The Music Plays On — Copland Lincoln Portrait

Aaron Copland was commissioned in 1942 by Andre Kostelanetz to write a piece that was a musical portrait of an “eminent American.” Copland chose Abraham Lincoln. What makes this fifteen minute piece stand out is that the first half is a musical portrait that quotes folk songs that were popular during Lincoln’s day, and the second half a narrator (and it’s not necessary that the composer reads music) is used to…