89th sexiest woman in the world on FHM's 100 Sexiest Women in the world.

Early life

Cyrus was born on November 23, 1992 in Nashville, Tennessee to Letitia Jean "Tish" (née Finley) and country singer Billy Ray Cyrus. Her parents named her Destiny Hope because they believed that she would accomplish great things with her life. They gave her the nickname "Smiley", which was later shortened to "Miley", because she smiled so often as a baby. Cyrus suffers from a mild heart condition causing tachycardia which, though not dangerous, is often bothersome.

Against the wishes of her father's record company, Cyrus's parents secretly married a year after Cyrus's birth on December 28, 1993. Tish had two children from a previous relationship: Trace and Brandi. Billy Ray adopted Trace and Brandi when they were young. She has a half-brother, Christopher Cody, Billy Ray's son from a brief relationship, born the same year as Miley; he grew up with his mother in South Carolina. Tish and Billy Ray had two more children, Braison and Noah. Cyrus's godmother is entertainer Dolly Parton. Cyrus was very close to her paternal grandfather, Democratic politician Ronald Ray Cyrus. Cyrus has paid her grandfather several tributes since his death in 2006, including eventually changing her middle name to "Ray". According to Cyrus's father, "A lot of people say Miley changed her name to Miley Ray because of Billy Ray, but that's not true. She did that in honor of my dad, because the two of them just loved each other to pieces."

Cyrus grew up on a farm in Franklin, Tennessee, approximately an hour away from Nashville, and attended Heritage Elementary School. She was raised Christian and was baptized in a Southern Baptist church prior to moving to Hollywood in 2005. She attended church regularly while growing up and wore a purity ring. Several of Cyrus's siblings also eventually entered the entertainment business: Trace became a vocalist and guitarist for the electronic pop band Metro Station, Noah became an actress, and Brandi became a guitarist.

Career

2001–05: Career beginnings

In 2001, when Cyrus was eight, she and her family moved to Toronto, Canada while her father filmed the television series ''Doc''. Cyrus said watching her father film the show inspired her to pursue acting. After Billy Ray took her to see a 2001 Mirvish production of ''Mamma Mia!'' at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Cyrus grabbed his arm and told him, "This is what I want to do, daddy. I want to be an actress." She began taking singing and acting classes at the Armstrong Acting Studio in Toronto. In her first role, Cyrus played a girl named Kylie on ''Doc''. In 2003, Cyrus was credited under her birth name for her role as "Young Ruthie" in Tim Burton's ''Big Fish''.

At age 11, Cyrus learned about the casting for what became ''Hannah Montana'', a Disney Channel children's television series about a school girl with a secret double life as a teen pop star. Cyrus sent in a tape auditioning for the show's best friend role, but received a call asking her to audition for the lead, "Chloe Stewart". After sending in a new tape and flying to Hollywood for further auditions, Cyrus was told that she was too young and too small for the part. However, her persistence and ability to sing in addition to act led the show's producers to invite her back for further auditions. Cyrus eventually received the lead, renamed "Miley Stewart" after herself, at the age of twelve. During this time, she also auditioned with Taylor Lautner for the feature film ''The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D'' and it came down to her and another actress, but Cyrus started doing ''Hannah Montana'' instead.

As Cyrus's career took off, Tish Cyrus made several critical decisions regarding her daughter's representation. She signed Cyrus with Mitchell Gossett, director of the youth division at Cunningham Escott Slevin Doherty. Gossett, who specializes in creating child stars, had arranged for Cyrus's auditions for Hannah Montana and is credited with "discovering" her. For Cyrus's music career, Tish followed the advice of Dolly Parton, Cyrus's godmother and a singer herself, and signed Cyrus with Jason Morey of Morey Management Group. "Dolly said the Moreys are people you can trust around your daughter," Tish Cyrus recalls, "and she said they have good morals, which is not always the case in this business." According to trade magazine ''The Hollywood Reporter'', Parton's advice was "the best advice [Tish] could [have gotten] on who should rep her daughter." Tish also recruited Billy Ray's business manager to manage her daughter's finances. Tish herself continues to co-manage or produce many of Cyrus's career decisions. For her education, Cyrus enrolled at Options for Youth Charter Schools and studied with a private tutor on the set of her television show.

2006–07: ''Hannah Montana'' and ''Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus''

''Hannah Montana'' became an instant hit and propelled Cyrus to teen idol status, according to ''The Daily Telegraph''. The series premiered on March 26, 2006 to the largest audience ever for a Disney Channel show and soon became one of the highest-rated series on basic cable, elevating Cyrus's wealth and fame along with it. ''Time'' magazine reports that Cyrus's "phenom[enal]" success is due partially to her talent and partially to "Disney learning to use its vast, multimedia holdings" and market Cyrus and ''Hannah Montana'' appropriately. Cyrus eventually became the first artist to have deals in television, film, consumer products, and music within The Walt Disney Company.

Cyrus's first single was "The Best of Both Worlds", the theme song to ''Hannah Montana'', which was released on March 28, 2006. "The Best of Both Worlds" is credited to "Hannah Montana", the pop star Cyrus portrays on the series by the same name. As with other songs credited to Montana, Cyrus typically dressed as the character when performing the song live. Cyrus's first release under her own name was a cover of James Baskett's "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah", released on April 4, 2006 on the fourth edition of ''DisneyMania''. Dressed as Hannah Montana, Cyrus opened for The Cheetah Girls on twenty dates of their The Party's Just Begun Tour, beginning on September 15, 2006. On October 24 of same year, Walt Disney Records released the first ''Hannah Montana'' soundtrack. Of the nine tracks on the soundtrack performed by Cyrus, eight were credited to "Hannah Montana" and one, a duet with her father titled "I Learned from You", was credited to Cyrus as herself. The album peaked at number one on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 chart.

The second season of ''Hannah Montana'' premiered on April 23, 2007, and ran until October 12, 2008. Cyrus signed a four-album deal with Disney-owned Hollywood Records and, on June 26, 2007, released a double-disc album. The first disc was the soundtrack to the second season of ''Hannah Montana'', while the second, titled ''Meet Miley Cyrus'', was Cyrus's debut album credited to her own name. The double-disc album peaked at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200 and was later certified three times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). ''Meet Miley Cyrus'' generated "See You Again", Cyrus's first single to be released under her own name and her first top ten hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In Fall 2007, Cyrus launched her first tour, the Best of Both Worlds Tour, to promote ''Meet Miley Cyrus'' and the ''Hannah Montana'' soundtracks. With the Jonas Brothers, Aly & AJ, and Everlife as her opening acts, Cyrus toured from October 17, 2007 to January 31, 2008 with stops in the U.S. and Canada. Tickets sold out in minutes and were scalped for up to $2,500 and an average of $214, well above their $26–$65 face value. A Ticketmaster official commented, "Hell hath no fury like the parent of a child throwing a tantrum. People who have been in this business for a long time are watching what's happening, and they say there hasn't been a demand of this level or intensity since The Beatles or Elvis."

2008–09: ''Breakout'', transitions and film career launch

After the end of the ''Best of Both Worlds Tour'' in January 2008, Walt Disney Pictures released ''Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert'', a 3D concert film of the tour, on February 1, 2008 for what was expected to be a one-week run. The film earned over $31 million at the box-office and an average of $42,000 per theater, twice the expected total, convincing Disney executives to extend the release for an indefinite run. "We don't want to turn away kids from the theaters who couldn't get into the concerts," said Chuck Viane, Disney's chief of distribution. The film's soundtrack was released by Walt Disney Records/Hollywood Records on March 11, 2008 and peaked at number three on the Billboard 200.

On July 22, 2008, Cyrus released her second studio album under her own name, entitled ''Breakout''. Cyrus said ''Breakout'' was inspired by "what's been going on in my life in the past year." Cyrus co-wrote eight out of twelve songs on the album. "Songwriting is what I really want to do with my life forever, [...] I just hope this record showcases that, more than anything, I'm a writer." The album debuted at #1 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 chart and its lead single, "7 Things", peaked at number 9 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. She hosted the 2008 CMT Music Awards with her father in April and the 2008 Teen Choice Awards by herself in August. Cyrus provided the voice of Penny in the 2008 computer-animated film ''Bolt'', which was released on November 21, 2008 to critical acclaim. Cyrus also co-wrote and recorded the song "I Thought I Lost You" as a duet with John Travolta for the film, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination. In September 2009, she participated in the charity single "Just Stand Up!" in support of the anti-cancer campaign ''Stand Up to Cancer'' and in the City of Hope Benefit Concert in support of cancer research and training programs. She also became involved in Disney's Friends for Change, an environmentalist group, for which she recorded the charity single "Send It On" along with several other Disney Channel stars.

Cyrus had already begun transitioning to a more grown-up image in late 2008, when her representatives negotiated a deal for novelist Nicholas Sparks to write the screenplay and novel basis for a film that would serve as a star vehicle for Cyrus by introducing her to audiences older than the young fans she had gained through ''Hannah Montana''. Sparks and co-writer Jeff Van Wie developed ''The Last Song''. It was important to Cyrus that she not be type cast as a singer: "I didn't want to be a singer in another film. I don't want to do that anymore. You have no idea how many musicals show up on my door. I want to do something a little more serious." In March 2009, Cyrus published ''Miles to Go'', a memoir co-written by Hilary Liftin chronicling her life through age sixteen. Cyrus starred as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana in ''Hannah Montana: The Movie'', released April 10, 2009. Both the film and its soundtrack, which contained twelve songs performed by Cyrus, achieved commercial success. The soundtrack's lead single, "The Climb", became a Top 40 hit in twelve countries and introduced Cyrus to listeners outside her typical teen pop audience. Cyrus had considered ending ''Hannah Montana'' after its third season, which finished production on June 5, 2009, but Disney retained and exercised its option for a fourth season.

Production on ''The Last Song'' lasted from June 15, 2009 to August 18, 2009. In between, Cyrus launched the third ''Hannah Montana'' soundtrack, recorded the extended play ''The Time of Our Lives'', and released the EP's lead single, "Party in the U.S.A." Cyrus said ''The Time of Our Lives'' "is a transitioning album. [...] really to introduce people to what I want my next record to sound like and with time I will be able to do that a little more." "Party in the U.S.A." debuted at number two on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for her best-ever ranking on the chart. ''The Time of Our Lives'' was released in conjunction with a clothing line co-designed by Cyrus and Max Azria for Walmart.

From September 14, 2009 to December 29, 2010, Cyrus toured on her Wonder World Tour to promote ''Breakout'' and ''The Time of Our Lives''. On December 7, 2009, Cyrus performed for Queen Elizabeth II and numerous other members of the British Royal Family at the Royal Variety Performance in Blackpool, North West England.

2010–present: ''Can't Be Tamed'', focus on film career and fourth studio album

Production on the fourth and final season of ''Hannah Montana'' began on January 18, 2010. In the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Cyrus appeared on the charity singles "We Are the World: 25 for Haiti" and "Everybody Hurts". Her third studio album, ''Can't Be Tamed'', was released on June 21, 2010. The album's first single is the title track, "Can't Be Tamed". The single was released for sale on May 18, 2010 and entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at number eight. Cyrus's costumes and dances while promoting ''Can't Be Tamed'' were also considerably more provocative than previous performances, arousing media criticism. After releasing the album, Cyrus intends to take a break from the music industry in order to focus on her film career. She commented, "I've not taken, like, acting lessons or anything, but it doesn't mean I don't need to because I'm sure I do [...] I'm probably going to go book an acting coach." Cyrus has also decided to opt out of college for the same reason, saying "I'm a firm believer that you can go back at any age you want, because my Grandma went back to college at 62 [...] For right now, I really want to focus on my career. I've worked hard to get to where I am now, and I want to enjoy it while it lasts."

Cyrus starred in ''The Last Song'', which was released on March 31, 2010, and received generally poor reviews, as did Cyrus's performance. Nonetheless, the film was commercially successful, grossing more than $88 million at the worldwide box office. According to box-office analyst Exhibitor Relations, the film marked "a successful transition to adult roles for Miley Cyrus." The fourth and final season of ''Hannah Montana'' began airing on Disney Channel on July 11, 2010 and was ended on January 16, 2011. Cyrus filmed two more films, ''LOL: Laughing Out Loud'' and ''So Undercover'' in 2010. In ''LOL'', a remake of a 2008 French teen comedy, Cyrus plays "a daughter who is involved with all the wrong kids, doing drugs, failing school, but [...whose] mother has her on this perfect pedestal" and says "[She] just fell in love with the story." Miley's character loses her virginity, smokes cannabis, gets wasted and kisses two girlfriends on the lips. She will also star in ''So Undercover'', an action comedy film. Cyrus will play the part of "a tough, street-smart private eye hired by the FBI to go undercover in a college sorority." She learned street fighting for the role.

Despite her earlier announcement that she'd be focusing more on acting in the future, in February 2011, Cyrus confirmed she had no films lineup and was going to go on tour. On April 29, 2011, Cyrus embarked on her international Gypsy Heart Tour in South America and ended the tour on July 2, 2011 in Australia. Cyrus hosted ''Saturday Night Live'' on March 5, 2011, where she performed in several sketches. She also sang a brief song about her several controversies, such as the bong incident, the photo of her friend and she eating a Twizzler, and the "pole dance" on a hotel pole at the Teen Choice Awards, stating "I'm sorry that I'm not perfect." In March 2011, father Billy Ray Cyrus confirmed on talk show, ''The View'', that Miley had been in talks with producer Dr. Luke on a new album. In July 2011, it was announced that she would record her fourth studio album and she has no plans to sign onto any other film projects. However, it was reported on August 2, 2011 by Contact Music that Cyrus has signed on to star in a comedy in which she plays a woman who broke a promise to God.

Earnings

In 2008, Cyrus earned $25 million, up from her earnings of $18 million in 2007, and was ranked number 35 on ''Forbes'' magazine's "Celebrity 100" list. ''Parade'' magazine reported she was the richest teenage celebrity and that her franchise would be worth approximately $1 billion by the end of the year. In 2009, ''Forbes'' ranked her #29 on the ''Celebrity 100'' and reported she had earned a total of $25 million. Then Cyrus got ranked number thirteen on ''Forbes'' 2010 Celebrity 100 ranking $48 million. From the $48 million she made between June 2009 to June 2010 made her the no. 4 highest earners under 30 and the youngest on the list. between June 2010 and June 2011, Cyrus earned $54 million.

From working on Hannah Montana, Cyrus got paid $15,000 per episode she did on the hit show, making her the 6th highest paid child star on television behind fellow Disney stars Dylan and Cole Sprouse and Keke Palmer with $20,000 for their shows. Also, she is behind friend and Disney star Selena Gomez that makes $25,000 per episode of her show, Nick star Miranda Cosgrove with $180,000 per episode of her show, and one time co-star Angus T. Jones that got paid $250,000 for each episode of his show. Though she had not got paid as much as other Disney stars,when she was 17 she was named #19 on the "Top 20 World's Richest Female Singers Of All Time" list with over $100 million in 5 years active throughout her career, which made her the youngest female artist on the list. In 2011, she was named #1 on the "Top 10 Richest Teens in Hollywood" with $120 million.

Personal life and image

In an interview, friend and actor Tyler Posey stated that he and Cyrus met on the set of the show Doc, and that they shared their first kiss on the show. He then stated that he and Cyrus dated for two years and then broke up when they were 11.

Cyrus told ''Seventeen'' magazine that she and Nick Jonas had dated for two years and "were in love", but were "fighting a lot" by the end. After the break-up, Cyrus says that she initially "rebell[ed] against everything Nick wanted me to be. And then I was like, I've got to be by myself for now, and just figure out who I really am."

In February 2008, Cyrus and her friend opened a YouTube account and began posting videos of what they called ''The Miley and Mandy Show.'' The show, described as a "YouTube hit," is said to be filmed for fun by Cyrus and Jiroux and to be entirely their work, with Cyrus and Jiroux editing the footage together.

With Cyrus's increased success came increased media attention. In a May 2008 interview with ''The Los Angeles Times'', Francois Navarre, the proprietor of the X17 photo agency, said Cyrus's market value had picked up considerably after the ''Vanity Fair'' photo controversy: "She's started to sell more. [...] It used to be $300, and now it's $2,000 for a picture." Estimates for a picture of the then-15 year old's first kiss ranged from $30,000 to $150,000. Navarre noted that Cyrus rarely behaved against her wholesome image or went out without a parent and stated, "She has people waiting for the moment she starts to be less traditional. [...] It's natural. Any teenager. But it's going to come very fast. [...] As soon as her mom lets her go out by herself. It's going to start to be interesting." ''Time'' magazine included her on the 2008 ''Time'' 100, the magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Her write-up was written by former child star Donny Osmond, who warned, "As an idol to tweens the world over, singer-actress Miley Cyrus, 15, is riding a huge tidal wave at the pinnacle of her career; this is as it should be. I hope she enjoys it. [...] Within three to five years, Miley will have to face adulthood. [...] As she does, she'll want to change her image, and that change will be met with adversity."

Cyrus celebrated her 16th birthday at Disneyland with a charity fundraiser for Youth Service America, a youth volunteer service organization.

At the end of 2009, ''Billboard'' magazine ranked Cyrus the fourth best-selling female artist and the fifth best-selling singer overall.

In June 2009, Cyrus ended her nine-month relationship with model Justin Gaston shortly before flying to Georgia to film ''The Last Song''. While filming later that month, Cyrus began dating her co-star in ''The Last Song'', Australian actor Liam Hemsworth. She later called him her "first serious boyfriend". In August 2010, it was confirmed that her relationship with Hemsworth had ended. Cyrus and Hemsworth were seen together a month later, and were reportedly back together. It was announced in early November that the couple had split again. On March 31, 2011, Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth have reportedly rekindled their relationship. On June 20, Cyrus confirmed in a interview on the DirtTv in Australia that she and Hemsworth are still rocking and still are together.

On October 26, 2010, less than a month before Cyrus's eighteenth birthday, her father Billy Ray Cyrus filed for divorce from her mother in Tennessee, citing irreconcilable differences. In a statement made to ''People'' the next day announcing the split, the couple said, "As you can imagine, this is a very difficult time for our family... We are trying to work through some personal matters. We appreciate your thoughts and prayers." However, on March 18, 2011, Cyrus's father announced on ''The View'' that he had dropped the divorce.

Cyrus is the youngest recording artist ever with four #1 albums in less than 3 years.

In June 2011, Cyrus was named by the Rolling Stones magazine a queen of pop, she was named #8 based on album sales selling 2.027 million copies. also, she was named #7 based on digital tracks selling 14.763 million digital copies, #5 based on youtube views with 784,667,358 views, #12 based on radio airplay with 216 airplay's, #11 based on Billboard hot 100 appearances with 164.2 points, and #9 based on social networking with 14.9 million Facebook likes, and 1.4 million Twitter followers. lastly, she was named #6 based off the gross of her tours with 66.5 million dollars in grossing, #14 based off award wins, in this case the Teen Choice Awards did not count and only mainstream-awards counted such as the Grammy Awards and awards like that in the music category, #14 based on album reviews. out of all the rankings for the categories, she was name on the official "Queen of Pop" list at #8 behind Beyonce, Katy Perry, best friend Taylor Swift, her inspiration Britney Spears and many more. She also beat out Carrie Underwood, Nicki Minaj, Adele, Christina Aguilera, and many more.

Controversies

In December 2007, a brief controversy emerged when photos Cyrus had posted on her private MySpace account, depicting her and a female friend sharing a piece of licorice and "almost kissing", were spread across the internet, prompting rumors of lesbianism. Cyrus comments, "For me, I was like, That's two girls—it's not a big deal. But they got spread around. Like someone copied and pasted and said, Omigod, look at this, and blah blah blah."

In April 2008, several provocative images of Cyrus in her underwear and swimsuit were leaked onto the web by a teenager who hacked Cyrus's Gmail account. Cyrus described the images as "silly, inappropriate shots" and stated, "I am going to make mistakes and I am not perfect. I never intended for any of this to happen and I am truly sorry if I have disappointed anyone." On April 25, 2008, the televised entertainment program ''Entertainment Tonight'' reported that Cyrus, then 15, had posed topless for a photoshoot taken by photographer Annie Leibovitz for ''Vanity Fair.'' On April 29, 2008, ''The New York Times'' clarified that though the pictures left an impression that she was bare-breasted, Cyrus was wrapped in a bedsheet and was actually not topless. Some parents expressed outrage at the nature of the photograph, which a Disney spokesperson described as "a situation [that] was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines." Gary Marsh, president of entertainment for Disney Channel Worldwide, was quoted by ''Portfolio'' magazine to have said, “For Miley Cyrus to be a 'good girl' is now a business decision for her. Parents have invested in her a godliness. If she violates that trust, she won't get it back." In response to the Internet circulation of the photo and ensuing media attention, Cyrus released a statement of apology on April 27, 2008: "I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be 'artistic' and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed. I never intended for any of this to happen and I apologize to my fans who I care so deeply about." Leibovitz also released a statement: "I'm sorry that my portrait of Miley has been misinterpreted. The photograph is a simple, classic portrait, shot with very little makeup, and I think it is very beautiful."

In May 2008, Gossett, Cyrus's longtime acting agent, left Cunningham Escott Slevin Doherty for United Talent Agency, partially with the hope of "giving Cyrus the major-agency backing that would support a widening career", according to ''The Hollywood Reporter''. About a year later in June 2009, Cyrus left both Gossett and UTA, which had recently negotiated her deals for ''The Last Song'' and the fourth season of ''Hannah Montana'', and joined the Creative Artists Agency, which had already represented her for music. Nikki Finke, who broke the news, reported, "Is this fair to UTA? Of course not. But I hear the decision was made by Miley's mother Trish Cyrus".

Cyrus's performance of "Party in the U.S.A." at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards incited a media uproar, with some viewers criticizing Cyrus's provocative outfit and inclusion of a brief pole dance as inappropriate for her age, then sixteen, and for her young fans. Conversely, ''Newsday'' reported that her sexualization "has been coming for some time." Ian Drew, senior editor of ''US Weekly'', said, "She already has this risque image, so it really wasn't much of a stretch. That's how Britney [Spears] took off. She was the good girl gone bad, and it looks to be working for Miley as well." Cyrus was also criticized that year for dating Gaston, five years her senior, and for a photo displaying Cyrus and friends making "slant-eyed" expressions, which the Organization of Chinese Americans claimed was offensive to the Asian community. Cyrus apologized for the photo on her website, defending her actions and saying, "In NO way was I making fun of any ethnicity! I was simply making a goofy face."

Later in 2010, TMZ released a video of Cyrus, then 16, giving Adam Shankman, producer of ''The Last Song'', a lap dance at the film's wrap party. Cyrus's father defended her actions, saying Miley was just "having fun" and that "it's what people her age do". Later that year in December, TMZ released a video of Cyrus, which took place five days after her 18th birthday at her Los Angeles home, in which she is seen smoking from a bong. She claimed she was smoking the psychoactive plant ''salvia divinorum'', although this has not been confirmed by anybody but Cyrus herself. Salvia is legal in the state of California, and Cyrus was of legal age at the time the video was shot. Cyrus's father expressed his sadness regarding the matter on Twitter, saying, "Sorry guys. I had no idea. Just saw this stuff for the first time myself. I'm so sad. There is much beyond my control right now".

Filmography

+ Films	! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
2003	''Big Fish''	Young Ruthie	Film debut
2007	''High School Musical 2''	Girl at pool	Cameo
2008	''Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert''		3D Concert film
2008		Penny	Voice-over Role
2009	''Hannah Montana: The Movie''		Based on TV series
2010	''''	Veronica "Ronnie" Miller	Film adaption of book
2010	''Sex and the City 2''	Herself	Cameo
2011		Herself	Cameo
2011	''So Undercover''	Molly	Release: October 28, 2011
2011	''LOL: Laughing Out Loud''	Lola	Remake of French film
Late 2012	''Not Afraid''	Katy Harrison	''Filming''

+ Television	! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
2001–2003		Kylie	Recurring role
2006–2011	''Hannah Montana''		Lead role
2006-2008	''Disney Channel Games''	Herself / Hannah Montana	Contestant, special performer
2006	''The Suite Life of Zack & Cody''	Miley Stewart / Hannah Montana	"That's So Suite Life of Hannah Montana" (Season 2, Episode 20)
2006–2008	''Disney 365''	Herself	In 9 episodes, 2006–2008.
2007	''''	Celebrity Star (voice)	"Frog Prince" (Season 2, Episode 5)
2007–2008	''''	Yata (voice)	Recurring role
2008	''E! True Hollywood Story''	Herself	TV special Documentary
2009	''''	Miley Stewart / Hannah Montana
2011	''Saturday Night Live''	Herself	Host, March 5 episode.
2011		Herself	Back-to-school special.

Discography

Studio albums

''Meet Miley Cyrus'' (2007)

''Breakout'' (2008)

''Can't Be Tamed'' (2010)

Extended plays

''The Time of Our Lives'' (2009)

Tours

Best of Both Worlds Tour (2007–08)

Wonder World Tour (2009)

Gypsy Heart Tour (2011)

Awards and nominations

List of awards and nominations received by Miley Cyrus

References

Further reading

External links

Miley Cyrus at MTV

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Category:1992 births Category:Actors from Tennessee Category:American child actors Category:American child singers Category:American female singers Category:American film actors Category:21st-century actors Category:American pop singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American television actors Category:American voice actors Category:Bubblegum pop Category:Fascination Records artists Category:Hollywood Records artists Category:Living people Category:American pop singer-songwriters Category:Child rock musicians Category:Musicians from Tennessee Category:People from Franklin, Tennessee Category:People from Nashville, Tennessee Category:Southern Baptists

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Aaron Copland (; November 14, 1900 December 2, 1990) was an American classical composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers". He is best known to the public for the works he wrote in the 1930s and 40s in a deliberately more accessible style than his earlier pieces, including the ballets ''Appalachian Spring'', ''Billy the Kid'', ''Rodeo'' and his ''Fanfare for the Common Man''. The open, slowly changing harmonies of many of his works are archetypical of what many people consider to be the sound of American music, evoking the vast American landscape and pioneer spirit. However, he wrote music in different styles at different periods of his life: his early works incorporated jazz or avant-garde elements whereas his later music incorporated serial techniques. In addition to his ballets and orchestral works he produced music in many other genres including chamber music, vocal works, opera and film scores.

Biography

Early life

Aaron Copland was born in Brooklyn of Lithuanian Jewish descent, the last of five children, on November 14, 1900. Before emigrating from Russia to the United States, Copland's father, Harris Morris Copland, Anglicized his surname "''Kaplan''" to "''Copland''" while waiting in Scotland en route to America. Throughout his childhood, Copland and his family lived above his parents' Brooklyn shop, H.M. Copland's, at 628 Washington Avenue (which Aaron would later describe as "a kind of neighborhood Macy's"), on the corner of Dean Street and Washington Avenue, and most of the children helped out in the store. His father was a staunch Democrat. The family members were active in Congregation Baith Israel Anshei Emes, where Aaron celebrated his Bar Mitzvah. Not especially athletic, the sensitive young man became an avid reader and often read Horatio Alger stories on his front steps.

Copland's father had no musical interest at all, but his mother, Sarah Mittenthal Copland, sang and played the piano, and arranged for music lessons for her children. Of his siblings, oldest brother Ralph was the most advanced musically, proficient on the violin, while his sister Laurine had the strongest connection with Aaron, giving him his first piano lessons, promoting his musical education, and supporting him in his musical career. She attended the Metropolitan Opera School and was a frequent opera goer. She often brought home libretti for Aaron to study. Copland attended Boys' High School and in the summer went to various camps. Most of his early exposure to music was at Jewish weddings and ceremonies, and occasional family musicales. From 1913 to 1917 he took music lessons with Leopold Wolfsohn, who taught him the standard classical fare. Copland's first public music performance was at a Wanamaker recital.

By the age of 15, after attending a concert by composer-pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Copland decided to become a composer. After attempts to further his music study from a correspondence course, Copland took formal lessons in harmony, theory, and composition from Rubin Goldmark, a noted teacher and composer of American music (who had given George Gershwin three lessons). Goldmark gave the young Copland a solid foundation, especially in the Germanic tradition, as he stated later: "This was a stroke of luck for me. I was spared the floundering that so many musicians have suffered through incompetent teaching." But Copland also commented that the maestro had "little sympathy for the advanced musical idioms of the day" and his "approved" composers ended with Richard Strauss.

Copland's graduation piece from his studies with Goldmark was a three-movement piano sonata in a Romantic style. But he had also composed more original and daring pieces which he did not share with his teacher. In addition to regularly attending the Metropolitan Opera and the New York Symphony, where he heard the standard classical repertory, Copland continued his musical development through an expanding circle of musical friends. After graduating from high school, Copland played in dance bands. Continuing his musical education, he received further piano lessons from Victor Wittgenstein, who found his student to be "quiet, shy, well-mannered, and gracious in accepting criticism." Copland's fascination with the Russian Revolution and its promise for freeing the lower classes drew a rebuke from his father and uncles. In spite of that, in his early adult life Copland would develop friendships with people with socialist and communist leanings.

Studying in Paris

From 1917 to 1921, Copland composed juvenile works of short piano pieces and art songs. Copland's passion for the latest European music, plus glowing letters from his friend Aaron Schaffer, inspired him to go to Paris for further study. His father wanted him to go to college, but his mother's vote in the family conference allowed him to give Paris a try. On arriving in France, he studied at the Fontainebleau School of Music with noted pianist and pedagogue Isidor Philipp and with Paul Vidal. But finding Vidal too much like Goldmark, Copland switched to famed teacher Nadia Boulanger, then aged thirty-four. He had initial reservations: "No one to my knowledge had ever before thought of studying with a woman." She interviewed him, and recalled later: "One could tell his talent immediately."

Boulanger had as many as forty students at once and employed a formal regimen that Copland had to follow, too. Copland found her incisive mind much to his liking and stated: "This intellectual Amazon is not only professor at the Conservatoire, is not only familiar with all music from Bach to Stravinsky, but is prepared for anything worse in the way of dissonance. But make no mistake...A more charming womanly woman never lived." Though he planned on only one year abroad, he studied with her for three years, finding her eclectic approach inspired his own broad musical taste.

Adding to the heady cultural atmosphere of the early 1920s in Paris was the presence of expatriate American writers Paul Bowles, Ernest Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis, Gertrude Stein, and Ezra Pound, as well as artists like Picasso, Chagall, and Modigliani. Also influential on the new music were the French intellectuals Marcel Proust, Paul Valéry, Sartre, and André Gide, the latter cited by Copland as being his personal favorite and most read. Travels to Italy, Austria, and Germany rounded out Copland's musical education. During his stay in Paris, Copland began writing musical critiques, the first on Gabriel Fauré, which helped spread his fame and stature in the music community. Instead of wallowing in self-pity and self-destruction like many of the expatriate members of the Lost Generation, Copland returned to America optimistic and enthusiastic about the future.

1925 to 1950

Upon returning to America, Copland was determined to make his way as a full-time composer. He rented a studio apartment on New York City's Upper West Side, which kept him close to Carnegie Hall and other musical venues and publishers. He remained in that area for the next thirty years, later moving to Westchester County, New York. Copland lived frugally and survived financially with help from two $2,500 Guggenheim Fellowships—one in 1925 and one in 1926. Lecture-recitals, awards, appointments and small commissions, plus some teaching, writing, and personal loans kept him afloat in the subsequent years through World War II. Also important were wealthy patrons who supported the arts community during the Depression, underwriting performances, publication and promotion of musical events and composers.

Soon after his return, Copland was introduced to the artistic circle of Alfred Stieglitz and met many of the leading artists of that time. Stieglitz's conviction that the American artist should reflect "the ideas of American Democracy" influenced Copland and a whole generation of artists and photographers, including Paul Strand, Edward Weston, Ansel Adams, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Walker Evans. Evans' photographs inspired portions of Copland's opera ''The Tender Land''.

In his quest to take up Stieglitz's challenge, Copland had few established American contemporaries to emulate apart from Carl Ruggles and the reclusive Charles Ives, although the 1920s were Golden Years for American popular music and jazz, with George Gershwin, Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong leading the way. Later, however, Copland joined up with his younger contemporaries and formed a group termed the "commando unit," which included Roger Sessions, Roy Harris, Virgil Thomson, and Walter Piston. They collaborated in joint concerts showcasing their work to new audiences.

Copland's relationship with the "commando unit" was one of both support and rivalry, and he played a key role in keeping them together. The five young American composers helped promote each other and their works but also had testy exchanges, inflamed by the assertion of the press that Copland was the "truly American" composer. Going beyond the five, Copland was generous with his time with nearly every American young composer he met during his life, later earning the title the "Dean of American Music."

Mounting troubles with the ''Symphonic Ode'' (1929) and ''Short Symphony'' (1933) caused him to rethink the paradigm of composing orchestral music for a select group, as it was a financially contradictory approach, particularly in the Depression. In many ways, this shift mirrored the German idea of Gebrauchsmusik ("music for use"), as composers sought to create music that could serve a utilitarian as well as artistic purpose. This approach encompassed two trends: first, music that students could easily learn, and second, music which would have wider appeal, such as incidental music for plays, movies, radio, etc. Copland undertook both goals, starting in the mid 1930s.

Perhaps motivated by the plight of children during the Depression, around 1935 Copland began to compose musical pieces for young audiences, in accordance with the first goal of American Gebrauchsmusik. These works included piano pieces (''The Young Pioneers'') and an opera (''The Second Hurricane'').

During the Depression years, Copland traveled extensively to Europe, Africa and Mexico. He formed an important friendship with Mexican composer Carlos Chávez and would return often to Mexico for working vacations conducting engagements During his initial visit to Mexico, Copland began composing the first of his signature works, ''El Salón México'', which he completed four years later in 1936. This and other incidental commissions fulfilled the second goal of American Gebrauchsmusik, creating music of wide appeal.

During this time, he composed (for radio broadcast) "Prairie Journal," one of his first pieces to convey the landscape of the American West. Branching out into theater, Copland also played an important role providing musical advice and inspiration to The Group Theater—Stella Adler's and Lee Strasberg's "method" acting school. The Group Theater followed Copland's musical agenda and focused on plays that illuminated the American experience. After Hitler and Mussolini's attacks on Spain in 1936, leftist parties had united in a Popular Front against Fascism. Many Group Theater members were influenced by Marxism and other progressive philosophies, and several had joined the Communist Party, including Elia Kazan and Clifford Odets. Copland also had contact later with other major American playwrights, including Thorton Wilder, William Inge, Arthur Miller, and Edward Albee and considered projects with all of them. During the 1930s, Copland wrote incidental music for several plays, including Irwin Shaw's "Quiet City" (1939), considered one of his most personal and poignant scores.

In 1939, Copland completed his first two Hollywood film scores, for ''Of Mice and Men'' and ''Our Town'', and received sizable commissions. In the same year, he composed the radio score "John Henry", based on the folk ballad. But it wasn’t until the worldwide market for classical recordings boomed after World War II that he achieved economic security. Even after securing a comfortable income, he continued to write, teach, lecture and eventually conduct.

Demonstrating his broad range, Copland in the 1930s began composing music for ballet, including his highly successful ''Billy the Kid'' (1939), the second of four ballets he scored (after ''Hear Ye! Hear Ye!'' (1934)). Copland's ballet music established him as an authentic composer of American music much as Stravinsky's ballet scores established him with Russian music. Copland's timing was excellent; he helped fill a vacuum for the American choreographers who needed suitable music to score their own nationalistic dance repertory.

In keeping with the wartime period, Copland's "Piano Sonata" (1941) was a piece characterized as "grim, nervous, elegiac, with pervasive bell-like tolling of alarm and mourning." It was later adapted to "Day on Earth," a landmark American dance by Doris Humphrey.

Copland started to publish some of his lectures in the 1930s, "What to Listen for in Music" being one of the most notable of his writings. Copland eventually moved over to rival ASCAP. Through royalties and with his great success from 1940 on, Copland amassed a multi-million dollar fortune by the time of his death.

The decade of the 1940s was arguably Copland's most productive, and it firmly established his worldwide fame. His two ballet scores for ''Rodeo'' (1942) and ''Appalachian Spring'' (1944) were huge successes. His pieces ''Lincoln Portrait'' and ''Fanfare for the Common Man'' have become patriotic standards (See Popular works, below). Also important was the ''Third Symphony''. Composed in a two-year period from 1944 to 1946, it became the most popular American symphony of the 20th Century.

In 1945, Copland contributed to ''Jubilee Variation'', a work commissioned by the Cincinnati Symphony in which ten America composers collaborated. But the piece is seldom heard in the concert hall. Copland's ''In the Beginning'' (1947) is a choral work using the first chapter and the first seven verses of the second chapter of Genesis from the King James Version of the Bible and is a masterpiece of the choral repertory.

Copland's ''Clarinet Concerto'' (1948), scored for solo clarinet, strings, harp, and piano, was a commission piece for bandleader and clarinetist Benny Goodman and a complement to Copland's earlier jazz-influenced work, the ''Piano Concerto'' (1926). His "Four Piano Blues" is an introspective composition with a jazz influence.

Copland finished the 1940s with two film scores, one for William Wyler's 1949 film, ''The Heiress'' and one for the film adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel ''The Red Pony''.

In 1949, he returned to Europe to find Pierre Boulez dominating the group of post-War radical musicians. He also met with the proponents of the twelve-tone school (Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, and Alban Berg) and found himself having greater sympathy for them than he did for the French, whom he felt were drifting too far from classical principles to suit his taste.

1950s and 1960s

In 1950, Copland received a Fulbright scholarship to study in Rome, which he did the following year. Around this time, he also composed his ''Piano Quartet'', adopting Schoenberg's twelve-tone method of composition, and ''Old American Songs'' (1950), premiered by William Warfield.

Because of the political climate of that era, ''A Lincoln Portrait'' was withdrawn from the 1953 inaugural concert for President Eisenhower. That same year, Copland was called before Congress, where he testified that he was never a communist.

Despite the difficulties that his suspected Communist sympathies posed, Copland nonetheless traveled extensively during the 1950s and early 1960s, observing the avant-garde styles of Europe while experiencing the new school of Soviet music. In addition, he was rather taken with the work of Toru Takemitsu while in Japan and began a correspondence with him that would last over the next decade. Copland wrote of the Japanese composer: "He has the 'pure gold' touch, he chooses his notes carefully and meaningfully." Copland also gained exposure to the latest musical trends in Poland and Scandinavia. In observing these new musical forms, Copland revised his text "The New Music" with comments on the styles that he encountered. In particular, while Copland explained the importance of the work of John Cage and others (in his chapter titled "The Music of Chance"), he found that these radical trends in music which appealed to those "who enjoy teetering on the edge of chaos" were less likely to gain the appreciation of a wider audience "who envisage art as a bulwark against the irrationality of man's nature." As he summarized: "I’ve spent most of my life trying to get the right note in the right place. Just throwing it open to chance seems to go against my natural instincts."

In 1954, Copland received a commission from Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein to create music for the opera ''The Tender Land'', based on James Agee's ''Let Us Now Praise Famous Men''. Copland had been leery of writing an opera, being especially aware of the pitfalls of that form, including weak libretti and demanding production values. Nevertheless, Copland decided to try his hand at "la forme fatale," especially as the 1950s were boom times for American playwrights, with Arthur Miller, Clifford Odets and Thorton Wilder doing some of their best work. In spite of its flaws, the opera has established itself as one of the few American operas in the standard repertory.

Copland exerted a major influence on the compositional style of an entire generation of American composers, including his friend and protégé Leonard Bernstein. Bernstein was considered the finest conductor of Copland's works and cites Copland's "aesthetic, simplicity with originality" as being his strongest and most influential traits.

Later life

From the 1960s onward, Copland's activities turned more from composing to conducting. Though not enamored with the prospect, he found himself without new ideas for composition, saying: "It was exactly as if someone had simply turned off a faucet." Copland was a frequent guest conductor of orchestras in the US and the UK. He made a series of recordings of his music, primarily for Columbia Records. In 1960, RCA Victor released Copland's recordings with the Boston Symphony Orchestra of the orchestral suites from ''Appalachian Spring'' and ''The Tender Land''; these recordings were later reissued on CD, as were most of Copland's Columbia recordings (by Sony). From 1960 to his death, he resided at Cortlandt Manor, New York. His home, known as Rock Hill, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. It was further designated a National Historic Landmark in 2008. Copland's health deteriorated through the 1980s, and he died of Alzheimer's disease and respiratory failure on December 2, 1990, in North Tarrytown, New York (now Sleepy Hollow). Much of his large estate was bequeathed to the creation of the Aaron Copland Fund for Composers, which bestows over $600,000 per year to performing groups.

Personal life

Copland was a calm, affable, modest, and mild-mannered man, who masked his feelings. Even friends found it hard to crack his façade. Although shy, he preferred to be in a crowd rather than alone. He lived simply and approached composing in the same manner. He was an avid reader. He always remained thrifty, even after he achieved substantial wealth. In company, Copland could be "almost devilishly droll" and fun-loving. His tact served him well in his private life and in his public life as a moderator, committee man, and teacher. Copland was a constant and diligent worker and a night owl, who composed primarily at the piano and at a relatively slow pace. He was careful in assembling and storing his documents and scores, so he could later find and re-use earlier ideas and themes.

Deciding not to follow the example of his father, a solid Democrat, Copland never enrolled as a member of any political party, but he espoused a general progressive view and had strong ties with numerous colleagues and friends in the Popular Front, including Odets. Copland supported the Communist Party USA ticket during the 1936 presidential election, at the height of his involvement with The Group Theater, and remained a committed opponent of militarism and the Cold War, which he regarded as having been instigated by the United States. He condemned it as, "almost worse for art than the real thing". Throw the artist "into a mood of suspicion, ill-will, and dread that typifies the cold war attitude and he'll create nothing". In keeping with these attitudes, Copland was a strong supporter of the Presidential candidacy of Henry A. Wallace on the Progressive Party ticket. As a result, he was later investigated by the FBI during the Red scare of the 1950s and found himself blacklisted. Copland was included on an FBI list of 151 artists thought to have Communist associations. Joseph McCarthy and Roy Cohn questioned Copland about his lecturing abroad, neglecting completely Copland's works which made a virtue of American values. Outraged by the accusations, many members of the musical community held up Copland's music as a banner of his patriotism. The investigations ceased in 1955 and were closed in 1975. Though taxing of his time, energy, and emotional state, Copland's career and international artistic reputation were not seriously affected by the McCarthy probes. In any case, beginning in 1950, Copland, who had been appalled at Stalin's persecution of Shostakovich and other artists, began resigning from participation in leftist groups. He decried the lack of artistic freedom in the Soviet Union, and in his 1954 Norton lecture he asserted that loss of freedom under Soviet Communism deprived artists of "the immemorial right of the artist to be wrong." He began to vote Democratic, first for Stevenson and then for Kennedy.

Composer

Influences

Copland's earliest musical inclinations as a teenager ran toward Chopin, Debussy, Verdi and the Russian composers. Some of his preferences might also have been formed by the anti-German feelings during World War I, as later he studied German music. Copland's curiosity about the latest music from Debussy and Scriabin was frustrated by the fact that sheet music for "avant-garde" works was expensive at that time and hard to come by. Of all her students, she listed Copland first. Copland especially admired Boulanger's total grasp of all classical music, and he was encouraged to experiment and develop a "clarity of conception and elegance in proportion." Following her model, he studied all periods of classical music and all forms—from madrigals to symphonies. This breadth of vision led Copland to compose music for numerous settings—orchestra, opera, solo piano, small ensemble, art song, ballet, theater and film. Boulanger particularly emphasized "la grande ligne" (the long line), "a sense of forward motion...the feeling for inevitability, for the creating of an entire piece that could be thought of as a functioning entity." Copland stated that an ideal music might combine Mozart's "spontaneity and refinement" with Palestrina's "purity" and Bach's "profundity".

Copland was excited to be so close to the new post-Impressionistic French music of Ravel, Roussel, and Satie, as well as Les six, a group that included Milhaud, Poulenc, and Honegger. Webern, Berg, and Bartók also impressed him. Copland was "insatiable" in seeking out the newest European music, whether in concerts, score reading or heated debate. These "moderns" were discarding the old laws of composition and experimenting with new forms, harmonies and rhythms, and including the use of jazz and quarter-tone music. Serge Koussevitzky had just arrived in Paris and was adding to the ferment by conducting and promoting the new music of Russia and France. Later he would conduct many Copland premieres in New York. Among the first performances that Copland attended was Milhaud's ''La création du monde'', which caused riots in Paris. Milhaud was Copland's inspiration for some of his earlier "jazzy" works. He was also exposed to Schoenberg and admired his earlier atonal pieces, thinking Schoenberg's ''Pierrot Lunaire'' a landmark work comparable to Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring." Copland even tried out Schoenberg's innovative twelve-tone system and adapted it to his style.

Above all others, Copland named Igor Stravinsky as his "hero" and his favorite twentieth century composer. Stravinsky's rhythm and vitality is apparent in many of his works. Copland especially admired Stravinsky's "jagged and uncouth rhythmic effects," "bold use of dissonance," and "hard, dry, crackling sonority."

Another inspiration for much of Copland's music was jazz. Although familiar with jazz back in America—having listened to it and also played it in bands—he fully realized its potential while traveling in Austria: "The impression of jazz one receives in a foreign country is totally unlike the impression of such music heard in one's own country...when I heard jazz played in Vienna, it was like hearing it for the first time." His earlier works especially demonstrate the influence of jazz rhythmic, timbral and harmonic practices. That influence is apparent in a few later works, such as the ''Clarinet Concerto'' commissioned by Benny Goodman. During the late 1920s and 1930s, Copland sought out jazz at the Cotton Club and heard Duke Ellington, Benny Carter and Bix Beiderbecke, among others. Of Duke Ellington among other jazz composers, Copland said he was "the master of them all."

Although Copland was intrigued by the idea of a "jazz concerto" and "symphonic jazz," his ''Concerto for Piano and Orchestra'' did not succeed in that form as had those of Maurice Ravel and George Gershwin, who was praised by such eminent musical exiles as Schoenberg, Bartók, and Stravinsky (Gershwin had recently died at 38 and so was no longer a potential rival). Yet, enthusiastic as he was about jazz throughout his life, Copland also recognized its limitations:

"With the [Piano] Concerto I felt I had done all I could with the idiom, considering its limited emotional scope. True, it was an easy way to be American in musical terms, but all American music could not possibly be confined to two dominant jazz moods – the blues and the snappy number."

Although his early focus of jazz gave way to other influences, Copland continued to make use of jazz in more subtle ways in later works. Copland pointed out in summarizing the American character of his music, "the optimistic tone", "his love of rather large canvases", "a certain directness in expression of sentiment", and "a certain songfulness". As he advanced in his career (by 1941), he said of himself and advised other composers:

"I no longer feel the need of seeking out conscious Americanisms [folksongs and folk rhythms]. Because we live here and work here, we can be certain that when our music is mature it will also be American in quality."

In contradiction to this statement, however, he continued to look for and employ folk material for several more years.

Copland's work from the late 1940s onward included experimentation with Schönberg's twelve-tone system, resulting in two major works, the ''Piano Quartet'' (1950) and the ''Piano Fantasy'' (1957).

Early work

Copland's earliest compositions before leaving for Paris were short works for piano and some art songs, inspired mostly by Liszt and Debussy. He experimented with ambiguous beginnings and endings, rapid key changes, and the frequent use of tritones. In ''Three Moods'' (1921), Copland's final movement is entitled "Jazzy", which he noted "is based on two jazz melodies and ought to make the old professors sit up and take notice".

One of Copland's first significant works upon returning from his studies in Paris was the necromantic ballet ''Grohg''. This ballet, suggested to Copland by the film ''Nosferatu'', a free adaptation of the Dracula tale, provided the source material for his later ''Dance Symphony''. Originally intended as an orchestral exercise while he was studying in Paris, Copland completed it as a full orchestral score after returning to New York in 1925. It too had "jazz elements" as did many of Copland's works in the 1920s.

Copland's ''Symphony for Organ and Orchestra'' (1924) brought him into contact with Serge Koussevitzky, a conductor known as a champion of "new music", and another figure who would prove to be influential in Copland's life, perhaps the second most important after Boulanger. Koussevitzky performed twelve Copland works during his tenure as conductor of the Boston Symphony. Copland's relationship with Koussevitzky was apparently unique, as his interpretations of Copland's works reflected the particular admiration that the latter had for the young composer. Copland's ''Music for the Theatre'' (1925) and the ''Piano Concerto'' (1926) were both composed for Koussevitzky.

Other major works of his first period include the ''Piano Variations'' (1930), and the ''Short Symphony'' (1933). However, this jazz-inspired period was relatively brief, as his style evolved toward the goal of writing more accessible works using folk sources.

Popular works

Impressed with the success of Virgil Thomson's "Four Saints in Three Acts", Copland wrote ''El Salón México'' between 1932 and 1936, which met with a popular acclaim that contrasted the relative obscurity of most of his previous works. It appears he intended it to be a popular favorite, as he wrote in 1927: "It seems a long, long time since anyone has written an ''Espana'' or a ''Bolero''—the kind of brilliant piece that everyone loves." Copland derived freely from two collections of Mexican folk tunes, changing pitches and varying rhythms. The use of a folk tune with variations set in a symphonic context started a pattern he repeated in many of his most successful works right on through the 1940s. This work also marked the return of jazz patterns to Copland's compositional style, though they appeared in a more subdued form than before and were no longer the centerpiece. Chávez conducted the premiere, and ''El Salón México'' became an international hit, gaining Copland wide recognition.

Copland achieved his first major success in ballet music with his groundbreaking score ''Billy the Kid'', based on a Walter Noble Burns novel, with choreography by Eugene Loring. The ballet was among the first to display an American music and dance vocabulary, adapting the "strong technique and intense charm of Astaire" and other American dancers. It was distinctive in its use of polyrhythm and polyharmony, particularly in the cowboy songs. The ballet premiered in New York in 1939, with Copland recalling "I cannot remember another work of mine that was so unanimously received." John Martin wrote, "Aaron Copland has furnished an admirable score, warm and human, and with not a wasted note about it anywhere." It became a staple work of the American Ballet Theatre, and Copland's twenty minute suite from the ballet became part of the standard orchestral repertoire. When asked how a Jewish New Yorker managed so well to capture the Old West, Copland answered "It was just a feat of imagination."

In the early 1940s, Copland produced two important works intended as national morale boosters. ''Fanfare for the Common Man'', scored for brass and percussion, was written in 1942 at the request of the conductor Eugene Goossens, conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. It would later be used to open many Democratic National Conventions, and to add dignity to a wide range of other events. Even musical groups from Woody Herman's jazz band to the Rolling Stones adapted the opening theme. Emerson, Lake & Palmer recorded a "prog rock" version of the composition in 1977. The fanfare was also used as the main theme of the fourth movement of Copland's ''Third Symphony,'' where it first appears in a quiet, pastoral manner, then in the brassier form of the original. In the same year, Copland wrote ''A Lincoln Portrait'', a commission from conductor André Kostelanetz, leading to a further strengthening of his association with American patriotic music. The work is famous for the spoken recitation of Lincoln's words, though the idea had been previously employed by John Alden Carpenter's "Song of Faith" based on George Washington's quotations. "Lincoln Portrait" is often performed at national holiday celebrations. Many Americans have performed the recitation, including politicians, actors, and musicians and Copland himself, with Henry Fonda doing the most notable recording. This fragment (lifted from Ruth Crawford Seeger) is now one of the best-known compositions by any American composer, having been used numerous times in movies and on television, including commercials for the American beef industry. The ballet, originally titled "The Courting at Burnt Ranch", was choreographed by Agnes de Mille, niece of film giant Cecil B. DeMille. It premiered at the Metropolitan Opera on October 16, 1942 with de Mille dancing the principal "cowgirl" role and the performance received a standing ovation. A reduced score is still popular as an orchestral piece, especially at "Pops" concerts.

Copland was commissioned to write another ballet, ''Appalachian Spring'', originally written using thirteen instruments, which he ultimately arranged as a popular orchestral suite. The commission for ''Appalachian Spring'' came from Martha Graham, who had requested of Copland merely "music for an American ballet". Copland titled the piece "Ballet for Martha", having no idea of how she would use it on stage but he had her in mind. "When I wrote ‘Appalachian Spring’ I was thinking primarily about Martha and her unique choreographic style, which I knew well…And she's unquestionably very American: there's something prim and restrained, simple yet strong, about her which one tends to think of as American." Copland borrowed the flavor of Shaker songs and dances, and directly used the dance song Simple Gifts. Graham took the score and created a ballet she called ''Appalachian Spring'' (from a poem by Hart Crane which had no connection with Shakers). It was an instant success, and the music later acquired the same name. Copland was amused and delighted later in life when people would come up to him and say: "Mr. Copland, when I see that ballet and when I hear your music I can see the Appalachians and just feel spring." Copland had no particular setting in mind while writing the music, he just tried to give it an American flavor, and had no knowledge of the borrowed title.

Symphonic works

Copland composed three numbered symphonies, but applied the word "symphony" to more than just symphonies of typical structure. He rewrote his early three-movement ''Organ Symphony'' omitting the organ, calling the result his ''First Symphony''. His fifteen-minute ''Short Symphony'' was the ''Second Symphony'', though it also exists as the ''Sextet''. His ''Dance Symphony'' was hurriedly extracted from the earlier unproduced ballet ''Grohg'' to meet an RCA Records commission deadline.

The ''Third Symphony'' is in the more traditional format (four movements; second movement, scherzo; third movement, adagio) and is his most famous symphony. At forty minutes, it is his longest orchestral composition. He composed it with Koussevitzky's unique character in mind, "I knew exactly the kind of music he enjoyed conducting and the sentiments he brought with it, and I knew the sound of his orchestra, so I had every reason to do my darnedest to write a symphony in the grand manner." Completing the work after World War II was won by the Allies, he stated that the symphony was "intended to reflect the euphoric spirit of the country at the time." It is the best known, most performed, and most recorded American symphony of the 20th Century.

Later work

Copland's work in the late 1940s and 1950s included use of Schönberg's twelve-tone system, a development that he recognized as important, but which he did not fully embrace. His first result was his "Piano Quartet" (1950). However, he found the atonality of serialized music to run counter to his desire to reach a wide audience. So, in contrast to the Second Viennese School, Copland's use of the system emphasized the importance of the "classicalizing principles", in order to prevent the material from falling into "near-chaos".

In 1951, Copland undertook one of his most challenging works, the "Piano Fantasy" (1957) which he labored over for several years. Critics lauded the effort, calling the piece "an outstanding addition to his own oeuvre and to contemporary piano literature" and "a tremendous achievement". Jay Rosenfield stated, "This is a new Copland to us, an artist advancing with strength and not building on the past alone."

Other late works include: "Dance Panels" (1959, ballet music), "Something Wild" (1961, his last film score)(much of which would be later incorporated into his "Music for a Great City"), "Connotations" (1962, for the new Lincoln Center Philharmonic hall), "Emblems" (1964, for wind band), "Night Thoughts" (1972, for the Van Cliburn Piano Competition), and "Proclamation’" (1982, his last work, started in 1973).

Film composer

By the 1930s, Hollywood began to beckon "serious" composers with promises of better films and higher pay. The reality, however, was that few found good projects. Copland sought to enter that arena, as both a challenge for his abilities as a composer and an opportunity to expand his reputation and audience for his more serious works. Unlike the total attention he would hope to get from a concert-goer, Copland wrote that film music had to achieve a balance. It should be "secondary in importance to the story being told on the screen" while notably adding to the dramatic and emotional content of the film—but without diverting the viewer's attention from the action.

Upon arriving in Hollywood in 1937, he had high hopes: "It is just a matter of finding a feature film that needs my kind of music." What he found, however, was the ongoing tendency of studios to edit and cut movie scores, which often subverted a composer's intentions. No projects seemed suitable at first. But his patience paid off two years later when Copland found a kindred spirit in director Lewis Milestone, who allowed Copland to supervise his own orchestration and who refrained from interfering with his work. Copland composed three of his five film scores for Milestone.

This collaboration resulted in the notable film ''Of Mice and Men'' (1939), from the novel by John Steinbeck, that earned Copland his first nomination for an Academy Award ( he actually received two nominations, one for "best score" and another for "original score"). He considered himself lucky with his first film score: "Here was an American theme, by a great American writer, demanding appropriate music." He often avoided the full orchestra, and he rejected the common practice of using a leitmotiv to identify characters with their own personal themes. He instead matched a theme to the action, while avoiding the underlining of every action with exaggerated emphasis.

Another technique Copland employed was to keep silent during intimate screen moments and only begin the music as a confirming motive toward the end of a scene. Virgil Thompson wrote that the score for "Of Mice and Men" established "the most distinguished populist musical style yet created in America."

Copland's score for ''The North Star'' (1943) was nominated for an Academy Award, and his score for William Wyler's 1949 film, ''The Heiress'' won the award. Several themes from his scores are incorporated in the suite ''Music for Movies.''

When commenting on the effectiveness of film scores, Copland said: "I'd love to be able to have audiences see a film with the music, then see it a second time with the music turned off, and then see it a third time with the music turned on. Then, I think they'd get a much more specific idea of what the music does for a film.".

Critic, writer, and teacher

Starting with his first critiques in 1924, Copland began a long career as music critic, teacher, and observer, mostly of contemporary classical music. He was an avid lecturer and lecturer-performer. He wrote reviews of specific works, trends, composers, festivals, books about music, and recordings. He took on a wide range of issues from the most general ("Creativity") to the most practical ("Composer Economics"). Copland also wrote three books, "What to Listen for in Music (1939)", "Our New Music (1941)", and "Music and Imagination" (1952). He had a long list of notable students (see below). Copland put a good deal of time and energy into supporting young musicians, especially through his association with the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood, both as a guest conductor and teacher. In working with young composers, Copland thought it more important to focus on expressive content than on technical points.

Conductor

Copland studied conducting in Paris in 1921, but not until his involvement conducting his own Hollywood scores, did he undertake it except out of necessity. On his international travels in the 1940s, however, he began to make appearances as a guest conductor, performing his own works. By the 1950s, he was conducting the works of other composers as well. From the 1960s on, he conducted far more than he composed.

A self-taught conductor, Copland developed a very personal style. He occasionally asked friend Leonard Bernstein for advice. Copland took an understated and unpretentious approach to conducting and modeled his style after other composer/conductors such as Stravinsky and Hindemith. Observers of Copland noted that he had "none of the typical conductorial vanities". Though his friendly and modest persona, and his great enthusiasm, were appreciated by professional orchestra musicians, some criticized his beat as "unsteady" and his interpretations as "unexciting". Some of his peers, like Koussevitzky, went even further, advising him to "stay home and compose". Copland thoroughly enjoyed conducting but admitted that he did it in part because in the last seventeen years of his life he felt little inspiration to compose. He was offered "permanent" conducting posts but preferred to operate as a guest conductor. Nearly all of Copland's conducting appearances included his own works, which added to the intoxication of conducting. As he stated, "Conducting puts one in a very powerful position…Best of all, it is a use of power for a good purpose." It also allowed him the freedom to travel which he always enjoyed.

Copland was a strong advocate for newer music and composers, and his programs always included heavy representation of 20th century music and lesser-known composers. Newton Mansfield, violinist with the New York Philharmonic, stated, "The orchestra didn’t take him too seriously. It was like going out to a nice lunch." Copland recorded nearly all his orchestral works with himself conducting. Beginning in 1964, this award "established to bring a declaration of appreciation to an individual each year that has made a significant contribution to the world of music and helped to create a climate in which our talents may find valid expression." Copland was awarded the New York Music Critics’ Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize in composition for ''Appalachian Spring''. His scores for ''Of Mice and Men'' (1939), ''Our Town'' (1940), and ''The North Star'' (1943) all received Academy Award nominations, while ''The Heiress'' won Best Music in 1950.

In 1986, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.

He was awarded a special Congressional Gold Medal by the United States Congress in 1987. He was made an honorary member of the Alpha Epsilon chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia in 1961 and was awarded the fraternity's Charles E. Lutton Man of Music Award in 1970.

Notable students

Samuel Adler

Norma Beecroft

Elmer Bernstein

Paul Bowles

Mario Davidovsky

Jacob Druckman

Halim El-Dabh

Alberto Ginastera

Alvin Lucier

José Pablo Moncayo

Juan Orrego-Salas

Einojuhani Rautavaara

Michael Tilson Thomas

Douglas Townsend

Lester Trimble

Selected works

''Scherzo Humoristique: The Cat and the Mouse'' (1920)

''Four Motets'' (1921)

''Passacaglia'' (piano solo) (1922)

''Symphony for Organ and Orchestra'' (1924)

''Music for the Theater'' (1925)

''Dance Symphony'' (1925)

''Concerto for Piano and Orchestra'' (1926)

''Symphonic Ode'' (1927–1929)

''Piano Variations'' (1930)

''Grohg'' (1925/32) (ballet)

''Short Symphony (Symphony No. 2)'' (1931–33)

''Statements for orchestra'' (1932–35)

''The Second Hurricane, play-opera for high school performance'' (1936)

''El Salón México'' (1936)

''Billy the Kid'' (1938) (ballet)

''Quiet City'' (1940)

''Our Town'' (1940)

''Piano Sonata'' (1939–41)

''An Outdoor Overture'', written for high school orchestras (1938) and transcribed for wind band (1941)

''Fanfare for the Common Man'' (1942)

''Lincoln Portrait'' (1942)

''Rodeo'' (1942) (ballet)

''Danzon Cubano'' (1942)

''Music for the Movies'' (1942)

''Sonata for violin and piano'' (1943)

''Appalachian Spring'' (1944) (ballet)

''Third Symphony'' (1944–1946)

''In the Beginning'' (1947)

''The Red Pony'' (1948)

''Clarinet Concerto'' (commissioned by Benny Goodman) (1947–1948)

''Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson'' (1950)

''Piano Quartet'' (1950)

''Old American Songs'' (1952)

''The Tender Land'' (1954) (opera)

''Canticle of Freedom'' (1955)

''Orchestral Variations'' (orchestration of ''Piano Variations'') (1957)

''Piano Fantasy'' (1957)

''Dance Panels'' (1959; revised 1962) (ballet)

''Connotations'' (1962)

''Down A Country Lane'' (1962)

''Music for a Great City'' (1964) (based on his score of the 1961 film ''Something Wild'')

''Emblems, for wind band'' (1964)

''Inscape'' (1967)

''Duo for flute and piano'' (1971)

''Three Latin American Sketches'' (1972)

Film

''Aaron Copland: A Self-Portrait'' (1985). Directed by Allan Miller. Biographies in Music series. Princeton, New Jersey: The Humanities.

''Appalachian Spring'' (1996). Directed by Graham Strong, Scottish Television Enterprises. Princeton, New Jersey: Films for the Humanities.

''Copland Portrait'' (1975). Directed by Terry Sanders, United States Information Agency. Santa Monica, California: American Film Foundation.

''Fanfare for America: The Composer Aaron Copland'' (2001). Directed by Andreas Skipis. Produced by Hessischer Rundfunk in association with Reiner Moritz Associates. Princeton, New Jersey: Films for the Humanities & Sciences.

Written works

Copland, Aaron (1939; Revised 1957), ''What to Listen For in Music'', New York, New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, reprinted many times.

Copland, Aaron (2006). ''Music and Imagination'', Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-58915-5

Notes

References

Berger, Arthur, ''Aaron Copland'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1953)

Hall, Roger, ''A Guide to Film Music: Songs and Scores ''(Stoughton, MA: PineTree Press, 2007)

Kamien, Roger, ''Music: An Appreciation'', 3rd edition (Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill College, 1997), ISBN 0-07-036521-0

Oja, Carol J., & Judith Tick, eds., ''Aaron Copland and His World'' (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005)

Pollack, Howard, ''Aaron Copland'' (NY: Henry Holt and Co., 1999), ISBN 0-8050-4909-6

Ross, Alex, ''The Rest is Noise: Listening To The Twentieth Century'' 1st edition (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007)

Smith, Julia, ''Aaron Copland'' (New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1953)

External links

Copland House

American Masters "Aaron Copland" at www.pbs.org

The Aaron Copland Collection, 1900–1990, Music Division, Library of Congress

Review of "Howard Pollack, Aaron Copland: The Life and Work of an Uncommon Man" by R. James Tobin

Who Was That Masked Composer? by David Schiff

Aaron Copland and His World

Aaron Copland On Film Music

Brief Copland Bio

''Music and Imagination'' (1952)

Keeping Score: Copland and the American Sound – Multimedia website produced by the San Francisco Symphony

Aaron Copland at NPR Music

Aaron Copland's personal library on LibraryThing

The Presidency Project – ''Remarks at the Presentation of the 1964 Presidential Medal of Freedom Awards.''

Lifetime Honors – National Medal of Arts

; Listening

Art of the States: Aaron Copland

Audio (.ram files) of a 1961 interview for the BBC

Audio (.smil files) of a 1980 interview for NPR

Fanfare for America (video)

Category:1900 births Category:1990 deaths Category:20th-century classical composers Category:American film score composers Category:Congressional Gold Medal recipients Category:Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Category:Deaths from respiratory failure Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Best Original Music Score Academy Award winners Category:Guggenheim Fellows Category:Hollywood blacklist

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