{"id":1959,"date":"2021-01-08T13:20:54","date_gmt":"2021-01-08T18:20:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/?p=1959"},"modified":"2021-01-08T13:20:58","modified_gmt":"2021-01-08T18:20:58","slug":"aaron-copland-one-red-to-another","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/2021\/01\/aaron-copland-one-red-to-another.html","title":{"rendered":"Aaron Copland: &#8220;One Red to Another&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VkZGcJCGczs?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf they were a strange sight to me, I was no less of a one to them. It was the first time that many of them had seen an \u2018intellectual.\u2019 I was being gradually drawn, you see, into the political struggle with the peasantry! I wish you could have seen them \u2013 the true Third Estate, the very material that makes revolution. It\u2019s one thing to think revolution, or talk about it to one\u2019s friends, but to preach it from the streets &#8212; OUT LOUD \u2013 well, I made my speech and I\u2019ll probably never be the same! Now, when we go to town, there are friendly nod from sympathizers, and farmers come up and talk as one red to another. I\u2019ll be sorry to leave here with the thought of probably never seeing them again.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s Aaron Copland in 1934, reflecting upon addressing a Communist picnic in Minnesota \u2013 \u201cone red to another.\u201d Here he is on the topic of \u201cworkers\u2019 songs\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEvery participant in revolutionary activity knows from his own experience that a good mass song is a powerful weapon in the class struggle. It creates solidarity and inspires action.&nbsp;&nbsp;Those of us who wish to see music play its part in the workers struggle for a new world order owe a vote of thanks to the Composers Collective for making an auspicious start in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can hear Copland (vividly re-enacted by Frank Candelaria) talk about his experiences on the far left in\u00a0PostClassical Ensembl<strong>e<\/strong>\u2019s latest <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/postclassical.com\/performances\/postclassical-more-than-music\/\">More than <\/a>Music<\/strong> film:\u00a0<strong>\u201cAaron Copland \u2013 American Populist<\/strong>.\u201d The film also includes a rare performance of Copland\u2019s prize-winning workers\u2019 song \u201cInto the Streets, May First,\u201d with its call \u201cUp with the sickle and the hammer!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And Candelaria and Edward Gero re-enact the 1953 fall-out from these activities: Copland\u2019s grilling by Senator Joseph McCarthy, who says:&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMay I give you some advice. You have a lawyer here. There are witnesses who come before this committee and often indulge in the assumption that they can avoid giving us the facts.&nbsp;&nbsp;Those who underestimate the work the staff has done in the past end up occasionally before a grand jury for perjury, so I&nbsp;&nbsp;suggest when counsel questions you about these matters that you&nbsp;&nbsp;tell the truth or take advantage of the Fifth Amendment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s all eerily pertinent today, this saga of an iconic American composer jostled by Populist currents on the far left, then the far right \u2013 and finally retreating from the fray. Our film includes the participation of a couple of distinguished American historians: Michael Kazin (on Populism) and Joseph McCartin (on the Red Scare). It also incorporates extensive excerpts from PCE\u2019s Naxos DVD of&nbsp;<em>The City<\/em>(1939) \u2013 Copland\u2019s highest achievement as a film composer, and the least known consequential music that he composed.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ultimately, I suggest, Copland somewhat resembles \u201ca cork in a stream,\u201d buffeted by political and social currents \u2013 a saga that raises many questions, including: What is the fate of the arts in the United States?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s an index to our 75-minute film, memorably \u201cvisualized\u201d by Peter Bogdanoff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>10:14 \u2013 Copland on that Communist picnic<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>11:48 \u2013 Copland on workers\u2019 songs<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>12:34 \u2013 \u201cInto the Streets, May First\u201d sung by Lisa Vroman and William Sharp<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>16:37 \u2013 Copland on Hollywood film music (with some Korngold to listen to)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>20:00 \u2013 Excerpts from&nbsp;<em>The City<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>39:20 \u2013 Joseph McCartin on the Red Scare<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>44:34 \u2013 Joe McCarthy and Roy Cohn grill Copland<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>58:25 \u2013 Music historian Beth Levy on Copland\u2019s quest for musical identity<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1:04:32 \u2013 Michael Kazin on Copland and the Popular Front<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1:06:30 \u2013 My summing up &#8212; a \u201ccork in a stream\u201d \u2013 with comparisons to Charles Ives and George Gershwin: composers with deeper roots<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1:12:54 \u2013 The last word goes to pianist Benjamin Pasternack, recalling an illuminating meeting with Aaron Copland at Tanglewood.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cIf they were a strange sight to me, I was no less of a one to them. It was the first time that many of them had seen an \u2018intellectual.\u2019 I was being gradually drawn, you see, into the political struggle with the peasantry! I wish you could have seen them \u2013 the true Third [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1959","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2QLHN-vB","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1959"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1960,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1959\/revisions\/1960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}