''Billy the Kid'' is a 1938

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

written by the American composer

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later a conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as "the Dean of American Com ...

on commission from

Lincoln Kirstein Lincoln Edward Kirstein (May 4, 1907 – January 5, 1996) was an American writer, impresario, art connoisseur, philanthropist, and cultural figure in New York City, noted especially as co-founder of the New York City Ballet. He developed and sus ...

. It was choreographed by

Eugene Loring Eugene Loring (August 2, 1911 – August 30, 1982) was an American dancer, choreographer, teacher, and administrator. Biography Eugene Loring was born as Le Roy Kerpestein, the son of a saloon-keeper, grew up on a small island in Wisconsin's M ...

for

Ballet Caravan Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

. Along with ''

Rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working va ...

'' and ''

Appalachian Spring ''Appalachian Spring'' is a musical composition by Aaron Copland that was premiered in 1944 and has achieved widespread and enduring popularity as an orchestral suite. The music, scored for a thirteen-member chamber orchestra, was created upon c ...

'', it is one of Copland's most popular and widely performed pieces. It is most famous for its incorporation of several cowboy tunes and American folk songs and, although built around the figure and the exploits of

Billy the Kid Billy the Kid (born Henry McCarty; September 17 or November 23, 1859July 14, 1881), also known by the pseudonym William H. Bonney, was an outlaw and gunfighter of the American Old West, who killed eight men before he was shot and killed at t ...

, is not so much a biography of a notorious but peculiarly appealing desperado as it is a perception of the "Wild West", in which a figure such as Billy played a vivid role. It premiered on 16 October 1938This premiere date is persistently but incorrectly listed as October 6 in many standard reference works and Copland biographies, but contemporary advertisements and reviews in Chicago newspapers confirm October 16 as the correct premiere date. in Chicago by the Ballet Caravan Company, with pianists

Arthur Gold Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more wi ...

and

Walter Hendl Walter Hendl (January 12, 1917April 10, 2007) was an American conductor, composer and pianist. Biography Hendl was born in West New York, New Jersey, and later went on to study with Fritz Reiner at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia ...

performing a two-piano version of the score. The first performance in New York City occurred on 24 May 1939, with an orchestra conducted by Fritz Kitzinger.

Story

The story follows the life of the infamous outlaw

. It begins with "The Open Prairie" and shows many pioneers trekking westward. The action shifts to a small frontier town, in which a young Billy and his mother are present. His mother is killed by a stray bullet during a gunfight and he stabs her killer, then goes on the run. The next scene shows episodes in Billy's later life. He is living in the desert, is hunted and captured by a posse (in which the ensuing gun battle features prominent percussive effects) and taken to jail. He manages to escape after stealing a gun from the warden during a game of cards and returns to his hideout, where he thinks he is safe, but sheriff Pat Garrett catches up and shoots him to death. The ballet ends with "The Open Prairie" theme and pioneers once again travelling west.

Order of numbers

# Introduction: The Open Prairie # Street Scene in a Frontier Town # Mexican Dance and Finale # Prairie Night (Card Game at Night, Billy and his Sweetheart) # Gun Battle # Celebration (After Billy's Capture) # Billy's Death # The Open Prairie Again

Music

Cowboy and folk tunes were heavily used, for instance: * "Great Grandad" * "

Git Along, Little Dogies "Git Along, Little Dogies" is a traditional cowboy ballad, also performed under the title "Whoopie Ti Yi Yo." It is believed to be a variation of a traditional Irish ballad about an old man rocking a cradle. The cowboy adaptation is first mention ...

" * "

The Old Chisholm Trail "The Old Chisholm Trail" is a cowboy song first published in 1910 by John Lomax in his book ''Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads''. The song dates back to the 1870s, when it was among the most popular songs sung by cowboys during that era. Ba ...

" * "

Goodbye Old Paint __NOTOC__ "Goodbye Old Paint" is a traditional Western song that was created by black cowboy, Charley Willis. The song was first collected by songwriter, N. Howard "Jack" Thorp in his 1921 book ''Songs of the Cowboys''. Members of the Western Wri ...

" It also includes the Mexican

Jarabe The jarabe is one of the most traditional song forms of the mariachi genre. In the Spanish language, ''jarabe'' literally means ''syrup'', which probably refers to the mixture of meters within one ''jarabe'' (compare ''Salsa music, salsa''). Typ ...

dance, played in by a solo trumpet, just before "Goodbye Old Paint".

Cover

The eight movements of the ballet make up the first seven tracks of jazz guitarist

Bill Frisell William Richard Frisell (born March 18, 1951) is an American jazz guitarist, composer and arranger. Frisell first came to prominence at ECM Records in the 1980s, as both a session player and a leader. He went on to work in a variety of contexts ...

's album " Have a Little Faith".

Notes

External links