May Day is soon upon us and every hard-working adult will be honored, recognizing the aches and sacrifices of the common man and woman. Now, be it in a cookout or a clearance sale at the local boutique, it's your prerogative how you want to spend the holiday,
That said, if you just want to kick back, relax, and ponder the meaning behind this special day, then ClassicaLite is here to help you with a list of classic tunes celebrating and exploring both the concept of labor and the role of laborers themselves.
'Chorus of Cigarette Girls' from Georges Bizet's 'Carmen'
The first piece is from Georges Bizet's famed 1875 opera: "Carmen," which paints a picture of a tobacco factory during a work break that sees worker girls gather outside to sample the very product they are producing, while local soldiers declare their infatuation with them through song.
Serenading the ladies with the lyrics: "We'll follow you, dark-haired cigarette girls, murmuring words of love to you!"
This scene itself, however, is a lighthearted warmup compared to the rest of the opera for which it is part of, for scandalizing its 19th-century audiences.
'The Strenuous Life' by Scott Joplin
Joplin, who is considered to be "The King of Ragtime," is also quite politically astute and was inspired to write this 1902 piece after listening to Theodore Roosevelt's speech that extolled the virtuous act of hard work and renounced a life of "ignoble ease."
However, this vivacious rag is anything but "strenuous," moving away from the sluggish vibes of a factory or a field, which makes it the perfect score for a relaxing day off work.
'Song of the Blacksmith' by Gustav Holst
This next piece far surpasses the spirit of the worker due to the simple fact that an anvil itself has been scored into the composition!
Belonging to Holst's 1911 "Second Suite" as the third movement, the tune is based on an English folk song entitled: "Blacksmith Courted Me," which liberally incorporates the cold hunkering tool as an increasingly front-facing percussion instrument.
The jolly nature of the whole piece is sealed with an unexpected key change heralded by a heavenly chord drop.
'Sonatine Bureaucratique' by Erik Satie
A humorous 1917 piano piece, this particular Satie work was largely based on a 1797 sonatina by Italian composer Muzio Clementi and was annotated by the French composer with a vivid recounting of a bureaucrat's mundane day-to-day life at the office.
As per Satie, these bureaucrats accomplish no work at all, which is an ironically bureaucratic description for those with the post.
'The Plow That Broke the Plains' by Virgil Thomson
Created as an accompaniment piece to a 1936 government-produced documentary film of the same name, the composition itself is a patchwork of a variety of hymns, dances, and tunes like "Git Along, Little Dogies." Listen to a suite from the score titled "Cattle" right below.
'Nice Work If You Can Get It' by George and Ira Gershwin
Written as a soundtrack for the 1937 film: "A Damsel in Distress," this cautionary piece depicts a scene of a man who toiled away too much and cast upon himself a gloomy life. Instead, the song suggests an alternative: to fall in love. That is, "if you can get it."
'Estancia' ('Ranch') by Alberto Ginastera
This last piece we're going to highlight, which Argentine composer Ginastera originally composed as a commissioned ballet back in 1941, was eventually turned into a four-act suite following delays.
The first act, in particular, dubbed "Los Trabajadores Agricolas" ("The Land Workers") is a charged composition channeling the fatigue of countryside farmhands.
