Alberto Secondo Gallo

Sarabanda

The sarabande, as it is known, is a dance in ternary time of oriental origin that appeared in Spain and then spread throughout Europe in the late 16th century. The basic characteristics of this musical form are its slow and solemn tempo and its peculiar dotted rhythm, with the longest note on the second beat. As a rule, the sarabande is one of the four stable dances that make up the Baroque instrumental suite, along with the allemande, corrente and gigue.

This Sarabande for wind orchestra, on the other hand, constitutes a self-contained piece in a single movement, developed in the form of a theme with variations. The work, in fact, opens with an original theme of sixteen bars, which is followed by five variations characterized by a different orchestral color, and concludes with a reprise of the initial melody. Theme and variations are arranged in an arched form (A-B-C-D-C1-B1-A1), in which the various sections are repeated in reverse order, arranging symmetrically around the central variation.