Copland's "Hoe-Down," from the ballet suite Rodeo, holds an esteemed place in American symphonic literature, especially given Copland's tendency to incorporate identifiable tunes into his music. One such tune has its history in an eighteenth-century violin ballad, Bonaparte's Retreat. The title of the tune reflected American adulation of Napoleon as a war hero. A Lakeville, Kentucky fiddler, William Hamilton (Bill) Stepp, changed the tempo of the original tune from slow and stately (meant to symbolize the "retreat") to fast and romping in order to give it the effect of a rousing square dance. He enlivened the melody by adding triplet pickups and changed the function of the drone overtones from evoking bagpipes to displaying pure fiddle techniques. Alan Lomax recorded Stepp's rendition in the 1930s, and Ruth Crawford Seeger subsequently compiled it in Our Singing Country. In turn, Copland used it as part of a collage of folk tunes presented in "Hoe-Down," seeking to capture the American spirit.

Works: Copland: "Hoe-Down" from Rodeo (357-65).

Sources: Bonaparte's Retreat as performed by William Hamilton Stepp (353-57).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Katie Lundeen