{"id":288,"date":"2019-10-05T19:50:59","date_gmt":"2019-10-05T19:50:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/program_note\/outdoor-overture\/"},"modified":"2025-04-02T20:16:53","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T20:16:53","slug":"outdoor-overture","status":"publish","type":"program_note","link":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/program_note\/outdoor-overture\/","title":{"rendered":"An Outdoor Overture"},"content":{"rendered":"

By his very nature Copland was completely dedicated to the cause of the creation and encouragement of an indigenous American music\u2014in every manifestation of the idea.\u00a0 So it came to pass that relatively early in his stylistic move to a more \u201caccessible\u201d musical style that explored American indigenous elements, he composed An Outdoor Overture<\/em>.\u00a0 The title is a bit misleading, for it played nothing in the creation, nor is it reflective of anything specific in the music itself.\u00a0\u00a0 In 1938 he was urged by the head of the music department of the High School of Music and Art in New York City to compose a work for the school\u2019s orchestra to more or less kick off a campaign promulgating \u201cAmerican Music for American Youth.\u201d\u00a0 Always a supporter of music education, Copland interrupted his scoring of \u201cBilly the Kid\u201d to write a concert overture for the school, one that was \u201coptimistic\u201d and which would appeal to the youth of the country.\u00a0 When it was finished, it was suggested that the work had an \u201copen-air\u201d quality to it, and so it was named.<\/p>\n

In Copland\u2019s best, straightforward, simple and angular style of the time, the overture begins with a stentorian musical motif that would see much use.\u00a0 It is soon transformed into a formidable, cantabile<\/em> solo for trumpet over a kind of string vamp–a signature of the piece.\u00a0 A more vigorous, rhythmic section ensues in a kind of march style that eventually dissipates and yields to a quiet, lyrical solo in the flute, then clarinet, and finally strings.\u00a0 Another theme is introduced\u2014also a march, but in a different mood from the other\u2014to round off all of the important materials of the work.\u00a0 All of these ideas undergo some recapitulation, varied of course, before the composer brings them all back in combination to end in dramatic fashion.\u00a0 The overture was warmly received and has been in the standard repertoire since.\u00a0 It went on to be transcribed for concert band by the composer and is played just about everywhere in our country by orchestras and bands, alike.<\/p>\n

–Wm. E. Runyan<\/p>\n

\u00a92019 William E. Runyan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"program_note_tax":[11],"class_list":["post-288","program_note","type-program_note","status-publish","hentry","program_note_tax-aaroncopland"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program_note\/288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program_note"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/program_note"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"program_note_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program_note_tax?post=288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}