A tarantella is a fast energetic traditional folk dance in 6/8 time. It has a characteristic upbeat and is associated with strong emotions and passions in the many forms of the dance that exist. Some examples of the dance explore the supernatural and others magic and spirituality. Its origins are a dance for couples from Southern Italy with tambourines frequently used to accompany the dancers. This particularly arrangement for solo piano has 4 strains of music ABCD with each strain repeated. The playback tempo is 110 dotted quarter note beats to the minute. There are many melodic variants and arrangements of this music. Chopin, Gottschalk, Britten and other serious composers have also contributed music to the tarantella repertoire.
