I first saw Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” back in 2009 after the death of Merce Cunningham. One of pioneers of American modern Dance, Cunningham got his start working with Martha Graham as a soloist in her dance company. I remember searching for Graham’s work, and coming across “Appalachian Spring;” I’m struck just as much now as I was then by the enchanting simplicity of the piece. I think it’s important, when considering this piece to not only listen to the music, but to look at it as a whole. With music by Copland, choreography by Graham, and set design by Isamu Noguchi (designer of the famed “Noguchi Table”), this piece is sort of a crash course in American Modernism.

The use of all of these elements reminds me of the term gesamtkustwerk – Wagner’s notion of the totality of an artwork. What’s so striking, to me at least, is that “Appalachian Spring” achieves the same effect as Wagner’s operas; however, the piece is completely stripped of the lavishness we’ve seen with a lot of works from the 19^th century. Much like the dance and the set, there is a distinguishable ease to the Copland’s arrangement that perhaps comes from the sparse instrumentation, and the effortless melodic line.

I think this is more apparent when viewing the work as a whole, because you realize that it’s not about creating a work that is technically challenging and complex nor is it about the spectacle of the performance. The piece is avant-garde yet very accessible; it has a self-consciousness that accentuates the creative process.