Tarantelle (Chopin)
Encyclopedia
The Tarantelle in A-flat major, Op. 43 is a short piano piece in tarantella
Tarantella
The term tarantella groups a number of different southern Italian couple folk dances characterized by a fast upbeat tempo, usually in 6/8 time , accompanied by tambourines. It is among the most recognized of traditional Italian music. The specific dance name varies with every region, for instance...

 form, written by Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....

 in June 1841 and published in October 1841. It takes about 3 minutes to play.

The Tarantelle is a moto perpetuo marked Presto, and requires an advanced technique. It was inspired by Gioachino Rossini's song La Danza
La Danza
"La danza" is a patter song by Gioachino Rossini, in Tarantella napoletana time, the eighth song of the collection Les soirées musicales . The lyrics are by Count Carlo Pepoli, librettist of Vincenzo Bellini's opera I puritani. "La danza" is a stand-alone chamber vocal piece, rather than part of a...

, also written in the tarantella's characteristic 6/8 rhythm. Chopin went to some lengths to ensure the time signature was the same as Rossini's, and he enlisted his friend Julian Fontana
Julian Fontana
Julian Fontana was a Polish pianist, composer, lawyer, author, translator, and entrepreneur, best remembered as a close friend and musical executor of Frédéric Chopin.-Biography:...

 to check the best editions of the Rossini work for this detail. The manuscript shows Chopin changed his time signature from 12/8 to 6/8. There is no evidence the work was commissioned, nor was it dedicated to anyone.

Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....

described it as being in "Chopin's most extravagant manner; we see before us the dancer, whirling as if possessed, until our senses reel. To be sure, nobody could call this music lovely, but we willingly forgive the master his wild fantasy. For is he not once in a while permitted to display the dark side of his soul?..."

Chopin himself said "I hope I won't write anything as dreadful too soon". Despite this self-criticism, it has become a recording favourite, although it is less frequently performed in recital.
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