Transcript Ko, Michelle - The Spirit of Great Oak

A Comparison of Argentine
Tango and Igor Stravinsky
Michelle Ko
Argentina Demographic

Capital: Buenos Aires

Size: 2,780,400 sq km

Population: 41,769,726 (2011)


Ethnicity: white (mostly Spanish
and Italian) 97%, mestizo (mixed
white and Amerindian ancestry),
Amerindian, or other non-white
groups 3%
Religion: Roman Catholic 92%,
Protestant 2%, Jewish 2%, other
4%
History of Tango

Earliest evidence of Tango dates back to
the mid nineteenth century in Buenos Aires

Around the turn of the century, many
European immigrants arrived at Buenos
Aires

They brought with them a more lyrical style
of violin playing, and the melodic influence
of Neapolitan song, a key factor in the
melodic beauty characteristic of Tango

Around the year 1910, it is claimed that
Bandoneóns were brought to Argentina by
German immigrants

The dance that was associated with the
Tango music became a driving force in
introducing the music to the world
Bandoneón
History of Tango cont.Nuevo Tango

In the late 1940s, the music and the dance started
to separate


In 1955, nationalistic government that encouraged
Tango was replaced by a new regime that
discouraged Tango

g

Musicians were more interested in playing for a
concert audience
Many artists were blacklisted or imprisoned
“New Tango” was formed by Astor Piazzolla who
took elements of Tango but diverted from the
tradition

Renewed the interest in dance
Primary Instruments
Bandaneón




Essential instrument in the tango
orchestra
In Germany, it was originally
intended to play religious music
Buttons instead of piano keys
More compatible with chromatic
tuning structure
Bombo
Luguero


Made of a hollowed tree trunk
and covered with cured skins of
animals
Serves as a combination of bass
and percussion, not just
maintaining the meter, but evoking
an elemental, visceral response
Erkencho

Transverse horn

Used for ritual purposes

No reed in its mouthpiece

Produces the notes available
in the natural harmonic series
El Choclo(1898)-Angel Villoldo

Usually played with a
Bandaneón or piano
for tango dances

2/4 time
Key: b minor
(Measures 1-8)
Begins with a
diminished seventh
Measure 2: Tonic
Structure: A-B-C-AB-C (including the
introduction
Habanera bass
Dynamics
throughout the piece




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xE7gKEG8O9Y
With Intro:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8YSUUeQhHA&feature=pla
yer_embedded#!


Key change: d minor (Measures 9-32)
 Starts with a pickup: three sixteenth notes
 B flat in the melody but does not belong in the
d minor chord (D-F-A)



Creates dissonance with bass line and tension
Scattered Rhythm (“Call” and “response”)
Chromatic scale present in the piece
 Scattered rhythm pattern (Call and Response)
 Key change back to the beginning (b minor)

The tango eventually extended to Europe
at the beginning of the 20th century. Its
popularity soon spread as musicians and
dancers from South America performed it
in the European metropolises in the 1910s
and 1920s. Gradually, composers in
Europe began writing tangos…
Igor Stravinsky


Russian-born American composer
Born in June 17, 1882 in Oranienbaum, Russia
Biography



Igor Stravinsky grew up in a music
atmosphere
 His father was a leader bass Mariinsky
Theatre in St Petersburg
 Acquired a love for musical theatre at a
young age
Never entered a music school or a
consèrvatory, and never earned an
academic degree in music.
 Stravinsky studied with Rimsky-Korsakov,
who was an influence on his early music
Stravinsky’s early works impressed Diaghilev
(sponsor of entertainment) and invited him to
arrange large scale ballet
 Diaghilev remained a supporter/sponsor
throughout Stravinsky’s life
Prominent Works

Fireworks [Ballet]

Petrushka

The Rite of Spring

The Firebird

Histoire du Soldat (A Soldier’s Tale)

Symphony in Eb Major

Oedipus Rex, opera-oratorio
Tango-Igor Stravinsky


Originally for piano in 1940
Composed for chamber
orchestra in 1953
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCz-w8-ipG8

4/4 time

Key: d minor

Minimal dynamics

Chromatic scale
present in the
piece

Bass leads in

Scattered rhythm
Comparisons
Similarities:
El Choclo:


2/4 time

Key of d minor
Tango:

Both chromatic scales

leads into repetition of

Written for variety of
native instruments

Structure: A-B-C-A-B-C

Wide range of dynamics

Key changes throughout
the pattern



Similar melodic rhythm

Beat is sharp allowing it to
be a dance music

Scattered rhythms
4/4 time
Written for
piano
Structure: Bass
lead in
Minimal
dynamics
Work Cited
 https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/geos/ar.html
 http://www.carnegiehall.org/BlogPost.aspx?id=4294982543
 http://www.totaltango.com/acatalog/tango_brief_intro_91.html
 http://www.notablebiographies.com/St-Tr/Stravinsky-Igor.html
 http://latinmusic.about.com/od/playlists/tp/TangoDanceSongs.htm