Waltzes
Follie di donna Walzer, Op. 122, PP.141.12
In spite of its "sexist" title, "The Madness of Women," the first Cremona waltz is second only to Voluttà del ballo it its charm and spirit. The 6/8 introduction is shorter; however, the five waltzes and (economically constructed) coda with reprises mark it as a charming work of smaller scale. One of the reasons that these dance scores increase in size from the autograph to the modern version is the many repeats and shortcuts that Ponchielli uses to speed the process of getting the score to a modern edition are the many measures that are full of notes are lettered/numbered to indicate their insertion into the score, sometimes as many as three or four times. Only one set of parts has remained in the library, and the score-parts comparison is relatively sparse as the work involved is more through-composed.
This waltz always closed the concerts when it was played. There must be no doubt that people danced.
Date on score: In January, 1866
Performances: Monday, February 26, 1866, Piazza Garibaldi; Sunday, April, 14, 1867, Piazza Cavour; Sunday, July 9, 1871, Pubblico Passaggio; Tuesday, August 12, 1873, Piazza Garibaldi