A New Beginning

Aaron Copland — Fanfare for the Common Man

Aaron Copland — Appalachian Spring Suite

Ballet for Cello and Orchestra
By Rebecca Burkhardt
For Hannah Holman
 
Composer’s Note:

When cellist Hannah Holman asked me to write a concerto for her, I asked what was important about where she lived and worked. I wanted this piece to reflect her life and the lives of other women in those places.   The locales she thought were most important to her life were: a suburb near Detroit where she grew up, Iowa where she lived, raised her son and still works, and New York City where she currently resides and plays in the NYC Ballet.  Ballet for Cello and Orchestra is a tribute to her and to those like her who walk, dance, survive, fail, create, toil and aspire to achieve wonderful things. Sometimes we take on this dance alone, and sometimes with a partner or a community.  The three movements reflect the sounds, landscapes and essences of Iowa, Detroit, and New York City. 
 
Movement I, Walking, conjures the cry of indigenous ancestors who walked the plains of this country, the migration of settlers, the harshness of conflict between peoples and the starkness of a life enveloped by wilderness and winter.
 
Movement II, Working, begins with a day breaking into the howl of a factory whistle.  Motives of the Motown sound mix with the low grind of factory mechanisms and end in a continuously rising treble shout between the cello and the orchestra.
 
Movement III, Wondering, continues from movement II with an exploration of dance in the performance wonderland of Manhattan. The sounds of early Harlem and Puerto Rican rhythms combine with classical balletic melodies to invoke the euphoria of creative success, the exasperation of inequity and failure, and a hope and wonder for what might come next.

Aaron Copland — Lincoln Portrait