Re: "authentic" American music

[BarMusProd <BarMusProd...>]

Dear Richard and Listers:
In a message dated 3/7/00 12:41:21 PM, rlcm17 (at) hotmail(dot)com writes:

>At one of this past weekend's BAM seminars in re Kurt Weill (and THE ETERNAL
>
>ROAD), Leon Botstein, I think, remarked that Brooklyn Jewish boy Copland
>
>wrote the quintessential open-spaces Americana (I actually can't remember
>
>which piece he's referring to) that became (sadly) the Marboro Man music.
> 
>He definitely saw it as specifically growing out of his marginality, or
>
>sense of marginality. -- Robert Cohen

Well, shame on Mr. Botstein. The music that Aaron Copland wrote that is 
"quintessential open-spaces Americana" that he was referring to was probably 
"Appalachian Spring" (a ballet written for Martha Graham), but he might also 
have been referring to another masterful Copland ballet "Billy the Kid," 
which is also "quintessential open-spaces Americana." The Marlboro Man music 
(for those of us old enough to remember it) was actually taken from the theme 
from the movie "The Magnificent Seven," written by another great Jewish film 
composer, Elmer Bernstein. If you're wondering about royalties, remember that 
a movie score is a work made for hire and is owned by the film company, not 
the composer. They may do anything they want with it, including license it 
out for commercial use.

Best wishes,
Steve

Steve Barnett
Composer/Arranger/Producer
Barnett Music Productions
BarMusProd (at) aol(dot)com 

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