Charanga

Description

Michael Colquhoun presents Charanga for flute alone.

Salsa is a popular Hispanic-American urban dance music with deep African and Cuban roots. Charanga is a style of Salsa which was popular from the 1920’s through the 1970’s. What made Charanga unique was that along with the usual percussion section (congas, bongos/cowbell, timbales, maracas/guiro and clave) there was a string section and a flute lead. When the music was cocinando (or ‘cooking’), the percussion, piano, bass and strings would play a powerfully swinging, polyrhythmic patter over which the Charanga flutist was free to improvise complex and intricate riffs. These days, while Salsa is popular as ever, the Charanga as a separate entity is rare. The flute, however, continues to be an important solo instrument. This piece is a cubist portrait of Charanga, and is dedicated to all the great Latin Charanga flutists.

Charanga was the 1993 National Flute Association commissioned piece for the High School Soloist Competition.

Additional information