Gioachino Rossini (1792 ‑ 1868)
Tarantella napoletana
La Danza comes from Rossini's song cycle "Les soirées musicales", with twelve pieces by different poets, some of them folkloristic in character. La Danza was composed with a fast-sung text in the rhythm of a Neapolitan tarantella. The text was written by the Italian poet and librettist Carlo Pepoli.
Due to its popularity, La Danza exists in numerous instrumentations, arrangements and transcriptions.
The Tarantella is a southern Italian folk dance, usually played in a fast 3/8 or 6/8 time signature. Legend has it that by dancing for hours one could be cured of the bite of a tarantula.
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