Aaron Copland (1900–1990), was an American composer, composition teacher, writer and conductor. Instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, is best known to the public for the works he wrote in a deliberately accessible style often referred to as Populist. The open, slowly changing harmonies of many of his works are archetypical of what many people consider to be the sound of American music, evoking the vast American landscape and pioneer spirit.
