Description
Duration 5:40 min
SalTango: Milonga & Salsa for Orchestra
As the title suggests, SalTango explores the rich musical traditions of two Latin American genres: tango and salsa, both deeply intertwined historically and musically.
The milonga, a sub-genre of tango, has been a vibrant presence in Argentine and Uruguayan dance halls since the early days of tango, offering playful and upbeat, as well as slower and poignant repertoire. Its rhythmic foundation lies in the habanera rhythm, introduced to South America by Cuban sailors—a suggestive, dance-provoking one-bar cell with a rising and falling pitch contour famously resonant in the West through Bizet's Carmen.
“Salsa”—an umbrella term for various genres of Cuban origin and further developed in the United States and Caribbean Latin American nations—is grounded in Afro-Cuban rhythms, antiphonal textures and jazz. The clave (pronounced klah-veh), a two-bar pattern traditionally executed by resonant sticks known as claves, establishes the rhythmic framework, orchestrating the interplay of tension and resolution across diverse rhythmic layers.
SalTango is crafted as an exuberant and convivial piece, inviting the orchestra and audience to unite in a jubilant celebration of life and visceral human emotions.
Daniel Rojas, 2024
Suitability
- advanced high school orchestras
- university/conservatorium orchestras
- advanced community orchestras
- professional and semi-professional orchestras
Instrumentation
2 Flutes (Flute 2 doub. Piccolo), 2 Oboes, 2 Bb Clarinets (Clarinet 2 doub. A Clarinet), 2 Bassoons, 4 Horns in F, 3 Trumpets in C, 2 Tenor Trombones, Bass Trombone, Tuba, Timpani
Percussion - 3 players:
- Timbale Kit
- Congas (pair)
- Güiro, Large Cow Bell, Triangle
Strings