Tango in D minor for cello and piano

Maxim Zolotarenko, cello
Elena Orsa, piano

An arrangement of the Flamenco style (palo) Tientos for solo acoustic guitar. The piece is based on traditional themes for the Tientos that I have expanded and elaborated on to weave together a self-contained composition that lies somewhere between Brahms? Hungarian Dances and Dvorak?s Slavic Dances. The composition is inspired by my studies with Juan Gonz�lez ?Triguito? in Madrid in the late 1960s. The Tientos belongs to the Tango family of Flamenco styles and is a slow majestic Flamenco rhythm that can reach great emotional depth in the hands of skilled guitarists. The Tientos is notated in standard 4/4 measures that although seemly simple can be deceptively complex because of the nearly inexhaustible possibilities for rhythmic variation. Lots of tapping can be found in the notation together with melody and chords, but also alone at rests which I leave in the notation. The tapping is perhaps a vestige of the African origin attributed to the Tango family of Flamenco palos. The arrangement ends with a finale (macho) that moves from the Tientos through a few bars of Tango to a finish in Rumba Gitana, the fastest and liveliest member of the Tango family.The Tientos is played in a Phrygian modal that moves from D minor through C and B-flat to A or A7. This variant of the so-called Andalusian cadence is typical for gitano Flamenco palos.The piece can be played by students of Flamenco guitar at the intermediate to advanced levels and contains many essential elements of serious (jondo) Flamenco guitar playing.