Libertango

by Astor Piazzolla
arranged for piano, four-hands by Greg Anderson

Watch the Anderson & Roe Libertango music video.
Buy "Reimagine," the CD/DVD combo featuring this work.

What do tango dancing and piano duo performance have in common? Racing heartbeats, intense eye contact, physical friction, a charged chemistry, and an element of danger…

In transcribing Piazzolla’s irresistible melody for four hands at one piano, not only did we emulate the sonic textures of a tango band, but we also aimed to capture the spirit of the tango. Four-hand playing already hints at an intrinsic eroticism -- a fact not ignored by many great literary figures -- but in this work, we ratcheted it up a level. We do not merely bump into one another within the cramped confines of a single keyboard; we unabashedly invade one another’s personal space, while also exploring regions of the piano that typically remain unseen. The effect is at once sensual, visceral, and intensely dramatic.

Quotes from a review regarding Anderson & Roe's Libertango in the Southampton Press, April 21, 2005:

Riveting... extremely imaginative... They bypassed in part the fact that the piano is a percussive instrument by reaching into its belly and plucking the strings, much as a string player uses pizzicato. The unique combination of playing and plucking, involved a physical intertwining, not only of hands but also of bodies.

Unfortunately, the score to this arrangement is not available for sale at this time.