# Masterpiece Theatre: Part Four - Copland's Billy the Kid



## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

Masterpiece Theatre: Part Four - Copland's _Billy the Kid_


















It was ballet impresario Lincoln Kirstein who had the inspiration to bring together composer Aaron Copland and choreographer Eugene Loring to create a work based on the legend of Billy the Kid. Kirstein was particularly drawn to Walter Noble Burns' 1925 best-seller The Saga of Billy the Kid, a mix of lore, fantasy, and historical research. As related by Burns, Billy, a gambler, cattle rustler, and vigilante frontiersman, made his claim to fame in having killed a man for each of his 21 years. Loring devised a scenario which calls for four principals, along with "pioneers, men, women, Mexicans, and Indians." Much of the ballet's action, form, and mood reflects Burns' Saga, particularly the grotesque celebration which follows a central shoot-out scene.

Copland, having already composed works evocative of the American west and Mexico like El Salon Mexico (1933-1936) and Saga of the Prairies (1937), was well prepared for this "cowboy ballet." The composer provided period flavor by incorporating six cowboy tunes into the score: "Great Granddad," "Git Along Little Dogie," "The Old Chisholm Trail," "Goodbye, Old Paint," "The Dying Cowboy," and "Trouble for the Range Cook."

Copland's score provides a vivid sonic depiction of prairie life. An opening processional is distinguished by Copland's trademark widely spaced "open" harmonies in the woodwinds, followed by a bass figure centered on a syncopated two-note motive. This plodding bass moves dramatically from pianissimo to a triple-forte climax, suggesting the laborious trudging of the settlers. The music of the processional brings the ballet full circle with its reappearance as the coda. "Street in a Frontier Town" moves from pastoral innocence to mechanistic violence, incorporating several cowboy tunes along the way. The rest of Billy's story moves unfolds in short vignettes, including "Card Game at Night" (also known as "Prairie Night"), which draws upon the familiar image of the lone cowboy, including snatches of "The Dying Cowboy." "Gun Battle" is dominated by violent percussion, the sounds of gunfire represented by snare and bass drums. In "Celebration After Billy's Capture" Copland neatly transforms the trudging bass of the opening processional into a dissonant "oompah" figure that underpins a crude bitonal melody, while a waltz section transforms "Trouble for the Range Cook" into an ironic ditty with solos in the trombone and bassoon. "Billy's Death" is a solemn epilogue for strings, harp, and winds.

Billy the Kid was first performed by the Ballet Caravan in Chicago in a two-piano version on October 6, 1938. The familiar version for full orchestra was premiered in New York on May 24, 1939, to critical and popular raves. In 1940 Copland extracted a concert suite from the ballet, the form in which the music is today most frequently heard.

[Article taken from All Music Guide]

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I have a somewhat strange association with Copland's music, because, believe it or not, I first became aware of it around '90 or '91 as I saw a commercial advertising beef (_'Where's The Beef?'_) and the music played was _Rodeo_ and thus a seed had been planted. _Billy the Kid_, which sits firmly in his 'Populist' period, remains a favorite of mine. It just smells of the Wild West. What do you guys think of this ballet? Do you think it still holds up well? Any favorite performances?


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Bill Frisell's _Have a Little Faith_ is one of my most frequently played albums. It is a celebration of American music like no other. It includes music by Dylan, Muddy Waters, Victor Young, Sonny Rollins, John Hiatt (the title track), Stephen Foster, John Philip Sousa, Madonna - and Charles Ives and Aaron Copland. It includes _Billy the Kid _(complete I believe). It is performed by a jazz based quintet, but there is little jazz on the album. I also have Dorati conducting a performance and Copland conducting the Suite, but I got to know the music through Frisell's version. Five stars on All Music.

Never saw it performed as a ballet.


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

jegreenwood said:


> Bill Frisell's _Have a Little Faith_ is one of my most frequently played albums. It is a celebration of American music like no other. It includes music by Dylan, Muddy Waters, Victor Young, Sonny Rollins, John Hiatt (the title track), Stephen Foster, John Philip Sousa, Madonna - and Charles Ives and Aaron Copland. It includes _Billy the Kid _(complete I believe). It is performed by a jazz based quintet, but there is little jazz on the album. I also have Dorati conducting a performance and Copland conducting the Suite, but I got to know the music through Frisell's version. Five stars on All Music.
> 
> Never saw it performed as a ballet.


Yep, I'm quite familiar with Frisell's _Have a Little Faith_ and while I give an A for effort, there's nothing like hearing it the way it was intended to be heard --- with an orchestra. The Dorati recording is excellent. The recording I 'cut my teeth' on so to speak was the Morton Gould recording on RCA Living Stereo. It still sounds remarkably fresh to my ears.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Neo Romanza said:


> Yep, I'm quite familiar with Frisell's _Have a Little Faith_ and while I give an A for effort, there's nothing like hearing it the way it was intended to be heard --- with an orchestra. The Dorati recording is excellent. The recording I 'cut my teeth' on so to speak was the Morton Gould recording on RCA Living Stereo. It still sounds remarkably fresh to my ears.


Each to their own.🙂


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## Xenophiliu (Jan 2, 2022)

Neo Romanza said:


> I saw a commercial advertising beef (_'Where's The Beef?'_) and the music played was _Rodeo_


I still show this to students of mine; it is an arresting commercial.

As to Billy the Kid, I think I have only heard Michael Tilson Thomas' Copland Populist recording. I am not sure how many operas and ballets are based in the US Old West, but it is an intriguing concept.


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## PeterKC (Dec 30, 2016)

Xenophiliu said:


> I still show this to students of mine; it is an arresting commercial.
> 
> As to Billy the Kid, I think I have only heard Michael Tilson Thomas' Copland Populist recording. I am not sure how many operas and ballets are based in the US Old West, but it is an intriguing concept.


Douglas Moore: Ballade of Baby Doe
Puccini: Girl of The Golden West


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