Copland was a musical genius, and Fanfare for the Common Man has always been one of my very favorite pieces of erudite music: august and poignant at the same time, with an all-time classic melody. That this was chosen to help celebrate the inauguration is doubly no accident: not only is it a signature American masterpiece, it also shares many common elements with Copland's Lincoln Portrait (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Portrait), which was written and premiered around the same time. Great stuff.
no subject