The ''saltarello'' is a musical dance originally from Italy. The first mention of it is in Add MS 29987, a late-fourteenth- or early fifteenth-century manuscript of Tuscan origin, now in the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the Britis ...

. It was usually played in a fast

triple meter Triple metre (or Am. triple meter, also known as triple time) is a musical metre characterized by a ''primary'' division of 3 beats to the bar, usually indicated by 3 ( simple) or 9 ( compound) in the upper figure of the time signature, with ...

and is named for its peculiar leaping step, after the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional It ...

verb ''saltare'' ("to jump"). This characteristic is also the basis of the German name ''Hoppertanz'' or ''Hupfertanz'' ("hopping dance"); other names include the French ''pas de Brabant'' and the Spanish ''alta'' or ''alta danza''.

History

The saltarello enjoyed great popularity in the courts of

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

Europe. During the 14th century, the word saltarello became the name of a particular dance step (a double with a hop on the final or initial upbeat), and the name of a meter of music (a fast triple), both of which appear in many choreographed dances. Entire dances consisting of only the saltarello step and meter are described as being improvised dances in 15th-century

dance manuals. (The first dance treatise that dealt with the saltarello was the 1465 work of Antonio Cornazzano.) A clearer, detailed description of this step and meter appears in a 16th-century manuscript in Madrid's Academia de la Historia. During this era, the saltarello was danced by bands of

courtesan Courtesan, in modern usage, is a euphemism for a "kept" mistress or prostitute, particularly one with wealthy, powerful, or influential clients. The term historically referred to a courtier, a person who attended the court of a monarch or other ...

s dressed as men at masquerades. The saltarello gave birth to the '' quadernaria'' in Germany, which was then fused into the ''saltarello Tedesco'' (German saltarello) in Italy. This "German saltarello", in contrast to the Italian variety, was in duple time and began on the downbeat, and was also known by the name ''quaternary''. In 1540,

Hans Neusidler Hans Neusidler (also Neusiedler, Newsidler) (c.1508 – 2 February 1563), was a German composer and lutenist of the Renaissance. Life Neusidler was born in Pressburg (today Bratislava, Slovakia) and first enters the historical record in 1530, whe ...

published an Italian dance under the name ''Hupff auff'' (introductory skip), and identified it with a parenthetical subtitle: "saltarella".

As a folk dance

Although a Tuscan court dance in origin, the ''saltarello laziale'' became the typical

Italian folk dance Italian folk dance has been an integral part of Italian culture for centuries. Dance has been a continuous thread in Italian life from Dante through the Renaissance, the advent of the '' tarantella'' in Southern Italy, and the modern revivals of ...

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

and a favorite tradition of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in the Carnival and vintage festivities of

Monte Testaccio Monte Testaccio (; alternatively spelled Monte Testaceo; also known as Monte dei cocci) is an artificial mound in Rome composed almost entirely of ''testae'' ( it, cocci), fragments of broken ancient Roman pottery, nearly all discarded amphorae da ...

. After witnessing the Roman Carnival of 1831, the German

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sym ...

incorporated the dance into the finale of one of his masterpieces, the Italian Symphony. The only example of a saltarello in the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

is ''saltarello romagnolo'' of

Romagna Romagna ( rgn, Rumâgna) is an Italian historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna, North Italy. Traditionally, it is limited by the Apennines to the south-west, the Adriatic to t ...

. The saltarello is still a popular folk dance played in the regions of southern-central Italy, such as

Abruzzo , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1 ...

Molise it, Molisano (man) it, Molisana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 ...

(but in these two regions the name is feminine: ''Saltarella''),

and

Marche Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...

. The dance is usually performed on the

zampogna Zampogna (, , ) is a generic term for a number of Italian double chantered bagpipe that can be found as far north as the southern part of the Marche, throughout areas in Abruzzo, Latium, Molise, Basilicata, Campania, Calabria, Apulia and Sicily. Th ...

bagpipe or the organetto, a type of diatonic button accordion, and is accompanied by a or hand-drum.

Medieval saltarelli

The principal source for the medieval Italian saltarello is the Tuscan manuscript Add MS 29987, dating from the late 14th or early 15th century and now in the

. The musical form of these four early saltarelli is similar to that of the

estampie The estampie (french: estampie, Occitan and ca, estampida, it, istanpitta) is a medieval dance and musical form which was a popular instrumental and vocal form in the 13th and 14th centuries. The name was also applied to poetry. Musical form ...

.Lawrence H. Moe (2003), "Saltarello", ''The Harvard Dictionary of Music'', fourth edition, edited by Don Michael Randel (Cambridge: Belknap Press for the Harvard University Press) However, they are in different metres: two are in '' senaria imperfecta'', and two in '' quaternaria''. No choreographies survive from before the 1430s, and it is not clear that these four dances have any relationship to later saltarelli.

In classical music

Tielman Susato Tielman (or Tylman) Susato (''c.'' 1510/15 – after 1570) was a Renaissance composer, instrumentalist and publisher of music in Antwerp. Biography While Susato's exact place of birth is unknown, some scholars believe that because of his na ...

included a saltarello in ''Het derde musikboexken: Danserye'' (1551). * A guitar piece entitled "Saltarello" is attributed to

Vincenzo Galilei Vincenzo Galilei (born 3 April 1520, Santa Maria a Monte, Italy died 2 July 1591, Florence, Italy) was an Italian lutenist, composer, and music theorist. His children included the astronomer and physicist Galileo Galilei and the lute virtuoso a ...

, written in the 16th century. * Odoardo Barri: ''Six morceaux de salon'', for alto-viola and piano (no. 6 is a saltarello) * Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy used the Saltarello for the fourth movement of his Symphony No. 4 "Italian". * Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel: ''Il saltarello romano'', for piano, Op. 6, No. 4 *

Charles-Valentin Alkan Charles-Valentin Alkan (; 30 November 1813 – 29 March 1888) was a French Jewish composer and virtuoso pianist. At the height of his fame in the 1830s and 1840s he was, alongside his friends and colleagues Frédéric Chopin and Franz Lisz ...

wrote a "Saltarelle" Op. 23, and in the final movement of his Sonate de Concert Op. 47 for piano and cello, "Finale alla Saltarella". * Berlioz used a saltarello in the Carnival scene of ''Benvenuto Cellini'' which was reprised in the Roman Carnival Overture. *

Joachim Raff Joseph Joachim Raff (27 May 182224 or 25 June 1882) was a German-Swiss composer, pedagogue and pianist. Biography Raff was born in Lachen in Switzerland. His father, a teacher, had fled there from Württemberg in 1810 to escape forced recruitm ...

: Saltarello, for piano, Op. 108 *

Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

: Saltarello for orchestra *

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (; 9 October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano C ...

: Saltarelle, for men's choir, Op. 74 *

: the last movement of the Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 22 is a Saltarelle * Eugène Ketterer: Saltarelle, for piano, Op. 266 * Daniel van Goens: Saltarello for cello and piano, Op. 35 * Ernst Haberbier: Saltarello for piano. Op. 54 * Max Mayer: Fünf Klavierstücke, Op. 6 (no. 3 is "Alla saltarello") * F. Laurent-Rollandez: Saltarello for piano, Op. 18 * Franz Ries: Nocturne et Saltarello, for violin and piano * S. B. Mills: Saltarello, for piano, Op. 26 * Bernhard Molique: Saltarella, for violin and piano, Op. 55 * H. T. Manicus: Saltarello, for piano * George Grothe: Saltarello Galop, for piano * Emil Kronke: Saltarello, for piano, Op. 32 * George Frederick Bristow: Saltarello, for piano * August Marten: ''4 Charakterstücke'' for violin and piano, Op. 8 (no. 2 is a saltarello) * Georg Goltermann: Saltarello, for cello and piano, Op. 59, No. 2 * Gustav Satter: Saltarello, for piano, Op. 147 * Gabriel Verdalle: Salatarello for solo harp, Op. 23 * One of

Frank Bridge Frank Bridge (26 February 187910 January 1941) was an English composer, violist and conductor. Life Bridge was born in Brighton, the ninth child of William Henry Bridge (1845-1928), a violin teacher and variety theatre conductor, formerly a m ...

's ''Miniatures for Piano Trio'' is a saltarello (No 5) * Jean Antiga: ''Saltarello: danse italienne'', for piano *

George Enescu George Enescu (; – 4 May 1955), known in France as Georges Enesco, was a Romanian composer, violinist, conductor and teacher. Regarded as one of the greatest musicians in Romanian history, Enescu is featured on the Romanian five lei. Biog ...

: Nocturne et Saltarello, for cello and piano *

Theodor Kullak Theodor is a masculine given name. It is a German form of Theodore. It is also a variant of Teodor. List of people with the given name Theodor * Theodor Adorno, (1903–1969), German philosopher * Theodor Aman, Romanian painter * Theodor Bluege ...

: Saltarello di Roma, for piano, Op. 49 * Carl Gottschalksen: ''Saltarello: Sorento ved Napoli: Italiensk Suite 3'', for piano * Edward German: Saltarello, for flute or piccolo and piano * Anton Strelezki: ''Saltarello, danza napolitana'', for piano, Op. 18 * Henri Piccolini: ''Saltarello one-step'', for orchestra *

Sydney Smith Sydney Smith (3 June 1771 – 22 February 1845) was an English wit, writer, and Anglican cleric. Early life and education Born in Woodford, Essex, England, Smith was the son of merchant Robert Smith (1739–1827) and Maria Olier (1750–1801), ...

: Saltarello, for piano four-hands * Jules Demersseman: ''Solo de Concert'', Op. 82 No. 6 for flute and piano. The closing movement is entitled "Saltarello" *

Leonardo De Lorenzo Leonardo De Lorenzo (August 29, 1875 – July 29, 1962) was an Italian virtuoso flutist and music educator. Biography Born at Viggiano, in the province of Potenza, De Lorenzo started playing the flute at the age of 8 and went to Naples to ...

: Saltarello, for flute, op. 27 * Paul Mason: Saltarello, for piano * Émile-Robert Blanchet: Saltarello, for piano * Anton Schmoll: Saltarello, for piano, Op. 50, No. 19 * Jeraldine Saunders Herbison: Saltarello, for cello and piano, Op. 30, no. 2 * Maurice Jean Baptiste Ghislain Guillaume: Capriccietto, Canzona, and Saltarello, for clarinet and piano, Op. 23 * Guido Papini: Saltarello (Souvenir de Sorrento), for violin and piano, Op. 55, No. 2 * Charles Robert Yuille-Smith: Saltarello, for cello and piano * Adolf Terschak: Saltarella for flute, 'cello, piano, Op. 20 * Charles Spinks: Dance Suite, for piano, Op. 12 (the second movement is a saltarello) *

Bernard Wagenaar Bernard Wagenaar (July 18, 1894 – May 19, 1971) was a Dutch-American composer, conductor and violinist. Wagenaar was born in Arnhem. He studied at Utrecht University before starting his career as a teacher and conductor in 1914. He moved to ...

: Saltarello for piano * Germain Digmeloff: ''Pour un anniversaire: Saltarello'' * Kris Dorsey: ''Shanty Saltarello (What Can You Do with a Drunken Sailor?)'', for brass quintet * Malcolm Forsyth: Saltarello for brass quintet * Robert Planel: Prélude et saltarelle, for alto saxophone and piano * Lauren Bernofsky: Saltarello for C (or E) trumpet and piano * Jean-François Michel: Intrada, canzonetta e saltarello, for B cornet or trumpet and piano * Antonius Streichardt: Saltarello, for Zupforchester * Germaine Tailleferre: String Quartet (third movement)

Sources

{{reflist, refs= Meredith Ellis Little ( .d..
Saltarello
, in: Deane Root (ed.), ''Grove Music Online''. ''Oxford Music Online''. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. Accessed December 2017. {{subscription required. Timothy J. McGee (2014). ''Medieval Instrumental Dances''. Bloomington; Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.{{isbn, 9780253013149. Italian dances Renaissance dance Dance forms in classical music Culture in le Marche