siciliano
Italian era
Definition
A Baroque dance in a lilting 6/8 or 12/8 metre, typically in a minor key, with a gentle rocking pulse. Hindemith was drawn to the siciliano's compound metre throughout his career; it appears in multiple movements of the three 1936 piano sonatas as a counterweight to the more aggressive march and fugue movements.
Interpretive Guidance
The siciliano pulse should rock without rolling — the compound metre must stay buoyant and pointed. In Hindemith's hands it often carries an elegiac or bittersweet affect; resist making it merely pleasant.