Alberto Ginastera

Alberto Ginastera, an Argentinian composer, was part of the great Spanish and Latin American piano music tradition. The 19th century saw many Spanish composers such as Albeniz and Granados using their folk music as the basis of their work, while the 20th century added modern harmonies and textures to the nationalistic focus. The Dance of the Old Cowboy exhibits polytonality by letting the left hand play on the black keys while the right hand plays on the white keys. The Dance of the Young Lady has a very traditional melody added to an unusual accompaniment of lots of tritones and parallelism. In The Dance of the Wily Thief, we find big, clashing harmonies and textures in addition to the more traditional Latin rhythms. One of my favourite elements in the last dance is the composer's interpretive markings - among them are "biting," "violent," and best of, the ending: "like a cannon blasting off."

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