Who is the greatest American composer?

By Tom Quiner

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ft1qAOW4znM]

Three of my favorite American composers are George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, and Duke Ellington.

Today on the classical radio, I listened to Aaron Copland’s great Rodeo Ballet. The Hoe Down movement is so utterly American, so exquisitely compelling, so deliciously seductive that I felt compelled to share it with Quiner’s Diners readers.

My wife and I attend a convention in Las Vegas every year. We frequently walk past the Bellagio to take in the fountains. Then we walk across the street to Paris and have dinner at Mon Ami Gabi’s on the patio so we can keep watching. Copland’s Hoe Down is my second favorite water ballet. Enjoy.

Who is the greatest composer? I vote for Gershwin, but Copland is in the top three.