Gazebo Dances was originally written as a set of four-hand pieces dedicated to certain of my pianist friends. I later arranged the suite for orchestra and for concert band, and it is from the latter version that the title is drawn.
The title Gazebo Dances was suggested by the pavilions often seen on village greens in town throughout the countryside, where public band concerts are givenon summer evenings.
The delights of that sort of entertainment are portrayed in this set of dances, which begins with a Rossini-like Overture, followed by a rather peg-legged Waltz, a long-lined Adagio and, finally, a Tarantella.John Corigliano