<<  -- 6 --  Peter Dickinson    GOLDEN AGE

All the same, Copland's long involvement with Victor Kraft must have brought him considerable anguish along with some domestic disruption when the tempestuous Kraft became seriously unstable. Since all these friendships had an influence on Copland's creative life it is unfortunate that his extended correspondence with Kraft has been withdrawn.

Do we need to know all of this, however sensitively expressed by Pollack, to understand Copland's music? Some have said that Copland might have been happier with a more permanent partnership than his intermittent promiscuous young men provided, so it may be possible to see the strong vein of loneliness that seems to suffuse his slower music as a personal reflection. This spirit can even be found in early works such as the song, Old Poem, as well as the second of Three Moods for piano.

Composing for films, starting in 1939, made a great difference to Copland's life. He emerged as a genius at providing atmosphere of exactly the right density. He understood the needs of the cinema audience and it was never beneath him to fulfil these in a direct way. He also earned a good living for the first time. Pollack provides plentiful detail about the films and relates them to concert works derived from such scores. Copland was a great self-borrower. Pollack valuably considers recordings too. It was the three great ballets -- Billy the Kid (1938), Rodeo (1942) and Appalachian Spring (1944) which turned Copland into a household name, the voice of America. And his epic Third Symphony (1946) -- possibly the greatest symphony by an American -- hymns the heady days of America coming to the aid of the victims of totalitarianism in Europe and the Far East. In spite of any personal loneliness, Copland became a public figure.

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