This is the sixth release in EMI's American Classics series, a series devoted to releasing the Company's extensive catalogue of American music of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Aaron Copland wrote some of the greatest ballet scores of the 20th century and on this disc there are two, both with a 'Western' theme: Billy the Kid, from 1938, and Rodeo (1942). The story of Billy the Kid follows the life of the infamous outlaw and is most famous for its incorporation of many cowboy tunes and American folk songs. Likewise Rodeo uses traditional American folk tunes in their original form, with very little alteration by the composer. In the Beginning is a work from 1947 to a text from Genesis and is a rare example of Copland's choral writing.