By Éle Quinn, Orlaigh Murray-Corcoran
and Emma Mullaniff
 Aaron
Copland (1900-1990)
 Born in Brooklyn, New York
 He studied piano and later studied
composition when he travelled to France
 He composed a ballet called Rodeo but later
arranged into an orchestral piece
Four Sections: Buckaroo Holiday
Corral Nocturne
Saturday Night Waltz
Hoe-Down
 This
piece of music is about a tomboyish
cowgirl who wants to attract the attention of
the head wrangler, she is asked to dance by
the head wrangler and the champion roper.
She chooses the champion roper in the end.
The dramatic, exciting music in Hoedown
captures the drama of this scene.
 This is Programme music which is music that
tells a story.
The rhythm pattern of the woodblock creates
the sound of a horse.
 The dramatic dynamics are fortissimo (which is
very loud) make the piece more exciting & lively
adding to the atmosphere of the overall piece
 The Tutti (the whole orchestra) makes it a very
bold and exciting piece as there is so many
instruments playing different melodies
 It is a polyphonic texture because there are
many different melodies being played at the
same time
 There is a climax (high point) in bar 71 when
tutti plays

Violin
Viola
Cello
Double Bass
Piccolo
Flute
Oboe
Cor Anglais
Clarinets
Bass Clarinet
Bassoon
French Horn
Trumpet
Trombone
Bass Trombone
Tuba
Timpani
Snare Drum
Xylophone
Wood Block
Piano
Bass Drum
Cymbals
 The
time signature changes from 2\3 to 2\4
in bar 12.
 The form is A B LINK A
 The woodblock & the xylophone aren’t in any
other piece.
 The piece is from the modern era; it was
written in between the period 1900 -1999
 There are is the introduction, then there’s
the Bony Parte Section, McLeeds Reel,
Link(horse bit made by the woodblocks) and
then there’s the CODA.
 The
texture is polyphonic
 There is syncopation this is emphasis on the
weak beat
 The key signature is D major
 There are four different sections to Rodeo
-Buckaroo Holiday
-Corral Nocturne
-Saturday Night Waltz
-Hoe-Down
 Rodeo
was originally written as a ballet
which is a slow dance where the music is
mostly piano which is slow and soft it is also
adagio which means slow however hoedown
contradicts this as it is the complete
opposite. It was later arranged into an
orchestral suite
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
11)
12)
Key signature?
The time signature?
The texture?
The composer?
Where was he from and between what years did he
live?
What is this work about?
What was this work originally composed as?
What is the name given to music that tells a story?
How is a horse mimicked in this work?
Name the parts of the orchestra that play this work
and give an example of each?
What era was this piece composed in?
The tempo?
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
11)
12)
D major
2/3 but changes to 3/4 in bar 12
Polyphonic
Aaron Copland
Brooklyn, New York, between the pears 1900-1990
A cowgirl trying to impress the head wrangler she is asked to
dance from both the head wrangler and the champion roper in
the end she chooses the champion roper
A ballet
Programme Music
By the rhythm pattern that the wood block plays
Tutti plays this work (full orchestra) The string section: violin,
the woodwind section: flute, the brass section: french horn,
percussion section: woodblock
Modern era
Allegro
By Éle Quinn, Orlaigh Murray-Corcoran
and Emma Mullaniff