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Aaron Copland: Saturday Night Waltz - AQA20th century classical music and Rodeo

Aaron Copland wrote the ballet Rodeo in 1942. Saturday Night Waltz is one of four movements from the suite Four Dance Episodes from Rodeo, which was taken from the original ballet score.

Part of MusicWestern classical tradition since 1910

20th century classical music and Rodeo

Many different styles of classical music emerged in the . Composers such as Aaron Copland, Gustav Holst and B茅la Bart贸k were influenced by from their own countries, despite differing in compositional style. Some composers took music back to the basic elements of and , writing music based on , repeated patterns and . Composer has pushed musical boundaries in the classical field by writing electronic music and even adding body percussion and a beat boxer.

The orchestra

Despite the Rodeo suite being written for a large , Copland does not require the full orchestra in all of the movements. It sounds as though most of the third movement - Saturday Night Waltz - is played by a chamber orchestra rather than a large symphony orchestra. The overall is slightly softer than that of the other movements and the bass trombone and percussion do not feature at all.

The plot of Rodeo

Allyn Ann McLerie of the American Ballet Theatre dances the role of The Cowgirl in Rodeo
Figure caption,
American Ballet Theatre dancer Allyn Ann McLerie fulfilled the role of the cowgirl in Rodeo

The orchestral suite Four Dance Episodes from Rodeo is made up of four contrasting movements, similar to a . The movements tell the story of a cowgirl who arrives at Burnt Ranch looking for love. She tries to woo the head rancher, but he fails to notice her on account of her attire of chaps and spurs.

  1. Buckaroo Holiday - the cowgirl tries to impress the rancher by riding a bucking bronco. Unfortunately, she is thrown off and mocked by the other more popular girls.
  2. Corral Nocturne - the cowgirl runs through the empty space feeling lonely and despondent.
  3. Saturday Night Waltz - she dances with the champion roper and at last, catches the jealous rancher鈥檚 attention.
  4. Hoedown - the cowgirl and rancher fall in love with each other.