Fanfare for the Common Man
3 min
Recording
- Fanfare for the Common ManHartford Symphony Orchestra; Fritz Mahler2:47
Fritz Mahler and the Hartford Symphony Orchestra play Copland’s wartime Fanfare for the Common Man. Timpani, bass drum and tam-tam open it before the trumpets enter, and the rising trumpet calls end on an unexpected D major chord.
Listening notes
- Percussion opening and trumpet entry
Timpani, bass drum and tam-tam open the piece with strokes separated by silence. The trumpets then enter with a figure that rises in two short notes and a long one. Copland uses both the percussion strokes and the rising trumpet figure throughout the piece.
- Rising and descending figures
The rising calls alternate with evenly paced notes moving downwards. The descending phrases grow longer as more of the brass joins, with extended passages in bars 26–34 and 36–40. The short rising flourish recurs between the heavier descending passages.
- Final chord in D major
At the end the rising call slows into three weighty notes. The music has centred on B♭ for most of its length. The final chord is D major.