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Sandpaper Ballet

(Leroy Anderson)

Written by Leroy Anderson in 1954 in Woodbury, Connecticut, over a 5-day period before it was premiered and recorded at the same time.  This piece emanates the soft-shoe dance sound made by vaudevillians when they appeared on stage. Sandpaper covered blocks “played” by two drummers makes up the realistic sound and apparently there were are three different grades used for various effects.  Mark Morris has put together a ballet by the same name, where 25 dancers from ensembles such as the Houston Ballet and the San Francisco Ballet perform to a suite of tunes written by Leroy Anderson.

Eastman-Rochester Pops Orchestra recordings
Mercury 434 376-2 (CD: Fennell Conducts the Music Of Leroy Anderson and Eric Coates)
Conductor – Frederick Fennell

Rochester Pops recordings
Pro-Arte CDD-454 (CD: Classical Jukebox: More Favourites of Leroy Anderson)
Conductor – Erich Kunzel

St. Louis Symphony Orchestra recordings
RCA 0 9026 68048 2 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin

Sources:

  1. http://www.leroy-anderson.com/html/hearthemusic.htm
  2. http://www.houstonballet.org/content/released/Sandpaper_Ballet_and_The_Firebird_w.pdf
  3. http://www.theatrechannel.com/SFBallet.htm
  4. http://www.pbs.org/sleighride/Video&Music/Compositions_Sandpaper.htm