Aaron Copland

To many Aaron Copland was the American composer of the twentieth century. By the time he was in his mid-thirties he had already written the classic ballet "Billy the Kid". He soon followed that by a number of hits, including "Fanfare to the Common Man," Rodeo, and "Appalachian Spring", the last of which won him the Pulitzer Prize.

Aaron had an odd quirk. He hated the idea that people would listen to music while doing something else, like reading, studying, or .... (well, let's not get into that). "If you're not listening to it," he once told an interviewer irritably, "turn it off!"

Did he think we should just sit and stare at the player? Aaron never said.

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