The American Stravinsky: The Style and Aesthetics of Copland's New American Music, the Early Works, 1921-1938

304 Pages·2012·5.337 MB·English

by  Gayle Murchison

THE AMERICAN STRAVINSKY

THE AMERICAN STRAVINSKY
The Style and Aesthetics of
Copland’s New American Music,
the Early Works, 1921–1938
Gayle Murchison
::
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN PRESS ANN ARBOR
::
TO THE MEMORY OF MY MOTHERS
Beulah McQueen Murchison and Earnestine Arnette
Copyright © by the University of Michigan 2012
All rights reserved
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part,
including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying
permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright
Law and except by reviewers for the public press),
without written permission from the publisher.
Published in the United States of America by
The University of Michigan Press
Manufactured in the United States of America
(cid:1) Printed on acid-free paper
2015 2014 2013 2012 4 3 2 1
A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-0-472-09984-9
Publication of this book was supported by a grant from the
H. Earle Johnson Fund of the Society for American Music.
“Excellence in all endeavors”
“Smile in the face of adversity . . . and never give up!”

Acknowledgments
Hoc opus, hic labor est.
I stand on the shoulders of those who have come before. Over the past
forty years family, friends, professors, teachers, colleagues, eminent
scholars, students, and just plain folk have taught me much of what you
read in these pages. And the Creator has given me the wherewithal to ex-
ecute what is now before you.
First, I could not have completed research without the assistance of
the staff at various libraries. I express gratitude to the library staff at Tu-
lane and Yale universities and the University of Arkansas. At the Music
Division of the Library of Congress, Wilda Heiss and Lloyd DePinchback
made available to me the Aaron Copland Collection, which in the early
1990s was uncataloged. Thanks also go to the attorney for the Copland
Estate, the late Ellis Freedman, who granted permission to use the collec-
tion, which was not open to the public at the time I conducted my re-
search. I also am indebted to the Aaron Copland Foundation and Boosey
and Hawkes. The staff at the American Composers’ Alliance and the
American Music Center in New York opened their files to me. Any work
on Aaron Copland owes much to Vivian Perlis, for her vision in founding
the Oral History Project in American Music at Yale, and because she so
generously shares her memories of her dear friend. Mrs. Perlis, I hope this
study does justice to Copland and all he accomplished. This book could
not have been published in its present form without the support of the
Earl Johnson Bequest for Book Publication Subvention awarded by the
Society for American Music and a Publication Subvention from the Amer-
ican Musicological Society. I am immensely grateful to these societies for
their support.
I have not worked in a vacuum. Many professors have lit my path. I
thank Michael Friedmann and Reinhard Strohm. The late Claude V.
Palisca provided a sterling scholarly model. I coined the term Paliscare
when studying Italian in graduate school; it means to work hard, thor-
oughly, and productively. I hope that this present work does justice to the
word. I also wish to thank V. Kofi Agawu, Carol Oja, and William Lowe.
I also express immense gratitude to Josephine Wright and Kay Kaufmann
Shelemay. When I first began work on Copland, I had few colleagues
working in this area, unlike today. I acknowledge and thank my Copland
colleagues Sally Bick, Elisabeth Crist, Jennifer DeLapp, Howard Pollack,
and Marta Robertson. I also wish to thank Gayle Sherwood. Special
thanks is due my extraordinarily patient and understanding editors at the
University of Michigan Press, Chris Hebert, Marcia LaBrenz, and Ellen
Bauerle.
So many dear friends have offered support along the way: I wish to
thank Dr. Merlyn Hurd and the late Hugh Hurd; Denise Hurd for hous-
ing me during the New York stage of the research; and Pam Potter for the
many kitchen table conversations. I also apologize for the impositions: to
Miriam Jaffe and Karen Robinson in Baltimore; to Pamela Jaffari and
Kimberly Williams in Washington, D.C.; to Ned Lochaya, Ellie Murphy,
and Kelly Parr in New York; to John Gough in Glasgow and London; to
Claire Detels and Lewis Chamness in Arkansas; and to Jacqueline
McLendon and Hermine and Don Pinson in Williamsburg. I also thank
my Tulane colleagues Felipe Smith and Amy Koritz. Michael Cunning-
ham, Pam Franco, Joy V. Fugua, and Rosanne Adderley have been
tremendous; you cannot find better. Und auch, veilen Dank, Herr und
Frau Herrmann, Karin Herrmann, und Baerli. Joan Capra also opened
her home to me, welcoming my many boxes and papers. Violet Fitz-
patrick, Hillary, and Buster played a major part in the early stage of this
work. Jerise Fogel went above and beyond: without her love and sup-
port, my dissertation would not have gotten to Yale on time during that
week when my mother died.
I thank other friends for their support: C. Evelynn Hawkins, Tammy
Kernodle, Georgiary Bledsoe, and Lisé de Lay. Special thanks go to
Wayne D. Shirley and the late Catherine Parsons Smith. I cannot express
how important it has been to say that you are my friends. Two others are
now no longer with us in this life, but their work and memories live on:
Mark Tucker and John Blassingame. “Blass” is my Du Bois. Ingrid Mon-
son and Okolo Ewunike listened in many telephone conversations, espe-
cially during a time when I lost my parents a year apart, and moved
halfway across the country—twice. And Angus, feline, who played kitten
on the computer keys.
I finished this manuscript in New Orleans in August 2004 and ed-
ited it over the next year. In August 2005Hurricane Katrina devastated
New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Fortunately, I had left the city several
days earlier, but many of my relatives and friends suffered through the
hurricane and its aftermath. Work on the final edits was interrupted as I
watched events unfold and I tried to wrap my mind around what was
happening in the Crescent City. Key people in New Orleans welcomed
and accepted me when others did not. They have touched my life for-
ever. Though dispersed, the Millennium Band lives on: Charles Baker,
Richard Fultz, Ed Wills, Rial Diles, Brian Alexander, and Alvin “Apple”
viii Acknowledgments
Battise. I give a nod to trombonist Doc Lewis and the Hot Sauce Band,
Zion Trinity, and the other musicians I had an opportunity to perform
with or just sit in with. Thanks for keeping it real. The members of Cor-
nerstone United Methodist Church buoyed me during my years there,
especially the mothers of the church, Mrs. Marian Roussel, Mrs. Cora
Charles, Mrs. Janet Jackson, and the late Mrs. Laura Good. I am a
fourth-generation educator. Mrs. Roussel taught generations of school-
children in New Orleans. Miss Cora and Miss Laura taught generations
of nursing students at Dillard University. Thank you for reminding me
how far we have come.
Work could not have been pursued without my family and teachers,
who first encouraged my interest in music. Never forget the bridge that
carries you over. Thanks to my first piano teachers, Mrs. Brown and Carol
Sykes. Special praise goes to my high school piano teacher, the late Mrs.
Judith Aycock, who first said I could be a(n) (ethno)musicologist. My late
godparents, Mr. Isaiah and Mrs. Mildred Jones, told me, “Take God with
you.” I also thank my aunt, Gay A. Killens—blood isthicker than water.
My late father, Theodore W. Murchison, set an example of how to live
life. Most importantly, this book is dedicated to the memory of my moth-
ers: Beulah McQueen Murchison, who both made numerous sacrifices
(now I understand what you were teaching me—you were my rock) and
prescribed the simple edict of excellence in all endeavors; and to master
musician Earnestine Arnette—pianist, choral conductor, church musi-
cian—who saw that I gravitated to the piano when I was three and who
gave me my first musicology test when I was eight (you were my inspira-
tion). Teen, your indomitable spirit, tenacity and perseverance will forever
be unmatched. “Smile in the face of adversity . . . and never give up.”
—Ama, New Orleans, August 2004/Williamsburg, December 2011
Acknowledgments ix