Tarantella Nel Salento

The tarantella is an ecstatic folk dance from southern Italy with a long tradition. It actually came into being as a way to heal a tarantula bite. The victim of the bite danced to the point of total exhaustion in order to drive the spider's poison out of the body. This recording by Liuwe Tamminga combines the sound of historical organs from southern Italy with other "therapeutic" instruments. Tambourine, castanets and triangle underline the rhythm whilst providing strong accents, and various plucked instruments such as the guitar and mandolin enter into a dialogue with the organ.