Music TheoryPrint

Aaron Copland

Music for a Great City

Music for a Great City is an orchestral composition by Aaron Copland completed in 1964. The piece was commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra in celebration of its sixtieth anniversary season

Composition#

The piece is divided into four movements: “Skyline”, “Night Thoughts”, “Subway Jam”, and “Toward the Bridge”. Much of the material is derived from the score Copland wrote for the 1961 film Something Wild.

Reception#

Reception was divided after the London premiere, with Sydney Edwards of the Evening Standard calling it disappointing and likening it to a knock-off of West Side Story. However, in a special to The New York Times, Charles Osborne complimented the piece, although admitted that the city in question was clearly New York and not London.

*Music for a Great City on aaroncopland.com

Composer
Aaron Copland