A Bright Golden Haze on the Meadow: The Orchestral American Landscape

By Maia Thielen, Events & Community Engagement Manager

There's a bright golden haze on the meadow,
There's a bright golden haze on the meadow.
The corn is as high as an elephant's eye
And it looks like it's climbing clear up in the sky.
​
- "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'", Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Oklahoma"

​These words aren’t just the opening lines to Rodgers and Hammerstein’s country musical Oklahoma, but a textual portrait of the American landscape: a grand landscape with a distinct orchestral language all its own.  This language is instantly recognizable: strings rise like the fronds of coarse wheat and swaying prairie grasses.  Woodwind breezes playfully weave through the string pastures.  Brass pomp serves as an echo of the sun off the purple mountains.  The whole scene reverberates in majestic open fourths and fifths.  Of course, the settling of the American West was more complicated and grimmer than its musical fantasy, but the stunning plains and peaks of this country's landscape have inspired a rich orchestral tradition that still rings forth today with enchantment and awe.

When it comes to the founding of this tradition, there is perhaps no composer more influential than Aaron Copland.  On March 7th and 8th, the Bozeman Symphony performs Copland's "Clarinet Concerto" with guest artist Jon Manasse and Music Director finalist Thomas Heuser.  While the concerto explores a different American tradition—jazz—I'd like to share some favorite Copland pieces and works that follow in his pastoral footsteps.  

You may be familiar with Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man , Appalachian Spring, ​Billy the Kid, and Rodeo  (if not, I encourage you to click the links to give them a listen)—all fantastic and well-known examples of his agrarian style.  You may also notice that list is comprised of both a symphonic work and ballets, for Copland's compositional style seamlessly transitions between many different forms: symphonies, ballets, operas, art songs, and films.  Among his film credits, a sublime Americana marriage can be found: that between Copland and author John Steinbeck—my favorite writer, whose 118th birthday would have been today—on 1948's The Red Pony and 1939's Of Mice and Men.  Steinbeck himself adapted his  Red Pony novella into a screenplay for the film which, while not a commercial success, gave us what is now known as The Red Pony Suite.  Listen to the first movement, "Morning on the Ranch" (YouTube link below) with its prancing opening fanfare which then unfurls into a delicate, introspective melody.  These two themes alternate, perfectly expressing the infatuation and reverence Steinbeck held for his beloved Salinas Valley.

I remember that the Gabilan Mountains to the east of the valley were light gay mountains full of sun and loveliness, and a kind of invitation, so that you wanted to climb into their warm foothills almost as you want to climb into the lap of a beloved mother. They were beckoning mountains with a brown grass love. The Santa Lucias stood up against the sky to the west and kept the valley from the open sea, and they were dark and brooding-unfriendly
​and dangerous.

- Opening page of John Steinbeck's "East of Eden"

Not Salinas, but our own beautiful Gallatin Valley.

In the final minute of the movement, the jaunty "boom chicka boom" of the gamboling ponies Tom (Jody in the novella) desires so deeply takes over before the enchanting second movement, "The Gift."  The Red Pony Suite doesn't just carry the audience through the colors of the evolving plot but gives a voice to the ranch dust settling in the California sunlight.  To accomplish this, Copland employs his musical lexicon of the West, including fabricated folk melodies (like the use of "Simple Gifts" in Appalachian Spring) to enhance the intimacy of the story.  As Copland, himself said:
​ "This was not your typical Western with gunmen and Indians."

The author's miniature horses, Smoky and Rocky, enjoying their own American landscape.

To the right, you will find the excerpt "Barley Wagons" as well as the entirety of the other Copland-Steinbeck collaboration, Of Mice and Men, (which boasts a "100% fresh" rating on popular film website Rotten Tomatoes).  In the excerpt, the wistful, bucolic strings and woodwinds are at the forefront, but listen to how well Copland balances that orchestral painting with musical storytelling, highlighting the narrative of this iconic tale.  The opening tune alone sets the stage with old Hollywood drama, glimpses of the countryside, and thematic additions such as the jaw harp, which undoubtedly represents the character of the ranch hands.

One of the most  compelling living composers is Libby Larsen, whose work often engages with American landscape and narratives.  Since she is very open and accessible when it comes to her music, I'll let her tell you about this wonderful piece, Deep Summer Music, herself:

"Panorama and horizon are part of the natural culture of the plain states. On the plains, one cannot help but be effected by the sweep of the horizon and depth of color as the eye adjusts from the nearest to the farthest view. The glory of this phenomenon is particularly evident at harvest time, in the deep summer, when acres of ripened wheat, sunflowers, corn, rye, and oats blaze with color. In the deep summer, winds create wave after wave of harvest ripeness which, when beheld by the human eye, creates a kind of emotional peace and awe: a feeling of abundance combined with the knowledge that his abundance is only as bountiful as nature will allow."

Another fantastic piece to revisit or familiarize yourself with takes us South of the plains to the Grand Canyon.  This landscape is more otherworldly, with movements taking us through the sunrise creeping and then blooming over the rocks, the exoticism and mystery of the Painted Desert, the humorous plodding of the mules (the sounds of their hooves made by the implementation of unique percussion instruments—coconut shells—just as horses swagger through Billy the Kid, Rodeo, and The Red Pony),  the romance of sunset, and the sublimity of a desert storm (complete with a wind machine and thunder sheet).  Click the link on the right to enjoy Ferde Grofé's Grand Canyon Suite.

For something a bit different, we travel East as well as back in time to the music of Charles Ives.  A predecessor to Copland (and an underrated composer, in my opinion), Ives is another essential figure in the legacy of American classical music.  Derived from the third movement of his  Three Places in New England and featuring text from Robert Underwood Johnson's poem of the same name, "The Housatonic at Stockbridge" was inspired by a honeymoon walk taken by Ives and his wife, Harmony, through the charming Berkshires.  While not a commentary on the West, this haunting art song is still a love letter to the American countryside and one of my favorites.

The sound of the American landscape and influences of Copland can even be found in Disney films and attractions.  Listen to how accomplished film composers Randy Newman and Jerry Goldsmith convey the grandeur of the trees and meadows from a bug's perspective and the splendor of California's varied ecosystems, respectively, using similar conventions.  

The American orchestral language is one of my favorite symphonic styles.  These pieces capture the thrill, adventure, and hope of the Old West, as well as a nostalgia for a time when the land was untamed.  Grasses, cliffs, sunrises, and storms speak for themselves in these compositions, whispering and thundering with mystique and promise.

Thank you for joining me on this musical tour!  Do you have any favorite pieces that evoke the American landscape or tradition?  Leave a comment so we can all keep exploring!