| From the very beginning, the iconic notes of the guitar’s open strings
(E-A-D-G-B-E) are slowly played in an arpeggio, as if a gaucho were tuning his guitar before dancing. Ginastera sublimates the malambo to an abstract form while following traditional performance practices.
In the actual malambo, the chord progression of the guitar accompaniment is simply a repetition
of IV-V-I, since the focus should be on the rhythm of the footsteps, called
zapateo. As this was originally a dance in which gauchos competed with each other through their zapateos, the rhythm becomes gradually more complex as the steps become more difficult
and longer. Ginastera’s version also follows the conventional form: The
dance begins with simple notes, with the pitch rising and the number of
notes gradually increasing from dyads to clusters. Unlike a traditional
malambo, this work exhibits ambigu ous t onality the violent clash of dissonances, and a passage rushing up the chromatic scale in the left hand toward the climax. These compositional innovations help convey the excitement and energy of a gaucho boldly and proudly dancing with his facón (a knife used by gauchos for multiple purposes, including striking the soles of his shoes and boleadoras a weapon consisting of two leather-wrapped stones connected by a rope) hitting the floor. |
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