Arrangements

From my first tango CD purchase in 2007, I wanted to arrange tango for solo clarinet. I fell in love with the articulation styles of the bandoneons and with the lyrical melodies in the violin and vocal lines. SO much fun, SO clarinet!

I needed two main things to actualize this idea. The first would be MUCH easier music notation software than the old dinosaurs available in 2007. The second would be online access to original scores and lead sheets. And in hindsight, almost two decades of dancing and listening to this incredibly beautiful music would not hurt.

Fast forward to the availability of far better resources, I started arranging in the summer of 2023, choosing to start with the articulation of milonga. And you can guess, once I started, I did not stop. It’s now my drug of choice (second only to coffee). Partway through the year, I added vals, tango, and some unique cortinas to balance out an already fat folder. By the end of this first year, I’d assembled a full and varied body of work for this original plan.

Initially the arrangements were structured to stand alone as clarinet solos with optional piano accompaniment, but that quickly changed, and I’m all in and writing for a four voice ensemble. I’ve reworked the originals, and now anything new just starts with four voices.

If you’re doing the math, you can only see three of us in the photos. Can you guess what I’m adding next?