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Today I want to tell you about an interesting work that I had the pleasure of studying and playing in concert recently: the Fantasia Tanguera for clarinet and string orchestra, by the Argentine composer Ezequiel Diz, who lives in the city of Rosario, province of Santa Fe. It all started in mid-July 2023, when I was asked to play a work by an Argentine author accompanied by the San Isidro Youth Symphony Orchestra, a proposal framed in the Federal Plan of the Argentine Association of Composers. After reviewing some scores offered, I decided on Fantasia Tanguera by Ezequiel Diz. This work had had its first world audition in 2013 (that is, ten years ago) in the city of Rosario and had never been performed again in Argentina. As its name indicates, the work is based on tango. Its melodies, its rhythm, articulation, accents, everything immediately refers to the language of tango. But the composer gives all this material an academic treatment, with a tonal harmonic language enriched with dissonances, modulations, and a very attractive dialogue between the string orchestra and the solo clarinet, with an excellent use of counterpoint. The part assigned to the clarinet is really difficult to play, and I classify it as "concertante" since its writing could be the movement of a concerto for clarinet and orchestra. I feel I feel that the composer challenges the clarinetist to show much of the technical and expressive resources of the instrument. Use of the entire register of the instrument from the low to the high, syncopated melodies, accents, chromaticisms, arpeggios, modulations, complex ligatures, octave jumps, staccato, altissimo register, speed, agility and reflexes for each intervention, irregular values , tempo changes, accelerandos, different moments in which the clarinet plays without accompaniment, and a cadenza of eighteen bars. It also presents a beautiful, calmer and melancholic central section with broad melodies, long notes, which should sound very expressive and always taking special care of the tuning.
I really enjoyed studying this work at home, and at the same time it was a technical and musical challenge that demanded the most from me.
The Fantasía Tanguera for clarinet and strimg orchestra by Ezequiel Diz lasts about nine minutes and clearly has three parts A - B - A. Section A is fast and energetic, while section B is much quieter and includes a cadenza for solo clarinet. The strings accompany in a very interesting way and constantly dialogue with the solo clarinet. The result of all this is very expressive and attractive music that excites the listener.
I was able to perform this work in two concerts, one on August 29 and another on September 1, with the San Isidro Youth Symphony Orchestra and its conductor Carlos Calderón, with whom I felt very good making music. At both concerts there was a large audience and they applauded the work. TI also had the pleasure of meeting in person the composer Ezequiel Diz, who traveled from Rosario especially to listen to the concert on September 1 I also had the pleasure of meeting in person the composer Ezequiel Diz, who traveled from Rosario especially to listen to the concert on September 1 and can be seen in the video when, with the applause of the audience, we invited him to the stage to say hello.
Words sent by composer Ezequiel Diz: "It was a great pleasure to be able to enjoy the concert and the incredible performance of Gabriel and the San Isidro Orchestra. The dedication with which they approached the articulations made the Fantasia Tanguera sound idiomatically and beautifully, our tango atmosphere, and at the same time, the virtuosity and the expressiveness of all the energy of the live that has never been compared! Thank you!! And may the music always be with us."
I invite you to watch the video of the September 1 concert found above, at the top of this page.
