Waltz and Celebration

Aaron Copland

Subtitle: From Billy the Kid

General Info

Year: 1944 / 1972
Duration: c. 7:00
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Two pianos
Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $90.00 | Score Only (print) - $6.50

For further availability information, see Discussion tab, above.

Movements

1. Waltz – 4:00
2. Celebration – 2:30

Instrumentation (incomplete)

Condensed Score
Flute
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet Solo-II-III
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Cornet Solo-II-III
E-flat Horn or Alto I-II-III-IV
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Percussion (4 players), including:

Bass Drum
Crash Cymbals
Snare Drum
Xylophone

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Billy the Kid is a 1938 ballet written by the American composer Aaron Copland on commission from Lincoln Kirstein. Along with Rodeo and Appalachian Spring, it is one of Copland's most popular and widely performed pieces. The ballet 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, is not so much a biography of a notorious but peculiarly appealing desperado as it is a perception of the pioneer West, in which a figure such as Billy played a vivid role.

It was premiered on 16 October 1938 in Chicago by the Ballet Caravan Company, with pianists Arthur Gold and Walter Hendl performing a two-piano version of the score. The first performance of Billy the Kid in New York City occurred on 24 May 1939, with an orchestra conducted by Fritz Kitzinger.

- Program Note from Wikipedia

Commercial Discography

Audio CD: U.S. Army Field Band - 2010

Media

Audio: Reference recording. U.S. Army Field Band

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Peninsula Symphonic Band (Palo Alto, Calif.) (Ted Henderson, conductor) - 20 May 2018

Works for Winds by This Composer

Appalachian Spring (arr. Morita) (1944)
Appalachian Spring (arr. Patterson) (1944)
Buckaroo Holiday from "Rodeo" (tr. Megan) (1941/2000)
Buckaroo Holiday from "Rodeo" (tr. Sudduth) (1941)
Canticle of Freedom (arr. Duffy) (2000)
Celebration (arr. Lang) (1938/1945)
Ceremonial Fanfare
A Copland Portrait (arr. Grundman) (1986)
A Copland Tribute (arr. Grundman) (1986)
Danzón Cubano (tr. Rogers) (1949/2000)
The Dodger (arr. Knox) (c. 1880/1950/)
The Dodger. See also: Old American Songs I
Down a Country Lane (tr. Patterson) (1962/1991)
El Salón México (tr. Hindsley) (1939/1972)
Emblems (1964)
Excerpts from "Appalachian Spring" (arr. Longfield) (1944)
Fanfare for the Common Man (1942/1944)
Fanfare for the Common Man (arr. Longfield) (1942/1944/2007)
Finale from "Symphony No. 3" (trans. Patterson) (1946/)
Four Dance Episodes from "Rodeo" (arr. Patterson) (1942/)
Grover's Corners (arr. Longfield) (1940/2023)
Hoe Down from "Rodeo" (arr. Moss)
Hoe Down from "Rodeo" (tr. Rogers)
Inaugural Fanfare
Laurie's Song (tr. Martin) (1954/ )
Laurie's Song (arr. Silbert and Buchanan) (1954/ )
Letter from Home (arr. Belski) (1944)
Lincoln Portrait (tr. Beeler) (1942/1951)
Old American Songs (arr. Moss) (1950/2006)
Old American Songs I (arr. Silvester) (1950/2001)
Old American Songs II (arr. Duffy) (1952/2001)
Our Town (arr. Singleton)
An Outdoor Overture (1938/1948)
Preamble for a Solemn Occasion (1949/1974)
The Promise of Living (arr. Curnow) (1954/2012)
The Promise of Living (tr. Duffy) (1954/2000)
The Promise of Living (tr. Hile) (1954)
The Promise of Living (tr. Singleton) (1954/2002)
Quiet City (arr. Hunsberger) (1941/1992)
The Red Pony (1969)
Scenes from "Billy the Kid" (arr. Hilliard) (1941/2000)
Stomp Your Foot (tr. Duffy) (1954/1956/2000)
Symphony No. 3. See: Finale from "Symphony No. 3"
Themes from "An Outdoor Overture" (arr. Curnow) (1938/2014)
Three Excerpts from "Our Town" and "Simple Gifts" (arr. Cohen)
Three Latin American Sketches (arr. Mikkelson) (1972/2021)
Variations on a Shaker Melody (1960)
Waltz and Celebration (arr. Lang) (1944/1972)

Resources

Billy the Kid (ballet), Wikipedia Accessed 26 May 2018
Copland, A.; Lang, P. (1945). Waltz and Celebration [score]. Boosey & Hawkes: [New York].