Robert Xavier Rodríguez: Tengo Tangos

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• Composer
  Robert Xavier Rodríguez
• Publisher
  Alhambra RXR
• Arrangement
  Guitar (GTR)
• Format
  Score
• Genre
  20th Century
• Text

  Tengo Tangos (2019) is a set of three tangos for solo guitar which I wrote for my friend, colleague and former student Enric Madriguera. The titles are all puns in Spanish, conflating the words “tango” and “tengo” (I have, I am). Tango Amor (2014) for solo guitar was commissioned by Dennis Kratz for Abby Kratz in honor of their 50th wedding anniversary. The title, in Spanish, means both “Tango of Love” and “I have love” (tengo amor). Accented chords announce the fiercely passionate opening theme. After a tender and lyrical interlude, the opening theme returns. The guitar writing employs frequent glissando slides for maximum romantic atmosphere.
  
  Tango Sueño (2016) means both “Sleepy Tango” and “I am sleepy” (tengo sueño). It is a simple, rocking lullaby which I composed during a bout of insomnia and wrote down upon arising. There are frequent harmonics to give the music a dreamy quality.
  
  Tango Hambre (2019) means both “Hungry Tango” and “I am hungry” (tengo hambre). Marked Allegro goloso (happily greedy), the music is a brilliant toccata with an eight-note “gobbling” motif surrounded by slurping slides up and down the strings and violent rasgueado strumming to imitate a growling stomach.
  
  The tango is a genre I particularly enjoy. My comic opera Tango (1986) recreates the tango craze of 1913, when Pope Pius X declared the tango a sin and the state legislature of Massachusetts declared the dance a misdemeanor, punishable by fine or imprisonment. I have also included tangos in my operas Suor Isabella (1982) and Frida (1991), as well as in the instrumental Semi-Suite (1981).