The composer had several working names for _________ while composing it, including *House of Victory* and *Ballet for Martha*. The latter name refers to its choreographer, *Martha Graham*, who took its ultimate title from a line in Hart Crane's poem "*The Bridge*." Graham's ballet depicts a *group of pioneers in Pennsylvania* — including a newlywed couple — building a farmhouse and encountering a Revivalist preacher and his flock. The ballet's original set was designed by Graham's frequent collaborator *Isamu Noguchi*. Because Appalachian Spring was first performed in the *Library of Congress*, Copland was forced to limit the accompanying ensemble to just thirteen musicians. The best-known section of the ballet by far is Copland's use of the traditional Shaker hymn "*Simple Gift*s" in the penultimate section of the suite; the full ballet contains several more movements based on variations on the hymn.
