One of the most powerful, beautiful pieces of music ever written and recorded. Privileged to even attempt to play this just once in a high school concert, and literally brings tears to my eyes whenever I hear it today.
To me it's a very fitting visual (video) for this song as it premiered in March of 1943. A time when the outcome of WW2 was not yet known, for all the lives lost up to that point, there were to be many many more. They've come to be known as 'the Greatest Generation', those that showed up & did what had to be done. In a ship,plane, tank, or truck. Manning a cannon, man handling supplies, ammunition, a stretcher, a rifle or a gal (woman) doing a factory job so former factory workers could fight. It was said that those armies/navies/air forces/medical corps contained common men (& gals), but those common men (& gals) performed uncommon tasks with no assurance of their efforts making a difference ( certainly not in March '43), what lay ahead couldn't be guessed or nightmared & yet the uncommon tasks performed by the greatest common men/women in history ( my opinion, I know) if forgotten, if underappreciated, it diminishes us & all who follow (again, my opinion). Not them. They are beyond the reach of our (my) failure.
Just remember, this was not just dedicated to people who served in the armed forces in WWII. The whole point of it was to recognised _everyone._ That meat people who worked in the factories who supplied those fighting in the field and their families who sacrificed a lot too. It was the civilians who suffered the most in WWII, in terms of lives lost. Also remember that Aaron Copeland was a man of very progressive views who did not like militarism, though he recognised the role the average person played in winning the war and that naturally included those in the services. My father was too young to go to war but he and his elder brother, who served in the RAN for the duration, were both a part of that generation and I think both of them are adequately remembered in this piece.
Background Copland, in his autobiography, wrote of the request: "Eugene Goossens, conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, had written to me at the end of August about an idea he wanted to put into action for the 1942-43 concert season. During World War I he had asked British composers for a fanfare to begin each orchestral concert. It had been so successful that he thought to repeat the procedure in World War II with American composers". A total of 10 fanfares[1] were written at Goossens' behest, but Copland's is the only one which remains in the standard repertoire. Initial trumpet notes from Fanfare for the Common Man, Copland Memorial Garden, Tanglewood It was written in response to the US entry into World War II and was inspired in part by a famous 1942 speech[2] where vice president Henry A. Wallace proclaimed the dawning of the "Century of the Common Man".[3] Goossens had suggested titles such as Fanfare for Soldiers, or sailors or airmen, and he wrote that "[i]t is my idea to make these fanfares stirring and significant contributions to the war effort...." Copland considered several titles including Fanfare for a Solemn Ceremony and Fanfare for Four Freedoms; to Goossens' surprise, however, Copland titled the piece Fanfare for the Common Man. Goossens wrote, "Its title is as original as its music, and I think it is so telling that it deserves a special occasion for its performance. If it is agreeable to you, we will premiere it 12 March 1943 at income tax time". Copland's reply was "I [am] all for honoring the common man at income tax time".[4] Copland later used the fanfare as the main theme of the fourth movement of his Third Symphony (composed between 1944 and 1946).
Happy Birthday to the Late Aaron Copland and Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas ⛄🎄 Go HUG someone today IF they're been vaccinated or not 🚫 Blessings and Hugs 💖💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕!
A aging veteran on a Memorial Day looked like a hippy. We spoke for a bit. His parting words were, 'let's work for a day when there are no more veterans.". He was selling poppys for the DAV at a table.
