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 has been considerably rewritten and altered, in harmonic, melodic and rhythmic aspects. - Hans Werner Henze