Marche Breaks

 

Saltarello

 

Il Saltarello is the traditional dance of Le Marche region, used to be performed at the seasonal farmers gathering, country weddings and festivities.

After years of oblivion is coming back into fashion thanks to a renewed interest in Le Marche folk traditions.

The saltarello music is played with simple country instruments: a small accordion, called “organetto”, the pipes and most important a drum with cymbals: il tamburello. 

The saltarello was a lively, merry dance first mentioned in Naples during the 13th century. The music survives, but no early instructions for the actual dance are known. It was played in a fast triple meter and is named for its peculiar leaping step, after the Italian verb saltare, literally it means small jump and there sure is a lot of jumping and aerobic exercise in this lively dance.

 The saltarello enjoyed great popularity in the courts of medieval Europe. During the 15th 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 Italian dance manuals. (The first dance treatise that dealt with the saltarello was the 1465 work of Antonio Cornazzano.) This step and meter do not appear in 16th century dance manuals, except in passing. During this era, the saltarello was danced by bands of courtesans 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.

Although a Neapolitan court dance in origin, the saltarello became the typical folk dance of Ciociaria and a favorite tradition of Rome in the Carnival and vintage festivities of Monte Testaccio. After witnessing the Roman Carnival of 1831, the German composer Felix Mendelssohn incorporated the dance into the finale of one of his masterpieces, the Italian Symphony. The only example of a saltarello in the North is saltarello romagnolo of Romagna.

The main source for the medieval Italian saltarello music is a late 14th- or early 15th century Tuscan manuscript at British Library labelled "Add. 29987". The musical form of these four early saltarelli is the same as the estampie. The more renowned opus of the manuscript is the second saltarello in the collection. Besides serious ensembles for historically informed performance, within the last 20 years, this piece was also arranged by several rather modern ensembles of gothic-pop, metal- and romantic medieval music, most notably the alternative-romantic band Dead Can Dance, as well as the Polish jazz pianist Leszek Mozdzer. Interpretations by guitarists John Renbourn and John Williams can also be found. Interpretations by italian musician Angelo Branduardi can also be found in his song "Il trattato dei miracoli", "Pioggia", "Saltarello, Lamento di Tristano e Rotta".

Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy used the Saltarello for the 4. movement of his Symphony No.4 "italian"

Folk Groups' List

Ancona Province
Urbanitas	Apiro	www
Massaccio	Cupramontana	www
Vincanto	Monsano	www
La Damigiana	Monte San Vito	www
Danzintondo	Morro d'Alba	www
La Macina	Polverigi	www
Ascoli Piceno Province
I Ruspanti della Valdaso	Altidona	www
Li Mazzamurelli de li Sibillini	Altidona	www
La Compagnia del Saltarello Ascolano	Ascoli Piceno	www
Ortensia	Ortezzano	www
Macerata Province
Castelraimondo	Castelraimondo	www
Balcone Folk Marche	Cingoli	www
Li Pistacoppi	Macerata	www
Associazione Folklorica Città di Matelica	Matelica	www
Le Canestrelle	Pollenza	www
La Racchia di Sarnano	Sarnano	www
Pesaro Urbino Province
Musica Arabita	Fano	www