Csárdás

Vittorio Monti composed the Csardas in 1904 in Paris, where he conducted and wrote for the salon and the theatre; the piece was published for violin and piano and also in a mandolin version. It follows the two-part Hungarian dance form it is named after, a slow lassu opening and a fast friss that accelerates to the end, without quoting any actual Hungarian tune. It is the only one of Monti's works still played, and it belongs equally to violinists, to gypsy bands and to mandolin orchestras.