The Variaciones Concertantes date to 1953, and like many of his best works display what he called a “subjective nationalism” – that is, they use elements adapted from Argentine traditions without incorporating folk music as such. They begin with a conspicuously Argentine gesture, as the harp plucks the same pitches as a gaucho strumming the open strings of a guitar, but it’s off to the races from that point, and in the midst of the full-technicolor cinematic journey that begins there a listener isn’t likely to take time to wonder which elements are “Argentine” and which ones just sound cool.
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