Copland’s Duo for Flute and Piano places Native American sound images within a non-Germanic context, making the work a unique expression of his own time in the United States. Copland believed that the creation of a unique American composition school demanded liberation from Germanic tradition and ideals, thereby explaining his sentimentality towards the Mexican-Indian idiom. This work represents a culmination of Copland’s earlier stylistic trends, and is especially reminiscent of his 1940s “Americana style,” one that evokes the city and country as well as Native American musical elements. Copland believed that musical and cultural idioms are transmitted unconsciously to people in the locale. His manner of musical borrowing is transformative in nature, deriving new expressive layers from the original folk idiom. Rather than quoting directly, Copland borrows the general stylistic traits of the collective Native American sound images. The first movement of Duo for Flute and Piano is characterized by an opening and closing monophonic flute solo, creating an outdoor, pastoral quality. Copland manages to successfully infuse folk idioms into the work through the surrounding context and combined impact of the material such as the use of open fifths and snap-like figures, as well as other Indian musical gestures like meter changes and wide use of consonant intervals in descending motion. Copland’s music was able to resonate with listeners of the day due to the pervasive dissemination of Indian stereotypes in films, perpetuating and reflecting common public opinions on Native music in the 1970s. Copland also incorporates Stravinsky-like grace notes within an American musical landscape in the second movement. The third movement evokes a distinctly heroic quality due to the deliberate allusion to Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony while assuming a uniquely American character.

Works: Copland: Appalachian Spring (52), Duo for Flute and Piano (53).

Sources: Joseph Brackett: Simple Gifts (52); Copland: Symphony No. 3 (53); Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 55 (“Eroica”) (66); MacDowell: Indian Suite (67); Copland: Billy the Kid (68).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Jingyi Zhang