Copland's music defies traditional demarcations of style. Rather than being defined by function, genre, or chronology, Copland's style results from unities of compositional procedure in apparently dissimilar works. The subtle rhythmic, harmonic, and motivic techniques in Piano Variation can also be found in Billy the Kid, which uses compositional complexities to create a simple surface into which quoted cowboy tunes fit perfectly. Copland creates the folksong anew in order to demonstrate the aesthetic distance between the American past and contemporary life. His folk borrowings, like Stravinsky's, thus have the affect of musical commentary of one repertoire upon another.

Works: Copland: Vitebsk (71), Billy the Kid (77-81), El salón México (81-82).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Elizabeth Bergman