Marcelo Cesena performing Danza del gaucho matrero (Ginastera)

Marcelo Cesena performing Danza del gaucho matrero (Ginastera)
This is the thrid dance from The Danzas Argentinas by Ginastera

The Danzas Argentinas (Argentine Dances) are a piano composition by Alberto Ginastera, one of the leading Latin American composers of the 20th century. Written in 1937, they are set of three dances, and they encompass his Opus 2.


With directions such as furiosamente ("furiously"), violente ("violent"), and salvaggio ("wild"), Ginastera left no doubt as to how the third dance, Danza del gaucho matrero ("Dance of the Arrogant Cowboy"), should be performed. Ginastera makes use of gratuitous dissonance in this piece, often using minor seconds to harmonise otherwise simple melodies. The structure is an approximate rondo (ABACDACD), and the thematic material alternates between chromatic passages (sections A and B) and highly tonal, melodic passages (C and D). The jubilant sound of the C section is achieved by harmonising every single melody note with a major chord, even if they are totally foreign to the tonic key. The D section, by contrast, does not use a single accidental; here, jubilance is expressed through the use of brisk tempo, strong rhythm, fortissimo, and a simple, majestic chord progression. As might be expected from the savageness of the rest of the piece, the coda is anything but subtle: ffff dynamics and a tremendous glissando bring the dance to a clos

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Music

Tags:

• Marcelo
• Cesena
• Ginastera
• piano
• Danzas
• argentinas