There’s a handful of pieces that would be good for Labor Day: there’s the musicians’ walkout of Haydn’s “Farewell” Symphony; there’s the joy of the workers in the Anvil Chorus; and of course there’s the Fanfare for the Common Man to cheer on the proletariat.

But I want something that really captures the down-and-dirty manual laborers of the early 20th century. The Plow that Broke the Plains was a 1936 short movie, sponsored by the US government, which linked the dust bowl to uncontrolled farming. While not specifically about the labor movement, the film does demonstrate how greed in high places can displace and destroy the workers in the low places. The score, by Virgil Thomson, incorporates hymns, American folk tunes, and cowboy melodies.

Despite his name, Edward German was English through-and-through. Most of his compositions reflect what the late Victorian English were into: comic operas (akin to Gilbert & Sullivan), symphonies with twee English titles, incidental music to Shakespeare plays, and Anglican church music. Compared to continental Europe, England’s 19th century music was relatively light and perhaps even shallow – but still good stuff!

Say you’re cruising down the highway, and all of a sudden, music! The distance between the concrete blocks you’re driving on are all exactly the same – and the bump, bump, bump, bump of the car as it passes from block to block makes a sort of drum-beat. Or maybe you turn on your tractor, and the turning of the engine is so infectious that you just have to get our your guitar and jam along …

We’ve all had funny moments when life gives us an unexpected musical moment. There are even some theories that the whole idea of music started with repeated noises. When we were primitive cave-dwellers, hearing a foreign noise could be very distressing – could the origin of that noise be something that could kill us? But hearing it over and over again, in the same rhythm, or same pitches, relaxes our brains and tells us that no, that’s not a tiger prowling around our cave, that’s just the wind blowing the trees. A bit of a stretch yes, but that’s the really really short version.

One example of “unexpected music” that we’ve all probably had is the experience of riding in a train. So many moving parts, and such a constant speed, make train travel a mesmerizing rhythmic experience. Well, Arthur Honegger took that to the next level when he wrote “Pacific 231” – instead of sitting in a train and experiencing unexpected music, you can now sit in a hall and experience unexpected train travel. This piece needs no further description – you’ll know exactly what is going on as you listen – and what a great ending!