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Creative Mind: The Musician as Creator

August 11, 1958
Aaron Copland composer
Lyman Bryson host, commentator

Lyman Bryson discusses with composer Aaron Copland how music can be both the least representational art and the one that is the most cooperative with other arts.

Twenty-two prominent men and women in many fields contributed to this thought-provoking series, which sought to provide insights useful in the development of an educational and cultural setting in which this nation's creative potential could be fully realized. Originally given during radio interviews in the 1950's, their timeless comments have been remastered to live online for your enjoyment.

Frank Lloyd Wright, Aaron Copland, Leopold Stokowski, Robert Penn Warren, Allen Tate, Norman Cousins, Reinhold Niehbuhr, Margaret Mead, Agnes de Mille, and many other authorities express their individual views on the creative process in reference to their own work and to society. Each interview attempted to answer several critical questions relative to nontechnical values that challenge the attention of thoughtful individuals in an industrial society:

Do the human and cultural aspects of civilization receive the necessary encouragement to insure a balanced development?
Do the young potential artists in our midst have a favorable opportunity to express their talents?
Consideration of these and related issues suggests numerous questions as to the nature of art, artists, creativeness in both the arts and sciences, and the conditions requisite for creative effort.

WGBH
Image of What to Listen For in Music
Author: Aaron Copland
Publisher: NAL Trade (2009)
Binding: Paperback, 320 pages
Image of Music and Imagination (The Charles Eliot Norton Lectures)
Author: Aaron Copland
Publisher: Harvard University Press (1980)
Binding: Paperback, 128 pages