Serebrier - Tango in Blue

JosĂŠ Serebrier

Tango in Blue for violin and piano

peermusic C L A S S I C A L NEW YORK . HAMBURG

Tango in Blue was written during the long overnight flight from New York to Montevideo, as an impromptu gift for the National Orchestra of Uruguay, OSSODRE, who had invited me to conduct their 75th anniversary concert. It didn’t have a title, and we performed it as an encore.

When I asked the public for title suggestions, I was inundated with names, none of which seemed appropriate. For a while I called it “Last Tango Before Sunrise,” which seemed to capture the character of the piece, but it still didn’t seem quite right. My favorite title was “Blue Tango,” but I was reminded that there are at least two pieces with that title already. Then a friend suggested a compromise, which I liked best, and “Tango in Blue” was born.

The first four notes are a direct quote from the final four notes of my “Partita” (Symphony No. 2), almost as if I was saying that there’s where I left off and I am back. Written soon after my arrival in the United States, “Partita” was one of the few compositions in which I used Latin American rhythms and melodic turns. After writing experimental works during the sixties and seventies, it was a challenge to go back to basics, and write a simple tune, a sort of popular piece for concert use. I had fun composing “Tango in Blue,” and thrilled to find it so successful. After Montevideo, it was played in Lima and later on in Buenos Aires, and many other cities. At my publishers’ request, I wrote several versions, for violin and piano, trio, string quartet, string orchestra, voice and piano, guitar, etc. My favorite version is for violin and piano, which reflects the style of tango. My first violin teacher was a tango musician, and at age ten I was playing in his tango orchestra, my first stage experience.

—José Serebrier

Duration: ca. 3 min.

Orchestral version is recorded on Naxos BIS-CD-1175 by the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, José Serebrier conducting.

The orchestral version is available on rental.

Instrumentation: 2 Flutes (2nd doubling Piccolo), 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons; 2 French Horns, 2 Trumpets, Trombone; Timpani, Percussion (2 players), Piano; Strings

For further information: www.joseserebrier.com www.peermusicClassical.com