Soloist - John Dooley

In 1950, composer Benjamin Britten and tenor Peter Pears commissioned Aaron Copland to arrange a set of American Folk songs that they could perform at Britten’s Music and Arts Festival in Aldeburgh, England. Copland obliged with an arrangement of five traditional American songs scored for voice and piano: The Boatmen’s Dance, The Dodger, Long Time Ago, Shaker Song (Simple Gifts), and I Bought Me A Cat. In 1952, the songs were published individually, having been transcribed for chorus in various voicings by Irving Fine, and an arrangement for voice and small orchestra was completed by Copland in 1954. The WSO is performing two of the songs, Shaker Song (Simple Gifts) and I Bought Me A Cat.