And Tango Makes Three

Composer's Note:

And Tango Makes Three (2023) for narrator, violin, B-flat clarinet, cello, percussion and piano was inspired by a book of the same title by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, with illustrations by Henry Cole. Intended for young readers, it is based on an actual incident which took place in New York City’s Central Park Zoo. Quite unexpectedly, two male penguins bonded as a couple, cared for an egg (“borrowed” by a zookeeper from another nest) and hatched it. The zookeepers named the chick “Tango” because it takes two to tango! Across the country this book has been the target of ultra-conservatives trying to ban it from school libraries.

Ensemble π, Idith Meshulam Korman, founder and director, commissioned a musical work based on the book. A narrative was developed and music was added. Performances will be included in a program of works dealing with other banned books. Musically, the composition exploits both tonal and atonal materials, as well as occasional onomatopoeic effects. The opening presents an all-chromatic passage which settles into a D minor-ish pattern. A twelve-tone row is offered up, and several traditional tonal harmonic passages occur at various points.