A very different feel in today’s Music For The Day, quite a marked contrast from the frenetic and technically challenging piano music of the past few days. Today we feature the finale from Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring”, incorporating the well-known Shaker melody “The Gift to be Simple”.

 

The close harmonies in both the strings and the woodwind are delightful, and of course are so much a part of Copland’s unique American sound.

This recording was performed by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Leonard Bernstein, though my all-time favourite version remains the orchestrally slimmed-down original arrangement in the excellent recording by the London Symphony Orchestra under the baton of the composer himself.