American West Folk Suite
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SKU: A0.1294499
Composed by David Ahrens. 21st Century,Classical,Contest,Festival,Folk,Historic. 78 pages. Baseline Music Publishing #884874. Published by Baseline Music Publishing (A0.1294499).A setting of three classic American folk songs for Wind Band. Transport your audience back to the “Old West” as you cross the nation by covered wagon to join the California Gold Rush, move a herd of cattle over the plains to new grasing lands, and be a part of the adventure of early rail commerce.
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“Sweet Betsy from Pike” is a comic folk ballad chronicling the trials and successes of Betsy, a mid-19th century pioneer woman, as she migrates from (perhaps) Pike County, Missouri (or Illinois) to the California Gold Rush town of Placerville (known colloquially as ‘Hangtown’). The journey across the Wild West was full of hardship, peril, and loss This song battles the very real struggles with levity and humor. It was first published in 1858.
“Git Along, Little Dogies” is a cowboy ballad, also known as “Whoopie Ti Yi Yo”. While likely older, the first mention of the song was in author Owen Wister’s 1893 journal. It was first published in 1910. “Dogies” is a reference to small or orphaned calves. The narrative of the song quotes a cowboy singing to the slow or stray dogies as they move along the cattle drive to Wyoming.
“Rock Island Line” refers the Rock Island and La Salle Railroad company (established 1947) which soon after became the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad. When construction of the railroad arrived at Rock Island in 1854, it became the first to connect Chicago with the Mississippi River. This folk song references an encounter between an operator of a toll gate and a train engineer who is let through without paying by lying about his payload. Once safely through, he yells back his confession as the train speeds onward. The earliest known version of the song was published in 1929.
Grade 3.5
Performance time: 10:00.
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