Crippled Tango

Instrumentation: bass clarinet and piano.

Crippled Tango reconfigures the gestural lexicon of Argentine tango through fragmentation and asymmetry. The work displaces the habanera-derived rhythmic cell, introducing metric disruption and registral disjunction as structural devices. Phrasing resists periodicity, unfolding through abrupt articulations, silences, and timbral contrast that destabilize the dance impulse.

The title functions as metaphor: the idiom persists but is interrupted. Improvisatory appears through flexible timing and micro-variation in articulation, suggesting performer agency within notation. The piece resonates with post-tonal tango practices associated with Astor Piazzolla.

Reference recording: https://youtu.be/QwJo0tf1_7M?si=FBjD_WwIFjc7paM2

(score and part in single pdf)