Le vrai tango argentin (2001) by Pablo Ortiz
for viola

I would have missed the tango entirely in my adolescence but for the fortuitous arrival of my uncle into my parents' house, fleeing a nasty divorce, with his collection of classical tango records. He would listen and reminisce most evenings, holding a glass of wine, and I kept him company. Many years later, in 1991, I wrote a piece for two pianos, Fear of tango, incorporating some of those musical memories into a highly abstracted brick-like texture. Subsequently, I wrote a number of tango inflected pieces. Le vrai tango argentin, for viola, is one of first where I allowed myself to bring out the tango idioms more obviously. There are lots of little twists, and digressions in the piece. Like a good story teller who is not afraid to go on tangents, the performer conveys the narrative in a pensive, relaxed manner. I would like to thank Ellen Ruth Rose for her fantastic performance of this piece that I am still proud of and happy about, some twenty years after it was written.