The World Premier by the
USAF ACADEMY BAND & USAF Retired Musicians
Colonel Arnald Gabriel, Conducting
(recording coming soon!)
Italian Rhapsody
Grade 5 Length- 6 minutes
Commissioned by Colonel Arnald D. Gabriel
(né Arnaldo Domenico Antonio Gabriele)
Dedicated to Ferdinando and Filomena Gabriele, my loving parents.
Italian Rhapsody Program Notes:
Italian Rhapsody is a collection of Italian folk songs and a few operatic excerpts scored with Italian gusto! Solo Clarinet opens this work
with a certain Mafioso flair developing into a devious rendition of "The Italian Wedding Song #2"
(The Wedding Tarantella).
"Caderna," composed by A.D. Arcangelo is presented in both an Italian street band and contemporary march style.
Giacomo Puccini’s La Boheme "Quando m'en vo" (Musetta's Waltz) makes an appearance as an accordion player
serenading young lovers in the moonlight.
The finale features Luigi Denza’s "Funiculi! Funicula!," Giuseppi Verdi’s Il Trovatore (Act II - Anvil Chorus) and
Gioachino Rossini’s Barber of Seville.
Italian operatic and folk song musical quotes are interlaced throughout
the work. See if you can find them all! Scored with an Italian passion for family
and feasting, Italian Rhapsody is definitely one very Spicy Meatball!
