This music is taken from the second act of my early opera King Stag. In the original, the aria - here rescored for the orchestra alone - is sung by the protagonist (tenor) who yearns to return to the woods, to nature, to the origins of his animal existence. The rondo is set in a very fast dance tempo (a Tarantella?) and is in three parts: the first one is cheerful and comic, the second one lyrical, almost romantically so, whereas the third one is impetuous and dramatic. The music of both pieces ...