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"'Tis the gift to be simple"
Aaron Copland Meets The Shakers
In November of 1974, the distinguished composer Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
was in Cleveland, Ohio for a celebration of "Aaron Copland Week."The week included concerts of his music, such as the Suite from "Appalachian Spring," by the Cleveland Orchestra, conducted by Copland and other Copland works conducted by Cleveland Orchestra Director, Lorin Maazel.
Other concerts were held during that week by various musicians.
There was also a showing of the 1939 movie, OF MICE AND MEN, with the film score by Copland, who seemed very pleased by this attention to his film score.
One of the honors was receiving an honorary key to the City of Cleveland by the mayor.
I attended many of the events and wished I could introduce Copland to the Shakers, if they happened to be in the area.
Well, happily, my wish came true.
Copland meets the Shakers for the first and only time.
At the same time Copland was in Cleveland, there were several Shakers from Sabbathday Lake, Maine visiting in nearby Shaker Heights, Ohio.
For those not aware of the Shakers, they are America's most prolific religious communal sect in their music with over 20,000 texts and tunes written between the 1780s to 1959 -- their last known original song.
After a quick phone call to the hotel where Copland was staying in Cleveland, I was able to arrange for him to meet the Shakers while he was attending a college music student gathering. At that meeting, I asked Copland to sign a copy of his vocal setting for "Simple Gifts."
That day of November 9, 1974, when Copland met the Shakers from Sabbathday Lake, will always be special to me, since I was able to introduce the composer I most admired to the Shakers I also admired and they both met for the first and only time.
It was truly a meeting of minds and both shared a mutual admiration for the Shaker dance song with words like these opening four lines:
'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.
-- Roger Lee Hall,
November 2014/ updated: November 2024
Here are two CDs from the interview by Roger Hall
with Aaron Copland at his home in July of 1980:
A Conversation with Aaron Copland (AMRC 0005)
Gentle Words - A Shaker Music Sampler (AMRC 0016)
includes an excerpt of the Aaron Copland interview
See the two books about the Shaker song
by Shaker music scholar,
Roger Hall at this link:
Joseph Brackett's "Simple Gifts"
Giving credit where it is due!
In the book, Chosen Faith, Chosen Land by Jeannine Lauber (DownEast Books, 2009), there are numerous errors in the description of Aaron Copland meeting
Sister Mildred Barker in 1974 as shown here:
© Photograph by Gail M. Hall, 1974
This is the caption underneath the picture:
Sister Mildred with Composer Aaron Copeland in Shaker Heights, Ohio in 1974. Sr. Mildred, Sr. Frances, and Br. Ted were in Ohio to conduct seminars during the Shaker bicentennial. They were invited to attend a birthday party for Mr. Copeland. He gave Sr. Mildred an autographed copy of his arrangement of "Simple Gifts."
Among the errors in this caption are Copland's name being misspelled twice!
No credit was given to who arranged this one time meeting meeting -- Roger Hall, who also donated his personal copy of the sheet music for Copland to autograph.
Mr. Hall then give the autographed copy to the Shakers for their library in Maine.
This picture also is not credited to the photographer, Gail M. Hall. In addition, the meeting was not "a birthday party" for Copland. Instead, it was at a music librarian's home in Shaker Heights, Ohio where Copland had been invited to speak to graduate music students from Case Western Reserve University.These are the facts not the fiction published in that book.
Extensive research article about the Shaker song
and including highlights from the interview with Aaron Copland
See this article from The Bulletin of The Society for American Music:
Recommended Recordings
of Copland's "Simple Gifts" Arrangements
There are many worthwhile versions of Copland's Appalachian Spring.
It still remains his most popular concert work in whatever version may be heard.
Copland also arranged the Shaker song for voice and piano (later orchestrated) in his set of Old American Songs.Here are some recommended recordings:
The Music of America: Aaron Copland
a recommended 3 CD set with the variations on"Simple Gifts"
from Appalachian Spring (Michael Tilson Thomas and
San Francisco Symphony), also the
arrangement of "Simple Gifts" sung by William Warfield
in Old American Songs
These recommended CDs are with Copland conducting:
A Copland Celebration Vol. 2 - Old American Songs & other works
includes an arrangement of "Simple Gifts" for voice and piano
in Old American Songs with
William Warfield, baritone and Aaron Copland, piano
A Copland Celebration Vol. 3 - Old American Songs & other works
orchestral arrangement of "Simple Gifts"
sung by William Warfield
(the distinguished baritone known for his role in Gershwin's Porgy & Bess)
For questions or comments
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