Aaron Copland spent his last thirty years in a modest, mid-century ranch house in Cortlandt Manor. He called it Rock Hill. It sits on a steep, rocky, three-acre lot high above the Hudson River. Copland bought the place in 1960 because he needed to escape the constant interruptions of New York City. He was sixty. Actually, he just wanted absolute quiet. The architecture is surprisingly low-key, featuring cedar shingles and large windows that let the woods inside. No grand columns or sweeping driveways here. Instead, you get a simple, functional home centered around a studio with his massive Steinway grand piano.
This was no sleepy retirement retreat. Copland composed his complex, late-career twelve-tone works here, including Connotations and Inscape. He also spent hours at his desk prepping for global conducting tours. Guests came often. Leonard Bernstein used to visit, sometimes spending hours playing piano and arguing about musical theory with Copland. But the house did not die with Copland in 1990. Today, it functions as a living laboratory for music. It is the only composer's home in the United States that hosts a fully-funded residency program. Young composers sleep in his bedrooms and work at his desk. That makes it more than a museum. It remains a vibrant, working engine for American music.
