Aaron Copland absorbed and incorporated elements of several musical styles and techniques into his compositions:
• American folk styles, including blues, jazz, cowboy songs, and Native American melodies. Copland promoted an "American" sound and incorporated folk-like melodies and rhythms, especially in works like Appalachian Spring and Billy the Kid.
• Impressionism, including dreamy textures, ambiguous harmonies, and tone painting. Works like The Garden Party and Outdoors feature impressionistic elements.
• Blocked chords, open intervals, and pandiatonicism. Copland avoided traditional harmonic progressions and melodic cadences in favor of more dissonant, angular intervals and chords.
• Rhythmic drive and machine-like ostinatos. Short, repetitive melodic phrases and pounding rhythms give works like Organ Symphony a propulsive, mechanical quality.
• Modernist techniques like atonality, polyrhythms, and aleatoric passages. Especially in his later works, Copland incorporated more complex and dissonant modern styles.
Copland's two most famous works are Appalachian Spring and Rodeo.
• Appalachian Spring features folk-like themes, blocked chords, and tone painting to evoke images of spring and rural life. It's one of Copland's most exuberant andOptimistic works.
• Rodeo incorporates jazz rhythms, bluesy melodies, and folk song references to depict scenes of rodeo life. Dance movements like "Buckaroo Holiday" and "Corral Nocturne" showcase Copland's signature punchy, machine-like rhythms.
Rodeo and Appalachian Spring exemplify Copland's ability to combine diverse musical styles into a distinctive American idiom that was innovative yet accessible. They have become classics of the American orchestral repertoire.