- Title
- John Henry
- Subtitle
- A Railroad Ballad for Orchestra
- For
- orchestra
- Scoring
- 2(II=picc ad lib).2(1).2.2(1)-2.2.1.0-timp.perc:anvil/tgl/BD/SD/sand paper-pft(ad lib)-strings
- ARCO Number(s)
- 42-A
- Category
- Orchestral
- Duration
- 4'
- Publisher
- Boosey & Hawkes
- Publishing Status
- Published
- In Collection
- Arrangement Of
- John Henry (for chamber orchestra) (1940)
- Year Arranged
- 1952
Buying Options
Boosey & HawkesProgram Note
Originally intended for radio broadcast on CBS' "School of the Air," John Henry was revised for high school orchestras. It is a programmatic piece about the American folk legend, a 19th Century black man, and his heroic battle in a contest against a railroad pile-driver. Copland wrote, "Knowing my audience was to be a young one, and that young people like their music exciting and not too long, I kept John Henry down to less than four minutes and called it "a descriptive fantasy." The music is meant to simulate the sounds of a train and John Henry's hammer.
- Author
- Vivian Perlis
- Year
- 1998
