Tango alla ZIngarese

Tango alla zingarese is a rollicking parody of the minuet from Haydn’s Op. 20, no. 4. As with the Haydn (in which both the character of the minuet and the ‘Gypsy’ elements are obscured beyond recognition), the Tango and the ‘zingarese’ are there in spirit only, while setting up and dashing expectations takes center stage. The work was commissioned by the 92nd Street Y in New York for the St. Lawrence String Quartet.