Tarantella

Tarantella was written by Carol Brittin Chambers (see below) in 2022 on a commission from the Nu Chapter (Pennsylvania) of Phi Beta Mu, the International Bandmasters Fraternity. It premiered at the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association annual convention in April, 2022.

A tarantella is a type of lively dance, usually in 6/8 time. Possibly dating from the 14th century, the dance derives its name from town of Taranto in southern Italy. It is rumored that the dance originated as a manic response of field workers to the bite of a large “wolf-spider” (the tarantula). According to legend, victims could be cured by frenzied dancing.

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This piece is in overall A-B-A form, with the A section serving as the main tarantella theme. The B section is slower, almost tango-like in character, to add variety of style, mood and color. The composer even includes brief quotes of the children’s song, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, to add some humor. Think of this episode as an interruption in the dance, in which the spider tries to re-assert control of its victim, putting the dancer in a trance. Despite the spider’s attempts, however, the dancers snap out of their trance upon hearing the chimes and begin to dance again. A culminating coda section speeds up even more to a triumphant ending.

Carol Brittin Chambers (b. 1970) received a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Texas Tech University and a Master of Music degree in trumpet performance from Northwestern University. She studied under Vincent Cichowicz, Will Strieder, John Paynter, Arnold Jacobs, and James Sudduth.

She is on the music faculty at Texas Lutheran University, teaching composition and serving as Composer in Residence. Before coming to TLU, Chambers taught band for many years in the North East Independent School District, in San Antonio, Texas. She was an assistant band director at Ed White Middle School, Lee High School, and Bush Middle School.

Chambers is the composer and owner of Aspenwood Music, LLC. She is commissioned each year to compose and arrange works for concert band, marching band, orchestra, and various other ensembles. Her concert works have been selected to the J.W. Pepper Editor’s Choice List and the Bandworld Top 100 and have been performed at state educator conferences across the country, including the Midwest Clinic in Chicago. She has arranged and orchestrated marching shows for numerous high school and college bands across the country, as well as The Crossmen Drum Corps.

Ms. Chambers was named the winner of the 2019 WBDI (Women Band Directors International) Composition Competition.