Hauspoz (Zarautz, Basque Country)
Zarautz International Composition Award 2009 – II Composition Competition Francisco Escudero
‘May I really ask you a tango?’ (accordion, piano, violin, cello)
Awarded the Special Jury Prize at the II Francisco Escudero Composition Competition, organized by the Hauspoz Association in Zarautz, Basque Country.
The composition unfolds through five brief episodes, creating the sonic image of an Argentine-influenced tango that progressively emerges from a blurred, atonal landscape.
Following an introduction by the accordion supported by piano resonances, the characteristic rhythmic and harmonic gestures of the tango become increasingly concrete. This leads to the first collective climax, where the ensemble explicitly embraces the salient traits of the Argentine dance.
The subsequent thinning of the musical texture introduces a new section: over high-register sustained notes from the piano, the cello provides a pizzicato accompaniment while the violin introduces the second tango theme, later developed by the full ensemble. A final rarefied moment, entrusted to the accordion, cello, and piano, precedes the varied repetition that brings the piece to its conclusion.
