W.M. Stepp was an obscure fiddle player from Kentucky who was recorded by Alan Lomax in 1937. One of the tunes captured on acetate was Stepp's version of "Bonaparte's Retreat." Up to then, the tune was usually played as a march. Stepp played it as a hoedown. Aaron Copland got hold of Stepp's version and used it almost note for note as the "Hoedown" in his music for Agnes DeMille's ballet, "Rodeo." Folklorist Stephen Wade - best-known for his stage show, "Banjo Dancing" - discovered all of this on a research trip to the Library of Congress's Archive of Folk Culture and presents it in the first of a series of occasional musical commentaries. (4:00) ((ST
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