Outlaw Marriages (20 page)

Copland acknowledged that Kraft had led him into this new phase of his composing career by dedicating
El Salón México
to his young lover. Various associates and friends of Copland also spoke highly of Kraft and his influence on the music his partner began creating. Verna Fine, the wife of composer Irving Fine, said, “Victor was charming and handsome and helpful,” and Rosamond Bernier, a friend of Copland's from his days in Paris, added, “I was very fond of Victor Kraft. He was intuitive and affectionate, helping Aaron get in touch with the joys of living a simple life.”
26

The benefits of Copland writing accessible works came through loud and clear in reviews of
El Salón México
. It was the first piece he'd written that received universal praise. The
Washington Post
called it “a treat” to listen to, the
New York Times
labeled it “a fine piece of music,” and the
Los Angeles Times
wrote, “Copland has created a clever work easily understood and enjoyed.”
27

Encouraged by the reviews, Copland stopped writing complex works and concentrated, instead, on creating simple music that appealed to a general audience.

Among his major projects during the next several years were an opera titled
The Second Hurricane
and a ballet titled
Billy the Kid
. Critics had nothing but positive comments for both works.
Time
magazine wrote, for example, “Copland's music for the ballet ‘Billy the Kid,' much of it based on cowboy songs, is close-knit and incisive, wasting not a note.”
28

It was also during the second half of the 1930s that the composer was invited to write a musical score for a major Hollywood motion picture. That project was the film version of John Steinbeck's classic novel
Of Mice and Men
. Copland won accolades for this new area of creative effort, with his score being nominated for an Academy Award.
29

Copland's friends and family members initially didn't take his relationship with Victor Kraft seriously, seeing the fifteen-year age difference as too dramatic for the men to overcome. The skepticism faded, however, when Kraft became a central figure in Copland's personal and professional life.
They lived together in a small loft apartment in Manhattan, frequently asking other composers and artists to join them for informal get-togethers. “Victor shopped and cooked for these gatherings,” Copland later recalled. “And he also was a very charming host. He made everyone feel welcome and perfectly at ease. He was much better at that than I was.”
30

Another role Kraft played in Copland's life was making sure the composer took periodic breaks from his writing. Copland often became obsessed with his work, which meant he was in danger of losing touch with the light-hearted and easy-going aspects of life that were now essential parts of his creative process. At Kraft's suggestion, though, from time to time he became refreshed by leaving Manhattan to spend a few weeks in other locations, such as the cabin on Lake Bemidji in northern Minnesota where the men vacationed in 1936.
31

Kraft made a dramatic change in his professional life during this period by giving up the violin and pursuing work as a news photographer. His decision wasn't driven by a lack of talent but by a lack of confidence in himself. Copland supported the career change by buying Kraft a high-quality camera and putting him in touch with several friends who were photographers. These men served as guides for Kraft as he entered his new vocation, helping him master the techniques of the craft and then secure freelance assignments.
32

Copland experienced a string of major successes beginning in 1942 when the conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra asked him to write a short piece for brass and percussion. The conductor's specific request was that the work be so “stirring and significant” that it would boost the country's sagging morale brought on by the hardships of World War II.
33

Copland then created
Fanfare for the Common Man
, which premiered in March 1943, and today ranks as the renowned composer's most famous work. “It is intended to bring a lump to the throat,” the
New Yorker
magazine gushed, “and it does exactly that, even on the thirtieth hearing.” Other observers instantly applauded the piece as well, with the
New York Times
calling it “impressive” and the
Washington Post
crowning it “outstanding.”
34

For the six decades that have passed since Copland created it, this two-minute work has enjoyed an unparalleled degree of popularity as what experts have labeled “America's anthem.” In the 1970s, the Rolling Stones rock group chose
Fanfare for the Common Man
as its opening theme, and in the 1990s the piece was used as background music in recruitment ads for the U.S. Navy and was featured prominently in the Oscar-winning film
Saving Private Ryan
. More recently, it was played as the wake-up music for the crew of the space shuttle crew orbiting the Earth in 2008 and was Barack Obama's choice to open his inaugural celebration at the Lincoln Memorial in 2009.
35

Victor Kraft's role in Aaron Copland's life proceeded in the 1940s much as it had during the previous decade. That is, the two men continued to share their apartment in Manhattan, with Kraft earning his livelihood as a photographer while making sure his partner's life wasn't all work and no play. The younger man also frequently talked the older one into campy activities such as standing hip to hip with several friends and kicking their legs high into the air, in unison, to create an all-male chorus line à la the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall.
36

Kraft continued to cajole Copland into taking breaks from his work by going on vacation, with the younger man doing everything he could to extend the trips for as long as possible. One such holiday took them back to Mexico where they spent several weeks in a remote village. “We live on the top of a hill opposite a 17th century church,” Copland wrote a friend. “It's all incredibly quiet and picturesque.” Another lengthy trip took them first to Cuba and then on to several South American countries.
37

Copland also decided, during this period, that he could benefit from having a second home away from the hustle and bustle of Manhattan to work on his music. Kraft then took on the task of finding such a place, ultimately choosing a small cottage in rural New Jersey that had only enough room for the two men—no visitors allowed. “When we went there, I told very few people where I was going,” Copland later recalled, “with the idea of having some uninterrupted composing time.”
38

By the end of the couple's first stay at the cottage in 1944, Copland had written
Appalachian Spring
, a ballet that includes country fiddlers and an elaborate finale based on a Shaker hymn titled “Simple Gifts.” Martha Graham was the principal dancer when her company performed the work in the spring of 1945, receiving rave reviews. The
New York Herald Tribune
wrote, “Mr. Copland's score is a marvel of lyricism, of freshness and strength.”
39

That summer, Copland was propelled to a new stature among the country's composers when
Appalachian Spring
was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for music.
40

It was also during the 1940s that Copland made his most noteworthy contributions to motion pictures. His musical score for the film adaptation of Thornton Wilder's play
Our Town
was nominated for an Academy Award in 1940, as was his score for the film
The North Star
three years later. His biggest triumph came in 1949 when his work on the film
The Heiress
, the film adaptation of Henry James's novel
Washington Square
, garnered him the Academy Award for the year's best musical score.
41

Victor Kraft accompanied his partner to California early in the decade when he traveled there, often for months at a time, to work on the various films. This situation changed in 1945, however, when Kraft ended his stint as a freelancer and accepted a position as a full-time photographer for
Harper's Bazaar
magazine, which was based in New York.
42

Copland and Kraft's outlaw marriage changed drastically in the 1950s. Primary among the forces that brought about the shift was that Copland continued to be attracted to very young men, and Kraft—having entered his early thirties—was too old to fit the profile.
43

Although Copland was in his fifties, his fame meant that he had no problem finding lovers who were twenty or thirty years his junior. Among those men were Erik Johns, a professional dancer, and John Brodbin Kennedy, an aspiring composer. Copland's affairs with both men lasted for several months.
44

Kraft initially responded to Copland's infidelity by trying to make him jealous, so the younger partner began sleeping with composer Leonard Bernstein. When the affair didn't have the effect Kraft had hoped for, he married a woman, writer Pearl Kazin, in 1951. That marriage lasted only a matter of months.
45

Copland and Kraft then settled into a relationship in which the older partner continued to have affairs with very young men. Copland had sex with Kraft as well, while both men remained committed to each other on an emotional level. They also continued to live together, although the younger partner was frequently traveling on assignments for his job with the magazine.
46

Determined to remain a central part of the composer's life, Kraft voluntarily took on various tasks. He wrote letters for Copland, kept his car in working order, and took photos at public events where the now famous composer made appearances. When Copland decided he wanted to move out of Manhattan permanently, Kraft found him a large and airy clapboard house near Peekskill, New York, an hour from the city.
47

Copland agreed to be interviewed by numerous journalists who wrote profiles and feature stories about him, but he opted not to speak publicly about his homosexuality. When questioned about his private life, his stock response was that his primary commitment was to composing. “I'm married to my music,” he told more than one reporter, “in the tradition of Ludwig van Beethoven and Johannes Brahms.”
48

By the late 1950s, Kraft was showing signs of emotional instability. He quit working, picked fights with Copland's young lovers, and often threw tantrums
that included fits of crying. The younger partner also physically threatened the older one—including an incident when he came close to striking Copland with a wrench.
49

Kraft refused to seek professional counseling, even though his partner offered to pay for it. In 1960, Kraft sought to stabilize his life by marrying a woman named Rheba Robinson. He and his wife then moved into a home only a few miles from Copland's and soon announced they were having a baby. The fact that the child, named Jeremy Aaron, was born with slight brain damage apparently pushed the father over the edge.
50

The once handsome man let his hair grow long and scraggly, and he no longer paid attention to how he dressed. Kraft drifted into the counterculture, routinely smoking marijuana and occasionally using LSD. At one point, he begged Copland to move into a windmill with him. Another time, Kraft kidnapped his seven-year-old son and took the boy out of the country for several months.
51

Despite this erratic behavior, Copland refused to cut Kraft out of his life. When a friend told the composer he should end all contact with the unstable man, Copland wouldn't hear of it, saying, “Many years ago, he introduced me to a way of life that inspired my best music. How could I possibly abandon him now?”
52

While not turning his back on Kraft, Copland opted not to invite him to high-profile events, fearing that the unpredictable man might publicly humiliate himself. The composer chose, for example, to go alone to the White House in 1964 where Lyndon B. Johnson awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor that can be awarded to a civilian, and to New York two years later when he received a Grammy for his recording of opera highlights performed by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
53

Activities in the privacy of his home were a different matter. Copland made sure that he and Kraft spent holidays together, and they also continued to have a sexual relationship. In addition, they traveled together from time to time, including taking a trip to Israel in 1968, soon after Kraft and his second wife had separated, and another to England in 1970.
54

Some of the authors who have chronicled the events in Aaron Copland's life have speculated that he blamed himself for Victor Kraft's emotional problems. These biographers suggest that because the composer had, over the years, repeatedly had affairs with very young men, he feared that he may have caused his partner to become overwhelmed by feelings of rejection and betrayal.
55

Those biographers also have written that Kraft's behavior was one of the reasons why Copland wasn't able to create music during his later years. One
author described how the composer would sit down at the piano in his Peekskill house and try to write a new work, but invariably was interrupted by Kraft entering the room and either chattering incessantly or screaming hysterically.
56