What piece is being played in the beginning of this video at about 1 minute 30 seconds:
Would really appreciate the help in identifying it.
1 Answer
The tune is generally known as the CanCan.
It was written in 1858 by a nineteenth century German-born French composer of light opera called Jacques Offenbach. The tune took on a life of its own independent of its origins, when it was adopted in the 1890s by cabarets in Paris such as the Moulin Rouge and Folies Bergère and associated with a risqué dance called the Can-can where a chorus line of female dancers would kick up their legs in various spectacular moves.
The tune comes from the light opera "Orphée aux enfers", usually rendered in English as "Orpheus in the Underworld" or "Orpheus in Hell". In the opera it is titled Galop infernal ("Infernal Galop").
Some versions:
