for medium voice or chorus and orchestra
Music Text traditional (E)
Scoring1.The Boatmen's Dance 2.The Dodger 3.Long Time Ago 4.Simple Gifts
5.I bought me a Cat
1(=picc).1.2.1-1.1.1.0-harp-strings
Programme Note Baritone William Warfield sang the premiere performance of Copland's folk song arrangements at Town Hall in 1951. He said, "The songs were a tremendous success. Aaron was an excellent pianist and, of course, knowing the flavor of them so well, it was a tremendous experience working with him."
The Boatmen's Dance, a minstrel show tune by Daniel Decatur Emmett, composer of "Dixie," is a lively tune with imitation banjo playing in the accompaniment.
The Dodger is a satirical political song found by Copland in a collection by John and Alan Lomax. It dates from the political campaign of 1884 when Grover Cleveland defeated James G. Blaine.
Long Time Ago is a setting of a lyrical nostalgic ballad discovered by the composer in the Harris Collection at Brown University.
Simple Gifts is the Shaker song used in
Appalachian Spring arranged in a straightforward style closer to the
original folk version.
I Bought Me a Cat, a children's nonsense song, repeats a refrain adding a farm animal as it proceeds. The harmony and accompaniment simulate barnyard sounds.
-Vivian Perlis, 1998
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