Modal Tangos by Alexander LaFollett

One of the greatest joys of my musical life has been performing and recording with my duo partner Molly Wheeler. We played much of the 20th century repertoire for 4-hands, but no pieces were as beloved (by us and by our audiences) as a set of three Piazzolla tangos that had a permanent spot on our concert programs. When we became interested in commissioning some new 4-hand music, it was a natural extension of our work to ask for more tangos.

Composer Alexander LaFollett’s music has been a favorite of mine for decades. His passion for modes, combined with spiky rhythms and an elegant understanding of melody and form made him the perfect choice to compose our new tangos. Sadly, thanks to my move halfway across the country, it took us five years to premiere them.

This performance, given 20 July 2024 in Parabola Arts Centre at Cheltenham Ladies’ College in Cheltenham, England occurred at the end of the week-long course, The Thinking Pianist, that Molly and I attended together. We learned our parts separately before arriving in England, both unaware of how the ensemble would sound when combined, and then put the piece together (with the assistance of instructor David Jones) over the course of the week. This joyful performance is just the first of what I hope will be many performances of these fantastic tangos—both by us and by other pianists.

To order a copy of the score and to learn more about the music and the composer, visit Alexander LaFollett.