"Where's the Beef?"

Aaron Copland

Several years ago, the National Beef Council chose Aaron Copland's Hoedown for its ad campaign, "Beef: It's What's for Dinner". You might remember it. One ad showed a couple dining in a restaurant (presumably on an expensive cut of beef), while an orchestra "serenaded" them with Copland's rousing music. The campaign was so successful, some people refer to Copland's work as the "beef" music.

Although Copland wrote film music (winning an Academy Award in 1950 for his score to The Heiress), he did not write the above mentioned music for a beef commercial. Instead, Hoedown was written as part of a larger work, Rodeo. Rodeo (which Copland pronounced "roh-dee-o" instead of the snobbish "roh-day-o") was the second collaboration between Copland and choreographer Agnes de Mille. The first resulted in a ballet, entitled Billy the Kid, which was based on the life of the Wild West outlaw. De Mille wanted Copland to write another "Cowboy" ballet and Rodeo was the result.

The popularity of both ballets is due, in part, to the folksiness of the music and story lines. In fact, Copland usually turned to folk music for inspiration. With Hoedown, he did more than that. He actually adapted a traditional fiddle tune, Bonaparte's Retreat. Listen here to the original fiddle tune played by Salyersville, Kentucky fiddler William Hamilton Stepp, which was recorded in 1937 for the Library of Congress.

What accounts for Hoedown's enduring popularity? In addition to its memorable tune, I believe it is because of its inherent American sound. Perhaps this is Copland's greatest contribution to the history of music. He created a sound that is uniquely American. A story illustrates my point.

In 2003, I conducted a concert with the St. Petersburg (Russia) State Symphony Orchestra. At the conclusion of a concert of Beethoven, Reinecke, and Tchaikovsky, we played the Hoedown as an encore. I was surprised to learn in rehearsal that the orchestra had never heard or played the piece!  I spent a lot of rehearsal time teaching them about American fiddling technique ("No," I told the strings, "you don't use big bows like you use in playing Tchaikovsky!"). After learning of the orchestra's ignorance of the piece, I was concerned that the audience would not know it either. Maybe this wasn't the best music to choose for an encore. But I needn't have worried. The audience immediately recognized it's American-ness and leaped to their feet at its conclusion. I believe it has the same effect on American audiences. And that's the reason the Beef Council chose it for its ad campaign.

Listen to a performance of the Hoedown, played by the London Symphony and conducted by the composer. Listen here