Modern Tango: Piano Solo

Programme Note: Modern Tango is one of five tangos, Tango Cinco, for solo piano. Sydney dance teacher Ian Murphy tells how the Argentinean tango began in the ghettos of Buenos Aires, with dance steps grouped in 5s and 7s which worked across the music's phrasing. However, when taken to Europe, extra dance steps were invented to fit into groups of 8s. I heard a modern tango, with its faster tempo, performed at Darling Harbour in Sydney one Sunday afternoon, and this Modern Tango explores the grouping of 5 within this faster tempo. The piece employs voice leading, shifting harmonies and a long melody. The first performance was given at Sydney and Nimbin (November 2006) in which two composers, Michael Hannan and I, played our own piano works.