---
name: "Aaron Copland"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/aaron-copland"
roles: ["Composer"]
born: "14 November 1900"
died: "2 December 1990"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_fi1m_score: 82
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-09-20T01:48:45.181318+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Aaron Copland

Composer. Born 14 November 1900 in Brooklyn, New York. Died 2 December 1990.

## Details

- **Work:** Composer
- **Born:** 14 November 1900, Brooklyn, New York
- **Died:** 2 December 1990
- **Active:** 1939–1949
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar (1 won · 5 nominated)
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1930s 84 (1), 1940s 81 (2)
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 3, Romance 2, History 1
- **Screen time:** 5 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $2m across 1 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Copland, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q192185, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0178716/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/57684

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*Of Mice and Men*](https://film.one/film/of-mice-and-men.md) (84)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Our Town*](https://film.one/film/our-town.md) (72)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Aaron Copland (1900–1990) was an American composer who wrote scores for several feature films. His first film score was for *Of Mice and Men* (1939), directed by Lewis Milestone. He received an Academy Award nomination for the score.

Copland composed music for *Our Town* (1940), *The North Star* (1943), *The Red Pony* (1949) and *The Heiress* (1949). His score for *The Heiress* won the Academy Award for Best Original Score. Music from his works was later used in *He Got Game* (1998).

*Sources: aaroncopland.com, en.wikipedia.org, catalog.afi.com.*

## On Fi1m (3)

- *The Heiress* (1949), Fi1m 90, Original Music Composer, Music — [page](https://film.one/film/the-heiress.md)
- *Our Town* (1940), Fi1m 72, Original Music Composer, Music — [page](https://film.one/film/our-town.md)
- *Of Mice and Men* (1939), Fi1m 84, Music, Original Music Composer — [page](https://film.one/film/of-mice-and-men.md)

## Complete filmography (22)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *International ARD Music Competition 2025 Prize Winners' Concert* (2025), Original Music Composer
- *Zahia Ziouani & Mourad Merzouki : Les Nouveaux Mondes* (2024), Original Music Composer
- *The Opera House* (2017), Music
- *Copland, Bernstein* (2014), Original Music Composer
- *Paris: The Luminous Years* (2010), Actor
- *Concerto diretto da John Axelrod* (2009), Original Music Composer
- *He Got Game* (1998), Music
- *A Letter to Jonathan* (1980), Music
- *Bachianas Brasileiras: Meu Nome é Villa-Lobos* (1979), Actor
- *Something Wild* (1961), Conductor, Original Music Composer
- *Appalachian Spring* (1959), Music
- *Abstronic* (1952), Music
- *Three Installations* (1952), Music
- *The Heiress* (1949), Original Music Composer — Fi1m 90, [page](https://film.one/film/the-heiress.md)
- *The Red Pony* (1949), Original Music Composer
- *Idlers That Work* (1949), Music
- *The Cummington Story* (1945), Original Music Composer
- *The North Star* (1943), Music, Songs
- *Our Town* (1940), Original Music Composer — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/our-town.md)
- *Of Mice and Men* (1939), Original Music Composer — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/of-mice-and-men.md)
- *The City* (1939), Original Music Composer
- *145 W. 21* (1936), Actor

## Gallery

- ![Aaron Copland](https://film.one/media/person/1231342/gallery-40122dc3d54b.jpg) Aaron Copland — CBS Television, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Aaron_Copland_1970.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Aaron Copland's concert| in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, held on June 2, 1961, with soloist Milenko Stefanovic and Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra.](https://film.one/media/person/1231342/gallery-504e0b9ead58.jpg) Aaron Copland's concert| in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, held on June 2, 1961, with soloist Milenko Stefanovic and Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra. — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/18/Aaron_Copland%27s_concert_in_Belgrade.jpg/1280px-Aaron_Copland%27s_concert_in_Belgrade.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Aaron Copland at age 6, circa 1907-1908](https://film.one/media/person/1231342/gallery-a97720a5bc64.jpg) Aaron Copland at age 6, circa 1907-1908 — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Aaron_Copland%2C_1907-1908.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Aaron Copland standing in front of foliage in 1930](https://film.one/media/person/1231342/gallery-f39e154a4c05.jpg) Aaron Copland standing in front of foliage in 1930 — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/Aaron_Copland%2C_1930.jpg/1280px-Aaron_Copland%2C_1930.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Aaron Copland, Serge Koussevitzky, and Nadia Boulanger, ca. 1939](https://film.one/media/person/1231342/gallery-8373e9dec609.jpg) Aaron Copland, Serge Koussevitzky, and Nadia Boulanger, ca. 1939 — Victor Kraft, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/36/Aaron_Copland%2C_Serge_Koussevitzky%2C_and_Nadia_Boulanger%2C_ca._1939.jpg/1280px-Aaron_Copland%2C_Serge_Koussevitzky%2C_and_Nadia_Boulanger%2C_ca._1939.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Photo of composer Aaron Copland from a 1962 television special.](https://film.one/media/person/1231342/gallery-5c75cb478cb7.jpg) Photo of composer Aaron Copland from a 1962 television special. — CBS Television, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Aaron_Copland_1962.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 1 won, 5 nominated

- 1950: Best Original Dramatic or Comedy Score (won), for *The Heiress*
- 1944: Best Original Dramatic or Comedy Score (nominated), for *The North Star*
- 1941: Best Original Score (nominated), for *Our Town (1940 film)*
- 1941: Best Score, Adaptation or Treatment (nominated), for *Our Town (1940 film)*
- 1940: Best Original Score (nominated), for *Of Mice and Men*
- 1940: Best Score, Adaptation or Treatment (nominated), for *Of Mice and Men*

### Other awards — 8 won

- Grammy Trustees Award 1981: Grammy Trustees Award (won)
- Kennedy Center Honors 1979: Kennedy Center Honors (won)
- Charles E. Lutton Man of Music Award 1970: Charles E. Lutton Man of Music Award (won)
- Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 1970: Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (won)
- Presidential Medal of Freedom 1964: Presidential Medal of Freedom (won)
- Pulitzer Prize for Music 1945: Pulitzer Prize for Music (won), for *Appalachian Spring*
- Guggenheim Fellowship 1926: Guggenheim Fellowship (won)
- Guggenheim Fellowship 1925: Guggenheim Fellowship (won)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/aaron-copland