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>
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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>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
dyspnea:
(pathology) Difficult or laboured respiration; shortness of breath.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dyspnea>
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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>