Se vuol ballare Facts for Kids

Mozart around 1780, painted by Johann Nepomuk della Croce

Mozart's signature

"Se vuol ballare" is a famous song from a well-known opera called The Marriage of Figaro. The great composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote the music. The words were written by Lorenzo da Ponte. This song is sung by a character named Figaro. He wants to stop Count Almaviva from doing something unfair. The song also talks about how ordinary people might feel about powerful nobles back then.

This song appears in the first part of the opera. Figaro is about to marry Susanna. But he finds out that Count Almaviva, his boss, wants to claim a special right. This right would allow the Count to interfere with Figaro and Susanna's marriage. Figaro sings about how he will outsmart the Count. He plans to turn all of the Count's sneaky plans upside down.

Song Lyrics

Italian	English Translation
Se vuol ballare, signor contino, il chitarrino le suonerò, sì, se vuol venire nella mia scuola, la capriola le insegnerò, sì. Saprò, saprò, ma piano, meglio ogni arcano, dissimulando scoprir potrò. L'arte schermendo, l'arte adoprando, di qua pungendo, di là scherzando, tutte le macchine rovescerò. Se vuol ballare, signor contino, il chitarrino le suonerò.	If you would dance, my pretty Count, I'll play the little guitar for you, yes. If you will come to my dancing school I'll teach you the capriole, yes. I will, I will learn, slowly; Sooner every dark secret by dissembling I shall uncover. Artfully fencing, artfully striving, stinging here, joking there, all of your schemes I'll turn inside out. If you would dance, my pretty Count, I'll play the little guitar for you.

Italian

English Translation

Se vuol ballare, signor contino,
il chitarrino le suonerò, sì,
se vuol venire nella mia scuola,
la capriola le insegnerò, sì.

Saprò, saprò, ma piano,
meglio ogni arcano,
dissimulando scoprir potrò.

L'arte schermendo, l'arte adoprando,
di qua pungendo, di là scherzando,
tutte le macchine rovescerò.

Se vuol ballare, signor contino,
il chitarrino le suonerò.

If you would dance, my pretty Count,
I'll play the little guitar for you, yes.
If you will come to my dancing school
I'll teach you the capriole, yes.

I will, I will learn, slowly;
Sooner every dark secret
by dissembling I shall uncover.

Artfully fencing, artfully striving,
stinging here, joking there,
all of your schemes I'll turn inside out.

If you would dance, my pretty Count,
I'll play the little guitar for you.

Other Composers' Versions

The famous composer Ludwig van Beethoven wrote his own music based on the tune of "Se vuol ballare." He created a series of 12 variations on this song's melody. These variations are known as WoO 40 in his list of works. "WoO" stands for "Werk ohne Opuszahl," which means "work without opus number."

Se vuol ballare facts for kids

Song Lyrics

Other Composers' Versions

See also