Sergei Diaghilev, head of the Ballet Russes (a French organization, despite its name and artistic director), is responsible for the creation of the finest works of the early 20th century. While the most famous production is no doubt Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, you can read the list of other works which the company commissioned here – and it’s pretty amazing.

One of those works is The Three Cornered Hat by Manuel de Falla. The music, derived from traditional Spanish dances, is nothing groundbreaking. However, being composed just after the end of World War I in 1919, it does demonstrate how the conflict triggered a sudden return to a more conservative musical style. (More proof of this can be seen in Stravinsky; he caused quite a ruckus with The Rite in 1913, but composed the docile, neoclassical Pulcinella in 1920.)

Continuing with this week’s anvil theme (see here and here), today I give you Alexander Moslov. Who said nothing good ever came out of the USSR?

The Iron Foundry was written shortly after the 1917 Russian Revolution, and is one of the last pieces in the brief futurist movement which swept through Europe around World War I. In short: it’s the music of industrial progress! Assembly lines, machines, manufacturing, factories.

Although it’s hard to hear, the anvil solo comes in at 2:30. NEEDS MORE ANVIL!!!!!

Billy the Kid was not a very nice person. If I saw him on the street, I would run and hide in a barrel. If I saw him on the street wearing a tutu, I would still run and hide, but I’d probably run and hide in a barrel with a hole in it, so I could peek out and watch him dance.

Allegedly, Billy the Kid was shot and killed in the Wild West sometime around midnight on July 14/15, 1881. Afterwards, rumors spread that he was still alive, and numerous people pretended to be him. His life and death quickly became American legends. Fastforward to 1939; Aaron Copland was asked to write a music for ballet based on Billy’s life. Copland’s use of cowboy tunes, along with his own distinct compositional style, were helping to shape the definition of American music (Copland’s influence can be heard in the works of Barber, Williams, and Theofanidis.)

The ballet suite is divided into sections that are easy for any listener to identify:

I. Introduction: The Open Prairie
II. Street in a Frontier Town
III. Prairie Night
IV. Gun Battle
V. Celebration (after Billy’s Capture)
VI. Billy’s Death
VII. The Open Prairie Again