I grew up in the 50s and 60s. My relatives always said I was born too late, because I could sit and listen to the stories of bygone days for hours. This music is a short trip back to all those family gatherings.
I am an Aussie but have traveled through the American countryside! It seems to me that Copeland gets America better than any other composer! You yanks should regard him as a national treasure!!
jbut: would you believe my country has yet to honor its greatest composer via the normal means of a commemorative stamp? And he's been dead over three decades.
Copland's music and William Wyler's classic film The Best Years of Our Lives stir my emotions like no other. My dad spent 11 months in a German prisoner of war camp and went through 4 Death Marches during WWll. He was the most well adjusted and compassionate man I've ever known.😢
Thanks for this priceless piece of Americana. So many of Copland's works absolutely captured the deepest, precious recesses of the American spirit. I quickly sit down on the front porch steps amid the fallen leaves of our maple and aspen trees. I eagerly, yet gently, open the letter from my boy, who is somewhere overseas. I slowly take in all his words as joy fills my heart. Yes, thank God, he is still alright. May this war be over soon I pray.
such an honest, open quality to Mr. Copland's music--distinctively American-something touching and a bit melancholy and lively at different times. brings a tear to my eyes.
Most everyone in these photos--including the children--have surely passed away by now, realization of which adds that much more power to the nostalgic effect of combining these classic old photos of ordinary Americans (and Canadians?) with Copland's incredibly evocative music here.
In the early '50s, CBS-TV broadcast an hourlong Sunday afternoon program called 'Omnibus' that was hosted by Alistair Cooke. On one of the early programs, it offered a profile of a composer whose seemed, in the minds of the show's producers, to capture the spirit and soul of America. The composer was Aaron Copland. It's been many, many years since I saw that show, but the snippet of Mr. Copland's music aired just may have been Letter from Home. I heard his works performed live a dozen times and I attended his 80th birthday concert at the Kennedy Center in 1980. Mr. Copland and Mr. Bernstein each had a chance to conduct the National Symphony.
The music is beautiful and the photos evoke a lost world. Combining this music with these images adds immeasurably to the overall effect of both - a kind of beautiful sadness.
Aaron Copland and both of my grandmothers (Washington DC and Scotland Neck, NC, to get both sides of the American spectrum) are all of that Class of 1900 Saturn in Capricorn era. His music makes me think of them.
Beautifully choreographed to Copland's majestic music with old and treasured images of a bygone and more innocent in America. Sensitively done. Thank you.
This is my early childhood growing in the 50s, too, where life was lots less complicated. Home, family, friendship, and community meant more than almost anything.
I've always enjoyed Leonard Slatkin's interpretations of Aaron Copland's compositions. This piece always brings the 1940s to my mind. Very New Englandish,.
My grandmother Rosa raised me and my little sister, in the late 40's on into the 60's. Grandmother would play this song often, saying it took her back to her home in Ireland. The music coupled with the old pictures is wonderful. Thanks. I shall visit this site often.
When I listen to music like this and the video that is so beautiful, I also think of the poetry of James Whitcomb Riley. It was the land, the simplicity of life and the brush strokes that come with the love of rural America that makes my heart swell. "The Orchard Lands of Long Ago", is just one example of expression.
This video is exceptionally well made. Copland hit a home run with this. It is bittersweet to see gorgeous B/W photos from a time before the Age of Plastics (now a blight on our lands and oceans) and the proliferation of personal devices for convenience (which have anesthetized many people so they no longer know what a fuller, more meaningful life actually is).
@@davidhoadley39 A very different time, David. Making a photograph was not a casual thing someone did. Today, people capture every meaningless moment, many just to upload on social media. But in the days of yore people were likely more thoughtful. Our era is one of a hundred thousand images a second.
I was born in Brooklyn NY in 1946. I can remember when the Staten Island ferry cost a nickle, before the Veranzio Bridge built. FYI Did you know the heavy weight champion, James J Braddock was as an iron worker on that bridge? Fruits and vegetables were delivered by horse and wagon, some of the apartments on the street I lived still had ice boxes and the word computer wasn't even in our lexicon. Even though my family was economically challenge, my father always had a job and I don't remember feeling that I was missing out on anything that money could provide. We made our own scooters with a wooden box and half of my sister's skates,we played ball on the streets with a pink spaldeen and broom handle, Cokes were a nickel or a dime. Your picture brought up nostalgic feelings. I play this video several times a week and always have the calming feeling. Thanks again for all the good feelings I have listening to this music and photos. veridicus
theseus quasitor Thanks for your nice comment. I was born in Brooklyn too, a few years before you, and your posting reminds me very much of my life in Brooklyn. Most of the photos I used were from my parents photo albums so you might enjoy some of my other videos too such Copland's "Quiet City" or Barber's "Knoxville: Summer of 1915."
I too was born in Brooklyn. I was eight when you were born but share those same memories. Also from an "economically challenged" family, how well I remember the "Ice Man" making his rounds; the Seltzer man; the "I cash clothes" man; the pink Spaldine; the streets for our playground; the coal shute into the basement of our apartment house delivering a new mountain of coal on which to play; the excitement of living and the joy of creating games; the untroubled freedom we fearlessly enjoyed on the streets of our neighborhood; never feeling deprived though there was never a spare nickle. Copland has always been one of my favourite composers and his music unfailing captures the years of my youth. That, of course, is not the only reason I regard his works so highly. I have traveled the States and have spent many years living abroad and my love for the sheer genius of his music remains.
I applaud you for your comments, which hit the nail squarely on the head. Ah, to pine for the good ole days. Never to be forgotten; sadly, never to be revisited. Things were not much different in Australia, despite our being half a world away.
theseus, thanks for your comments. Copland has the wonderful ability to take us back in time to those wonderful memories. I grew up in Ohio, just middle class with parents that both worked hard, we didn't know we weren't rich because my parents told us we mattered and they gave me every opportunity that that could.
The word "computer" actually did exist back then, but was not used to refer to a machine but rather to a human being, who's job it was to evaluate--by hand--figures and values that were then published in mathematical tables for use by technicians, saving the latter their time and effort from having to calculate the numbers themselves.
Richard, the photos are flawless. Though this music was reflective of WWI, think of the impact it had with America in the middle of WWII. As usual, Copland's music is appropriate for every generation.
The letter was supposed to be reminiscent of a soldier writing home during WWI but it premiered during WWII. Nevertheless, it is a timeless piece of Americana. Richard has once again painted a picture with his photo editing of more innocent times in America.
Your family must have quite a history, outstanding photo display (including stock) on all counts for this music. These are my new shares on FB, represents a more contemplative side. Thanks Richard.
Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful video and music. Your video work that brings it to life is like going into a time machine. It brings so much life to the piece.
I came across this beautiful piece by accident I was listening to quiet city and this came this on RUclips list of Copland's other music along with other pieces I wasn't familiar Thanks for uploading. veridicus
I came to get my dose of beauty and optimism before I start a day with usually mixed reviews. Copland allows a little of that dark side, as do you but somehow we survive the ghastly business of war and continue .....
It was for a radio program; I think it was during WWII. Nothing special, only a radio show. Letters were a big subject about back then with so many GIs overseas away from home. Copland was probably the most respected American composer during that time as well. This piece sort of followed the accepted form of composition for this era but strays away from it often to provide emphasis and texture (like around the 4:00 mark). A lot of his music has been hijacked, over the years, and used with some of the western 'wide open spaces' sound often heard when something deals with the west and the old western days.
What is most baffling is why on Earth this Richard Lewis character didn't attribute the symphony or the conductor. Did Richard Lewis conduct his own symphony? If not, he should make proper attributions.
Marjorie Black: The orchestra and conductor are clearly indicated at the end of the piece, and this is only a short, stand-alone piece whose title and composer are indicated in the opening. Sorry if this was not clear.
Like white people don't eat watermelon too. Look at 1:39 to 1:49. I'm the same dark chocolate complexion as white house press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and my favorite fruit is the mango.
![Aaron Copland: The Tender Land Suite (1949) [DDD]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/UkDuEQKED4Y/mqdefault.jpg)
![Stromae, Pomme - “Ma Meilleure Ennemie” (from Arcane Season 2) [Official Visualizer]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/1F3OGIFnW1k/mqdefault.jpg)
Memories of my Dad as a young soldier during WW II. Miss him
I grew up in the 50s and 60s. My relatives always said I was born too late, because I could sit and listen to the stories of bygone days for hours. This music is a short trip back to all those family gatherings.
I am an Aussie but have traveled through the American countryside! It seems to me that Copeland gets America better than any other composer! You yanks should regard him as a national treasure!!
Trust me, we do. He's definitely one of our voices.
jbut108: there is No “e” in Copland.
jbut: would you believe my country has yet to honor its greatest composer via the normal means of a commemorative stamp? And he's been dead over three decades.
What a heartfelt work by America’s finest composer.
Copland's music and William Wyler's classic film The Best Years of Our Lives stir my emotions like no other. My dad spent 11 months in a German prisoner of war camp and went through 4 Death Marches during WWll. He was the most well adjusted and compassionate man I've ever known.😢
Thanks for this priceless piece of Americana. So many of Copland's works absolutely captured the deepest, precious recesses of the American spirit. I quickly sit down on the front porch steps amid the fallen leaves of our maple and aspen trees. I eagerly, yet gently, open the letter from my boy, who is somewhere overseas. I slowly take in all his words as joy fills my heart. Yes, thank God, he is still alright. May this war be over soon I pray.
such an honest, open quality to Mr. Copland's music--distinctively American-something touching and a bit melancholy and lively at different times. brings a tear to my eyes.
Copland's nostalgic diatonic orchestration perfectly captures the era.
Yes, tears to the eyes!
I am with you. Music doesn’t need to be complicated.
It just reaches my soul.
I am thinking of the WW2 GI's who got those letters from home, but did not make it back home.
Thank you all for your notes of appreciation. I really enjoyed making this.
Most everyone in these photos--including the children--have surely passed away by now, realization of which adds that much more power to the nostalgic effect of combining these classic old photos of ordinary Americans (and Canadians?) with Copland's incredibly evocative music here.
so much of life is wasted. i wish i were 20 again; i wish i were 12 again.
In the early '50s, CBS-TV broadcast an hourlong Sunday afternoon program called 'Omnibus' that was hosted by Alistair Cooke. On one of the early programs, it offered a profile of a composer whose seemed, in the minds of the show's producers, to capture the spirit and soul of America. The composer was Aaron Copland. It's been many, many years since I saw that show, but the snippet of Mr. Copland's music aired just may have been Letter from Home. I heard his works performed live a dozen times and I attended his 80th birthday concert at the Kennedy Center in 1980. Mr. Copland and Mr. Bernstein each had a chance to conduct the National Symphony.
so genuinely American-- the music and the photos..... both show us what we were once made of.....
ncpiedmontone Copland is Americana
The music is beautiful and the photos evoke a lost world. Combining this music with these images adds immeasurably to the overall effect of both - a kind of beautiful sadness.
Deeply moving. Thank you.
Lovely piece. A bit hard to listen to at my age now as most people I have known and loved are no longer here.
Aaron Copland and both of my grandmothers (Washington DC and Scotland Neck, NC, to get both sides of the American spectrum) are all of that Class of 1900 Saturn in Capricorn era. His music makes me think of them.
Except for Hoedown and Fanfare For The Common Man which is all about ELP❣❣❣
Beautifully choreographed to Copland's majestic music with old and treasured images of a bygone and more innocent in America. Sensitively done. Thank you.
David Henderson yes, very much so
Hello Richard, thank you for this beautiful moving portrait. I think you and Aaron are kindred spirits...🌷
This is my early childhood growing in the 50s, too, where life was lots less complicated. Home, family, friendship, and community meant more than almost anything.
Music to help heal us in this time of uncertainty and transition to the strange new world we live in.
This memorable work perfectly captures the essence of the time depicted in the photographs.
Thank You for sharing this with us!
I've always enjoyed Leonard Slatkin's interpretations of Aaron Copland's compositions. This piece always brings the 1940s to my mind. Very New Englandish,.
Reminds me of someone so very dear to me. Exquisite, ethereal. Healing. wow / My diminutive joy.
Amazing beautiful and touching
My grandmother Rosa raised me and my little sister, in the late 40's on into the 60's. Grandmother would play this song often, saying it took her back to her home in Ireland. The music coupled with the old pictures is wonderful. Thanks. I shall visit this site often.
Most enjoyable! An excellent marriage of music and images. First class work!
Copland at his best "Americana" style. Memorable.
Heard this on the radio as I was driving home from work.
When I listen to music like this and the video that is so beautiful, I also think of the poetry of James Whitcomb Riley. It was the land, the simplicity of life and the brush strokes that come with the love of rural America that makes my heart swell. "The Orchard Lands of Long Ago", is just one example of expression.
This video is exceptionally well made. Copland hit a home run with this. It is bittersweet to see gorgeous B/W photos from a time before the Age of Plastics (now a blight on our lands and oceans) and the proliferation of personal devices for convenience (which have anesthetized many people so they no longer know what a fuller, more meaningful life actually is).
I find it interesting to look at those photos and conjure up stories of what was happening when someone said, "Oh, let's get a picture!"
@@davidhoadley39 A very different time, David. Making a photograph was not a casual thing someone did. Today, people capture every meaningless moment, many just to upload on social media. But in the days of yore people were likely more thoughtful. Our era is one of a hundred thousand images a second.
I was born in Brooklyn NY in 1946. I can remember when the Staten Island ferry cost a nickle, before the Veranzio Bridge built. FYI Did you know the heavy weight champion, James J Braddock was as an iron worker on that bridge? Fruits and vegetables were delivered by horse and wagon, some of the apartments on the street I lived still had ice boxes and the word computer wasn't even in our lexicon. Even though my family was economically challenge, my father always had a job and I don't remember feeling that I was missing out on anything that money could provide. We made our own scooters with a wooden box and half of my sister's skates,we played ball on the streets with a pink spaldeen and broom handle, Cokes were a nickel or a dime. Your picture brought up nostalgic feelings. I play this video several times a week and always have the calming feeling.
Thanks again for all the good feelings I have listening to this music and photos.
veridicus
theseus quasitor Thanks for your nice comment. I was born in Brooklyn too, a few years before you, and your posting reminds me very much of my life in Brooklyn. Most of the photos I used were from my parents photo albums so you might enjoy some of my other videos too such Copland's "Quiet City" or Barber's "Knoxville: Summer of 1915."
I too was born in Brooklyn. I was eight when you were born but share those same memories. Also from an "economically challenged" family, how well I remember the "Ice Man" making his rounds; the Seltzer man; the "I cash clothes" man; the pink Spaldine; the streets for our playground; the coal shute into the basement of our apartment house delivering a new mountain of coal on which to play; the excitement of living and the joy of creating games; the untroubled freedom we fearlessly enjoyed on the streets of our neighborhood; never feeling deprived though there was never a spare nickle. Copland has always been one of my favourite composers and his music unfailing captures the years of my youth. That, of course, is not the only reason I regard his works so highly. I have traveled the States and have spent many years living abroad and my love for the sheer genius of his music remains.
I applaud you for your comments, which hit the nail squarely on the head. Ah, to pine for the good ole days. Never to be forgotten; sadly, never to be revisited. Things were not much different in Australia, despite our being half a world away.
theseus, thanks for your comments. Copland has the wonderful ability to take us back in time to those wonderful memories. I grew up in Ohio, just middle class with parents that both worked hard, we didn't know we weren't rich because my parents told us we mattered and they gave me every opportunity that that could.
The word "computer" actually did exist back then, but was not used to refer to a machine but rather to a human being, who's job it was to evaluate--by hand--figures and values that were then published in mathematical tables for use by technicians, saving the latter their time and effort from having to calculate the numbers themselves.
Copland's music and this video demonstrate that, at least to some degree, those who said Capra's America didn't exist, were wrong.......
I agree with your comment on Copland's letter from home, completelly!
Capra got it right, exactly!
Those who said that were pinkos.
I really appreciate your tableau of family photos presented here in such a way as to complement Copland`s piece. Thank you.
Richard, the photos are flawless. Though this music was reflective of WWI, think of the impact it had with America in the middle of WWII. As usual, Copland's music is appropriate for every generation.
Thank you Brian. I glad it touched you so deeply.
Always reminds me of my father and his contemporaries during the Second World War. A different generation and a different world.
The letter was supposed to be reminiscent of a soldier writing home during WWI but it premiered during WWII. Nevertheless, it is a timeless piece of Americana. Richard has once again painted a picture with his photo editing of more innocent times in America.
Absolutely wonderful, music and video. Thanks.
Very nice. Thank you.
Your family must have quite a history, outstanding photo display (including stock) on all counts for this music. These are my new shares on FB, represents a more contemplative side. Thanks Richard.
Thank you sir
Mr. Lewis, all I can say is wow!
Thank you very much for sharing with us!~
Beautiful.
What an effort! Superb.
I first heard this/heard of this when the Wichita Symphony played it a few years back. Wonderful piece!
nice nostalgia with the B&W
wow, beautiful, moving piece...so well done!...thanksyou
Une œuvre de Aaron Copland trop peu connue, mais qui possède aussi beaucoup de charme. Merci à Richard Lewis pour cette découverte.
Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful video and music. Your video work that brings it to life is like going into a time machine. It brings so much life to the piece.
Thank you, Richard, this is a wonderful presentation in music and pictures!
Glad you liked it, Dennis. I incorporated a lot of old family photos in making it. The music was also new to me and a delight when I discovered it.
Those photos are full of historical value! Nice!
like the music and love the pictures, brings back happy memories, thanks much
I came across this beautiful piece by accident I was listening to quiet city and this came this on RUclips list of Copland's other music along with other pieces I wasn't familiar
Thanks for uploading.
veridicus
I came to get my dose of beauty and optimism before I start a day with usually mixed reviews. Copland allows a little of that dark side, as do you but somehow we survive the ghastly business of war and continue .....
I believe that Copeland wrote this during WW2. Some of the soldiers pictured are from the 1st World War. I enjoyed all the photos!
It does fit the tone
It was for a radio program; I think it was during WWII. Nothing special, only a radio show. Letters were a big subject about back then with so many GIs overseas away from home. Copland was probably the most respected American composer during that time as well. This piece sort of followed the accepted form of composition for this era but strays away from it often to provide emphasis and texture (like around the 4:00 mark). A lot of his music has been hijacked, over the years, and used with some of the western 'wide open spaces' sound often heard when something deals with the west and the old western days.
Copland’s ‘pan-diatonic’ chord structure perfectly captured what is usually referred today as “Americana”.
Beautifully done! Thanks so much.
The photos enhance the beauty of the music.
Thanks for uploading.
veridicus
His music just makes me feel so good.
Yes, and fortunately I had photos from my parents photo albums from the WW I period. Almost all the civilian shots are from there.
i cry...
Pensive, with just a touch of melancholy. Copland used the right tonal colors to capture the picture correctly.
🧡
The dress and some of the photos looks like from 1905, and not World War II vintage but it was a pretty good montage I guess
When America was great.
The photos are nice and all -- but what orchestra? Which conductor?
5:12 Pretty.
What is most baffling is why on Earth this Richard Lewis character didn't attribute the symphony or the conductor. Did Richard Lewis conduct his own symphony? If not, he should make proper attributions.
Marjorie Black: The orchestra and conductor are clearly indicated at the end of the piece, and this is only a short, stand-alone piece whose title and composer are indicated in the opening. Sorry if this was not clear.
2:40
c'mon nimrod, who plays this? who conducts this? You? If not you, please give appropriate credit where credit is due.
Like white people don't eat watermelon too. Look at 1:39 to 1:49. I'm the same dark chocolate complexion as white house press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and my favorite fruit is the mango.
I love watermelon,raise watermelon , there are two things G-d made perfect , watermelon and strawberry , love them both