El Salón México
by
Transcribed for Band by Mark
Hindsley
Aaron Copland was born on November 14, 1900 into a non-musical family in Brooklyn, New York. The son of Jewish immigrants from Russia, he was one of four children. In 1914, after six years of piano lessons with his sister, Copland began to study with Leopold Wolfsohn. Feeling held back by Wolfsohn’s methods, Copland privately sought lessons with two other teachers, Clarence Adler and Victor Wittgenstein. It was shortly after this, around 1916, that Copland said, “the idea of becoming a composer seems gradually to have dawned upon me.” He thereafter began taking harmony lessons in 1917 with Rubin Goldmark. While his time with Goldmark proved valuable, Copland was “disturbed by Goldmark’s conservatism” and was considered a “musical rebel” in Goldmark’s eyes, composing “modernistic experiments” for the piano.”
During
the summer of 1921 Copland went to Fontainebleau in Paris. There he studied with Paul Vidal of the
Paris Conservatory who “turned out to be a French version of Rubin Goldmark.”
Again he sought private instruction and was fortunate enough to be
accepted as a student of Nadia Boulanger.
She turned out to be what he needed, having the “ability to inspire a
pupil with confidence in his own creative powers”, allowing Copland to
experiment as he desired. It
was under her guidance in February 1922 that Copland’s music was first
performed at a public concert.
Copland returned to America in June 1924 with the desire to compose American music. His first compositions contained jazz idioms, attempting to appeal to the public. Due to the failure of this music as “audience pleasing” and to its limited acceptance Copland turned his aim to folksongs. This desire lead him to “the distinctive qualities of American folk music” and furthermore, his true success as a populist/American composer. For the next thirty years Copland used a variety of folksongs ranging from The Star Spangled Banner in Hear Ye! Hear Ye! (1934) to Amazing Grace in Emblems (1964).
Copland was a very diverse composer, composing for vocal, chorus, opera, piano, chamber, orchestra, film, and television. A few of his most successful pieces include: El Salón México (1936); Billy the Kid (1938); An Outdoor Overture (1938); Fanfare for the Common Man (1942); Rodeo (1942); and Appalachian Spring (1944).
As
for characteristics of his music, the first thing to note is his
intervals. On of Copland’s melodic
trademark is the interval of a third but many others would claim the more open
intervals of 5ths, 6ths, and 10ths are more important. The larger intervals are said to represent
Copland’s views of America’s wide-open space.
His melodic writing is considered to be “direct and vigorous, featuring
frequent skips and leaps, even in the vocal works. At the same time, his melodies tend to avoid florid or chromatic
elaborations.” His melodies and
harmonies are “closely coordinated” and “modulations tend to be brief and
unpredictable.” Copland preferred “wide-spaced texture of few notes” and his
orchestration is “plain, clean-colored, deeply imaginative…theatrically
functional…it has style.”
Like his accomplishments and activities, a complete list of honors and awards would be too long, but a few of his achievements are: Academy Award for Best Original Music Score for The Heiress (1950); Fulbright Fellowship (1951); Gold Medal of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters (1956); MacDowell Colony Medal of Honor, along with presidency (1961); Presidential Medal of Freedom (1964); and the Congressional Medal of Honor (1986).
Berger, Arthur. Aaron Copland. New York: Oxford University Press, 1953.
Butterworth, Neil. The Music of Aaron Copland. London: Toccata Press, 1985.
Copland, Aaron. The New Music: 1900-1960. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1968.
Hitchcock, H. and Sadie, S., eds. The New Grove Dictionary of American Music, vol. 1, A-D. London: Macmillan Press Ltd, 1986.
Sadie, Stanley, ed. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, vol. 6, Claudel to Dante. London: Macmillan Publishers Ltd, 2001.
El Salón México took
Copland’s use of the folksong to a new level.
Copland said he quoted folk tunes because it was a “sure way for a
composer to translate the flavor of a foreign people into musical terms.”
Nowhere in El Salón México does Copland completely or literally quote a
folksong rather he customizes the music.
Hitchcock says he “stretched unexpectedly or notes [were] omitted,
motifs are detached, new phrases are formed, so that the flow of the music is
by no means determined by the tunes.” Pollack mentions that there are many aspects of the work that
follow folk practices: “the wayward melodies in the bass, the harmonizations in
parallel thirds and sixths, the clarinet cadenzas and the glissando strings,
the slips in pitch, the responsorial volleys in the orchestra.”
“All that I could hope to do was to reflect the Mexico of the tourists…It wasn’t the music that I heard, but the spirit that I felt there…Something of that spirit is what I hope to have put into my music.” “My purpose was not merely to quote literally, but to
heighten without in any way falsifying the natural simplicity of Mexican tunes.”
The majority of Copland’s melodies throughout this piece were inspired by the dance hall but actually were drawn from two collections of folk melodies: Frances Toor’s “Concionero Méxicana” and Ruben M. Campos’ “El Folk-lore y la Música Méxicana.” Howard Pollack mentions that Copland’s melodies are not exact replicas of the folksongs and that “Copland freely deleted and changed pitches…varied rhythms, often prolonging or shortening a note or adding or omitting a rest.” The three most prominent songs Copland used are El Palo Verde – The Green Stick (ex. 1), La Jesusita – The Little Jesus (ex. 2), and El Mosco – The Fly (ex. 3), but Copland makes use of at least six other folksongs: El Malacate, Camino Real de Colima, Corrido de Rivera, Corrido de Lucio, El Mosquito, and El Curripiti.
Abraham, Gerald. Hawkes Pocket Scores, no. 49, Aaron Copland’s El Salón México. London: Boosey & Hawkes, 1943.
Copland, Aaron and Perlis, Vivian. Copland: 1900 Through 1942. New York: St. Martin’s/Marek, 1984.
Hitchcock, H. and Sadie, S., eds. The New Grove Dictionary of American Music, vol. 1, A-D. London: Macmillan Press Ltd, 1986.
Pollack, Howard. Aaron Copland: The Life and Work of an Uncommon Man. New York: H. Holt and Co. Inc., 2000.
Through Composed
1. Introduction m.1-102
2. Main Section m.103-182
3. Middle Section m.183-323
4. Return of the Main Section m.324-406
Score in C
1. G major
2. Ab major
3. A major
4. C major
5. D major
6. Eb major
7. Db major
8. F# major
9. Gb major
1. 2/4
2. 3/4
3. 4/4
4. 3/8
5. 5/8
6. 6/8
7. 7/8
8. 2+6/8
9. 6+2/8
1. El Salón México
2. Allegro Vivace
3. Sempre
4. Moderato (rubato)
5. accel.
6. rit.
7. Cadenza
8. Più mosso
9. espress.
10. a tempo
11. Gradually a trifle slower (imperceptibly)
12. meno mosso
13. non soli
14. legato
15. stacc.
16. one desk
17. div.
18. unis.
19. Solo
20. secco
I. m.1-102 (Introduction)
A. m.1-18
1. Allegro Vivace (quarter=168)
2. Cymbals use snare drum stick on edge and chock
3. Opening is El Palo Verde
4. Work on G triads
5. Accent on and of 3 m.3
6. Work on trade-off of melody m.8-14 and shifting accent/legato measures
7. m.9-10 make sure clarinets in tune together up high
8. Work on horn attacks m.10-14, make sure accented
9. Entrances for tpts., hns., and tbns. m.15-17 – make sure timing is down
10. Accel. tempo m.18 and hold beat 3. Also, cresc. as notes go down
B. m.19-33
1. Tempo change – Moderato (rubato) quarter=92
2. Cadenza-like through this whole section – Based off La Jesusita
3. Bassoons have large leaps m.20-22 and m.27-29 – check notes
4. Tpt. solo controls tempo m.23-25 – work on trill in m.24
5. Difficult clarinet cadenza m.26 – work on notes and placement. Also, fermata is short.
6. Tpt. solo controls tempo m.29-32 – work on trill in m.30
7. Even more difficult clarinet cadenza m. 33 – work on placement more than notes. Also, ends on high D – check pitch especially since it is held for 13 counts.
C. m.34-58
1. Tempo change – Più mosso (quarter=120)
2. Timpani starts pp
3. Soloists enter m.40 at only p (El Mosco) – work on short/long notes. Make sure definite difference between short note staccatos and long legatos.
4. Bassoon solo get pretty high m.51-57 – check pitch accuracy
D. m.59-72
1. Time signature begins to alternate between 6/8 and 3/4
2. Tempo change m.61 (dotted quarter=96)
3. Very light tonguing on melody – staccato and p (El Palo Verde)
4. Rit. measures in 3/4 should be treated like 4/4 by adding an extra eighth note rest to the existing rests per Copland
5. m.69 – muted trombones begin to set rhythm for upcoming section. Make sure staccato and p
E. m.73-102
1. Tempo change – Gradually a trifle slower (imperceptibly)
2. Work on rhythm, especially duplet pattern
3. Keep volume through this section at p – horns drop to one on a part
4. Solo is to be carefree with a naïve and pure expression (El Mosco and El Mosquito)
5. Flute has melody up high, make sure dynamic is soft and pitch good
6. Timpani use hard sticks m.98-102 to help upcoming cresc.
7. Big cresc. m.101-102 to ff
II. m.103-182 (Main Section)
A. m.103-144
1. Tempo change – Allegro Vivace (quarter=168)
2. Dynamic drops immediately down to mf but heavily accented
3. Solo in oboes (El Palo Verde) – work on accent placement throughout this section
4. Work on clarinet rhythm m.106-108 – difficult placement (combination of El Palo Verde and El Mosco)
5. Extremely high notes in flute m.107-108 – cut down players and work on pitch
6. 7 measures of alternating meters from m.111-117 – show conducting and work on counting (eighth note remains constant)
7. Oboe has melody again (El Palo Verde) but clarinets have rhythm underneath – emphasize the rhythm and accents
8. Cornets and clarinets have difficult rhythm m.117-123 – work out timing and articulation
9. Trumpets cut to one on a part m.120-123
10. Band has unison rhythm m.124-133 – work on togetherness. Also, flutes have high notes again – cut down on players
11. m.134 introduces Camino Real de Colima in clarinets and horns – work on horn pitches. Bring out tuba and Eb clarinets low part here.
12. Work on clarinet leaps m.137
13. Work on pitch m. 138 – flutes have two parts, both doubling at the octave
B. m.145-182
1. 29 alternating measures from m.143-173 – work on counting and conducting
2. m.145 repeats melody from m.61 (El Palo Verde)
3. Make rit. 3/4 measures 4/4 as before
4. Dynamic f
5. Big percussion hits m.174, 150, and 153
6. Woodwinds enter m.151 bringing dynamic level up
7. Cymbals use hard stick on edge again and choke
8. Work on accents m.156-172 – whole section focused on rhythm so accents need to be correctly placed and really stand out to set rhythm sway
9. m.164 melody in 1st clarinet and trombone - listen for pitch in upper register of trombone
10. Work on “orchestral” hits m.173-178 – make sure really stand out, chords sound, but short
11. Work on snare m.182 and make sure band at fff, molto rit.
III. m.183-323 (Middle Section)
A. m.183-210
1. Tempo change – Moderato molto (rubato) quarter=92
2. Elongated version of Camino Real with short fermatas is the melody in solo clarinet. Really thin orchestration here – confidence and support.
3. m.197 Corrido de Rivera in solo flute and oboe, freely and expressive
4. m.204 Corrido de Lucio in solo oboe and English horn still free and expressive
5. m.209-210 speed tempo up slightly for tempo change at m.211
B. m.211-226
1. Tempo change – Più mosso (quarter=138)
2. Clarinet solo (La Jesusita) pretty high – work on notes and arpeggios
3. Work on low parts staccato quarter notes – separate but have body to the notes
4. Eb clarinet introduces El Curripiti – play very light and separated
5. Work on rhythm in clarinets, cornets, and trombones m.221-224 – line up sixteenth notes but keep dynamic soft
6. Work on interval leaps in Bb bass clarinet m.221-227
7. Slow down tempo m.225-226
C. m.227-256
1. Tempo change – Moderato molto (quarter=92)
2. Corrido de Rivera over La Jesusita – make sure you can hear both melodies
3. Work on saxes m. 228-236 – don’t let notes jump out, control high notes
4. m.247-256 – work on 3 against 2 triplet
5. Bring out bassoon m.245-256
6. Check pitch m.249-256 in flutes – drop to fewer players
D. m.257-267
1.
Mark the accents throughout this section (Camino Real)
2.
3 against 2 triplet continues m.261-267
3.
m.263 – notes are suppose to jump out – accent and allow to
soar
E. m.268-304
1. Muted brass with well marked accents
2. Eb clarinet play solo with humor and light (El Malacate) – drag out glissando m.276
3. m.274 – no more accents in brass or percussion only staccatos
4. Camino Real returns m.282 – work on interval leaps in clarinets and accent placement (4/4 =6+2/4=123-123-12). Support low notes in clarinets
5. Eb clarinet plays melody El Malacate again m.292 – keep humor and lightness
6. Brass have alternating staccato/accent notes m.292-296
7. Work on rhythm in clarinets making sure notes are right
F. m.305-323
1. Meter change to 6+2/4 – work on counting and conducting. Also, articulation placement
2. Flutes doubling at the octave again – cut players and watch pitch m.308-309 on tied notes
3. Legato notes with staccato – separated but with full value
4. Percussion to produce dull sound m.308-323 on L.D.
IV. m.324-406 (Return of the Main Section)
A. m.324-352
1. Camino Real – heavy accents and ff
2. Work on passing of melody from m.324-331
3. Accents m.327 need work – awkward placement
4. Work on low brass, low clarinets, and bassoons rhythm m.325-329 – make sure space in between notes but notes get full value and accents
5. m.333 El Palo Verde in clarinets and saxes p – horns playing rhythm one on a part with mutes – bring out heavy accents
6. Flutes extremely high m.337-339 – cut numbers
7. Unison rhythm m.341-346
8. 46 meter changes in 51 measures – work on counting and conducting
B. m.353-406
1. El Palo Verde brought back as in m.145 – beginning of the ending. ff with heavy accents. Drag 3/4 measures out to 4/4 again
2. Cymbals use hard sticks again m.364
3. Work on rhythm and note placement m.364-372 – almost entire band has same rhythm
4. m.371 starts Camino Real in clarinets – bring out because entire band playing ff
5. m.375 2+6/8 measures begin to be thrown in – show conducting and counting
6. Cut number of flutes playing m.375 to end because stays really high – pitch problems
7. m.395 starts last statement of El Palo Verde –accent placement and fff
8. End with big sff in percussion