Piano Concerto - Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, NYPO
Ideated from: The Sevens, releases from years ending in 7.
OK, I’m being cheeky the next couple of days, but I don’t put as much classical music in here as I should and this was technically permiered in 1927.
This 1965 take is actually the first on record, from what I’ve read. The New York Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein–a strong Copland supporter, as if Copland needed any help–with Copland himself playing piano.
Copland’s music is highly original. The things he created invoke the wild west, the prairie, and America generally. If you hear an anthemic ode to how American something is, like a political ad or a documentary about cowboys, the soundtrack is probably either Copland or Copland-inspired.
Even with that sense of epic melody, though, he had some very bold choices in harmonies. Not really jazzy, as such, he was heavily influenced by American musical traditions as much as by the European ones. It shows in some of the odd angles and ominous, just-short-of-dissonant overtones in places like this concerto.
