Editing Appalachian Spring (section)

=== Initial run and reception ===
''Appalachian Spring'' premiered on October 30, 1944, at the [[Coolidge Auditorium]], conducted by [[Louis Horst]], the music director of the company.{{Efn|''Appalachian Spring'' premiered alongside two other Coolidge commissions: ''[[Hérodiade (ballet)|Hérodiade]]'', set to music by Hindemith, and ''[[Imagined Wing]]'', set to music titled ''Jeux de Printemps'' by [[Milhaud]].<ref name="loc1"></ref>}}{{Sfn|Pollack|1999|pp=391, 404}}{{Sfn|Stodelle|1984|p=129}} The premiere was the closing concert of a four-day chamber music festival honoring Coolidge's 80th birthday.{{Sfn|Copland|Crist|Shirley|2008|p=164}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Martin |first=J. |date=October 8, 1944 |title=Announcement of a Performance of Martha Graham's Commission by the Coolidge Foundation |work=[[The New York Times]] |type=PDF |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200153490/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230812215624/https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200153490/ |archive-date=August 12, 2023 |via=[[Library of Congress]]}}</ref> Copland had not attended any of the rehearsals at Graham's request, first seeing the full performance a day before the premiere.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Lunden |first=Jeff |date=November 13, 2000 |title=''Appalachian Spring'' |work=[[All Things Considered]] |publisher=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2000/11/13/1113916/npr-100-i-appalachian-spring-i |access-date=August 13, 2023 |archive-date=August 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813125641/https://www.npr.org/2000/11/13/1113916/npr-100-i-appalachian-spring-i |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Sfn|Pollack|1999|p=393}} The ballet was well-received by critics and the public.{{Sfn|Pollack|1999|p=404}}<ref name="loc1">{{Cite web |title=''Appalachian Spring'' |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200154833/ |access-date=August 12, 2023 |website=[[Library of Congress]] |archive-date=February 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230221230428/https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200154833 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Sfn|Stodelle|1984|p=130}} ''[[The New York Times]]'' critic [[John Martin (dance critic)|John Martin]] wrote of the music, "Aaron Copland has written a score of fresh and singing beauty. It is, on its surface, a piece of early Americana, but in reality it is a celebration of the human spirit."<ref name=":8">{{Cite news |last=Martin |first=John |date=November 1, 1944 |title=Graham Dancers in Festival Finale: Repeat Earlier Performance of Three New Works on the Library of Congress Stage |pages=19 |work=[[The New York Times]] |id={{ProQuest|106763600}}}}</ref> The ''Dance Observer'' critic Robert Sabin wrote of the story, "''Appalachian Spring'' works outward into the basic experiences of people living together, love, religious belief, marriage, children, work and human society."<ref name="loc1" /> The dance was also praised; Martin continued, "There is throughout the work a very moving sense of the future, of the fine and simple idealism which animates the highest human motives."<ref name=":8" /> The dance critic Walter Terry praised Graham in particular, writing in 1953, "Miss Graham brought to the role a wonderful radiance which dominated the entire ballet."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Terry |first=Walter |url=https://archive.org/details/iwasthereselecte0000terr/mode/2up |title=I Was There: Selected Dance Reviews and Articles, 1936-1976 |publisher=Marcel Dekker |year=1978 |isbn=978-0-8247-6524-8 |editor-last=Wentink |editor-first=Andrew Mark |series=The Dance Program |location=New York |pages=275 |url-access=limited}}</ref> The group of dancers was commended for being well-trained and enthusiastic.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news |last=Cochrane |first=Robert B. |date=November 1, 1944 |title=Festival of Chamber Music |pages=12 |work=[[The Baltimore Sun]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-baltimore-sun-festival-of-chamber-mu/130755361/ |access-date=August 17, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=August 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230827202348/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-baltimore-sun-festival-of-chamber-mu/130755361/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Copland's idea for ordinary music continued to be popular; one reviewer commented that it was "comprehensible even to the bored businessman".{{Sfn|Franko|2012|p=52}} Copland himself had a modest opinion of the premiere; a week later, he wrote in a letter: "People seemed to like it so I guess it was all right."{{Sfn|Copland|Crist|Shirley|2008|p=170}}

The great demand for tickets caused a repeat of the October 30 program to occur the following evening.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 26, 1944 |title=Graham Program To Be Repeated |pages=34 |work=[[The Washington Star|Evening Star]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-star-graham-program-to-be-repeat/130755823/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230815222624/https://www.newspapers.com/image/868073282/?terms=%22appalachian%20spring%22%20copland&match=1 |archive-date=August 15, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Shortly after the premiere, the Graham Company took ''Appalachian Spring'' on tour across the United States with the same cast. The debut show of the tour took place in [[Washington, D.C.]], on January 23, 1945.{{Sfn|Pollack|1999|p=404}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Martin |first=John |date=January 14, 1945 |title=The Dance; American Trio – Other Events |pages=X4 |work=[[The New York Times]] |id={{ProQuest|107354492}}}}</ref> The New York premiere of the ballet occurred days after [[Victory in Europe Day]]; the ballet's American populist themes, combined with Copland winning the [[Pulitzer Prize for Music]] in the same week, caused this show to be even more successful.{{Sfn|Pollack|1999|p=404}}{{sfn|Oja|Tick|2005|p=135}}{{Sfn|Ross|2007|p=404}} After every performance sold out, the New York run was extended by one night.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Martin |first=John |date=May 17, 1945 |title=Graham Dancers Offer a Novelty: ''John Brown'' Seen at National, With Erick Hawkins and Will Hare in the Cast |pages=15 |work=[[The New York Times]] |id={{ProQuest|107238616}}}}</ref>