Dance to the Piper’s Tune

ABOUT

Dance to the Piper’s Tune is a macabre, yet joyous, tarantella. The recorder player is death who leads us on in the dance of life, with the tarantella sections contrasted against the expressive, legato character of the reassuring chorale introduced by the string quartet. In the end, both themes combine, and the effects of flutter-tonguing, col legno and knocking of the cello body add an edge to the dance and a reference to death as the dancing skeleton as depicted in many medieval illustrations.