Title
The Tender Land
For
orchestra
Year Composed
1958
Scoring
2.picc.1.corA.2(II=bcl).2-4.3.3.1-timp.perc(2):glsp/xyl/susp.cym/tgl/ wdbl/whip/BD/SD/rattle-harp-cel-pft(ad lib)-strings
ARCO Number(s)
77
Category
Orchestral
Duration
21'
Movements
  • 1. Introduction and Love Music
  • 2. Party Scene
  • 3. Finale: Promise of Living
Premiere
  • World: Chicago, April 10th, 1958 (Chicago Symphony Orchestra, cond. Fritz Reiner)
Publisher
Boosey & Hawkes
Publishing Status
Published
Buying Options
Boosey & Hawkes
Jump To
Also Related

Program Note

Following the less than enthusiastic reception of his only full length opera, Copland arranged an orchestral suite from the score. It includes the love duet, the lively square dance, and the stirring and beautiful The Promise of Living drawn from the quintet at the end of the opera's first act. The composer was gratified when the Suite garnered the good reviews he had hoped the opera would inspire. In 1996, Murry Sidlin created a new suite for soprano, tenor and chamber ensemble based on his successful reduced orchestration of the opera, which uses the same scoring as the 13 instrument version of Appalachian Spring.

Author
Vivian Perlis
Year
1998