You are welcome to attend the next MUSIC RESEARCH SEMINAR
on Wednesday, 2 March 2016 at 2 pm in Rolle 015, Plymouth University:
‘I didn’t quite catch your accent’: A recording analysis of accentuation in Astor Piazzolla’s Etude 6 for Solo Flute (1987) for a fresh approach to tango performance’
Despite the fact that Argentinean composer Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) chose to use a rather normative form of accent notation within his published tango music, the language surrounding tango performance seems to indicate that there is a ‘correct’ way to interpret the accent (and the ‘swing’ it is often partnered with) that is not naturally implied in the score – that is, unless one has ‘insider’ knowledge about the genre.
This paper presents an overview of the methodology used to explore the accent symbol and its differences that are said to exist between the stylistic traditions of both classical and tango accentuation in the context of Piazzolla’s 6 Tango-Etudes for Solo Flute (1987). A recording analysis of ‘non-tango’ flute players playing an excerpt of this work was made using Sonic Visualiser software. Differences in accentuation style were noted in comparison to Piazzolla’s own accentuation techniques on his bandoneón, as well as those by the author, and tango musicians Fain and Gallo. In a move away from fixed ‘either/or’ dichotomies to indicate a correct way of performing the accents, the ‘and/and’ model is introduced to explore how tango notation feeds into wider concepts of the acento largo and ‘tango swing’, which function on macro- and micro-levels for understanding the numerous creative possibilities for future tango performances.