In nineteen forty-two, orchestra conductor Andre Kostelanitz asked composer Aaron Copland to write a piece of music about Abraham Lincoln.

VOA: special.2011.02.07

His idea for the original drawing came from a piece of music by the English composer Ralph Vaughn-Williams.

VOA: special.2009.09.02

It was very popular. The composer earned a good living from the sales of the sheet music.

VOA: special.2010.01.24

Another composer,Jerome Kern, once said of Irving Berlin: "He has no place in American music.

VOA: special.2009.12.20

"He ended up being the American Johann Strauss,Jr., the ultimate American composer of light, perfectly crafted orchestral music."

VOA: standard.2010.07.28