Author Description

The composer Benjamin Britten asked Copland to arrange a set of American folk tunes for his Music and Art Festival in Aldeburgh, England. Copland wrote five songs for male soloist and piano for the occasion: "The Boatmen's Dance," "The Dodger," "Long Time Ago," "Simple Gifts" and "I Bought Me a Cat." The first set of Old American Songs was written in 1950 and premiered in June of that year by the famous tenor Peter Pears, with Britten at the piano. In 1951 the work premiered in America with Copland himself playing the piano and baritone William Warfield singing. Warfield would go on to become the singer most identified with the songs. The songs were met with such success that Copland composed a second set in 1952 consisting of "The Little Horses," "Zion's Walls," "The Golden Willow Tree," "At the River" and "Ching-a-Ring Chaw." The second set premiered in 1953, again with the Warfield/Copland pairing. The subject matter for Copland's songs was drawn from several places, not all uniquely American -- politics, religion, children, love and loss, death, and the minstrel stage. - New Mexico Philharmonic.