Alexander Wustin - Bagatelle

from "Petrushka Project".
Oliver Triendl, piano.
The "Bagatelle" by the Russian composer (*1943) in a tempo di tango is not really a proper tango -- or maybe it is after all? It can best be defined as a Cubist portrait of the Argentine dance form en miniature. In a mere 24 bars ranging from the lowest to the highest registers, the distinctive rhythm, the daring "harmonic garb" and the predominantly muted dynamics evoke a touch of decadence. What we do know however is that the former "salacious" dance was defined by UNESCO as a "masterwork of the oral and intangible heritage of mankind" in 2009. The tango became socially acceptable in Russia from 1911 onwards (Tsar Nicholas II permitted his nephew to give him a demonstration of this dance) and remained one of the most popular dances during the Soviet era. A tango festival has been held annually in Moscow since 2003.
In his "Bagatelle", Wustin also returns to the original French meaning of the term: "trifle, flirtation" and to the "Sympathie", a more modern term for a bagatelle utilised since 1988 to denote bagatelles associated with a homage.
http://www.petrushka-project.com/works/composers/show,20868.html