Aaron Copland collection, 1841-1991

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Biographical Sketch

Date	Event
1900, Nov. 14	Born in Brooklyn, New York to Harris Morris Copland and Sarah Mittenthal Copland, the fifth and last child.
1914	Started private piano lessons with Leopold Wolfsohn, Brooklyn, NY; subsequently studied piano with Victor Wittgenstein and Clarence Adler.
1917-1921	Studied harmony and counterpoint with Rubin Goldmark in New York City.
1918	Graduated from Boys' High School in Brooklyn.
1921 Summer	Studied at newly established American Conservatory at Fontainebleau near Paris.
1921 Fall	First piano piece, Scherzo Humoristique (The Cat and the Mouse) , sold and published by Durand.
1921 Fall-1924	Studied composition and orchestration with Nadia Boulanger in Paris.
1925	Wrote first of many articles for Modern Music .
1925, Jan. 11	Symphony for Organ and Orchestra (1924) performed by the New York Philharmonic, with Nadia Boulanger as soloist and Walter Damrosch as conductor; later, performed by Serge Koussevitzky, who originally suggested the composition, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
1925 Summer	First stay at MacDowell Colony to work on Music for the Theatre , commissioned by the League of Composers, with the first performance scheduled in November with Serge Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
1925-1926	Recipient of Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship, the first in music, which was renewed for the 1926-1927 season.
1927, Jan. 28	Copland performed his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1926) with Boston Symphony, conducted by Serge Koussevitzky.
1927-1929	Wrote Symphonic Ode (1927-29) for the 50th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1930; subsequently, revised the composition for the 75th anniversary of the orchestra in 1955.
1927	Began lecturing at New School for Social Research, New York City.
1928-1954	Joined League of Composers; later, in 1932, began serving on the Board of Directors.
1928	Assisted Alma Morgenthau Wertheim in establishing the Cos Cob Press which later became Arrow Music Press.
1928-1932	Co-founder with Roger Sessions of Copland-Sessions Concerts of Contemporary Music.
1929	Awarded $5,000 prize from the RCA Victor Competition for Dance Symphony (1925), based on portions of unperformed ballet Grohg .
1930	Wrote first extended piano work, Piano Variations .
1932	Organized first Festival of Contemporary Music at Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, NY, and the second one the following year.
1935	Taught composition at Harvard University while Walter Piston was on leave of absence.
1937-1945	Co-founder and president of the American Composers Alliance.
1938-1972	Co-founder and treasurer of Arrow Music Press, which incorporated the former Cos Cob Press.
1938, Oct. 16	First performance of ballet, Billy the Kid , written for Lincoln Kirstein and the Ballet Caravan.
1939	Published first book, What to Listen for in Music , based on lectures given at the New School for Social Research.
1939, Oct. 13	Elected president of American Composers Alliance.
1940-1965	At request of Serge Koussevitzky, taught composition during first season of Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood; when Tanglewood reopened in 1946 after the war, Copland assumed many administrative positions in addition to teaching until his retirement in 1965.
1941	Published book, Our New Music , based on lectures at the New School for Research.
1941	Toured Latin America to lecture, perform and conduct on a grant made possible by the Committee for Inter-American Artistic and Intellectual Relations.
1942	Completed Lincoln Portrait , commissioned by Andre Kostelanetz, with text created by Copland from speeches and letters of Abraham Lincoln.
1942	Composed ballet, Rodeo , commissioned by Agnes de Mille.
1942	Completed the Fanfare for the Common Man from a request by Eugene Goossens who conducted the premiere in 1943 with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
1942, May 8	Elected a member in the Department of Music of the National Institute of Arts and Letters.
1945	Awarded Pulitzer Prize and Music Critic's Circle of New York for Martha Graham ballet, Appalachian Spring (1944), commissioned by the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Music Foundation.
1946, Jan. 24	Elected a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).
1947	Received Music Critic's Circle Award for Third Symphony (1944-46).
1947-1948	Wrote Clarinet Concerto commissioned by Benny Goodman and later choreographed by Jerome Robbins for the ballet Pied Piper (1951).
1947	Again, toured Latin America to lecture, perform and conduct under the sponsorship of the State Department.
1950	Won Oscar for the music score to the film, The Heiress (1949).
1950	Finished composing the Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson .
1951-1952	Appointed Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Poetics at Harvard University and delivered a series of six lectures, the first time that an American composer was named as a Poetry Chair.
1952	Published new book, Music and Imagination , based on Charles Eliot Norton lectures at Harvard University.
1953, May 26	Appeared before Senator Joseph McCarthy's Congressional subcommittee.
1954, Apr. 2	Premiere of full length opera, The Tender Land , by the New York City Opera Company.
1954, Dec. 3	Elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
1956	Received Gold Medal in Music from the National Institute and American Academy of Arts and Letters.
1956	Received first of many honorary Doctor of Music degrees from Princeton University.
1960	Published fourth book, Copland on Music , which included reprints from previous publications and new material.
1961	Received the MacDowell Colony Medal for distinguished service in the field of music from the Edward MacDowell Association.
1961-1968	Served seven years as president of the Edward MacDowell Association.
1962	Premiere of Connotations commissioned by the New York Philharmonic for the opening of Philharmonic Hall (later Avery Fisher Hall) at Lincoln Center.
1964	Received Medal of Freedom, the "highest civil honor conferred by the President of the United States for service in peacetime," from President Lyndon B. Johnson.
1965-1966	Wrote, conducted and hosted series of 12 television programs, Music in the 20s , for National Educational Television.
1967	Composed Inscape which was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic to celebrate their 125th anniversary.
1968	Revised and enlarged earlier book, Our New Music , and published it under a new title, The New Music: 1900-1960 .
1970	Awarded the Howland Memorial Medal from Yale University.
1975-1976	Interviews of Copland begun by Vivian Perlis for an oral history project in American Music at Yale University which became the foundation for a collaboration on a two volume autobiography, Copland: 1900 through 1942 , first published in 1984, and Copland: Since 1943 , first published in 1989.
1979	Bestowed Kennedy Center Honor along with other honorees Martha Graham, Henry Fonda, Ella Fitzgerald, and Tennessee Williams.
1986	Medal of the Arts conferred by President Reagan; also, awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by the House of Representatives.
1990, Dec. 2	Died at North Tarrytown, New York.