Program Notes:

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"Gamelan Tango" is a one-movement composition for 2 vibraphones, 2 marimbas (1 low A marimba and 1 five-octave marimba) written in December 2020.

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"I was exposed to tango music and dance from a very young age, always looking at my parents dancing tango in festivals, milongas or usually filming them when they rehearsed at home. In "Gamelan Tango", I attempted to combine two very contrasting music traditions that I love; Indonesian Gamelan music and Argentine/Uruguayan Tango & Milonga music. Having listened to a vast number of CD's of different tango ensembles and orchestras, I realized that the majority of the melodies and motives of classical tango and milongas are incredibly beautiful but at the same time so similar with each other. Thus, I composed a piece, a part of which includes scattered segments of famous tango songs, cliché tango motivic gestures, habanera and Piazzola-style rhythms, and I combined it with gamelan-like figures and harmonies. All these elements are blended together in a sarcastic personal story which unfolds like an obsessive game between nostalgia, meditation, parody and drama."

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