Prairie Journal
(1937, retitled 1968)(originally titled `Music for Radio')
Duration: 12'
Scoring
2(II=picc).2.2.asax(=cl).tsax(=bcl).1-2.3(2).2.1-timp.perc(2):vib/
xyl/tgl/BD-harp-pft(cel)-strings
Territory
This work is available from Boosey & Hawkes
for the world.
Programme Note
Radio was a novel and exciting medium for classical music in the 1930s. Copland always enjoyed the challenge of something new, so he welcomed a commission from CBS for an orchestral work specifically for their network. He used several special effects, such as muted trumpets, woodwinds at the microphone, and a vibraphone. A contest for the title was announced, and the winner was Music for Radio, Saga of the Prairie. The piece was later renamed Prairie Journal.
-Vivian Perlis, 1998
