Aaron Copland (1900-1990)

Hoedown (from Rodeo)

Aaron Copland was an American composer of concert and flm music, as well as an accomplished pianist. He studied in
his home city of New York with Rubin Goldmark before travelling to Paris, where he studied with the acclaimed
pedagogue Nadia Boulanger. Instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, he was widely known as
"the dean of American composers". Copland's music achieved a balance between modern music and American folk
styles.
Written in 1942, during Coplands most prolifc and successful period, Rodeo is among his best-loved compositions. It
was composed for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and was an instant success being taken on a tour of the USA. The
fnal section from the ballet, the Hoedown, is a dance within a dance. Here, Copland directly quotes 19th century square
dance tunes. After a rhythmic introduction that makes great use of the open-ffth tuning of fddles, "Bonaparte's Retreat,"
"McLeod's Reel," and other tunes follow in close succession, eventually rocketing us into the end of the piece. The string
version which is being performed tonight was arranged by Copland from the original orchestral version and whilst this
version does perhaps lose a little of the variety of tone colour available to the full symphony orchestra it gains much in
agility and excitement from have a reduced number of players working together in tighter unison.