Tarantella

The tarantella, meaning "spider dance," is a popular Italian dance with origins in the eleventh century from the villages of Tanto and Tarentum ("little spider"). Portions of Christopher Smart's Jubilate Agno text are also used. The convergence of the medieval tarantella with the writings of a brilliant poet who bordered on the absurd, along with the infusion of random rhyming words by the composer, makes a dramatic synthesis of words to accompany the highly energized, challenging music with string quartet or optional piano.