Tango (Stravinsky)
Tango is a piece of music for piano by Igor Stravinsky from 1940, which he initially composed for piano. Later, however, also emerged arrangements for different instrumental ensembles . Today the piece is one of Stravinsky's most popular piano works and is often used as an encore in classical concerts. The work is attributed to his neoclassical creative phase. After the original piano version, the composer published an arrangement for chamber orchestra in 1953 .
background
In 1940 Stravinsky was in the United States , to which he had emigrated in 1939 after the start of the Second World War . The tango is said to have been the first piece he composed there. Stravinsky was in a pessimistic mood at that time; his wife had died in 1939, he suffered from lack of money in the USA because he could not find a job as a music teacher and his English was not that good either. So he composed several small, pleasant pieces that were supposed to bring some money. Stravinsky had already dealt with the tango, which was then fashionable in Europe, in 1919. In his theater music Histoire du soldat ( Tale of the Soldier ), in which a tango first turns into a waltz and finally into a ragtime , the dance appears for the first time in his revolutionary musical style. However, the Tango of 1940 is to be understood as an easy, pleasing piece, but with a dark character, which sold well. In order to be able to market it better, the composer wanted to produce versions for various line-ups, including a jazz band. But there were only three transcriptions , two for chamber orchestra and one for violin and piano. As early as 1941 , Felix Guenther , the pianist, arranger and until 1933 director of the UFA film music orchestra in Babelsberg , worked on the tango for big bands . This version was premiered on July 10, 1941 by the Benny Goodman Orchestra under the direction of Benny Goodman .
Musical structure
Stravinsky chooses a short, dark-colored introduction for his piece, in keeping with the dense atmosphere that this intimate dance can evoke. In the key of D minor it consists of syncopated 4/4 bars . The composer specifies a Tempo di Tango as the tempo . After the eight bars of the introduction comes the first theme , which is given its tango-like timbre with blue notes and also extends over eight bars. The romantic effect is enhanced by cadences . The accompaniment by the left hand consists initially of contrapuntal bass chords, later also the melody-absorbing tone sequences. Another 16 bars vary the theme with a repetition. Then the key changes to D major and a trio dolce cantabile (gently singing) follows. This middle section also extends over 16 bars, initially alludes to the rhythmic and tonal character of well-known Argentine tango orchestras of the 1930s, which performed pieces such as La Cumparsita or El Choclo , but is then changed harmonically in such a way that Stravinsky's well-known modern harmony is more clearly heard again . This is followed by the first theme again, and finally as a coda the gloomy, world-weary eight bars with the hard chords from the introduction. The piano version takes about three and a half minutes to play.
Publications (selection)
literature
- Robin Maconie: Testament of Orpheus . In: Experiencing Stravinsky. A Listener's Companion (= listener's companion ). Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Md. 2013, ISBN 978-0-8108-8430-4 , pp. 127 ( books.google.de ).
Audio sample and web links
- Stravinsky's Tango in the orchestral version with the Budapest Festival Orchestra under Ivan Fischer and as a piano piece with Polly Ferman
- Igor Stravinsky - Tango, for chamber orchestra at Allmusic (English)
- K062 Tango. In: K Catalog. kcatalog.org, March 24, 2016, accessed January 22, 2017 (UK English).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Igor Stravinsky - Tango, for chamber orchestra at Allmusic (English)
- ^ The Remington Site: Felix Günther (1886–1951).
- ^ Schott Music: Tango arranged for orchestra by Felix Guenther.
- ↑ Schott Music website: the orchestra. ( Memento of the original from January 22, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Igor Stravinsky - Tango, for piano at Allmusic (English)
