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Aaron Copland & Victor Kraft
Nov. 14th, 2014 06:32 pm
Aaron Copland (November 14, 1900 – December 2, 1990) was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers". He is best known to the public for the works he wrote in the 1930s and 40s in a deliberately more accessible style than his earlier pieces, including the ballets Appalachian Spring, Billy the Kid, Rodeo and his Fanfare for the Common Man. The open, slowly changing harmonies of many of his works are archetypical of what many people consider to be the sound of American music, evoking the vast American landscape and pioneer spirit. However, he wrote music in different styles at different periods of his life: his early works incorporated jazz or avant-garde elements whereas his later music incorporated serial techniques. In addition to his ballets and orchestral works he produced music in many other genres including chamber music, vocal works, opera and film scores.
Aaron Copland was born in Brooklyn of Lithuanian Jewish descent, the last of five children, on November 14, 1900. Before emigrating from Russia to the United States, Copland's father, Harris Morris Copland, Anglicized his surname "Kaplan" to "Copland" while waiting in Scotland en route to America. Throughout his childhood, Copland and his family lived above his parents' Brooklyn shop, H.M. Copland's, at 628 Washington Avenue (which Aaron would later describe as "a kind of neighborhood Macy's"), on the corner of Dean Street and Washington Avenue, and most of the children helped out in the store. His father was a staunch Democrat. The family members were active in Congregation Baith Israel Anshei Emes, where Aaron celebrated his Bar Mitzvah. Not especially athletic, the sensitive young man became an avid reader and often read Horatio Alger stories on his front steps. (P: ©Carl Van Vechten (1880-1964)/LOC ds.00954. Victor Kraft, 1935 (©3))
by George Platt Lynes
Aaron Copland and Victor Kraft
Aaron Copland was an American composer, teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. Among Copland's love affairs, most of which lasted for only a few years yet became enduring friendships, were ones with photographer Victor Kraft, artist Alvin Ross, pianist Paul Moor, dancer Erik Johns, and composer John Brodbin Kennedy. On Copland's love life, Victor Kraft would prove to be the one constant romantic relationship in Copland's life. Originally, a student of music under Copland, Kraft gave up music in pursuit of a career in photography on Copland's urging.
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Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Copland
Shortly before the war, a young Harvard undergraduate named Leonard Bernstein made one of his first visit to Manhattan. On November 14, 1937, Aaron Copland, the great gay American composer, invited the budding musician to a birthday party at his New York loft on West 63d Street. The room was filled with gay and bisexual intellectuals, including Paul Bowles (then known only as a composer) and Virgil Thomson. When Copland learned that Bernstein loved his Piano Variations, he dared the Harvard boy to play them. "It'll ruin the party", said Bernstein. "Not this party", Copland replied, and the guests were mesmerized by Bernstein's performance.
During the next decade, Copland would become an important father figure for Bernstein, as well as his composition adviser. One of Bernstein's biographers, Humphrey Burton, believes Bernstein and Copland may also have been lovers. "He taught me a tremendous amount about taste, style and consistency in music", Bernstein said of his mentor. --The Gay Metropolis: The Landmark History of Gay Life in America by Charles Kaiser
Days of Love: Celebrating LGBT History One Story at a Time by Elisa RollePaperback: 760 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1 edition (July 1, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1500563323
ISBN-13: 978-1500563325
CreateSpace Store: https://www.createspace.com/4910282
Amazon (Paperback): http://www.amazon.com/dp/1500563323/?tag=e
Amazon (Kindle): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MZG0VHY/?tag=e
Days of Love chronicles more than 700 LGBT couples throughout history, spanning 2000 years from Alexander the Great to the most recent winner of a Lambda Literary Award. Many of the contemporary couples share their stories on how they met and fell in love, as well as photos from when they married or of their families. Included are professional portraits by Robert Giard and Stathis Orphanos, paintings by John Singer Sargent and Giovanni Boldini, and photographs by Frances Benjamin Johnson, Arnold Genthe, and Carl Van Vechten among others. “It's wonderful. Laying it out chronologically is inspired, offering a solid GLBT history. I kept learning things. I love the decision to include couples broken by death. It makes clear how important love is, as well as showing what people have been through. The layout and photos look terrific.” Christopher Bram “I couldn’t resist clicking through every page. I never realized the scope of the book would cover centuries! I know that it will be hugely validating to young, newly-emerging LGBT kids and be reassured that they really can have a secure, respected place in the world as their futures unfold.” Howard Cruse “This international history-and-photo book, featuring 100s of detailed bios of some of the most forward-moving gay persons in history, is sure to be one of those bestsellers that gay folk will enjoy for years to come as reference and research that is filled with facts and fun.” Jack Fritscher
Roger Margason, who uses the pseudonym of Dorien Grey, is an openly gay American author, (born in Northern Illinois). Margason served in the U.S. Navy and graduated from Northern Illinois University with a BA in English.
Harry Daley (November 14, 1901 – March 12, 1971), police officer and author, was born at 49 Stevens Street, Lowestoft, Suffolk, on 14 November 1901, the second son and fourth of the five children of Joseph Daley (d. 1911), skipper of a fishing smack, and his wife, Emily Firman, a former parlourmaid. He was educated from the age of three at the local school and, despite considerable financial hardship and the long absences at sea of his bawdy, easy-going, and adored father, his childhood was exceptionally happy. In the great ‘September gale’ of 1911, however, Joseph Daley was one of the many fishermen lost at sea. Instead of going on to secondary school, Harry gave up his education to become a telegram boy. During the First World War, Zeppelin raids and rumours of a German invasion decided Daley's mother to move the family to the relative safety of Dorking, Surrey, where her eldest daughter was living. Here Daley got a job with a grocer, driving a pony and trap round the countryside collecting orders for goods.
J. R. Ackerley (4 November 1896 – 4 June 1967; his full registered name was Joe Ackerley; Randolph was added later as a tribute to an uncle) was arts editor of The Listener, the weekly magazine of the BBC. He was also openly gay, a rarity in his time.
Days of Love: Celebrating LGBT History One Story at a Time by Elisa Rolle