Inherited Sound Images: Native American Exoticism in Aaron Copland's Duo for Flute and

Piano
Author(s): Nina Perlove
Reviewed work(s):
Source: American Music, Vol. 18, No. 1 (Spring, 2000), pp. 50-77
Published by: University of Illinois Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3052390 .
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NINA PERLOVE

Sound

Inherited

Images:

Native

American

Aaron

Copland's Duo
and

Exoticism

for

in

Flute

Piano

In 1967 Aaron Copland was commissioned to compose a flute and

piano piece in memory of William Kincaid, former Principal Flutist
of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Copland began the piece in 1969, and
the finished work, Duo for Flute and Piano, was premiered in 1971.1
Copland described the Duo as "a lyrical piece, in a somewhat pastoral style... [appropriate for the flute's] songful nature."2 As one of
Copland's last compositions, the Duo in many ways represents a culmination of earlier stylistic trends, and is particularly reminiscent of
his 1940s "Americana" style. Scholars, critics, and audiences alike
have often commented on the American quality in Copland's output.
Schuyler Chapin credits the composer with "creating an authentic
sound for America," and Wilfrid Mellers claims, "The American, and
our, experience is musically incarnated in [Copland's] life's work."3
In his comprehensive survey of Copland's life and music, Howard
Pollack identifies this aspect of Copland's style:
In discussing what made Copland's music "recognizably American," critics typically mentioned the allusions to and quotations
of American popular and folk musics, the jazzy polyrhythms and
irregular meters, the vigor and angularity of some melodies, the
lean and bare textures and the favored extremes of closely knit
Nina Perlove is a concert flutist who has performed and taught throughout
the United States and Europe. She spent two years in Paris as a Fulbright
scholar and holds degrees from the University of Michigan (bachelorof music, 1995) and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatoryof Music
(master of music, 1999). Her articles have appeared in Perspectivesof New
Music,Flutist Quarterly,Flute Talk,and Windplayer
Magazine.Currentlyshe is
pursuing a doctorate in flute at CCM.
American Music
Spring 2000
? 2000 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Native American Exoticism in Copland

51

harmonies and widely spaced sonorities, and the distinctly brittle piano writing and brassy and percussive orchestrations.4
The American personality of Copland's work has also been credited
to his musical evocations of city and country-the American dichotomy of skyscraper and prairie. However, Copland's work may also
reflect musical elements commonly associated with Native Americans,
an influence that has not been previously examined, perhaps because
it seemingly contradicts the composer's self-avowed antagonism toward Indian musical subjects. This investigation of Indian musical
exoticism as influencing the Duo for Flute and Piano not only contextualizes Copland's conflicting attitudes toward Indian material, but
also suggests an additional "folk" source for his signature American
sound-albeit a "folk" source based upon public misconceptions of
Native American music and not ethnographic musical sources or research.s
The first-generation son of Russian Jewish immigrants, Copland
had a varied "American" background. His mother, Sarah Mittenthal,
was born in Russia and spent her childhood in Illinois and Texas, an
ironic setting for a woman whose surname translated in English
means "between valley and fields." In the American West of the 1860s
and 1870s, "cowboys and Indians were a natural part of [Sarah's] life,"
and in her father's dry goods stores, "verbal exchanges must have
been a unique mix of Yiddish, English, and Indian." Sarah's experience in the West may have inspired her son's interest in American
sonorities, as she was known to play piano and sing popular songs.6
She eventually moved with her family to New York City. Copland's
father, Harris Morris Kaplan, left Russia for England where his family name was transliterated into the more anglo-sounding Copland.
After earning enough money for passage to the United States, Harris
arrived in New York City in 1877. Eight years later he married Sarah
Mittenthal. On November 14, 1900, Aaron Copland was born-an
American in both citizenship and name.
As a boy growing up in Brooklyn, Copland viewed New York City
as "a commercially minded environment that.., had never given a
thought to art or to art expression as a way of life."7 As a young man,
he (and other composers of his generation) discovered the American
character by living abroad.8 "All of us discovered America in Europe,"
Copland later claimed, speaking about his two years of study in
France with Nadia Boulanger.9
Upon his return to the United States in 1924, Copland was ready to
undertake one of the greatest challenges facing American composers
of his era-to found an American school of composition that would
both reflect this country's unique national character and at the same

52

Nina Perlove

time rival the European musical tradition that dominated Western art
music. Friend and colleague Arthur Berger recalled Copland's views
on his search for a new American sound palette: "[Copland] found
that his American elders provided no suitable example.... It was
necessary to build from the ground up, and Copland deliberately
went about forging an indigenous idiom."10
In pursuit of this idiom, Copland came to believe that cultural and
regional musical material is often transmitted subconsciously to members within that society: "To a certain degree, sound images are imposed upon us from without. We are born to certain inherited sounds
and tend to take them for granted. Other peoples, however, have an
absorbing interest in quite different kinds of auditory materials.""1
In attempting to define and recreate inherent American musical idioms, Copland often borrowed from folk sources. But while he was
strongly influenced by jazz and folk songs, he did not simply arrange
the material. Instead, he transformed it into music entirely his own.
Copland explained, "The use of [folk] materials ought never to be a
mechanical process.... They can be successfully handled only by a
composer who is able to identify himself with, and reexpress in his
own terms, the underlying emotional connotation of the material."12
Arthur Berger related how Copland employed this technique to add
new expressive layers to the folk music from which he borrowed:
"One of [Copland's] special devices in transforming a folksong is to
make it broad or tender when it has been slight or frivolous originally, and in this way he brings out essences of which we were previously unaware."'"
Transforming folk material was a technique Copland often practiced
consciously, as in his adaptation of the Shaker tune "Simple Gifts"
for Appalachian Spring (1944). Yet, he also incorporated folk elements
subconsciously. In speaking of his Third Symphony, Copland claimed
that "any reference to either folk material or jazz..,. was purely unconscious."14 He acknowledged that his compositions often contain
expressive layers that, although not knowingly developed, are nevertheless legitimate:
It is one of the curiosities of the critical creative mind that although it is very much alive to the component parts of the
finished work, it cannot know everything that the work may
mean to others.... The late Paul Rosenfeld once wrote that he
saw the steel frames of skyscrapers in my Piano Variations. I like
to think that the characterization was apt, but I must confess that
the notion of skyscrapers was not at all in my mind when I was
composing the variations.15
Copland even admitted that he read reviews of his works to enrich
his own understanding of them: "I admit to a certain curiosity about

Native American Exoticism in Copland

53

the slightest cue as to the meaning of a piece of mine-a meaning,

that is, other than the one I know to have put there."16
Although Copland recognized influences of jazz and American folk
material in his work, he did not openly speak about Native American musical clich6s as a stylistic ingredient. In fact, he believed Indians had had no significant impact upon American art music and even
criticized the turn-of-the-century Indianist composers:
Despite the efforts of Arthur Farwell and his group of composer
friends, and despite the Indian Suite of Edward MacDowell, nothing really fructifying resulted [from Native American borrowing].
It is understandable that the first Americans would have a sentimental attraction for our composers.... But our composers were
obviously incapable of identifying themselves sufficiently with
such primitive source material as to make these convincing when
heard out of context."17
In his own works, Copland sought to distance himself from Native
American themes; while working with Martha Graham on Appalachian
Spring, Copland apparently insisted there be no Indians in the ballet.'8 Despite his attempts to avoid Native American topics and musical material, Indian musical exoticism may have indeed influenced
works such as the Third Symphony, El Salon Mexico, Rodeo, Billy the
Kid, and the Duo for Flute and Piano.
This in-depth study of a single work, the Duo, is significant because
it examines a late work that draws heavily from his earlier popular
style. In fact, the composer himself wrote that some of the musical
ideas for the work date from the forties, and specifically related the
opening flute solo to his Third Symphony.19 In this way, the concepts
examined in this "micro" study have "macro" implications, perhaps
shedding as much light upon Copland's earlier works as they do upon
the Duo itself.
The first movement of his Duo is characterized by an opening and
closing monophonic flute solo (ex. 1). I believe this unaccompanied
solo establishes a pastoral quality because Copland felt that the flute
inherently represented "outdoor" music, while the physically immobile piano was associated with indoor settings.20 The simple "economy of means" style of the flute's solo theme further creates an outdoor ambiance. Many critics have suggested that Copland's signature
use of wide intervals and motionless rhythms suggests the open spaces and stillness of the prairie.21
The Duo's use of prairie sound images has subtle but significant
links to popular mythology regarding Native Americans. Common
stereotypes of the Indian as a "noble savage" were often inextricably
linked with idealizations of primitive American topography.22 This
pastoral view of the Indian was created by Romantic writers who

54

Nina Perlove

Example 1. Aaron Copland, Duofor Fluteand Piano,mvt. I.

resolves

extension

extension

Flowing (1 = 84)
*)

"'

"

I "

II

p freely,recitativestyle

extension

extension

-C

POCO

z-

extension

z-

,
i
semitone
A moves
down, not a
leading tone

mf

much slower ( = 56)

rit.

mf (don'thurry)

Sp

~mfz~

extension

mf

extension

octave lower

than measure 1

2*
,,b.

"tended to identify the Indian with the grandeur of nature."23Such

was the case in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's popular Song of Hiawatha (1855), a common subject for late-nineteenth-century American
stage productions, often performed with original scores.24 This association of the Indian with outdoor scenery was echoed by Copland
after a 1932 trip to Mexico, where he visited composer Carlos Chavez:

Native American Exoticism in Copland

55

Mexico offers something fresh and pure and wholesome--a quality which is deeply unconventionalized. The source of it is the
Indian blood which is so prevalent. I sensed the influence of the
Indian background everywhere--even in the landscape [emphasis
mine]. And I must be something of an Indian myself or how else
could I explain the sympathetic chord it awakens in me.25
In this context, Copland's evocation of outdoor scenery in the Duo to
me suggests not only the undeveloped American landscape, but also
the men and women who first inhabited that terrain. Landscape imagery alone does not assert the presence of Indian musical exoticism
in the Duo, however, but is merely an introduction to a theme that
permeates the work in compositional forms.
Recently, scholars such as Michael V. Pisani and Tara Colleen
Browner have undertaken large-scale studies of musical Indianisms,
identifying several compositional techniques commonly associated
with Native American musical exoticism. In labeling such techniques,
it must be emphasized that it is not the presence of each trait alone
that gives a work "exotic" meaning, but rather the surrounding context and combinedimpact of the material (musical, textual, and/or dramatic). Some of the compositional techniques identified by Pisani and
Browner, which became hallmarks of Native American musical stereotype largely because of their presence in Indian programmatic settings, include:
Open fifths
Melodies in pentatonic or modal organization, often with lowered sevenths or gapped scales
A melodic range primarily limited to one octave, except after
two or three phrases, at which point it ascends a third, or
even a fifth, above the upper limit
Overall descending phrase contour
Descending grace-note or snap-like figures
Repeated notes in heavy accents, often in groups of four (Bahbum-bum-bum patterns)
Imitations of tongue-wagging (whooping sounds).26
Other traits that commonly appear as Indian musical stereotypes include:
Predominate use of consonant intervals, often in descending
motion
Meter changes (this may occur in conjunction with steady
rhythmic drum pulses of continuous quarter or eighth notes
and can create an aural illusion of consistent meter)

56

Nina Perlove

Descending initial intervals that often immediately return to

the starting pitch.
Many of the above-listed traits have parallels to Copland's popular
style and will be examined through this study of the Duo. In analyzing these Indianisms in Copland's works, it is important to remember that he was not reproducing any "authentic" Native music. As
Jonathan Bellman wrote, "Exoticism is not about the earnest study of
foreign cultures; it is about drama, effect, and evocation."27 Copland's
style may evoke the "Other"-worldliness of Native Americans, but it
does not quote from "authentic" Indian songs, Indianist composers,
or specific media sources in a "mechanical process." Instead, Copland
may have been influenced by general stylistic traits that were widely
accepted as being linked with Indian musical stereotype. Typical of
Copland's compositional practices in incorporating folk material, he
transformed and reexpressed the underlying emotional connotation
of the exotic idioms.
Copland would have become familiar with Indian musical exoticisms through the work of several cultivated composers whose compositions he knew well. For example, one American composer who
used such sound material is Quinto Maganini. In a 1926 lecture Copland identified Maganini as a promising talent in the next generation
of composers. Copland specifically mentioned in his lecture Maganini's orchestral score Tuolumne:A California Rhapsody, which Copland
described as having "a suggestion of Indian themes."28 Tuolumne, "an
Indian word meaning 'Land of Many Waters'"29(a title that reinforces the association of Native Americans with landscape imagery), contains Indianist sound cliches. The trumpet solo that opens and closes
the work, which the composer called "an Indian lament,"30 uses an
initial descending interval that immediately returns to the starting
pitch, melodies constructed around descending consonant intervals
and phrase structure (ending an octave below the starting pitch), frequent meter changes, a monophonic texture, lowered sevenths that
subvert leading tone motion, pentatonic pitch structure, and a oneoctave range that briefly extends beyond the upper parameter (ex. 2).
Charles Ives adopted similar sound idioms in the melodic line to
his song "The Indians" (ex. 3). Copland praised this (and several other) songs by Ives as "a unique and memorable contribution to the art
of song writing in America."31 In this song Ives used a falling initial
interval that immediately returns to the starting pitch, descending
consonant intervals, mixed meters, grace notes, and descending
phrase structures (with the exception of the final phrase, which ends
with an ascending minor third).
In addition, Carlos Chavez, a proponent of the 1920s' "Aztec Re-

57

Native American Exoticismin Copland

Example 2. Quinto Maganini, Tuolumne:A CaliforniaRhapsodyfor Orchestra

with TrumpetObbligato.
Solo C Tpt.

:,

extensionI

extensions
r

3
-

Example 3. Charles Ives, TheIndians,vocal line.

initialinterval
descendsthen
returns
desc. 3rd

desc. 3rd

,-----

Very slowly

A- las! for

them their

No

is o'er,...

day

more,
desc.4th

cresc. e pi1i moto

no _ more for them _ the _

wild _ deer_

bounds,_

The

plough _

is on their hunt-ing

* Gracenote

grounds; The pale_ man's axe_

their

floods;__

Be - yondthe

rings through their woods, The pale man's sail skims o'er
desc.3rd

moun

tains

the

of__

west

desc.3rd
_

--

_,_

unexpected

resolutione

Their _

chil-dren

go

to

die. _

naissance," may have influenced Copland with his own studies of

Native music. In a 1928 lecture La Muisica Azteca, Chavez described
compositional techniques of pre-Conquest Mexico:
The Aztecs showed a predilection for those intervals which we
call the minor third and the perfect fifth; their use of other intervals was rare.... This type of interval preference..,. found appropriate expression in modal melodies which entirely lacked the
semitone.32

Nina Perlove

58

In addition to his familiarity with the above concert composers,

Copland certainly would have heard Indian musical clich6s in the
vernacular media. The scope and influence of mainstream musical
Indianisms on the collective American consciousness is too great to
fully examine here; radio broadcasts, stage shows (including but not
limited to Irving Berlin's "I'm an Indian Too" from Annie Get Your
Gun), television programs, and dozens of Western films all contributed to the perpetuation and creation of a recognizable, mainstream
idiom.
In film, Indian stereotypes reached the masses, influencing America's musical, as well as cultural, landscape. Native American characters and musical stereotypes appeared not only in early Westerns
(such as the 1939 film Stagecoach), but continued through the 1960s
with movies like A Man CalledHorse (1970). Leonard Rosenman's score
for A Man Called Horse was based upon the composer's work with
South Dakota Sioux from the Black Hills region.33 The opening music however, played on a non-keyed flute, does not seem representative of Lakota flute songs.34 More likely, the solo reflects aspects of
Indian musical exoticism in its use of initial falling pitches, descending consonant intervals and phrase structure, meter changes, and
monophonic texture (ex. 4). It also avoids leading tones and rests primarily within an octave range (gl to g2), using an upward extension
in measure five. Although it is uncertain whether Copland saw A Man
CalledHorse, the fact remains that its presence in the vernacular mainstream both perpetuates and reflects common public opinions about
Native music in 1970, however inaccurate these public perceptions
may have been.35
The Duo's flute solo clearly uses compositional techniques similar
to the various Indianisms discussed above (see ex. 1 above). Like
Maganini's trumpet lament, Copland's monophonic flute lament both
introduces and closes the movement. Set in mixed meters, the melody begins with a falling, open fifth that immediately returns to the
starting pitch and is dominated by third motion. At first the tonal organization appears classical in its simplicity; the first six measures
imply a I-IV-V-I progression. But as the solo continues Native American exoticisms become evident. Although a B-flat major tonality at
first seems to be at work, B flats appear primarily on weak beats, deExample4. A Man CalledHorse,opening flute solo (music by LeonardRosenman).
extension
i

.0 ,.. , . t .."

,-

, , trt" . t'

, '

'

Native American Exoticismin Copland

59

emphasizing tonic. Copland also specifically avoided semitones,

which further obscures major-scale function (one structurally insignificant semitone appears in m. 13, but the A does not resolve upward,
instead continuing in a downward motion toward F). In fact, most of
the phrases pull toward F and C rather than B flat, giving the solo an
orientation of F mixolydian. The use of stacked fourths (m. 8) further
underscores the modal quality of the material. In these ways, Copland obscures the B-flat tonality with modal structure.
Furthermore, the solo reflects the Indian exotic characteristic of falling octaves with extensions; in the Duo, Copland emphasizes upward
extensions within the framework of an overall descending octave
phrase (f2 down to fl in m. 24). The first part of the solo strives upward toward m. 16, progressively extending beyond f2. But the "extended" pitches are unstable and resolve downward within the octave framework. At m. 16, the extension to g2 is a temporary, unstable
resting point, as there is no clear cadential motion. The descending
middle section (mm. 16-19) is heard as new material, contrasting in
texture (with the addition of the piano) and melodic content, and
therefore is not limited to the octave range. The monophonic closing
material (mm. 20-24) continues the open-ended phrase of m. 16, and
rests largely in the octave between fl and f2, also with tension-building upward extensions. The solo comes to a solid conclusion at m. 24
with a falling fifth. Typical of musical Indianisms, the solo ends an
octave below the starting pitch.
It also seems to me that another Native American musical cliche
appears briefly at m. 66, with the flute's repeated notes with heavy
accents (ex. 5). Although this passage is brief, it is significant because
it signals a point of contrast. Similar motives were widely associated
with Indian stereotype, even entering the repertory of children's
games; many a young "cowboy and Indian" have been heard to chant
this motive, usually with a descending consonant interval between
the first two notes (ex. 6). Browner labeled such motives BAH-bumbum-bum patterns in her study of Indian "appropriations" in Western art music.36 Copland's passage, however, alternates and displacExample 5. Aaron Copland, Duo for Fluteand Piano,mvt. I.
BAH BAH bum bum
>
.

>

go

u>

.>

f marc.

fS vigorous

Nina Perlove

60

Example 6. StereotypedBAH-bum-bum-bumfigure.
BAH bum bum bum BAH bum bum bum

Lrr

e)

es the rhythmic accents. Instead of a strict BAH-bum-bum-bum, Copland transformed the phrase to BAH-BAH-bum-bum, using a descending third between the second and third notes. Yet the expressive essence of the gesture remains. This brief passage alone is hardly
sufficient to argue the presence of Indianisms in the piece, but once
again, it is the combined impact of this figure with its surrounding exotic material that creates an overall effect.
In addition, Indian exotic clich6s of descending "grace note" figures
also appear throughout the movement, as can be heard in the opening solo (see ex. 1 above) and throughout the movement in various
forms and notations (ex. 7).37 Copland would have heard similar
figures used as Indian exoticisms in works such as the above-mentioned Tuolumne (ex. 8), MacDowell's Indian Suite, Carlos Chavez's
Example 7. Aaron Copland, Duofor Fluteand Piano,mvt. I.

Gracenote-like,
descending

Gracenote-like,
descending
I

Example 8. Quinto Maganini, Tuolumne:A CaliforniaRhapsodyfor Orchestra

with TrumpetObbligato.
Grace
notes

A
Piccolo
Grace notes-'

WHOOPS

Flutes
1. solo
Oboes

Bassoons

if pesante

pesante

61

Native American Exoticism in Copland

Symphonia India, and Western movie scores like Stagecoach.38In addition, Copland may also have become familiar with their exotic associations through the work of Elliott Carter, who used similar descending "snap" figures in his ballet score Pocahontas (ex. 9).39 In 1939
Example 9. Elliott Carter,PocahontasOrchestralSuitefrom the Ballet,conclusion.
61

60

Sub.
unis. V

mosso (J = 76)

piu

A tempo (J = 63)

Vln. 1

-ff

>?

ufespress.
unis.

"SNAPS"
Vln. 2

>2"2"
P
pizz.

f f

pizz"
Via.
pizza
Vcl.

"-

"- "-

.
_ __

pizz
z..

62

pp-

__

~------1div.
Vn.

1
__ _
P

Vln2

arco

pizz.

arco

av

Via.

"
p pp cresc.
V
.f

Vcl.

I_
___!,
v
w ~,D
,

p pp cresc.

qf p

p pp cresc

af p

I >

Cb.____

2P

<

Vln.
1_-_

8lrglr

Vln. 2
2 Soli

Via.
div.

!I

smorz.

TGTP
smorz.

3Soli

~4P8~9unis.

pizpp

Vcla

pizz.

smorz.

4 Soli

PP

62

Nina Perlove

Copland called the orchestral version of this ballet Carter's "first important orchestral work."40Once again, it must be stressed that Copland's Duo does not quote figures from these sources, but rather borrows and transforms general stylistic traits that were an integral part
of collective Native American sound images.
The Duo's poetic, somewhat mournful second movement opens
with repeated, noncontrapuntal piano chords that linger over both
time and space (ex. 10). In marking the passage "bell-like," the piano
takes on the characteristics of a prairie church bell.41 In this way, the
the
pianist becomes an immobile voice-the church steeple-while
listeners are placed at a distance, hearing the ringing from afar.
Example 10. Aaron Copland, Duofor Fluteand Piano,mvt. II.
Poetic, somewhat mournful ( = circa 96)

p freely expressive

'

(r.h.to thefore,bell-like)

Ped.on eachI.h.chord

simile

Although the beginning of the movement is lyrical and relaxed, an

underlying tension is nevertheless expressed in the piano's clashing
E and E flat. As the movement progresses, the tension grows until a
dramatic climax is reached at mm. 51-59 (ex. 11a). On the once-calm
prairie, Copland introduces Old West and Indian sound cliches. The
wavering five- and six-note groups in the piano and flute produce
whooping sounds that in my opinion evoke stereotypes of Native
American tongue-wagging. Pisani discusses the prevalence of such
whoop figures in works as early as George Frederick Bristow's Arcadian Symphony (1873).42 The effect, also common in child's play, was
further disseminated as an "Old West" cliche by Hollywood-for one
example, the classic 1969 Sergio Leone film, The Good, the Bad, and the
Ugly. This Western movie features Mexican and American outlaws in
civil war and cowboy settings. Ennio Morricone's music resonates
with Indian sound cliches to suggest the exotic world of the American West (although specific Native American characters are not featured in the film). The main theme, which is largely pentatonic-D F
G A C-employs whistled whoops in fourths followed by quarter
notes in a third-second-fourth interval pattern (ex. 12).

Native American Exoticism in Copland

63

Example 11a. Aaron Copland, Duo for Flute and Piano, mvt. II.
-

_simile

<.if)

intensive e

marc.

intensivee marc.

fS(ff)

gradually diminish intensity and dynamic

diminish intensity and dynamic

Sgradually

*s

*a.

'3e7.

'ae7.

Example 11b. Aaron Copland, Duo for Flute and Piano, mvt. II, mm. 51-53, reduction.

@S

piano
piano

4ths
4ths

flute
flute

desc. 3rd
3rd des
5th
desc.
desc.5th

piano

flute 8va

4ths
4ths

desc.
3 asc.6th
asI 3
6thI
desc.

Example 12. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, main theme (music by Ennio
Morricone).
4ths
rI

desc. 3rd
II

desc. 4th
I

4ths

desc. 3rd
I

asc. 4th
I

64

Nina Perlove

Although Copland's passage does not quote from Morricone, I find

it interestingly mirrors the general stylistic elements of the material
(compare ex. 11b and 12): the Duo too employs whooping statements,
often in ascending fourths and fifths. Following the flute whoops, the
melodic contour uses consonant intervals-a falling third and falling
fifth. The next piano whoop, again in fourths, is followed in the flute
line with a falling third and rising sixth, echoing the general contour
of Morricone's falling then rising phrase, and employing similar consonant intervals.
Such whooping figures were not signatures of Copland's style, but
they had appeared in his works, including the Film Suite from The
Red Pony (1951) and the 1955 Piano Fantasy (ex. 13).43 MOst likely, the
relationship between these figures in Copland and The Good, the Bad
and the Ugly are coincidences born of the same "Old West," pastoral
"whooping" stereotype. Although it is unlikely that a single source
inspired these whooping figures, Copland was undoubtedly familiar
with their Indian associations and prevalence in children's games,
especially as he wrote:
Every American boy is fascinated with cowboys and Indians, and
I was no exception.... For me it was not necessary to have an
experience in order to compose about it. I preferred to imagine
being on a horse without actually getting on one! In any case, I
never gave much thought to including or excluding any kind of
influence from my work. It was always a musical stimulus that
got me started.44
Example 13. Aaron Copland, PianoFantasy

G~b
~G~b

*l~.

G~.

*~

Native American Exoticism in Copland

65

Just as Indianist composers, Hollywood film scores, and "cowboys

and Indians" game-playing may have served as Copland's musical
stimulus, the use of whooping trills may also have derived from musical sources beyond those strictly associated with Old West settings.
Igor Stravinsky, for example, used similar techniques in many of his
early works. In Stravinsky's pieces, whoops and grace notes became
associated with "primitivism" because of their surrounding settings.
As Paul Griffiths noted, the primitive nature of Rite of Spring (Pictures
of Pagan Russia) "has obvious connections with the 'Scythian' movement among Russian artists, who looked to the country's pre-Christian traditions for clues to its future."45Richard Taruskin shows how,
at the turn of the century, the "fancied spiritual wholeness of primeval man was something after which many in Russia were hankering
in the decades following emancipation and (belated) industrialization."46 This movement influenced Nikolai Roerich, who collaborated with Stravinsky on Rite of Spring. A contemporary of Roerich described him as
utterly absorbed in dreams of prehistoric and religious life-of
the days when the vast, limitless plains of Russia and the shores
of her lakes and rivers were peopled with the forefathers of the
present inhabitants. Roerich's mystic, spiritual experiences made
him strangely susceptible to the charm of this ancient world. He
felt in it something primordial and.., intimately linked with
nature.47
The Scythian movement has striking similarities with the American noble savage stereotype that associated the American Indian with
pastoral settings. Furthermore, it is well known that Copland's compositional style was influenced by Stravinsky; in the 1930s Copland
was even called a "Brooklyn Stravinsky."4sIn noting this relationship,
writer and composer Lazare Saminsky (critical of Copland's "mixed
aesthetic") related Billy the Kid to Stravinsky's early ballets and also
likened Appalachian Spring to the wet nurses' dance from Petrushka,
sarcastically claiming that Copland's "Appalachian peasants sound
more like Appalachian cossacks." Saminsky even described the opening of Copland's Third Symphony (which served as a model for the
Duo) as a "pleasing modal theme of a faintly Russian contour."49
In the Duo, Copland's Stravinsky-like grace notes and whoops are
placed within an American musical landscape-open prairies and an
Americana compositional style. Copland's tendency to integrate material in this way was described by Lawrence Starr:
What Copland does to his traditional American material is in
some important respects analogous to what Stravinsky did with

66

Nina Perlove

traditional Russian folk and Western art music materials: he subjects his musical subject matter to operations not previously associated with it in order to create unusual and intense effects of
musical perspective; the result is a commentary of one musical
period, type, and idiom upon another.50s
By superimposing aspects of Stravinsky's ballet idiom with American sound material, Copland indeed incites commentary by musically and thematically linking ancient Russian and American civilizations. This dual use of Russian and American root elements is
especially fascinating given Aaron (Kaplan) Copland's own ethnic
identity. It was the composer's philosophy that artistic creation is a
process of self-discovery:
The reason for the compulsion to renewed creativity, it seems to
me, is that each added work brings with it an element of selfdiscovery. I must create in order to know myself, and since selfknowledge is a never-ending search, each new work is only a
part-answer to the question "Who am I?"51
Given this interpretation, I wonder if the juxtaposition of Indian exoticisms and Russian primitivism in the Duo reflects the composer's
musical search for his roots as both a native-born American and Russian immigrant?
The Duo's modified-rondo third movement has a distinctly heroic
quality. The work is introduced by repeated molto sforzando tonic
chords, separated by two quarter-note rests (ex. 14).52 In my opinion,
these double attacks are rhythmically evocative of the powerful forte,
tonic chords that introduce Beethoven's "Eroica" Symphony. Because
Beethoven's Third Symphony is recognized as a monumental representation of his "Heroic" period, these famous chords have become associated with musical heroic gesture. But Copland transformed the figure;
instead of major chords, Copland omitted the third, resulting in spacious open fifths-a common Indian exoticism and pastoral clich&.53
Copland's "heroes" are not the Napoleonic figures from Beethoven's Europe however, but uniquely American characters. The flute's
Example 14. Aaron Copland, Duofor Fluteand Piano,mvt. III.
Lively, with bounce ( = 134)
r

Piano

-
",.

N.rising

flourish

Native American Exoticism in Copland

67

first theme suggests a cowboy fiddle hoedown, employing dotted

rhythms similar in style to the dance scenes in Rodeo and Billy the
Kid.54I find that the passage is also similar to the flute solo that begins "In War Time," the third movement of Edward MacDowell's Indian Suite (ex. 15).55
Copland's passage reflects MacDowell's basic rhythm and use of
thirds, though Copland's flute is in a higher octave. In addition, Copland's flute line follows a similar rising and falling contour as the
MacDowell melody. Although Copland's solo is presented in D major as opposed to MacDowell's D minor, they both avoid leading tones
(C sharps in the Duo's passage never lead to D). Furthermore, both
solos use eighth-eighth-quarter rhythms as phrase cadences. This
rhythm is typical of Indian stereotype, as can be heard in Chavez's
Symphonia India (the figure also appears as an Indianism in reverse
form: quarter-eighth-eighth).56 Copland's phrase is shorter than Macrises whereas
Dowell's, but both end with flourishes-Copland's
MacDowell's falls.
Copland's adoption of the stylistic elements from "In War Time" reveals an important link between himself and MacDowell, a composer
whose Indianist work he previously criticized.57 But Copland's transformation of material creates an expression that is more optimistic,
affirmative, and celebratory than MacDowell's "savage" foreboding.
Example 15. Edward MacDowell, IndianSuite,mvt. III
Bestimmt

und rauh.

With rough vigor, almost savagely.

Bien d~cidC et hardiment.

( = 144)

Solo

Flute

Solo Flute

Piano

~~
f

fo---

Falling flourish

68

Nina Perlove

Later in the third movement, Copland employs pointed, jagged

rhythms in a percussive style (ex. 16). These short, accented eighths
resemble the "Gun Battle" movement of Copland's Billy the Kid (ex.
17). Like Billy, the Duo's texture thins so that each attack can be heard
individually. The piano lines in both works alternate thirds and are
written in low registers, giving them a dry, percussive quality (also
note Billy's harp part, which similarly moves in thirds). The Duo's repeated notes create the effect of single pitched percussion, emphasizing harmonic stasis. Another link between the works is a similar use
of eighth-quarter-quarter rhythmic attacks. Given the similarities in
style between the Duo and Billy the Kid, I feel that the pointed attacks
in the Duo take on a bullet-like character.
Example 16. Aaron Copland, Duofor Fluteand Piano,mvt. III.

(marc. sempre)

repeated pitches

>

(marc. sempre)

>

3rds

>

10
. .

-_

t,>

>

3,I.,,

>

....

8------------------------------

>

, Y 3 I

tt

i?

,1_

',

Y " Y

*"Y ? Y

t
,

?I

..

..

Native American Exoticism in Copland

69

Example 17. Aaron Copland, Billy the Kid Suite, "Gun Battle."
Tpt.

Tbn

__

__

__

__

consord.

Tuba

Timp.

Sn. Dr

3rds

Harp

S>

>

>

>

8ba
8ba..................~...........~.............................................~~.~~.

2 J
+

Hn

repeated pitches
3.

Tpt.

senza sord.
div -2

nonlegato
marcato,

>

Tbn 3
>

?>

>

Am

B.

_________________

___

__

____

__

Ih___-_

___
>

>

Harp> 0n

,
',

.
-

I-J

F ,

.
l

;
...r

,,I
bu

.'
--

"

>

lI>
8b

.>

'

>
>

[aj>
..

Piano

>>-

non leao
_

>8-

>

70

Nina Perlove

At the movement's conclusion, percussive attacks merge with a

fiddle-dance style. The flute's high-register, ascending grace notes
build tension and signal the grand szforzando finale, which is as brilliant, explosive, and optimistic as July Fourth fireworks (ex. 18).
Although Copland may not have openly recognized or acknowledged the contributions of MacDowell or the Indianist school, his own
work may have nevertheless been influenced by the very clich6s these
composers created and perpetuated. Furthermore, his deliberate
avoidance of Indians in Appalachian Spring seems a contradiction of
his sympathetic and self-identifying response toward the Natives of
Mexico. It is therefore likely that Copland's distancing from the Indianists had more to do with his disapproval of their German Romantic context than with an overall disinterest in Native material and subjects. After all, Copland believed that the formation of a unique
American composition school required liberation from the Germanic
tradition, including the previous generation of American composers
who had embraced German Romantic ideals. Unlike the nineteenthExample18.Aaron Copland, Duofor FluteandPiano,mvt. IIIconclusion (flute
part).

marc. e stacc.

6)

-i

non legato
17
stacc.

mf
sim.

>

Sf

mf

18 (don'thurry)
>>
?

,--.

>

,.

'.

Broaden tempo somewhat

if ma .
ff marc.

,
,

Native American Exoticism in Copland

71

century American composers trained in Leipzig, Munich, and Dresden, Copland and his contemporaries studied in Paris and developed
as composers during and between the world wars, when anti-German
sentiments were intense. Although German- and French-trained
Arthur Farwell similarly called for a national music that was
"sufficiently un-German,"58 Copland may still have considered him
a representative member of the old guard from which he wished to
separate himself. As Pisani recently suggested, Copland "turned away
from both the 'realism' of Indian themes as an American source and
the Germanic training that had formed a foundation for the work of
most of the previous generation. The 1890s cachet of Indianism had
now become tainted with genteelism and quite simply, bad taste."59
When Charles Ives (the Great Modernist), Quinto Maganini, and
Elliott Carter (Maganini and Carter were both members of Nadia's
"Boulangerie") used Indian topics for their pieces, however, Copland
praised the works, perhaps because he approved of the context used
by his contemporary colleagues.60 But because Native American references had become so closely associated with the German-trained
nineteenth-century American composers, Copland may have tried to
personally distance himself from all Indianism for fear of being
grouped with his genteel predecessors. A similar anti-German distancing was expressed by Copland regarding his opinions of Schoenberg,
Berg, and Webern: "I was interested and fascinated by them. I did not
go along with the expressive character of their music. It still sounded very nineteenth century and highly romantic. That was just the
thing we were trying to get away from."61
In this context, Copland's desire to keep Indian characters out of
ballets such as Appalachian Spring may have been a result of his wish
to guarantee that his work would not be confused with the previous
generation of Hiawatha settings.
This attitude may explain Copland's sentimentality toward Mexican Indians; since this specific region's Native subjects had not been
a primary focus of German-trained Indianist composers, they may
have carried less associative weight. To Copland, Mexican Indian subjects were specifically linked with Carlos Chavez, who first introduced
Copland to Mexico and who explored Indian subjects and musical
ideas as the basis for his Mestizo movement (works include the Aztec ballet Los Cuatro Soles [1926], Sinfonia India [1935], and XochipilliMacuilxochitl for TraditionalIndian Instruments [1940]). It is well known
that Copland's friendship with Chavez inspired works like El Salon
Mexico, and Copland took pride in the fact that critics called his piece
"as Mexican as the music of Revueltas."62 However, the "Mestizo
musical style" may have influenced Copland much more than has
previously been examined, especially because he viewed it as specifi-

72

Nina Perlove

cally distinct from the European tradition that influenced the American "Indianists." Chavez may have used Native subjects in his pieces, but he was first and foremost a "modernist."63 Copland himself
wrote:
The principal imprint of the Indian personality-its
deepest
reflection in the music of our hemisphere-is to be found in the
present-day school of Mexican composers, and especially Carlos
Chavez and Silvestre Revueltas. With them it is not so much a
question of themes as it is of character. ... Chavez' music is,
above all, profoundly non-European [emphasis mine]. To me it
possesses an Indian quality that is at the same time curiously
contemporary in spirit. Sometimes it strikes me as the most truly contemporary music I know, not in the superficial sense, but
in the sense that it comes closest to expressing the fundamental
reality of modern man after he has been stripped of the accumulations
of centuries of aesthetic experiences [emphasis mine].64
To Copland, the centuries of accumulated aesthetic experience was
precisely the European tradition he so wanted to avoid.
An understanding of the Native American sound clich6s in the Duo
may help explain why Copland returned to a popular style for this
1971 flute piece. In the thirties and forties, Copland's popular compositions often reflected wartime sentiments. The composer wrote of
Appalachian Spring:
In 1944, with World War II at its grimmest and the world in turmoil, people yearned for the kind of pastoral landscape and innocent love that Martha Graham's most lyrical ballet offered.
AppalachianSpring affirmed traditional American values that were
being dramatically challenged by Nazism. Audiences knew immediately what the country was fighting for when they saw Appalachian Spring.65
The birth year of the Duo, 1971, was again "wartime" for the United
States. During the Vietnam War however, the public was divided
about America's involvement. Returning soldiers were not always
greeted with a hero's welcome, and traditional American values were
being challenged, not embraced.
Given the interpretation of the Duo as a reflection of wartime attitudes, the work becomes a prime example of Copland's ability to
present contemporary life in a musical setting-a goal he felt was essential to the role of artistic creation. Four years after the Duo's premier, Copland revealed his view:
[The artist's] importance to society, in the deepest sense, is that

Native American Exoticism in Copland

73

the work he does gives substance and meaning to life as we live

it... Obviously, we depend on the great works of the past for
many of our most profound artistic experiences, but not even the
greatest symphony of Beethoven or the greatest cantata of Bach
can say what we can say about our own time and our own life....
It's not a question of simply depending on the great works of the
past-they are wonderful and cherishable, but that's not enough.
We as a nation must be able to put down in terms of art what it
feels like to be alive now, in our own time, in our own country.66
Copland's Duo, which at times suggests conflict and warfare, may
be interpreted as a reflection of contemporary American events. But
the "noble savage" Indianisms and affirmative nature of the concluding movement give the work an overall sense of optimism. Because
noble savage stereotype evoked the "good old days" of serenity,
peace, dignity, and stability,67 Copland's adaptation of Indian musical exoticisms within an affirmative popular context may express nostalgia not only for "precivilization," but also a longing for the era of
popular works like Appalachian Spring and Billy the Kid-a time when
even war seemed uncomplicated.68 It is, after all, the positive qualities of life that Copland's music repeatedly expressed. As H. Wiley
Hitchcock noted, Copland's music is all "affirmative, yea-saying, positive, optimistic. It says that life, American life, has precious and cherishable values."69 This was a character Copland specifically identified
with American music and which he acknowledged derived from the
philosophies of MacDowell. Copland said:
In a lecture delivered sometime before 1907, the American composer Edward MacDowell said: "What we must arrive at is the
youthful optimistic vitality and the undaunted tenacity of spirit
that characterizes the American man. That is what I hope to see
echoed in American music." I think MacDowell's hope has been
fulfilled-partly at least-for if there is a school of American composers, optimism is certainly its keynote.70
Although Copland may have differed from MacDowell by trying to
distance himself from the German-European musical past, he certainly
shares MacDowell's artistic optimism.
Whether Copland realized it or not, by the first half of the twentieth century, Indian musical cliches had become a permanent part of
the American sound tradition, repeatedly reinforced by art composers, film-score arrangers, and even playing children. It may even be
said that Native American musical exoticisms had become, like "noble savage" mythology of the era, an inextricable part of America's
musical landscape. As Pisani commented:

74

Nina Perlove

The suggestion of wide open spaces... and the earthy simplicity and directness of some concert music of the 1930s and 1940s
came to be irrevocably associated with Americanism: a pastoral
simplicity based on the pentatonicism of folk tunes and the spaciousness of parallel chords and open fifths. The influence of the
Indianist school lingered, though the source of that influence was
suppressed.71
Unlike the works of previous American composers, Copland's Duo
for Flute and Piano places Native American sound images within a nonGermanic context, making the piece a unique expression of Copland's
own time in his own country.
NOTES
I would like to thank bruce mcclung, Richard Crawford, and the anonymous reviewers of American Music for reading this paper and offering insightful comments and suggestions. I would also like to thank Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon and Frank Samarotto for
looking over my analysis with keen theoretical eyes.
1. John Wyton, "The Copland-Solum Correspondence, 1967-1975: The Duo for Flute
and Piano Commission," Flutist Quarterly 17 (Winter 1992): 33-43.
2. Aaron Copland and Vivian Perlis, Copland: Since 1943 (New York: St. Martin's/
Marek, 1984), 376.
3. Schuyler Chapin, "A Gift to Be Simple," SymphonyMagazine 42 (March-April 1991):
25; Wilfrid Mellers, "Homage to Aaron Copland," Tempo95 (Winter 1970-71): 4.

4. Howard Pollack,AaronCopland:TheLifeand Workofan Uncommon

Man (New York:
Henry Holt, 1999), 529.
5. In this paper any reference to so-called Indian or Indianist musical style refers to
common musical stereotypes regarding Native Americans as created and perpetuated either by "Indianist" art composers (who often tried to use ethnographic sources for their
material), "primitivist" mainstream sound stereotypes such as from art composers,
burlesque shows, and radio programs, and/or by "Hollywood Indian" cliches. The
combination of these sources contributed to a mainstream, publicly recognizable idiom which for the purposes of this paper is more significant than attempting to trace a
possible "authentic" source, which is itself problematic to define because Native Americans are made up of hundreds of distinct tribal groups with unique musical and cultural practices. Copland did not research "authentic" Indian musical sources, but was
likely influenced by the combined impact of stereotypes mentioned above.
6. Aaron Copland and Vivian Perlis, Copland:1900 through 1942 (New York: St. Martin's/Marek, 1984), 1, 3-4.
7. Aaron Copland, Music and Imagination (Cambridge: Harvard University Press,
1953), 97.
8. Other American composers whom Copland classified as the important young composers of the twenties and thirties who lived and/or studied abroad include Virgil
Thomson, Randall Thompson, G. Herbert Elwell, Roger Sessions, Avery Claflin, Edmund Pendleton, Douglas Moore, Quinto Maganini, Howard Hanson, and Henry Cowell. See Aaron Copland, Copland on Music (New York: W. W. Norton, 1963), 143-52.
9. Copland, Music and Imagination, 100.
10. Arthur Berger, "Aaron Copland 1900-1990," Perspectives of New Music 30 (Winter 1992): 296-97.

Native American Exoticism in Copland

75

11. Copland, Music and Imagination, 26.

12. Ibid., 103-4.
13. Arthur Berger, Aaron Copland (New York: Oxford University Press, 1953), 60.
14. Copland and Perlis, Copland: Since 1943, 68.

15. Copland, MusicandImagination,46.

16. Ibid.
17. Ibid., 91.
18. From the notebooks of Martha Graham. Cited by Michael Vincent Pisani, "Exotic
Sounds in the Native Land: Portrayals of North American Indians in Western Music,"
Ph.D. thesis, Eastman School of Music, 1996, 523. Pisani's source for this information was
Marta Robertson, "Scores of Evidence: Martha Graham's Musical Collaborations," unpublished paper read at the Sonneck Society Conference in Madison, Wisconsin, April
1995. In her research, Robertson found that Graham originally intended to have an Indian girl appear in the ballet, but took the character out at Copland's insistence (telephone discussion with Marta Robertson, 1999). See also Pollack, Aaron Copland,394.
19. Copland and Perlis, Copland: Since 1943, 376.
20. Copland and Perlis, Copland: 1900 through 1942, 298; and Berger, Aaron Copland,
87, 89.
21. Wilfrid Mellers wrote of Copland's 1941 Piano Sonata, "The suggestion of timelessness in Copland's work is... not unconnected with America's physical, geographical vastness. The stillness and solitude of the prairie lurk behind all his urban sophistication." Quoted by Berger, "Aaron Copland 1900-1990," 297.
22. The common connection between Indians and landscape imagery of the American West is discussed in Pisani, "Exotic Sounds in the Native Land," 9, 35, 521, and
Michael V. Pisani, "The Indian Music Debate and 'American' Music in the Progressive
Era," College Music Symposium 37 (1997): 88-93.
23. Gilbert Chase, "The 'Indianist' Movement in American Music," New World
Records, NW-213, liner notes.
24. Pisani's in-depth discussion of nineteenth-century Hiawatha settings is a major
focus of his thesis, as cited above. Some composers who explored Hiawatha themes
include Rubin Goldmark (Copland's former teacher), Robert Stoepel, Ellsworth Phelps,
Louis Coerne, Carl Busch, and Arthur Foote. See also Pisani's article, "Longfellow,
Robert Stoepel, and an Early Musical Setting of Hiawatha (1859)," American Music 16
(Spring 1998): 45-85.
25. Copland and Perlis, Copland: 1900 through 1942, 216.
26. For a complete discussion of Indian exoticism, see Michael V. Pisani, "'I'm an
Indian Too': Creating Native American Indian Identities in Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Music," in The Exotic in Western Music, ed. Jonathan Bellman (Boston:
Northeastern University Press, 1998), 218-57. Other discussions of Native American
musical stereotype are included in Pisani, "Longfellow, Stoepel," 45-85, and in Tara
Colleen Browner, "Transposing Cultures: The Appropriation of Native North American Musics, 1890-1990," Ph.D. thesis, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1995.
27. Bellman, ed., Exotic in WesternMusic, xiii.
28. Copland, Copland on Music, 151.

29. Quinto Maganini,Tuolumne:

A CaliforniaRhapsody
for Orchestrawith TrumpetObbligato, op. 2 (New York: Affiliated Music Corporation, 1936), introductory notes.
30. Maganini, Tuolumne, introductory notes.
31. Aaron Copland, "One Hundred and Fourteen Songs," Modern Music 11 (Jan.-Feb.
1934): 63.
32. Robert M. Stevenson, Music in Mexico: A Historical Survey (New York: Crowell,
1952), 6.
33. George Burt, The Art of Film Music (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1994),
67.

76

Nina Perlove

34. "Authentic" Lakota flute music is difficult to trace. However, Kevin Locke (Tokeye Inajin) is one Native flutist who has tried to capture the essence of this musical
tradition. For example, see his CD, The Flash of the Mirror, Makoch6 (1994).
35. Given the relationship between Copland's popular style in the Duo and Rosenman's A Man Called Horse solo, it is not impossible that Rosenman may have been influenced by earlier Coplandesque sound material in this film score. It is even possible
that the South Dakota Sioux with whom Rosenman worked in the late 1960s were themselves influenced by Indianist, Coplandesque, and/or Hollywood-derived "soundviews" of the American West. This issue of reflexivity is interesting and complex, meriting further examination which is however beyond the scope of this paper.
36. Browner, "Transposing Cultures," 113-14.
37. A few examples of similar descending "grace note"-like figures occur in measures 45, 62-63, and 86-92.
38. Stagecoach won the 1939 Best Music Scoring Academy Award, defeating Aaron
Copland's nomination for Of Mice and Men.
39. Browner discusses this figure in Carter's work: "The 'Scottish snap,' now often
married to the interval of either a whole-step or a minor third moving downward in
pitch, had solidified its position as the rhythmic-melodic combination signifying Native Americans. In [Pocahontas],the last eight bars of the score from the orchestral suite
(the original ballet score no longer exists), the 'snap,' with both interval variations, can
be seen." Browner, "Transposing Cultures," 128.
40. Copland and Perlis, Copland: 1900 through 1942, 283.
41. The opening chords have been described as emphasizing the funeral tolling of a
bell; Neil Butterworth, The Music of Aaron Copland (New York: Universe Books, 1986),
175.
42. Pisani discusses "tongue-wagging" trills in western music as a Native American exoticism; see Michael Pisani, "I'm an Indian, Too," 228-29.
43. Thanks to Daniel E. Mathers for bringing my attention to these figures in The
Red Pony and the Piano Fantasy. Whoops in The Red Pony appear noticeably in movement two, "The Gift," at measures 44-46, and so on. Aaron Copland, The Red Pony:
Film Suite for Orchestra (London: Boosey and Hawkes, Ltd., 1951), pocket score, 34.
44. Copland and Perlis, Copland: 1900 through 1942, 160-62.
45. Paul Griffiths, Stravinsky (New York: Schirmer Books, 1992), 29.

A Biographyof the Works

46. RichardTaruskin,Stravinskyand the RussianTradition:
through Mavra, vol. 1 (Berkeley: University of California Press), 850.
47. Benois, as cited in ibid., 851.
48. Berger, Aaron Copland, 42. Techniques of descending grace-notes and whoop-like
trills also influenced Carlos Chavez; in 1940 the music editor of Time magazine wrote
that Chavez's Xochipilli-Macuilxochitl "sounded almost as primitive as Stravinsky." Cited from Stevenson, Music in Mexico, 2.
49. Saminsky, Living Music of the Americas (New York: Howell, Soskin and Crown,
1949), 126-27.
50. Lawrence Starr, "Copland's Style," Perspectives of New Music 19 (1980-81): 81.
51. Copland, Music and Imagination, 41.
52. These chords, in rhythm and sforzando character, are related to the closing piano
gestures of the first movement.
53. Pisani discusses the use of open drone fifths as representative of peasant cultures,
even influencing works like Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony; see "Longfellow, Stoepel," 68
54. Neil Butterworth describes the third movement as "a modified rondo in the style
of a lively dance. It also has its roots in the popular ballets"; Music of Aaron Copland,
176.

Native American Exoticism in Copland

77

55. This particular solo in MacDowell does not actually derive from Native American song (Theodore Baker's transcription that inspired MacDowell was actually based
upon a nineteenth-century hymn tune from Thomas Commuck, not an "authentic" Indian song). Francis Brancaleone, "Edward MacDowell and Indian Motives," American
Music 7 (Winter 1989): 360, 365. For other research on MacDowell's Indian Suite, see
Tara Browner, "'Breathing the Indian Spirit': Thoughts on Musical Borrowing and the
'Indianist' Movement in American Music," American Music 15 (1997): 265-84, and Richard Crawford, "Edward MacDowell: Musical Nationalism and an American Tone Poet,"

Journalof theAmericanMusicologicalSociety49 (1996):528-60.

56. Pisani, "I'm an Indian Too," 229.
57. Although MacDowell is not, strictly speaking, an Indianist composer, his Indian
Suite was often grouped with this school, as is evidenced by Copland's inclusion of
MacDowell's score in his comments quoted earlier in this paper.
58. Arthur Farwell, as quoted in Charles Hamm, Music in the New World (New York:
Norton, 1983), 417.
59. Pisani, "I'm an Indian Too," 256.
60. Copland specifically credits Ives with having a "richness and floridity of invention that has no exact counterpart in Europe"; Music and Imagination, 92.
61. Eightieth-birthday interview with Alan Blyth, BBC Radio 3, 14 November 1980.
As cited in Butterworth, Music of Aaron Copland, 161.
62. Copland and Perlis, Copland: 1900 through 1942, 247.
63. Leonora Saavedra discusses Chavez's style as both modernist and Mexican, especially as these traits separated his style from European Romanticism. Leonora Saavedra, "Carlos Chavez and the USA: The Construction of a Strategic Otherness," unpublished paper read at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music
Mexican Music Festival, November 1999.
64. Copland, Music and Imagination, 91-92.
65. Copland and Perlis, Copland: Since 1943, 51.
66. Aaron Copland, from a 1975 commencement address, as quoted in H. Wiley
Hitchcock, "Aaron Copland and American Music," Perspectives of New Music 19 (198081): 33.

67. Michael Castro, Interpretingthe Indian:Twentieth-Century

Poets and the Native
American (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press), 1983, xvi, as cited in Pisani,
"I'm an Indian Too," 221.
68. This is not a blanket assertion that Copland knowingly or exclusively intended
to reflect wartime sentiments in the Duo, and it must be remembered that his other
works during this period reflect different styles and characters. Copland's use of varying styles during this late period does not negate the possibility that current events
may have had some influence upon the expressive nature of the Duo. In addition, Copland's claim that he wrote the Duo in a popular style because it was suited to the
songful nature of the flute is curious given the composer's more canonic styles in the
1971 and 1973 ThrenodiesI and II. He also claims that he used a popular style because
the work was a commission for Kincaid students, a perplexing statement considering
the work is not at all suited for amateur players. Most important, although Copland
claimed the Duo's style was influenced by sketches dating from the forties, it is still
significant that Copland chose to work with these early sketches. The selection and assembly of compositional material is, after all, an equal part of the creative process. For
discussions of the Duo and Threnodies, see Copland and Perlis, Copland: Since 1943,
376, 381.
69. Hitchcock, "Aaron Copland and American Music," 32.
70. Copland, Music and Imagination, 95.
71. Pisani, "I'm an Indian Too," 256.