Solid Basic Training: Aaron Copland’s Studies with Rubin Goldmark

Aaron Copland studied privately with the American composer and pedagogue Rubin Goldmark for four academic years through the spring of 1921, all while living at home in Brooklyn NY. These compositional studies pose an enduring critical lacuna despite the historical importance of both figures. According to Copland's own accounts, Goldmark would offer no help in composing music even remotely modernist or that departed at all from the rules of traditional practice. Mathers examines Goldmark as a teacher, composer, and person.