By carlos luque - originally posted to Arte & Fotografía as SABRINA Y HECTOR, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11313286
Character/story of the piece – obviously the starting point regarding this piece is the title. Encourage the player to watch the tango being danced, as well as listening to piano tango pieces as this will help to become familiar with the character of the dance. The tango is dramatic in character and this piece is no exception. The movements have a stealthy and feline quality to them that must be projected in the music. In this piece there is frequent use of staccato notes; this is a feature of tangos. The tango originated in Argentina and Uruguay; it was influenced by European classical dance music as well as music from the region. There is a dichotomy present in this piece, is the rhythm or the melody more important than the other? Although the rhythmic patterns underline the music, the melodic line suggests the different movements of the dance.
Form – this piece is in ternary form; the middle section is eight bars long with the first section being sixteen bars long with an additional two bars at the beginning as an introduction and the last section being eight bars long. The piece is in D minor, this being the key of the two outer sections. The middle section moves through several key changes, F major, G major and A minor, and this ascending key change contributes to the mysterious and mercurial character of it. There is considerable use of sequential patterns in this piece; the sequences in the first and last sections have a descending chromatic pattern which also contributes to the character of the music.
Main part of the music – although the dynamics indicate that bars 27 and 34 should be played at the same level, it would be appropriate to leave the loudest dynamics until the final bar.
Phrasing – part from the opening two bars, this piece has phrases that are all four bars long. All of the phrases are in sets of two, with the second one as an ‘answering’ phrase to the first one of the sets.
By Coquimbo58 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=115474704
Tempo, time signature and rhythmic patterns – the assumption is, judging by the brackets around the tempo indication, that this mark has been provided by the editor and not by the composer. The speed of 72 minim beats per minute should be observed as it is the correct speed for the character of the piece. There are occasions in this music where it feels as the time signature is in duple time rather than quadruple time, for example the duple time occurs in bars such as bar 3 with the RH playing a minim on the third beat. These bars contrast with bars such as bar 5 and 6 where there is more accentuation occurring. The syncopated rhythmic pattern occurring in bar 5 may be new for some players. Encourage the player to tap out this rhythm on a regular basis until it is instinctive. The player must notice how the rhythmic stresses of the bar are altered in bar 8. There may be some players who find the semiquaver pattern in bars such as bar 8 a little difficult to play. Again, encourage the player to tap out the rhythm, and when playing, the LH should not be altered to accommodate the RH.
Touch/articulation – the LH should be played with a legato touch (apart from the staccato notes) with resonance on the dotted crotchets. The LH staccato notes should not be too staccato, especially the ones that are part of a slur. Possibly the player could increase the degree of staccato that is played when the dynamics become louder. The tenuto marks in bar 26 are very important, as they add drama to the music at that point. It is interesting to no note that the composer uses an accent mark on the first part of the beat in bars such as bar 9, as it would be expected to be used on the second part of the beat. Considering that the RH has numerous sequential patterns to play, changes in RH’s touch will contribute drama and interest to the music. In the first phrase of the set of two in the first section, the first phrase should be played with an intense touch with this touch being changed to a more legato touch in the second phrase of the sets. By contrast, the RH in the last section should be played with an intense touch throughout.
Balance between the hands – in the first section the balance should be clearly to the RH, however in the middle section the music should be played with less balance to the RH, as if the two hands are more in partnership in this section. Lastly, in the final section the balance will be to the RH however the LH should be played with louder dynamics in comparison to the first section.
Dynamics – clearly a full range of dynamics should be used when playing this piece. The occasional change from loud to quiet or vice versa is appropriate in this piece. The LH’s dynamics, as is always the case, are particularly important in this piece. The player must consider how the LH’s dynamics often project the overall dynamics of the phrase, particularly when it is being played on its own. It is important for the player to contemplate the dynamic level at the start of every phrase and how this compares with the end of the previous phrase.
Rubato – clearly the player must observe the rit. in bar 26, however this should not be overly exaggerated. A very slight hesitation before the start of the second section is appropriate however this must be kept to a minimum. The music must have a relentless and energetic feel and too much rubato will affect this.
Considerations when playing this piece –
· The player must ensure that any held or long notes have been played with sufficient resonance so that they sound for their entire length.
· The hands must be held over the keys for the final beat so that the rest is acknowledged.
· With so much repetition, the player should consider in the RH how loud to play the crochet of the quaver/crotchet pattern. This will be determined by the direction of the phrase, where the loudest point of the phrase is.
· There is a danger that the LH dotted crotchet at the beginning of the bar is not lifted too soon. In addition to this, this could also occur in the RH in bar 10 for example.
· The player could imagine that the hands are ‘dancing’.
· Possibly the semiquaver patterns in the RH are the feet sliding on the floor.
· The semiquavers must be played with lightness and clarity however with a ‘bounce’ and direction.
· Tone-matching is very important when playing this piece.
· Bar 9 should be stronger in character than bar 33, this will mean that the final chord will be unexpected.
· In bar 26 the player should drop the dynamics immediately after the first beat has been played, this will contribute to the dramatic character of the music.
· The LH should remain constant without fail; the RH has to ‘work’ around the LH.
· All crescendos and diminuendos must be graded, for example in a crescendo the dynamics should increase, then drop back and so on.