Tarantella (Italian Holiday) - Piano Solo composed by Michael Glenn Williams (Bio)

written for in the style

• Classical

This piece for piano solo and orchestra was inspired both by the astonishing musicianship of Sean Chen, and by my visits to Italy in the last two years. I had the good fortune to holiday in Italy and tour Firenze, Roma, Venezia, Padova, Pisa, Latina, Bassiagno, etc with my esteemed friend Roberto Prosseda as guide. I met Nike Borghese, a last heir, who taught me about the Tears of San Lorenzo, and in her palace I improvised some themes used here. I also improvised on Franz Liszt's piano at the Ninfa Gardens, and tried to capture in this "musical fresco" some of the magic of that place as well. So this is a tone poem full of the color, bustle, humor and life, all the impressions of Italy made on my first visits. It is my pleasure and honor to dedicate this work to "Sean Chen":http://seanchenpiano.com/. ("bio":http://chopin.org/Atimo_s/news/SeanChenBio.pdf) His love of all types of music, and his mastery of the most beautiful, directed my musical thought. His technical brilliance freed me from any concern over pianistic difficulty. Michael Glenn Williams Instrumentation: 2 Flutes (Piccolo) 2 Oboes 2 Clarinets in Bb 2 Bassoons 2 Horns in F 2 Trumpets in Bb 2 Trombones 1 Tuba 1 Timpani 1 Percussion (triangle, susp, cymbal, gong, piatti, tambourine) 1 Pitched percussion (campanelli, tubular bells, xylophone) Piano Solo Strings