This piece is by far one of my favorite pieces I have composed, not only because I have lived with it longer than the rest but because it was the first piece I wrote when entering the Music Composition program in my undergrad. In the Fall of 2019, I took a Composition class as a prerequisite to the program and for my final, I needed to write something... that something being a piece with the instrumentation of my choosing

     The first movement was written for my final for that class and for my Composition Portfolio for the program audition. Forbidden Tango was originally written because I was combining elements that a former teacher told me was “forbidden” in music composition. But after a year of assessing, sketching, dumping, reviving, and rewriting, the piece turned into a 3 movement piece about "forbidden lovers" that is loosely based off Romeo & Juliet. 

     The first movement is written as a very loose passacaglia while incorporating tango and other Latin American musical elements. A basic tango rhythm and a simple tango melody introduces our two lovers. The passacaglia acts as a medium to keep the conversation between the two lovers going as we hear them engage in simple flirting. 

     The second movement was the hardest to write simply due to the fact that I didn’t know whether to continue this silly little story or to deconstruct my musical material and tell the story in a different manner. There was a brief moment when I knew I wanted to deconstruct the material but didn't how. 5 months later after watching Moulin Rouge, I later discovered that the melody used in Tango de Roxanne was originally from Tanguera by Mariano Mores... I knew this melody was perfect for the second movement. This movement, Rumor, is about the public finding out about the “forbidden” love and spreading rumors, only for those rumors to grow and spread into something else. This is reflective of the little hispanic community where I grew up... where everybody knew everybody and all of their business.  

     The third movement, Lover’s Fate, is a direct result of the rumors that have been spread. The opening viola cadenza is told through the perspective of the lovers caught in complete shock after the events of Rumor. The remainder of this piece is retelling the events of the previous movements but making the listener remember the “memory” slightly differently than before. I took all the material from Lover’s Tale and Rumor, embellishing it just enough to make it seem like it was the original “memory” when in fact, it’s wasn't.