Aaron Copland - Letter from Home 

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!!

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.

Memories of my Dad as a young soldier during WW II. Miss him

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.

What a heartfelt work by America’s finest composer.

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.

Reminds me of someone so very dear to me. Exquisite, ethereal. Healing. wow / My diminutive joy.

Thank you all for your notes of appreciation. I really enjoyed making this.

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.

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.

Deeply moving. Thank you.

I am thinking of the WW2 GI's who got those letters from home, but did not make it back home.

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.

so genuinely American-- the music and the photos..... both show us what we were once made of.....

Beautifully choreographed to Copland's majestic music with old and treasured images of a bygone and more innocent in America. Sensitively done. Thank you.

His music just makes me feel so good.

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.

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.

Lovely piece. A bit hard to listen to at my age now as most people I have known and loved are no longer here.

so much of life is wasted. i wish i were 20 again; i wish i were 12 again.

Hello Richard, thank you for this beautiful moving portrait. I think you and Aaron are kindred spirits...🌷

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.

Copland's music and this video demonstrate that, at least to some degree, those who said Capra's America didn't exist, were wrong.......

Copland at his best "Americana" style. Memorable.

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.😢

Music to help heal us in this time of uncertainty and transition to the strange new world we live in.

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,.

Amazing beautiful and touching

Heard this on the radio as I was driving home from work.

This memorable work perfectly captures the essence of the time depicted in the photographs.

Absolutely wonderful, music and video. Thanks.

Thank You for sharing this with us!

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

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.

Most enjoyable! An excellent marriage of music and images. First class work!

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).

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.

I really appreciate your tableau of family photos presented here in such a way as to complement Copland`s piece. Thank you.

What an effort! Superb.

Une œuvre de Aaron Copland trop peu connue, mais qui possède aussi beaucoup de charme. Merci à Richard Lewis pour cette découverte.

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 very much for sharing with us!~

Mr. Lewis, all I can say is wow!

Beautiful.

I first heard this/heard of this when the Wichita Symphony played it a few years back. Wonderful piece!

Thank you sir

wow, beautiful, moving piece...so well done!...thanksyou

nice nostalgia with the B&W

Thank you, Richard, this is a wonderful presentation in music and pictures!

like the music and love the pictures, brings back happy memories, thanks much

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.

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.

Beautifully done! Thanks so much.

The photos enhance the beauty of the music. Thanks for uploading. veridicus

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.

I came across this beautiful piece by accident I was listening to quiet city and this came this on RU-vid list of Copland's other music along with other pieces I wasn't familiar Thanks for uploading. veridicus

I believe that Copeland wrote this during WW2. Some of the soldiers pictured are from the 1st World War. I enjoyed all the photos!

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...

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 .....

🧡

When America was great.

Pensive, with just a touch of melancholy. Copland used the right tonal colors to capture the picture correctly.

5:12 Pretty.

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

The photos are nice and all -- but what orchestra? Which conductor?

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.

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.