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The last century was not that of the average citizen, as it was Henry A Wallace predicted in 1942 when the USA entered the Second World War. And the current century is unlikely to become one either. But this speech inspired Aaron Copland to a “Fanfare for the Ordinary Citizen,” which he wrote in the same year.
Originally for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra conducted by Eugene Goossens written, the instrumental piece only became better known through an interpretation by Emerson, Lake and Palmer from 1977, which can be found on their record “Works Volume I”.
Aaron Coplands fanfare can be found in the fourth movement of his Symphony No. 3 from 1946. The piece “Fanfare For The Common Man” was also a success for Emerson, Lake and Palmer and is probably one of their best-known works to this day.
During the nine minutes that the piece lasts, you could think about how together we could still succeed in making at least 2024 the year of the normal citizen.
And if you want to think about it even further, then perhaps the Third Symphony in question will help you a little further. But even so, it should be a fitting start to the New Year.
By the way, the fanfare for the average citizen largely determines the fourth movement of the symphony. Leonard Bernstein and other conductors also made deletions from the fourth movement because the end of the symphony was probably too opulent for them. Aaron Copland later accepted these deletions and thus ushered in the musical end of the age of the normal citizen.
