In 1880 Tchaikovsky paid a visit to Italy, and was pleased with the popular tunes he heard people singing there. Some of them he worked up into this 'Fantasia' (as he called it) - a piece in the cheerful spirit of peasants in rude health. The opening military 'call' is a reminiscence of the music the composer heard when he stayed near a barracks in Home. Then various folk-songs are brought in. The last section of the work consists of a lively
Tarantella.
Charles Bye