October 30, 1944: "Appalachian Spring" Premieres

Aaron Copland

October 30, 1944: Appalachian Spring premieres at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. It is generally regarded as the greatest ballet ever written in America.

Aaron Copland, perhaps America's greatest composer of classical music, was awarded the 1945 Pulitzer Prize for Music for it. Martha Graham choreographed it, and danced the lead role at the premiere.

Martha Graham

The main theme has been used by CBS News for news programs from the dawn of the television era: First for Edward R. Murrow's investigative program See It Now, then for the occasional special CBS Reports. I can remember hearing CBS use it in the early and mid-1990s, for their specials honoring the 50th Anniversary of World War II and the 25th Anniversaries of late 1960s events like the 1968 assassinations and the Apollo 11 Moon landing.

Copland (1900-1990), known as "The Dean of American Composers," also wrote Fanfare for the Common Man, Lincoln Portrait (designed to be played while speakers recite the speeches of Abraham Lincoln), and ballets about the Wild West, including Rodeo and Billy the Kid.

Graham (1894-1991) remains the defining figure in classical American dance.

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October 30, 1944 was a Monday. Baseball season was over. Football was in midweek: It would be another 26 years before the start of Monday Night Football. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. And while the NHL season had started 2 days earlier, there were no games scheduled. So there were no scores on this historic day.