Listen to Hoedown from Rodeo to hear these qualities for yourself. His special sound captures the youthful spirit of our young nation. Fanfare for the Common Man is an excellent example of Copland's use of the open harmonies that reflect the wide open spaces of America. This noble work is performed all over the world. Billy the Kid , Appalachian Spring , and Rodeo are ballets.
Ballets tell stories with music and dancing.
Aaron Copland wrote the music for these ballets. His music is based on events and history from our country's exciting and colorful past. A famous American dancer who helped create some of these dances was Martha Graham . Another famous American who helped the world discover Aaron Copland's music was the composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein . A Lincoln Portrait is another great work by Copland that uses narration and orchestra to tell a story about our sixteenth president, Abraham Lincoln.