Siciliana another set of variations by Brahms, the orchestral Variations on a Theme by Haydn (1873), the 7th variation also takes the form of a siciliana. The second of Moritz Moszkowski's "Trois Morceaux poétiques", Op. 42 (1887), is a Siciliano. Hélène's aria, "Merci, jeunes amies" ("Thank you, beloved friends") from Verdi's opera "Les vêpres siciliennes" is another example of a siciliana, suited to its setting, and is referred to as such in the score, even though it is popularly called a bolero. The opening aria of Mascagni's masterpiece "Cavalleria rusticana" is the Siciliana "O Lola". Ernest Chausson composed a sicilienne as
Mala Pasqua! his attention to composing his first opera, "Fatma", an opera-ballet in four acts. However, he set the project aside in 1888 when the music publisher Sonzogno announced a competition for one-act operas, open to all young Italian composers who had not yet had an opera performed on stage. The three winners (selected by a jury of prominent critics and composers) would be staged in Rome at Sonzogno's expense. Gastaldon decided to enter with an opera based on "Cavalleria rusticana". His librettist, Giovanni Domenico Bartocci-Fontana, a lawyer by training and a poet by inclination, wrote to Verga asking permission to adapt