The word Patriotism means "the love and devotion to one's country." This could be anything about that country, its government, its troops, its people. In Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring he does a magnificent job of describing the beauty of America's landscape and scenery. As you may have recalled from my first blog, Aaron Copland is sometimes referred to as the father of traditional American sound and music, and because of this all of his music relates back to America.
Appalachian Spring is based off the American Shaker melody entitled Simple Gifts, which was written in 1848 by Elder Joseph Brackett. Simple Gifts is a simple song that has a joyous melody and beautiful message, that the most simple things in life are some of the greatest gifts. This is what Copland wanted Appalachian Spring to represent. He wanted his audience to know that some of the best things America had to offer was the simple beauty of the landscape and the scenery. Now go back and listen to Appalachian Spring again and close your eyes and picture a simple car ride through the mountains, with the windows rolled down, you can feel the breeze on your face, and you'll see what Copland wanted you to see.
Resources:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwH6-QmvM5c&feature=related
http://www.classicalnotes.net/classics/appalachian.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_Spring
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