Dance with No Key
“Pasodoble”
For Clarinet, Alto Saxophone, and Piano
About “Pasodoble”
Pasodoble is a Spanish musical style originally meant to accompany military marches. As such, it is always in a duple meter and is decently snappy. After the transmission of many aspects of Spanish culture to Latin America, the pasodoble became a staple dance form in the Spanish-speaking Americas. However, outside of the Hispanosphere, the pasodoble is relatively unheard of, with one major exception: Georges Bizet’s opera Carmen contains an aria titled “Votre toast, je peux vous le rendre,” simultaneously the most well-known piece from the entire opera and the most prominent modern example of a pasodoble. “Pasodoble” was directly inspired by this aria and seeks to emulate the marchlike feel of the traditional pasodoble in a completely serial context. This was achieved by implementing numbers important to Georges Bizet’s life, specifically his birthday, 25 October 1838; deathday, 3 June 1875; and the number of operas he wrote, nine.
