Dance of the Hours (Italian:Danza delle ore) is a short ballet and is part of the Act III finale of the operaLa Gioconda composed byAmilcare Ponchielli. It depicts the hours of the day through solo and ensemble dances. The opera was first performed in 1876 and was revised in 1880. Later performed on its own, theDance of the Hours was at one time one of the best known and most frequently performed ballets.[1][2] It became even more widely known after its inclusion in the 1940Walt Disneyanimated filmFantasia where it is depicted as acomic ballet featuringostriches,hippopotamuses,elephants andalligators.
The ballet, accompanied by anorchestra, appears near the end of the third act of theopera, in which the character Alvise, who heads theInquisition, receives his guests in a large and elegant ballroom adjoining the death chamber. The music andchoreography represent the hours of dawn, day (morning), twilight and night. Costume changes and lighting effects reinforce the progression. The dance is intended to symbolize the eternal struggle between the forces of light and darkness. It is about 10 minutes long.
The piece begins with an introduction inG major, with vocal assistance in the form of arecitative which is omitted in the symphonic version. Then follows in sequence: the dance of the hours of dawn, the hours of day, the hours of the night and the morning.
The episode devoted to dawn (inE major) merges with the extensive introduction to the episode dedicated to daytime hours, anticipating the rhythmic structure of four notes, which characterizes the episode. The transition point between the two episodes, where it marks the birth of the day, coincides with the intervention in fortissimo of the chorus ("Prodigio! Incanto!"), which follows a slowchromatic passage, typical of Ponchielli's style.
After a brief episode inC♯ minor devoted to the night, based on figuration instaccato, a connected and expressive melody inE minor, played bycellos, introduces the morning. A newpathetic melody inA minor extends to a broad phrase with initial tone inE minor.
It was the source of the tune for the song "Like I Do",[6] which was a hit in 1962 forNancy Sinatra in Italy and Japan,Maureen Evans in the UK and Ireland, andTeresa Brewer in 1963 (as "She'll Never Love You (Like I Do)") in the USA.
The melody ofDance of the Hours was used byAllan Sherman in his biggest hit "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (A Letter from Camp)" (1963), and its sequel "Return to Camp Granada" (1965).[9] This ballad also mentions James Joyce's novelUlysses, which references the same melody.
^Dance of the Hours Morphoses dance company. World Premiere: September 26, 2006, The Metropolitan Opera, Metropolitan Opera House, New York. Accessed October 2010.
_-_Archivio_Storico_Ricordi_FOTO000794_-_Restoration.jpg)
