Appalachian Spring is an American ballet created by the composer Aaron Copland and the choreographer Martha Graham (pictured), later arranged as an orchestral work. Copland composed the ballet for Graham upon a commission from Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge. Set in a 19th-century settlement in Pennsylvania, the ballet follows the Bride and the Husbandman as they get married and celebrate with the community. The original choreography was by Graham, with costumes by Edythe Gilfond and sets by Isamu Noguchi. The ballet was well-received at the 1944 premiere, earning Copland the Pulitzer Prize for Music during its 1945 United States tour. The orchestral suite composed in 1945 was played that year by many symphony orchestras; the suite is among Copland's best-known works, and the ballet remains essential in the Martha Graham Dance Company repertoire. A film version of the original production was released in 1958 with Graham as the Bride; a similar recording was released in 1976 with Yuriko.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_Spring
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1808:
John Jacob Astor founded the American Fur Company, the profits from which made him the first multi-millionaire in the United States. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Jacob_Astor
1974:
ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest representing Sweden with the song "Waterloo". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurovision_Song_Contest_1974
1994:
The aircraft carrying Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundian president Cyprien Ntaryamira was shot down in Kigali; the event became the catalyst for the Rwandan genocide. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Juv%C3%A9nal_Habyarimana_and_Cyprien_Ntaryamira
2009:
Mass protests began across Moldova against the results of the parliamentary election. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_2009_Moldovan_parliamentary_election_protests
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
dyspnea: (pathology) Difficult or laboured respiration; shortness of breath. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dyspnea
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Every fool has a rainbow But he never seems to find The reward that should be waiting At the end of the line. But he'll give up a bed of roses For a hammock filled with thorns And go chasing after rainbows Every time a dream is born. --Merle Haggard https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Merle_Haggard