What do Mark Twain and Aaron Copland have in common? “They both have great senses of humor,” says Bill Barclay, artistic director of Concert Theatre Works. And both of these titans of American culture often stood at odds with their country: Twain as a wandering iconoclast, and Copland blacklisted by McCarthyism and marginalized as a gay man. “They are both insiders and outsiders at the same time.”
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Ahead of America’s 250th anniversary this year, Barclay thought Twain’s witty writings and Copland’s distinct sound would pair well together for a concert that both celebrates and challenges our notions of the United States. He pored over about 5,000 pages of Twain and highlighted sections that still resonate today. “He talks about tariffs, immigration, race, genderism and all that,” he says.
Barclay then spent countless hours massaging the words into a script that fits the melodrama of Copland’s Music for Movies and Music for the Theatre, two lesser-known incidental pieces. “In a way, [Twain] provides the salt, where Copland provides the sweet,” he says.
Like all Concert Theatre Works shows, “Copland & Twain” is dramatized: five costumed actors, replete with lighting and set design, performing in tandem with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. The premiere concert also includes pieces by James Lee III and Joan Tower . Barclay pitched the concept to music director Ken-David Masur because “he’s a wonderful conductor of American music,” he says.
Masur jumped on board. He says he didn’t want MSO’s America celebration to be “just a tribute like other orchestras.” Instead, he wanted it to ask: “What’s important to highlight about America today?”
Copland & Twain: May 8-10 at the Bradley Symphony Center
