w16036
| Title | Countertangos : Seven Tangos With A Secret Ingredient - Counterpoint |
| Contributors |
Derek Ball (composer) |
| Composition date | 2005 |
| Duration (mins) | 12 |
| Category | chamber mixed sextet |
| Instrumentation | 2 Vn Va Vc Cl Pf |
| Commissioned by | |
| Key signature | |
| First line | |
| First performed | |
| Notes | |
| Programme Note | These tangos were originally solo piano pieces. I wrote them in 1994. In 2005 Owen Lorigan told me about his new Tango Group and I immediately jumped at the chance of arranging the tangos for that combination. In doing so I have enlarged the originals to some extent, not in length but in complexity, in the areas where the physical limits of only two hands and ten fingers necessitated slight compromises in the original composition. The present versions of the seven tangos improve on the logic of the contrapuntal ideas, sometimes adding extra layers. They also add further emphasis to the lyrical, Latin American side of the music. Most of the pieces use strict canonic devices over a quicker or slower tango rhythm; note in particular the tight 4-part canon in the middle of the 7th tango. The 5th tango, after a completely irrelevant allusion to another "Fifth", in its first few notes, takes counterpoint a step further: it is a short but quite strict 4- or 5-part fugue with a single episode before the final round of entries over a dominant pedal. Each piece is independent, and there can be a short break between pieces if they are played consecutively, but at the same time there are links between the end of one piece and the start of the next which mean that I would prefer the order not to be changed. In particular, the jaunty end of the 6th piece must not be the last word; tragedy must reassert itself in the form of the 7th. |
This work is associated with the following collection items:
|