Finale from "Symphony No. 3"

Aaron Copland

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General Info

Year: 1946 /
Duration: c. 13:30
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Orchestra
Publisher: U.S. Marine Band
Cost: Score and Parts - Unknown

Instrumentation

(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Alongside A Lincoln Potrait and his famous ballets Appalachian Spring and Billy the Kid, his monumental Symphony No. 3 can be considered the centerpiece of his contribution to American music.

The Koussevitzky Foundation commissioned the work in 1943, when Copland was at the very height of his compositional popularity. In the years leading up to the commission, Copland had already worked out several themes with the intention of crafting a large-scale symphony, but he still needed several more years to develop the piece. He finally completed the symphony on September 29, 1946, barely in time to prepare the music for the première by the Boston Symphony Orchestra led by Maestro Serge Koussevitzky on October 18 of that year. As the conductor hurried off the stage following the performance, he declared, “There is no doubt about it—this is the greatest American symphony. It goes from the heart to the heart. [Copland] is the greatest American composer.”

The finale of the symphony is the longest and most complex of the four movements. The movement begins with a reworked version of the composer’s ubiquitous Fanfare for the Common Man, which was composed several years prior. While the fanfare serves as the nucleus of the movement, Copland spins the famous music into a series of grand symphonic variations surrounded by and intertwined with a collection of beautifully contrasting themes. When the original fanfare finally makes a triumphant return in the closing moments of the movement, it culminates in one of the most dramatic and powerful symphonic finales in the entire orchestral repertoire.

The work calls for a massive orchestra complete with extra winds, a large percussion battery, piano, celesta, and harps. This version for concert band of the Finale from Symphony No. 3 was crafted specifically for the United States Marine Band by the Chief Arranger for “The President’s Own,” Master Gunnery Sgt. Donald Patterson.

- Program Note from United States Marine Band concert program, 19 May 2019 (

Media

Audio: Reference recording. U.S. Marine Band (Jason K. Fettig, conductor) - 2015

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Flower Mound (Tx.) High School Wind Symphony (Brent Biskup, conductor) – 26 March 2022
United States Marine Band (Washington, D.C.) (Jason K. Fettig, conductor) – 19 May 2019 (Iwakuni, Japan)
Dallas (Tx.) Winds (Jerry Junkin, conductor) - 8 November 2011

Works for Winds by This Composer

Appalachian Spring (arr. Morita) (1944)
Appalachian Spring (arr. Patterson) (1944)
Buckaroo Holiday from "Rodeo" (tr. Megan) (1941/2000)
Buckaroo Holiday from "Rodeo" (tr. Sudduth) (1941)
Canticle of Freedom (arr. Duffy) (2000)
Celebration (arr. Lang) (1938/1945)
Ceremonial Fanfare
A Copland Portrait (arr. Grundman) (1986)
A Copland Tribute (arr. Grundman) (1986)
Danzón Cubano (tr. Rogers) (1949/2000)
The Dodger (arr. Knox) (c. 1880/1950/)
The Dodger. See also: Old American Songs I
Down a Country Lane (tr. Patterson) (1962/1991)
El Salón México (tr. Hindsley) (1939/1972)
Emblems (1964)
Excerpts from "Appalachian Spring" (arr. Longfield) (1944)
Fanfare for the Common Man (1942/1944)
Fanfare for the Common Man (arr. Longfield) (1942/1944/2007)
Finale from "Symphony No. 3" (trans. Patterson) (1946/)
Hoe Down from "Rodeo" (arr. Moss)
Hoe Down from "Rodeo" (tr. Rogers)
Inaugural Fanfare
Laurie's Song (tr. Martin) (1954/ )
Laurie's Song (arr. Silbert and Buchanan) (1954/ )
Letter from Home (arr. Belski) (1944)
A Lincoln Portrait (tr. Beeler) (1942/1951)
Old American Songs (arr. Moss) (1950/2006)
Old American Songs I (arr. Silvester) (1950/2001)
Old American Songs II (arr. Duffy) (1952/2001)
Our Town (arr. Singleton)
An Outdoor Overture (1938/1948)
Preamble for a Solemn Occasion (1949/1974)
The Promise of Living (arr. Curnow) (1954/2012)
The Promise of Living (tr. Duffy) (1954/2000)
The Promise of Living (tr. Hile) (1954)
The Promise of Living (tr. Singleton) (1954/2002)
Quiet City (arr. Hunsberger) (1941/1992)
The Red Pony (1969)
Scenes from "Billy the Kid" (arr. Hilliard) (1941/2000)
Stomp Your Foot (tr. Duffy) (1954/1956/2000)
Symphony No. 3. See: Finale from "Symphony No. 3"
Themes from "An Outdoor Overture" (arr. Curnow) (1938/2014)
Three Excerpts from "Our Town" and "Simple Gifts" (arr. Cohen)
Three Latin American Sketches (arr. Mikkelson) (1972/2021)
Variations on a Shaker Melody (1960)
Waltz and Celebration (arr. Lang) (1944/1972)

Resources

Symphony No. 3 (Copland), Wikipedia Accessed 26 May 2019