Journey back to the nostalgic landscape of Thorton Wilder's America.
An Orchestral suite based on the Original Motion Picture Score.
Aaron Copland's Symphony Our Town
The Music.
In 1940, American composer Aaron Copland was commissioned to write a score to accompany director SAM WOOD's film adaptation of THORTON WILDER's popular play, OUR TOWN. The film became a beautiful canvas for Copland's candid, succinct style and earned him his first Academy Award nomination as he successfully created an intimate musical journey across Wilder's fictional landscape.
Copland brought a brevity and scope to the main theme that is as epic as it is simple. It's pure sound, untarnished by the layers of life's scars is met with a wisdom that only comes from a life long-lived. Even if you've never heard this music before, it feels familiar and warm. For a composer who's music was far-reaching, Aaron Copland's score for the film OUR TOWN feels right at home.
The Film.
The film, like the play itself, was set in the fictional community of Grover's Corners, New Hampshire. Its story revolves around average town's citizens in the early twentieth century, highlighting the trivial events of their everyday lives. With the exception of one significant change, the film is a faithful reproduction of Wilder's play. The difference was in the third act, which in the play revolve around the death of a main character, were for the film turned into a dream that the character awakens from.
Shortly after the release of the film, Copland revisited Grover's Corners and arranged this timeless suite, combining themes from his original motion picture score. Video Ideas combines these emotional themes with a montage of scenes from the Academy Award nominated film, to create the Our Town Symphony.
