Appalachian Spring

Appalachian Spring, composed by Aaron Copland

This piece was inspired by the shaker's hymn, "Simple Gifts":

"Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gain'd,
To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come round right."

Category:

Music

Tags:

• appalachian
• spring
• aaron
• copland
• 20th
• century
• classical
• orchestra
• lyrics
• shakers
• hymn
• simple
• gifts
• healing
• meditation
• flute
• organ
• piano
• violin

[712JayC]

playing this in my school orchestra and the teacher is making me play the 1st Oboe with 2 solos, 3 flats, 3 sharps(changes from 3 flats to 3 sharps)....I play a flute.....lol

[RoyalDukeJam]

@712JayC Hey consider yourself lucky, that you can play 1st chair on anything with solos. I was always stuck in 2nd chair as a trombone player (which was fine by me, now thinking back to it, lol). Though, it must be some kind of rule that flute players can play oboe as my director would send two of the flute players and have them play oboe! ;)

[karinablacktie]

What orchestra is performing this?

[RoyalDukeJam]

@karinablacktie Hi, sorry for the late reply.

It took me awhile to find the CD case, lol. This was performed by the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, though it doesn't mention the conductor. It came from a CD called "The Only American Album You'll Ever Need"

;)

[anniealto]

I have to say that this is one of my favorite pieces of classical music. For obvious reasons.

[TheLegacyFront]

I can not hear it as much ;0

[surfchick94]

I think you will actually find that he dedicated this piece to the hymn/poem AFTER he had actually written the piece. It is a beautiful piece

[jRent2011]

@IanTheSpah It changes a lot. I'd say the majority is 4/4, but there are scattered measures of 3/2 3/4 5/4 2/4 7/8 6/8 5/8 and maybe some more. (I'm looking at the score, so... @lhpsbass1 is wrong unfortunately.

[jmmprime]

classical in its form and orchestration, I think...Ralph Vaughn Williams is 20th century and still considered classical...Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky, etc....all 20th cent. classical.

[julian54578]

@sanchezabra02 he doesnt literally mean from the classical era i think

[sanchezabra02]

@anniealto this is not classical music its from the 20th century

[7Stringuzr]

@canojelly14 me too!

[lovemeordie83]

It is such a shame that this musical piece received MUCH less attention than the bigoted scum talking over it. THIS should have gone viral, not the 'Strong' video.