Amilcare Ponchielli

Amilcare Ponchielli was born in Paderno Fasolaro, Italy, on August 31, 1834. For nine years he attended the Milan Conservatory where he wrote an operetta in collaboration with three other students. Following the termination of his studies, he became organist in Cremona, and after that a bandmaster in Piacenza. His first opera, I Promessi sposi, was introduced in Cremona in 1856, but it did not become successful until sixteen years later when a revised version helped to open the Teatro dal Verme in Milan. World renown came to Ponchielli with La Gioconda, first given at La Scala in Milan in 1876. Though Ponchielli wrote many other operas after that he never again managed to reach the high artistic level of this masterwork, nor to repeat its world success. From 1883 until his death he was professor of composition at the Milan Conservatory. He died in Milan, Italy, on January 16, 1886.

What is undoubtedly Ponchielli’s most famous orchestral composition, “The Dance of the Hours” (“Danza della ore”) comes from his masterwork, the opera La Gioconda. This opera—first performed in Milan on April 8, 1876—was based on Victor Hugo’s drama, Angelo, tyran de Padoue, adapted by Arrigo Boïto. The setting is 17th century Venice, and the principal action involves the tragic love triangle of Alvise, his wife Laura, and her beloved, Enzo.

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“The Dance of the Hours” comes in the second scene of the third act. Alvise is entertaining his guests at a sumptuous ball in his palace, the highlight of which is a magnificent ballet, intended to symbolize the victory of right over wrong. The dancers in groups of six come out impersonating the hours of dawn, day, evening, and night. The music begins with a slight murmur, shimmering sounds passing through the violins and woodwind. Dawn appears. The music is carried to a dramatic climax with a strong rhythmic pulse as the day unfolds. When the music achieves mellowness and tenderness, the softness of evening touches the stage; and with the coming of night the music acquires a somber character. At midnight, the music is reduced to a sigh. The harp presents some arpeggios, and a broad melody unfolds. The mood then becomes excitable as all the twenty-four hours plunge into a spirited dance, as light conquers darkness.

The most familiar vocal excerpts from this opera are La Cieca’s romanza from the first act, “A te questo rosario”; Barnaba’s fisherman’s barcarolle (“Pescator, affonda l’esca”) and Enzo’s idyll to the beauty of the night (“Cielo e mar”) from the second act; and La Gioconda’s dramatic narrative in which she plans to destroy herself (“Suicidio”).