The 5/9/2015 e-newsletter from Curbed.com included an article by Marni Epstein-Mervis about the ongoing propaganda war between proponents for suburban and urban lifestyles. One of the focal points in the article is a YouTube video of a 1939 film they assert “launched America’s debate about the suburbs” and although fascinating in its own right for a host of reasons, the item which came across like a ton of unexpected bricks is the opening credits that list Aaron Copland as the film’s composer.
The half hour long film is sparsely narrated, instead, it delivers a highly polished cinematographic experience that relies on a music score tightly coordinated with the imagery. Granted, there’s no mistaking the message here; Copland punctuates the intentionally gritty urban scenes with music designed to project anxiety and dismay. It isn’t difficult to get the ham-handed message that cities are bad, suburbs are good; even though that didn’t turn out to be the case.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the sound track is what you would expect from a 1939 production and it would be interesting to know if the score is still around and if so, has it ever been performed outside of the studio recording.
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I believe the Eos Orchestra recorded this for the Telarc label for an album called “Celluloid Copland.” It’s billed as a “world premiere recording.”
I see that Max Goberman, a well-known name in the 1950s (until his untimely death) is the conductor here.
Though not credited on the opening crawl, composer Henry Brant assisted with this project and is believed to have done orchestrations as well. Mr. Brant won a music Pulitzer and several Guggenheim grants and taught at Julliard, Columbia and elsewhere. He worked some with Alex North too.
The music to this film actually is available to be performed, and can be rented through Boosey & Hawkes: http://www.boosey.com/cr/music/Aaron-Copland-The-City/6157
The Pacific Symphony played the score live with the film in 2000, part of a festival celebrating the Copland centenary. These were apparently the first live performances of The City.