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Cameron Souza

Dr. Dan Perkins

MU 3320

5 May 2014

“Fanfare for the Common Man” and the Second World War

All composers are affected by the world around them. Many compositions have been and

still are written to express experiences, political stances, and cultural pride. Aaron Copland is a

great example of a composer with political influence. Aaron Copland lived through both World

Wars, studying composition through the first and composing for a living during the second.

“Fanfare for the Common Man,” which is one of Copland's best known works, is no exception to

Copland's political undertones. In fact, this composition epitomizes Copland's use of music to

express his political beliefs. Copland's “Fanfare for the Common Man” expresses political

viewpoints through its harmonic language, musical symbolism, context, and inspiration.

In 1939, only two decades after the First World War which was believed to be the war to

end all wars, another global conflict arose from the controversy that is the Treaty of Versailles.

This treaty ended the First World War and outlined the terms of surrender for the Germans and

Russians. These conditions were not favorable to the German people. This treaty restricted the

size of their military and the number of tanks and war planes that they were allowed to have.

Also, several lands were seized from the German Empire and established as independent

countries or territories of other countries.

One of the soldiers in the German armed forces during the First World War was a man

named Adolf Hitler. He was very angry with the Treaty of Versailles and plotted his revenge. He

became a political figure in the Nazi party and was elected as Chancellor in 1933. He eventually

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obtained the title of Fürhrer and became a self-declared dictator. He invaded Poland after signing

a non-aggression agreement with Russia in 1939 which triggered the Second World War. His

intention was nothing short of global domination, and with his alliance with Japan, this goal was

entirely accessible. His military strategy was very successful and his authority unquestionable.

The allied forces of Great Britain, France, and Poland struggled to resist the impressive force of

the German and Japanese, known as the Axis. The United States vowed to remain uninvolved in

European conflicts despite their allies' need for assistance. This vow was quickly broken on the

morning of December 7, 1941 when the Japanese air forces bombed the United States naval base

at Pearl Harbor. More than 2,330 American troops died in these attacks and the next day

Congress formally declared war on Japan which resulted in the United States' involvement with

the Second World War.

During the First World War, British conductor Eugene Goosens commissioned British

composers to write patriotic Fanfares to open his concerts in London. Goosens decided to

continue this in the Second World War for the 1942-43 season for the Cincinnati Symphony

orchestra which was under his direction. He sent out commissions to eighteen composers

including Paul Creston, Walter Piston, Howard Hanson, Deems Taylor, Virgil Thomson, Bernard

Wagenaar, and Aaron Copland. In his letter to Copland, Goosens suggested that the title be a

completion of the phrase, “A Fanfare for...” Copland gave many attempts to show his ideas on

the war which included “Fanfare for a solemn ceremony in which man’s spirit is rededicated to

the proposition of a better world” and “... for a rededication of man’s spirit to the creation of a

better world.” Both of these titles were too long, but they well expressed Copland's hope for a

future of social responsibility.

Aaron Copland began to think on more abstract titles like Morton Gould's Fanfare for

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democracy. At long last, Aaron Copland found his inspiration for the title of what would become

one of his most memorable compositions. He settled on a title that was an abstract oxymoron that

expressed the ideals of the war but took them out of their obvious context. On May 2, 1942,

Vice-President Henry Wallace was expounding upon President Franklin Roosevelt's four

freedoms speech. Throughout this broadcast, Vice-President Wallace repeated the phrase

“common man” frequently. In this broadcast, he said,

Some have spoken of the "American Century." I say that the century on which we

are entering -- The century which will come out of this war -- can be and must be

the century of the common man. Perhaps it will be America's opportunity to

suggest that Freedoms and duties by which the common man must live.

Everywhere the common man must learn to build his own industries with his own

hands is a practical fashion. Everywhere the common man must learn to increase

his productivity so that he and his children can eventually pay to the world

community all that they have received. No nation will have the God-given right to

exploit other nations. Older nations will have the privilege to help younger

nations get started on the path to industrialization, but there must be neither

military nor economic imperialism. (Willkie 373-374)

Copland found this speech very inspirational, even though this title is a paradox in many ways.

Traditionally, fanfares signify the arrival of a person of nobility. With the title of “Fanfare for the

Common Man,” Copland was honoring the coming of the common man, or, more specifically,

the century of the common man. The paradoxes continue in Copland's social spheres which

influenced the political significance behind the title. His social spheres included the pro-Soviet

and self described democratic Popular Front. By the 1950s, even Copland would be embarrassed

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the oxymoron in this description, but, when writing “Fanfare for the Common Man,” he was still

very attached to what Sean Wilentz calls the “left-of-center Americanist aesthetic, (131)” which

was caused by the Communist Party during the Great Depression of the 1930s. As

aforementioned, Copland believed in the very Communist ideal of the world community and

everyone doing their part, which would ironically be the very thing the United States would fight

in the Cold War of the later half of the twentieth century. Copland's affiliation with Communism

would later make him the target of an anti-communist smear campaign which caused him to be

subpoenaed to appear before a Congressional subcommittee. Copland denied any an all ties to

the Communist party.

When Eugene Goosens received Copland's finished composition, he replied quite

favorably, and intended to give it a special place in the orchestra's season. In regards to “Fanfare

for the Common Man, Goosens wrote,

… its title is as original as its music, and I think it is so telling that it deserves a

special occasion for its performance. If it is agreeable to you, therefore, I shall

reserve it for our pair of concerts on the 12th and 13th of March, for the common

man will be paying his income tax two dates later (if he has anything left to pay it

with), and this seems to me a fitting occasion to perform your tribute to him.

(Crist 183)

Even Copland admitted that programming “Fanfare for the Common Man” near Tax Day was

very clever. Goosens received great reactions to this witty humor, though Copland did not

appreciate it being used as a joke. Copland gently rebuked him and Goosens apologized and

recognized “Fanfare for the Common Man” as a serious piece.

Aaron Copland's “Fanfare for the Common Man” is very melodically and harmonically

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simple to follow. This style which Copland called “imposed simplicity” is common of his works

of the 30s and 40s. In regards to this imposed simplicity, Copland states,

I began to feel an increasing dissatisfaction with the relations of the music-loving

public and the living composer. The old “special” public of the modern-music

concerts had fallen away, and the conventional concert public continued apathetic

or indifferent to anything but the established classics. It seemed to me that we

composers were in danger of working in a vacuum. Moreover, an entirely new

public for music had grown up around the radio and phonograph. It made no

sense to ignore them and to continue writing as if they did not exist. I felt that it

was worth the effort to see if I couldn’t say what I had to say in the simplest

possible terms. (Melton 33)

He used this style to attract the middle-class public to the concert hall. This imposed simplicity

reflects the views of the Popular Front by focusing his attention on the working class of America

as opposed to the upper class conosiuers. Aaron Copland admits to the influence of his imposed

simplicity style by stating that it was “not without political implications.” (Melton 33)

Copland's fanfare was very unusual in more than its simplicity. Most of the fanfares that

were submitted to Goosens for the Cincinnati Orchestra were moderate to fast in tempo, featured

repeated notes and triplets, and made use of rolling snare drums as most traditional fanfares do.

Copland's composition was the exact opposite of this. While he did use bugle calls and horn

fifths in the opening, he did not repeat notes or use triplets, and his bugle calls resembled taps

more than they did reveille. The tempo was marked as “very deliberate.” Sean Willentz says that

this fanfare “may be the most solemn, even more severe fanfare ever written.” (138)The

percussion line opens this composition with crashing and rumbling (see example 1) which are

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symbolic of thunder and lightning or of bombs in the sky. As percussive as this opening is, there

is no snare drum.

Example 1: Aaron Copland “Fanfare for the Common Man,” Measures 1-6

Example 2: Aaron Copland “Fanfare for the Common Man,” Brass Ensemble, Measures 7-12

The opening statement builds from the simple, yet intense percussion, to monophonic

bugle calls in the key of B-flat major which states the theme at measure 6 (see examples 1 and

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2). This bugle call is not a traditional military call, but it is marked and solemn. This bugle call

signifies the grand entrance of the Century of the Common Man spoken of by Vice-President

Wallace, but also calls the common man to action to make this coming century a reality.

Once the theme is stated in unison and unaccompanied, it is restated in homophonic two-part

harmony with the horns at measure 13 (see example 3).

Example 3: Aaron Copland “Fanfare for the Common Man,” Brass Ensemble, Measures 13-18

On the second restatement the trombones join the ensemble at measure 24 (see examples

4 and 5), the harmonies alternate between the dominant and sub-dominant, but persists on the

sub-dominant as is most obvious in measures 30-34 (see example 6). Throughout the opening

theme, the percussion reappears to accent the theme in the declamatory style typical of Copland

(see example 6). At measure 31 (example 6), the composition arrives at a new theme and begins

a tonal shift which moves the tonal center down a whole step, but this modulation is still

functional such that casual listeners are able to comprehend it. This tonal shift ends the

composition in a different key than where it started which could represent the changes hoped for

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in the coming century of the common man. There is a hint of a return to B-flat in measures 39

and 40 (see example 7), but the closing progression (see example 8) leaves B-flat entirely by

moving from an A major chord to an F major which finally closes in a D major chord which is

extremely bright in comparison to the darker context from which is arose.

Example 4: Aaron Copland, “Fanfare for the Common Man,” Measures 19-24

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Example 5: Aaron Copland “Fanfare for the Common Man,” Measures 25-29

Example 6: Aaron Copland, “Fanfare for the Common Man,” Measures 30-34

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Example 7: Aaron Copland “Fanfare for the Common Man,” Brass Ensemble, Measures 35-40

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Example 8: Aaron Copland “Fanfare for the Common Man,” Brass Ensemble, Measures 41-46

More than seventy years have passed since the premiere of “Fanfare for the Common

Man.” This work of art has lived well into what was supposed to be the century of the common

man, and will likely live long beyond it, but the century has not unfolded as Copland and

Wallace had believed it would. Soviet Communism was ironically defeated by the very people

that Copland's fanfare celebrates. The Popular Front died out, and to be sympathetic to the

communist agenda would result in social exile, ridicule, and black listing. Regardless of the

original implications of the common man, many Presidents of both liberal and conservative

parties would use “Fanfare for the Common Man” at their inaugurations. Most notably, Ronald

Reagan used this fanfare and, through his political genius, was able to give a conservative appeal

to the common man. Uses like his gave “Fanfare for the Common Man” the intensely patriotic

view it has today. Much later in Copland's life, even he abandoned his leftist world view and

succumbed to the McCarthyism.

While Copland compromised what he believed, his fanfare has transcended its roots and

came to change its significance over time. The common man ideal has come to be used by both

the political right and left though not to be owned by either. This fanfare served its purpose of

political significance in its time and continues to fit other ideals to this day, and, likely, for

decades to come.