Aaron Copland. Music for a Great City (1961-1964)

En 1961 Copland escribió la banda sonora de la película Something Wild, con guion y dirección de Jack Garfein a partir de una novela de Alex Karmel. Luego utilizaría parte de ese material para componer la suite sinfónica que propongo a continuación.  

Copland, dado a cantar con amabilidad las maravillas de los EEUU, tuvo en esta ocasión que contar el drama de una mujer del Bronx sometida a la violencia de los hombres y la sociedad.  

Los cuatro movimientos de la obra alternan la descripción de los sonidos de la gran ciudad con el retrato más íntimo del drama de la protagonista.    

Los movimientos de la obra son: 

1. Skyline 
2. Night Thoughts 
3. Subway Jam 
4. Toward the Bridge

Copland habla así su composición: 

I began to work on the score during the latter part of 1963, completing it in April of 1964. The musical materials are derived in part from a film score I composed in 1961. Starring Miss Carroll Baker and directed by Jack Garfine, the script was based on a novel by Alex Karmel called Mary-Ann. The picture was released for distribution in December 1961 under the title Something Wild. 

The action of the story takes place in New York where all of the film was shot. Indoor scenes of tense personal drama are interspersed with the realistic sights and sounds of a great metropolis. 

The nature of the music in the film seemed to me to justify extended concert treatment. No attempt was made to follow the cinematic action. The four movements of the work alternate between evocations of big city life with its external stimuli, and the more personal reactions of any sensitive nature to the varied experiences associated with urban living. Music for a Great City reflects both these aspects of the contemporary scene.

Aaron Copland