NOTES ON TITAN TANGO
Titan is the largest moon of Saturn and primarily composed of water ice and rocky material with a dense atmosphere. The piece has three parts, some returning. The opening consists of rubato alternating solo phrases using many angular intervals, representing the rocky non-Earthly Titan terrain. This leads into the 4/4 rippling piano lines with cello and saxophone melodies soaring above, symbolising the existence of water, possibly in liquid form in the distant past. The third part uses an ostinato bass line over which an improvisatory-style melody emerges using irregular phrase lengths and cluster chords. A linking 2 bar phase high-energy tritone pattern is used to lead back to part 2, then part three followed by a crescendo fortissimo final chord. These space themes are framed within the tango dance structure which involves a highly rhythmically charged 4/4 section, lyrical melodies and diatonic, often minor, tonalities. The original version of this piece was written for Art of Cadencia, a Sydney-based tango/flamenco fusion project and included tango choreography.
Titan is the largest moon of Saturn and primarily composed of water ice and rocky material with a dense atmosphere. The piece has three parts, some returning. The opening consists of rubato alternating solo phrases using many angular intervals, representing the rocky non-Earthly Titan terrain. This leads into the 4/4 rippling piano lines with cello and saxophone melodies soaring above, symbolising the existence of water, possibly in liquid form in the distant past. The third part uses an ostinato bass line over which an improvisatory-style melody emerges using irregular phrase lengths and cluster chords. A linking 2 bar phase high-energy tritone pattern is used to lead back to part 2, then part three followed by a crescendo fortissimo final chord. These space themes are framed within the tango dance structure which involves a highly rhythmically charged 4/4 section, lyrical melodies and diatonic, often minor, tonalities. The original version of this piece was written for Art of Cadencia, a Sydney-based tango/flamenco fusion project and included tango choreography.
