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Tarantelle (Chopin)

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Short piano piece by Chopin
Portrait of Chopin by German painter Henri Lehmann, 1840, about a year before the piece was published; digitally retouched by Misplaced Pages user Amano1
Chopin in 1840 by Henri Lehmann
Tarantelle in A-flat major, Op. 43 Performed by Olga Gurevich
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The Tarantella in A-flat major, Op. 43 is a short piano piece in tarantella form, written by Frédéric Chopin in June 1841 and published in October 1841. It takes about 3 minutes to play.

It is a moto perpetuo marked Presto, and requires an advanced technique. It was inspired by Gioachino Rossini's song La danza, also written in the tarantella's characteristic
8 rhythm. Chopin went to some lengths to ensure the time signature was the same as Rossini's, and enlisted his friend Julian Fontana to check the best editions of Rossini's work for this detail. The manuscript shows Chopin changed his time signature from
8 to
8. There is no evidence the work was commissioned, nor was it dedicated to anyone.

Robert Schumann 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.

References

  1. "Internet Chopin Information Centre". Archived from the original on 2018-03-02. Retrieved 2011-01-01.
  2. Classical Archives
  3. Sotheby’s Auctions
  4. Schumann, Gesammelte Schriften, edited by M. Kreisig (1914), II, 151, quoted at
  5. m/books?id=Gonp5uzwnykC&pg=PA469&lpg=PA469&dq=tarantelle+chopin+1841&source=bl&ots=SqdgthRMQ7&sig=tCBmRFpv4_S4xtr7Bvr-OOHc-J0&hl=en&ei=eZceTZjzOcLCcYi19cYK&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CDQQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=tarantelle%20chopin%201841&f=false Frederick Niecks, Chopin as Man and Musician
  6. The Chopin Project
Miscellaneous extant works by Frédéric Chopin
With opus numbers
Variations brillantes in B♭ major on "Je vends des scapulaires" from Hérold's Ludovic, Op. 12
Boléro, Op. 19
Tarantelle in A♭ major, Op. 43
Allegro de concert, Op. 46
Fantaisie in F minor, Op. 49
Berceuse in D♭ major, Op. 57
Barcarolle in F♯ major, Op. 60
Marche funèbre in C minor, Op. posth. 72/2
Three Écossaises, Op. posth. 72/3
17 Polish songs, Op. posth. 74
Without opus numbers
Album Leaf (Moderato) in E major, B. 151
Andantino in G minor (arr. of the piano part of the song Wiosna), B. 117
2 Bourrées, B. 160b
Canon in F minor, B. 129a
Cantabile in B♭ major, B. 84
Contredanse in G♭ major (doubtful), B. 17
Fugue in A minor, B. 144
3 Fugues; arr. from Cherubini's Cours de contrepoint et de fugue, KK. VIIa/2
Galopp in A♭ (Galop Marquis), P. 2/13
Introduction, Theme and Variations in D on a Venetian air, for piano 4-hands, KK. IVa/6
Klavierstück in B♭ (1834), P. 2/6
Klavierstück in E♭ (1837), P. 2/5
Klavierstück in E♭ (1840), P. 2/10
Largo in E♭, B. 109
2 Polish songs, B. 51, 132
Variations in A major, Souvenir de Paganini, B. 37
Variation in E major for Hexameron, B. 113
Variations in E major for flute and piano on "Non più mesta" from Rossini's La Cenerentola, B.9, KK. Anh. Ia/5
Variations in E major on the air "Der Schweizerbub", a.k.a. Introduction et Variations sur un Lied allemand, B. 14
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