A Tango for Closed Eyes for violin, alto sax, tenor sax, guitar, piano, and double bass; 5' (2001)
composer’s note: “A Tango for Closed Eyes” was written for an ensemble that specializes in performing the works of Astor Piazzolla. As such, I wanted to pay homage to Piazzolla’s unique style, which combines Baroque-style counterpoint and Argentinian tango music in such a delightful way. But also, I wanted to add my own spin on it, so the harmonies are notably more chromatic than Piazzolla would have used. The meter of the piece changes surprisingly often, throwing the listener out of their comfort zone. And, most notably, the dance-like tango gesture dissolves into a hyper-Romantic lyricism about halfway through the work, morphing the tango structure into a sort of rapturous melodic song before the tango creeps back in to finish up the piece. In this way, “A Tango for Closed Eyes” is very much indebted to the works of Piazzolla, but also takes them as a jumping off point into something unique and more genre-bending.