siciliano(a)

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siciliano(a) (It.), sicilienne (Fr.). Sicilian. Type of dance, song, or instr. piece, presumably of Sicilian origin, in compound duple or quadruple time and with a swaying rhythm, often in minor key. Usually pastoral in character and popular in 18th cent. ‘Pastoral symphony’ in Handel's Messiah is alla siciliana. Style uncommon after 18th cent., but Fauré used siciliano as 3rd entr'acte of his incidental music to Pelléas et Mélisande (1898), and 3rd movt. of Walton's Partita (1957) is Pastorale siciliana.