Giovanni Battista Ferrini - Ballo di Mantova

Dedicated to Sintronians from all over the world. If I had to describe SISCCC with a tune, I'll probably choose this one. "Il Ballo di Mantova" or "La Mantovana" it's an old Italian melody, probably composed by Giuseppino del Biado (+1616) with the text "Fuggi, fuggi, fuggi da questo cielo". This tune became very popular during the XVII century in all Europe, being included in several popular songs as the Scottish "My mistress is prettie," the Polish "Pod Krakowem," Spanish "Virgen de la Cueva", the Ukrainian "Kateryna Kucheryava" and so on. As other popular tunes (La Romanesca, La Follia...) several composers wrote variations for virtuoso solo instruments or small ensembles. It's the case of Gasparo Zanetti, Giuseppe Giamberti, John Playford (as "Italian Rant" in "Dancing Masters"), Biagio Marini, Gaetano Greco and, obviously, this one by Giovanni Battista Ferrini (1601 - 1674). It's fame crossed over centuries. It was quoted by Camille Saint-Saens (Rhapsodies sur des cantiques bretons), Bedřich Smetana (it's the main theme of symphonic poem Vltava, from Má vlast) and now it's famous as Samuel Cohen's Hatikvah, Israel's national anthem. May Sintra spirit spread through nations and centuries as well as "La Mantovana" did!