Copland :Variations on a Shaker Melody

Variations on a Shaker Melody

Aaron Copland (1900-1990)

In this centenary year of the birth of Aaron Copland it is indeed appropriate to hear his Variations on a Shaker Melody – the very melody which was brought to wide notice when heard as the climax of his well-loved ballet, “Appalachian Spring’ (1944). This 1967 composition (closely based upon the final section of the ballet) was the last of several settings which Copland made of “Simple Gifts,” one of the hundreds of wonderfully fresh and original hymns created by the Shakers for their religious ceremonies. (The words speak of the plain and uncomplicated lives which were the goal of the Shakers, a Utopian religious sect which flourished in the early 19^th century, and survives until today in a single community in Maine.) The Shakes are widely renowned for their fine furniture and design, but as well for their fresh and lively music (and dancing!) which occupied a unique position in their worship. The words of the hymn say it all: “’T is a gift to be simple, ‘t is a gift to be free, t’ is a gift to come down where you ought to be…”-

GPYO concert