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Abstract
Aaron Copland's compositions of the 1940s present unique approaches to large-scale tonal organization. Particular pitch classes become central through their perceptual salience. In combination with one another and with surface-level pitch events these centers create a sense of contextually-defined tonal coherence.
The analyses in this study explore the tonal coherence of five Copland works of the 1940s: the first Allegro from Appalachian Spring, the finale of the Third Symphony, the three movements of the Sonata for Violin and Piano, Quiet City, and "Nature, the gentlest mother" from the Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson. The first Allegro from Appalachian Spring organizes multiple tonal processes around two structural pitch centers, creating a tonal impetus for the climax of the Allegro. The Third Symphony's finale adapts music from another Copland composition, Fanfare for the Common Man, connecting surface-level thematic elements with shifts between pitch centers and their associated diatonic collections. These shifts are classified according to particular common tones shared by the collections. The finale's linking of pitch centers, collections, and thematic materials manifests a tonal structure that parallels a motive from the Fanfare across the span of the movement. Analyses of the Sonata for Violin and Piano and Quiet City show contextually-driven ways in which the composer structures entire multi- and single-movement works. Finally, the tonal ambiguities and subtleties of "Nature, the gentlest mother" reflect the song's poetic text and formal design.
Although the approach to tonal coherence is unique in each composition, subsequent comparison of the analyses highlights recurring features among these works' methods of tonal organization. These shared features include the varying emphasis of notes, triads, or pitch centers related by interval class 5, the association of thematic identity with particular shifts in pitch centricity, the ramifications of ambiguity for the tonal organization of the work, and the use of abrupt shifts in centricity to call attention to impending elements of large-scale tonal structure.
