In the 1930’s, America was left in a state of confusion and uncertainty due to The Great Depression. Aaron Copland’s purpose was to make people aware of politics through vernacular music. He began to experiment with a simplified style and creating underlying messages regarding the popular front agenda to gather a larger audience. This time of transition from wealth to poverty and security to uncertainty, artist began use politics as a means to recovery and look at the plight of the people. One artist that was successful in reaching that goal was Aaron Copland. Through the integration of American folk music, his use of simplified style, appeal to the political changes. Copland wanted to raise awareness of the political issues in America and…show more content… Anglo-folklorism is defined as the traditional art, literature, knowledge, and practice that is disseminated largely through oral communication and behavioral example. The folklorism in the ballet score is best represented in the second movement. In Street in a Frontier Town, Copland turns to the folk song “Git Along Little Dogies” to bring back the feeling of traditional America in the music. The most successful works of their kind since Stravinsky’s prewar ballets for Diaghilev. They finally made Copland, in a succession that can be traced from Gershwin through Harris, the “exemplary” American composer, the commonly accepted, if not rather acknowledged, standard bearer of musical Americanism. Example two shows the use of the vernacular music and how it shows Copland’s attempts at attracting the broader audience into is music. The interesting part is that the oboe and the trumpet part show tonal structures similar to Copland’s modernist style while still managing to keep the melody folk like and…show more content… It is known as a truly American suite because of the music it uses, the unique sound it creates, and the picture it paints for the listener. He achieves this by incorporating several famous cowboy tunes. Those include “Great Grand Dad”, “Git Along Little Dogies”, “The Old Chisholm Trail”, etc. The old American folk songs are what gave Billy the Kid that distinct “American” sound. It was one of the first pieces to have such a unique sound that became attached to the country itself. The fact that it was built around a real western cowboy known as Billy the kid, gives it a true American
