Track Listing

1. Very slowly
2. Allegro
3. Moderato
4. Fast
5. Subito allegro
6. Meno mosso; As at first (slowly)
7. Doppio movimento
8. Rather slow
9. Very deliberate
10. Poco più mosso
11. A trifle slower
12. Molto allegro ed agitato
13. Broadly
14. Moderato (like a prayer)
15. Lento
16. Subito allegro
17. "Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history..."
18. Introduction: The Open Prairie
19. Street in a Frontier Town
20. Prairie Night (Card Game at Night)
21. Gun Battle
22. Celebration (After Billy's Capture)
23. Billy's Death
24. The Open Prairie Again

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #53885 in Music
• Released on: 1990-10-25
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
Although it has come to be much better known in Copland's arrangement for full orchestra, Appalachian Spring was originally composed for a chamber-sized complement of 13 instruments, the maximum that would fit in front of the stage at the Coolidge Auditorium in the Library of Congress, where Martha Graham's company gave the premiere of the ballet in 1944. Many listeners prefer the more vibrant and homespun sound of this original version, with its intimate expressiveness, to the splashiness and color of Copland's rescoring, brilliant as it is. Here, Copland conducts a hand-picked group of New York freelancers in what must be counted a definitive performance. The playing is energetic and expressive, the sentiment deep but not too sweet. Copland's 1968 account of his Lincoln Portrait, with Henry Fonda as narrator, and 1969 reading of the suite from Billy the Kid round out the disc most satisfactorily. All three recordings are remarkably vivid. --Ted Libbey

Customer Reviews

Best versions of Appalachian Spring /Billy the Kid!
If I had to choose one Copland album over all others in my collection, this would be the one!
When I purchased this cd many years ago, I hadn't realized at the time that this was the original, longer version of "Appalachian Spring" for chamber orchestra until I first played it, and it totally took me by surprise - what a revelation! It's become both my favorite version and recording of this piece.

The orchestration in "A Lincoln Portrait" is superb, and although the late Henry Fonda's reading does have a certain, peculiar quality to it, it's a vast improvement over the sound of the vinyl.

The "Billy the Kid" suite is absolutely thunderous and intensely psychotic, the BEST version ever recorded, IMHO, with the opening tympani beats guaranteed to shake your speakers and sub-woofers and the house along with it.

The original Appalachian Spring
This CD contains the intimate, beautiful and original version of Copland's classic Appalachian Spring. Copland first wrote the piece for a small ensemble and the delicate interplay of the piano and strings is wonderous. By contrast, the more commonly heard orchestral versions of Appalachian Spring drown out some of the true and simple pleasures of the music.

Wonderful!
This was my first exposure to Copland. Copland is the quintessential American composer. His compositions are some of my favorites. As for this verson, Henry Fonda is by far the best orator for The Lincoln Portrait. James Earl Jones comes a close second. If you enjoy good music, you will enjoy this album.