The core of this collection contains photocopies of musical scores for 127 tangos for solo piano submitted to Yvar Mikhashoff between the years 1984-1991. Starting in 1983, Mikhashoff commissioned tangos from composers such as Robert Ashley, Milton Babbitt, Lukas Foss, Otto Luening, Luis de Pablo, and Nils Vigeland. The majority of the original manuscripts are held by Anthony de Mare, pianist, pupil and friend of Mikhashoff; however, this collection does contain manuscripts worthy of mention: The Three Fathers by Gilberto Mendes, Del Tingo al Tango by William Ortiz, Red-sweet Tango by Jorges Peixinho, Tangonetta by Poul Ruders, and Collage-tango by Tadeusz Wielecki. Other unique items in this collection include the sketches of Tiefertango by Oliver Knussen and autographed photocopies of tangos by Mikael Edlund, Tom Johnson, Betsy Jolas, John Myhill, Luis De Pablo, and Marcello Panni.
The collection also contains nine tangos arranged for a chamber ensemble and three tangos for voice and piano. Mikhashoff performed these works on April 15, 1987 with members of the Houston Symphony Orchestra in Houston, Texas. These arrangements have been collated to create another series within this collection.
Correspondence in the collection includes letters from composers, signed agreements for the commission, and/or biographical information about the composers sent to Mikhashoff and/or Ed Snider dated 1983-1989. Not all composers represented in this collection of tangos are included in the correspondence and not all composers with a correspondence folder submitted a tango. After the collection was donated to the Music Library, attempts to contact composers have resulted in updated information for the composer and revised versions of a few tangos previously submitted to the collection. These include Tango para Ivar by Orlando Jacinto Garcia, Moon-Dark Tango by Anthony Genge, Tin-pan Tango by Adrian Jack, and Tango Blue by Charles Sepos.
Mikhashoff's research into the history of the tango included journal articles, magazine articles, newspaper clippings, and a playbill and ticket stub for the Broadway show Tango Argentino. In addition, Mikhashoff collected images of couples dancing the tango and images of works of art that were inspired by or depicted the tango. Mikhashoff incorporated much of this information into his performances of the tango collection, including a lecture on the history of the tango and a slide show.
The performances were always evolving as more tangos were submitted to the collection. As a result, Mikhashoff created many lists of tangos received from 1984 to 1987. He saved programs and reviews of his performances, wrote a preface to the collection and had covers and postcards designed by Bud Jacobs, intended to be used for publishing.
| July 2005 Music Library Staff musique@acsu.buffalo.edu http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/units/music/spcoll/mikhashoff/tangos/scope.html |
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