Today, Americans regard Aaron Copeland as one of their most important composers. He was born in New York and received his first piano lesson from his older sister. When he was fifteen, he saw Paderewski perform and immediately resolved to become a composer. He studied music theory and harmony and soon began writing his own works. In 1921 he travelled to Paris on a scholarship where he spent three years as a pupil of Nadia Boulanger. When he returned to America in 1924, he was already working on this first major commissioned work: a symphony for organ and orchestra for Boulanger. Its premiere at the New York Carnegie Hall brought Copeland the first success of his career as a composer. His works from the late twenties, in common with many European compositions of this time, are heavily influenced by jazz, but he soon came under the influence of Stravinsky's neo-classicism. In the mid-thirties, Copeland's style simplified: he felt his music should communicate with a broader range of listeners. This was his most fertile period and it saw a series of works influenced by American folklore. Besides much film music, he wrote Billy the Kid (1938), Rodeo (1942) and one of his best known works Appalachian Spring.

This was composed to a commission from the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation in 1943-44, and was intended for Martha Graham and her company. Originally scored for chamber ensemble, Copeland arranged his ballet in 1945 for large orchestra – and this is the version we shall hear this evening. The events of the ballet take place in the Appalachian mountains in the early 19th century. The settlers hold their spring celebration around their newly constructed house. Its owners are a young married couple who are looking forward to their new life with joy and also barely disguised apprehension. An older neighbour and then a preacher give them good advice and encouragement, and then as the celebration dies down and then strengthens, the pair cross the threshold of their new home.

Unlike Copland's earlier folkloristic works, Appalachian Spring does not borrow original folk tunes; with one exception, all the melodies are of Copeland's own invention.  The exception is a religious hymn which he quotes toward the end of the work, before using it for a set of variations. Copeland's melodies exude the air of folklore even though he uses procedures alien to it such as unexpected interval leaps and asymmetric or agogic rhythms. After its premiere, Appalachian Spring won not only the prize awarded by Circle of New York Music Critics, but in 1945, the Pulitzer Prize as well.