A program note for this work can be found in A Concert goer's companion to music (text) / Godfrey Ridout. Toronto: G.V. Thompson, 1996. Suitable for youth & community orchestras.
Indigenous Themes
For works with ten or more performers, instrumental parts are available for rent.
to submit a rental request.
Commissioned by the Volkoff Canadian Ballet for performance during the Canadian Ballet Festival held at the Royal Alexandra Theatre on March 2, 1949. The music was created out of a blending of phrases and rhythms of both Indian and French-Canadian dance-song styles. Anatol Chujoy, the New York ballet critic, who attended the premiere in Toronto, wrote: “Mr. Weinzweig’s score will take its place among the talented compositions based on North American folklore. The story: Every once in a while, corn huskers in rural Quebec come across an ear of corn which is not yellow, but red. There is an Indian legend that explains this phenomenon, a story that links it with the first Iroquois maiden to be converted to Christianity. It seems that she was betrothed, against her will, to the chief of the tribe, but because she chanced to offend him, he angrily stabbed her. Her blood spilled onto the ground, and in the corn that later grew on the spot, there was found a red ear. In later years, when the French-Canadian inhabitants would harvest their corn, if anyone discovered a red ear, he had the privilege of choosing whichever girl he wanted for his bride. Tribal Dance – The warrior and his braves join in a dance of vengeance against the wounded Indian maiden. The music, built around the complex rhythms of timpani and tom-tom, works up to an angry explosion. Ceremonial Dance – It is springtime. The young corn is beginning to stir. The Indian maidens move in a slow graceful dance in dedication to the Spirits of the Corn. Barn Dance – The time is the present. The place, a French-Canadian village. The people are celebrating the legend of the Red Ear of Corn with a Corn-Husking Bee. But first the young men must seek out a red ear of corn from the field, and the one who finds it can choose the girl he desires for the dancing bee. The final dance is lively and gay.