"Saltarello 2" is a dance tune which was written down in a Medieval manuscript thought to have originated in Tuscany in the late 14th Century. The original manuscript (now held in the British Library) has more than 100 pieces of music and this is the 2nd of 3 Saltarellos. A Saltarello is a dance characterised by jumping or hopping, and this piece exhibits that character musically with a recurring melody which jumps between two notes. The manuscript shows sections of melody and it is a matter of interpretation how they should be combined into a complete piece of music, so you might find subtly different versions in different recordings (on youtube for example). The music can be played by a wide range of different instruments and we illustrate it here on Oboe (or other instruments using the treble clef), but we include some different versions suitable for other instruments, for Bassoon of any other instrument using the bass clef, for Cello using the Tenor clef, for Viola using the Alto clef, and an alternative version for Recorder which has been transposed to make the fingering a little easier. Also on the left hand menu are midi and mp3 files (using an Oboe sound) which are also available for download. On mfiles you will also find a simple arrangement of Saltarello 2 to show how it might be played by a small group. The video below plays the music illustrated with the original manuscript and modern notation. Below that you can play the mp3 file and see the sheet music:
Here is a video of Saltarello 2 for solo instrument e.g. oboe:
The audio controls below allow you to play the mp3 version of Saltarello 2 for solo instrument e.g. oboe or you can download the MP3 file. You can also download the midi version of Saltarello 2 for solo instrument e.g. oboe.
The image below is the first page of the sheet music, and here you can download the full sheet music for Saltarello 2 for solo instrument e.g. oboe in PDF format.
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