Description
Duration ca. 6:20 min
Navegar, Tango-Milonga for Viola and String Orchestra
Suitable for string orchestras/ensembles in the following contexts:
- advanced high school
- university/conservatorium
- advanced community musicians
- professional
Composer's Note
I created the initial melodic and stylistic sketches for Navegar (pronounced nah-veh-gahr) during a trip to Buenos Aires, the birthplace of tango. Being away from home and blessed with ample time to ponder human experience, I wrote a contemplative milonga campera. This is a slower subgenre of tango that typically subdivides the rhythmic flow into undulating 3+3+2 figures, which Astor Piazzolla adopted and memorialised in his opus of musical syncretism referred to as “nuevo tango”. Navegar exists in various versions and was originally released by Da Vinci Classics in the album, Bliss of Heaven: Music of the New World, as a work for piano and string quartet performed by Daniel Rojas and the Baldini Quartet with guest bandoneonist, Stephen Cuttriss.
“Navegar” means to sail, surf, or explore; and “nave” (nah-veh) refers to a vessel or boat; perhaps this in some manner accounts for the undulated arpeggiated gestures throughout. With this considered, Navegar draws metaphoric parallels between sailing the vast swelling waters and the unexpected adventures that life brings about.
I am grateful to violist, Aidan Filshie, for his technical and musical advice regarding the viola writing; additionally, I would like to thank David Banney for the adroit feedback on the ensemble writing of this composition.
Daniel Rojas, 2024
Instrumentation
Solo Viola, Violins I (including violin solo), Violins II, Violas, Cellos, Double Bass
The solo viola and piano version of this work is listed in the 7th-grade AMEB (Australian Music Examination Board) syllabus and is available here