The first performance of Appalachian Spring Suite was given by the New York Philharmonic on 4 October 1945, in Carnegie Hall, under the direction of Artur Rodzinski. For this premiere the composer supplied the following program notes: The music of the ballet takes as its point of departure the personality of Martha Graham. I have long been an admirer of Miss Graham's work. She, in turn, must have felt a certain affinity for my music because in 1931 she chose my Piano Variations as background for a dance composition entitled Dithyramb… Surely only an artist with a close affinity for my work could have visualized dance material in so rhythmically complex and esthetically abstruse a composition. Ever since then, at long intervals Miss Graham and I planned to collaborate on a stage work. Nothing might have come of our intensions if it were not for the lucky chance that brought Mrs. Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge to a Graham performance for the first time early in 1942. Mrs. Coolidge translated her enthusiasm into action. She invited Martha Graham to create three new ballets for the 1943 annual fall Festival of the Coolidge Foundation in Washington, and commissioned three composers - Paul Hindemith, Darius Milhaud and myself - to compose scores especially for the occasion. I began to work on the music of the ballet in Hollywood in June 1943, completing it a year later in June 1944, at Cambridge. The title Appalachian Spring was chosen by Miss Graham. She borrowed it from the heading of one of Hart Crane's poems, though the ballet seems to bear no relation to the text of the poem itself. The Suite, arranged from the ballet, contains the following sections played without interruption: 1. Very slowly. Introduction of the characters, one by one, in a suffused light. 2. Fast. Sudden burst of unison strings in A major arpeggios starts the action. A sentiment both elated and religious gives the keynote of this scene. 3. Moderate. Duo for the Bride and her Intended - scene of tenderness and passion. 4. Quite fast. The Revivalist and his flock. Folksy feelings- suggestions of square dances and country fiddlers. 5. Still faster. Solo dance of the Bride - presentiment of motherhood. Extremes of joy and fear and wonder. 6. Very slowly (as at first). Transition scenes reminiscent of the introduction. 7. Calm and flowing. Scenes of daily activity for the Bride and her Farmer-husband. There are five variations of a Shaker theme. The theme, sung by solo clarinet, was taken from a collection of Shaker melodies compiled by Edward D. Andrew, and published later under the title The Gift to be Simple. The melody I borrowed and used almost literally is called Simple Gifts. 8. Moderate. Coda. The Bride takes her place among her neighbors. At the end, the couple is left "quiet and strong in their new house". Muted strings intone a hushed, prayer-like passage. The close is reminiscent of the opening music. Aaron Copland AARON COPLAND (1900-1990) ca. 23 mins. A P P A L A C H I A N S P R I N G S U I T E
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