Copland Inscape opening eleven note chord

''Inscape'' is a 1967

musical composition Musical composition can refer to an Originality, original piece or work of music, either Human voice, vocal or Musical instrument, instrumental, the musical form, structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new pie ...

for

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, critic, writer, teacher, pianist, and conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as the "Dean of American Compos ...

, approximately twelve to thirteen minutes in length, and commissioned by and dedicated to the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...

for its 125th anniversary (see also '' Capriccio burlesco''). Composed using the

twelve-tone technique The twelve-tone technique—also known as dodecaphony, twelve-tone serialism, and (in British usage) twelve-note composition—is a method of musical composition. The technique is a means of ensuring that all 12 notes of the chromatic scale ...

, the piece has been considered less accessible than much of Copland's earlier music. It is named for

Gerard Manley Hopkins Gerard Manley Hopkins (28 July 1844 – 8 June 1889) was an English poet and Society of Jesus, Jesuit priest, whose posthumous fame places him among the leading English poets. His Prosody (linguistics), prosody – notably his concept of sprung ...

's term "

inscape Inscape and instress are complementary and enigmatic concepts about individuality and uniqueness derived by the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins from the ideas of the medieval philosopher Duns Scotus.Chevigny, Bell Gale. Instress and Devotion in the P ...

", invented: Hopkins's opposite of "inscape" was " instress" ("perception as opposed to intrinsic, essential quality"), and a commentator writes that Copland, "uses sounds as an 'instress' that communicates a deeper inner essence, an 'inscape.'"Steinberg, Michael (2000).
About the Piece: Inscape
", ''LAPhil.com''. "The outward appearance is the boundary chords that frame the composition. The inner reality is the first complete statement of Copland's original melodic

idea In philosophy and in common usage, an idea (from the Greek word: ἰδέα (idea), meaning 'a form, or a pattern') is the results of thought. Also in philosophy, ideas can also be mental representational images of some object. Many philosophe ...

at P-0, which occurs very close to the middle of ''Inscape''." Row 1: Eb G F# D F Bb A B C# G# E Row 2: F C Ab D G A B Eb C# E F# The composition begins and ends with eleven-note chords (it may end on a ten note chord), "perhaps a double tease", and, "if there is one over-arching feature to Inscape, it is the alternation of massive blocks of sound, sometimes quite harsh in their harmony, with quieter sonorities and more peaceable gestures." Copland said that the twelve-tone technique "freshened his harmonic palette" and that the composition uses two different

tone row In music, a tone row or note row ( or '), also series or set, is a non-repetitive ordering of a set of pitch-classes, typically of the twelve notes in musical set theory of the chromatic scale, though both larger and smaller sets are sometime ...

s. Discussing ''

Connotations A connotation is a commonly understood culture, cultural or emotional association that any given word or phrase carries, in addition to its explicit or Literal and figurative language, literal meaning (philosophy of language), meaning, which is it ...

'' (1962), he said, "As a result f using the twelve-tone techniqueI began to hear chords I wouldn't have heard otherwise; here was a new way of moving tones about that had a freshening effect on one's technique and approach." However, he stated that ''Inscape'' "used it he techniquein a rather more tonal way than...''Connotations''." "Through the single, closely-knit movement of ''Inscape'' there is no perceptible contradiction between the serial and diatonic elements, rather they dissolve freely into each other to produce music of a stimulating independence of spirit."Henderson, Robert
Copland's 'Inscape'
, ''Tempo'', No. 87 (Winter, 1968-1969), pp. 29-30, ''JSTOR.org''. According to Henderson the first "twelve-note series" opens and closes the piece, while the second is the primary source of melodic material.

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

remarked after the premiere: "Aaron, it's amazing how, even when you compose in a completely 'foreign' idiom the music still comes out sounding like you."Copland, Aaron and Perlis, Vivian (1989). ''Copland: Since 1943'', p.353. St. Martin's. quoted in Dickinson, Peter (2002). ''Copland Connotations: Studies and Interviews'', p.180, n.6. Boydell. . "The writing," also, "bears the unmistakable imprint of Copland's mature personality, in its wide spacing, its spare, lucid textures, often in just two or three parts, and lithe, cumulative rhythms."

References

{{Aaron Copland 1967 compositions Music commissioned by the New York Philharmonic Orchestral compositions by Aaron Copland Music dedicated to ensembles or performers Twelve-tone compositions