This Copland collection is devoted specifically to works inspired by the spacious landscape of the American prairie. The Suite for the 1948 film of John Steinbeck’s novel The Red Pony, depicts life on a ranch in California. The composer described the music as ‘folkish’, although the themes are all original. The second of Copland’s ‘cowboy ballets’, Rodeo, about the desperate attempts of a cowgirl to become a ranch cowhand, quotes a variety of American folk-tunes, and includes the irrepressible Hoe Down. Prairie Journal offers a vivid sonic evocation of life on a western range, while Letter from Home, completed during the peak of World War II, beautifully conjures the feelings of nostalgia one might experience at a far-away army camp.