American Ballet series: Aaron Copland

Copland - Appalachian Spring (1945 Suite)

00:00 - Very slowly. Introduction of the characters, one by one, in a suffused light.
02:46 - Allegro. Sudden burst of unison strings in A major arpeggios starts the action.
05:30 - Moderato: The Bride and her Intended
08:55 - Fast: The Revivalist and his Flock

00:00 - Allegro: Solo Dance of the Bride
02:49 - Meno mosso. Transition scene to music reminiscent of the introduction.
05:08 - Doppio movimento: Variations on a Shaker Hymn
08:28 - Moderato: Coda

Antal Dorati conducts the London Symphony Orchestra. Recorded by Mercury in 1961.

"Appalachian Spring (Ballet for Martha) was written in 1943-44, to satisfy a commission from the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation, and first performed by Martha Graham and her company at the Coolidge Festival in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., October 30, 1944. The orchestral suite, recorded here, omitting certain sections of the ballet and rescored for concert performance, dates from the spring of 1945. The same year the work won both the Pulitzer Prize for music and the New York Music Critics Circle Award for stage works of the previous season.

"Copland described the action of the ballet as concerning 'a pioneer celebration in spring around a newly-built farmhouse in the Pennsylvania Hills in the early part of the last century. The bride-to-be and the young farmer-husband enact the emotions, joyful and apprehensive, their new domestic partnership invites. An older neighbor suggests now and then the rocky confidence of experience. A revivalist and his followers remind the new householders of the strange and terrible aspects of human fate. At the end the couple are left quiet and strong in their new house.'

"The music of Appalachian Spring explores still more inventively the vein of lucidity opened by the works just preceding. With one exception, however, it does not make use of pre-existing tunes; like Bartók and Falla, Copland has distilled the character of folk music and imbued the entire fabric with its essence. The one exception is a Shaker hymn, 'Simple Gifts,' found in Edward D. Andrews's collection, which forms the basis of a set of variations in the seventh of the eight sections of the ballet suite.

"Here is the same openness of texture that characterized Billy the Kid, though the melodic and harmonic formations are more often triadic than quintal or quartal. The tunes themselves savor of folklore, though of a somewhat sophistical variety. The dancelike tunes in particular make use of jagged leaps and frequently irregular rhythms, which somehow never negate their 'barn dance' quality. ... Appalachian Spring is mainly reflective and subtle. Even in its more athletic pages--the dance of the revivalist and his flock, and the joyful dance of the bride--it remains relatively subjective.

"The scores of few ballets are sufficiently integrated to make concert performance meaningful without knowledge of plot and choreography. Copland's Pennsylvania 'rite of spring' is one of the few; its musical values are sufficient by themselves to keep it in focus. The orchestral suite can, and does, stand on its own feet." - Halsey Stevens


Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes (1942)

00:00 - Buckaroo Holiday
08:02 - Corral Nocturne
11:27 - Saturday Night Waltz
15:33 - Hoe-Down

Peformed by Antal Dorati and the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra. Recorded by Mercury in 1957.

"The ballet Rodeo was danced by its choreographer, Agnes de Mille, and the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1942 and soon became a standard work in the repertory of the Ballet Theatre and other companies. The orchestral suite from Rodeo, first performed at a Lewisohn Stadium summer concert in 1943, is made up of Four Dance Episodes.

It tells the story of a young Cowgirl who has always been a tomboy. Suddenly aware of men and romance for the first time, she seeks the attention of the Head Wrangler, her favorite, and the Champion Roper, trying to impress them with her prowess as a rider. After the sweeping opening, in which the Western scene is immediately set by Copland's 'open' harmony and exposition of rhythm, we find the Cowgirl in the corral with the men. They pay no attention to her cavorting, concentrating on their own riding and ranch work. They finally gallop off without even a parting glance, and she in turn rides away in anger and in tears. The exuberant movements of the men and the slightly awkward jogging of the girl in 'Buckaroo Holiday' are done to music deriving from the folk tune 'If He'd Be a Buckaroo By His Trade.' There is a pause in the rhythm of one of the measures of the tune, and Copland enhances its syncopated effect by making the pause longer. 'Sis Joe' is another authentic song in the episode; both it and 'Buckaroo' were taken from the collection Our Singing Country, by John A. and Alan Lomax.

The music in 'Corral Nocturne' is all Copland's own. Girls from the city, wearing pretty dresses instead of dungarees, have come to visit the Rancher's Daughter and to enjoy the Saturday night dance. Once more the Cowgirl is ignored; she cannot compete with feminine frills. A tranquil, somewhat sad mood pervades the scene as darkness falls. The couples move off, eager for the dance. The Cowgirl is left behind again.

Saturday night at the ranch is the time for dancing. The Cowgirl, still in dungarees and boots, sits alone, watching the festivities. The Roper and the Wrangler take pity on the wallflower and ask her to dance. She is too shy and misses her opportunity. As the 'Saturday Night Waltz' begins (the song 'Old Paint' is recognized), the Roper insists that the Cowgirl dance. She starts to, then sees the Wrangler dancing with the Rancher's Daughter. Jealous, confused, she stands seemingly paralyzed amidst the dancers. Annoyed, the Roper turns and leaves her. The Cowgirl runs from the dance floor.

The dancing reaches a climax in the hilarious 'Hoe-Down' (based on the old tune 'Bonyparte,' which Copland found in Traditional Music of America by Ira Forbes). Suddenly the Cowgirl reappears, this time wearing a party dress. She is vivacious, pretty, the center of attention. The Roper again asks her to dance. Though she would rather have the Wrangler, she wisely accepts the Roper and joins the others in the wild dancing as the ballet ends. It is interesting to note that whereas 'Buckaroo Holiday' is a rather complex symphonic movement, the 'Hoe-Down' is presented in an almost photographic copy of the original dance." - Eugene Bruck


Billy the Kid - Complete Ballet (1938)

00:00 - Introduction. The open Prairie
03:37 - Street in a Frontier Town
07:07 - Mexican Dance and Finale

00:00 - Prairie Night (Card game at night)
02:47 - Gun Battle
04:38 - Celebration (after Billy's capture)

00:00 - Waltz from Billy the Kid
04:46 - Billy's Death
05:56 - The open Prairie again

Antal Dorati conducts the London Symphony Orchestra. Recorded by Mercury in 1961.

"The career of the notorious outlaw William Bonney has given rise to a multitudinous folklore. It was at the suggestion of Lincoln Kirstein, director of the American Ballet Caravan, that Copland undertook the composition of a ballet inspired by Bonney's exploits. Billy the Kid was written in the summer of 1938 and first performed in Chicago in October of that year, with choreography by Eugene Loring, who danced the role of Billy.

"The complete ballet proceeds from one musical section to the next without pause. The Introduction is subtitled 'The open Prairie"; its widely spaced harmonies and chord-line melodies have come to symbolize a kind of American-ness that has entered the musical vernacular. Gradually the stage fills with people on the way west, with Pat Garrett leading the way. Cowboys appear, and the action really begins with a street scene in a frontier town. Folk tunes make the atmosphere specific; Copland has incorporated into the score material from such tunes as 'Great Granddad,' 'Git Along, Little Dogies,' 'The Old Chisholm Trail,' and 'Good-Bye, Old Paint.' These are sometimes quoted intact or relatively so, sometimes merely suggested, and frequently transformed as if they were original themes.

"Some Mexican women dance a jarabe in irregular rhythms. A street fight ensues, and Billy, as a boy of twelve, watches with his mother. Guns are drawn, and Billy's mother is killed. Billy, in blind fury, snatches a knife from one of the cowboys and stabs the killers.

"Successive episodes of Billy's brief career are presented in the ensuing scenes. Billy and his outlaw friends are playing cards under the stars; the quiet remoteness of the scene is underlined by Copland's setting of 'Oh Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie' as background. The game is interrupted by the arrival of a posse led by Pat Garrett and a running gun battle, in which Billy is taken prisoner.

"The scene changes to a drunken celebration of Billy's capture; the music suggests an out-of-tune saloon piano, with a long ostinato in C-sharp supporting the vulgar C-Major tune. Billy, of course, escapes. As he rests in the desert with his girl, the posse catches up with him, and Billy, lighting a cigarette in the dark, is killed by Garrett with a single shot. A short epilogue returns to the atmosphere of the beginning." - Halsey Stevens

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