#5 The Smell of Unexpected

Why unexpected? One, this dixieland ballet was written in 1927; two, the orchestra is actually only a sextet (piano, violin, cello, trumpet, basoon, and clarinet); three, tango, really?

Yes, tango. After the beginning, sounding like an ending, the rhythm is there, in piano. It's a dance kept unexpectedly low, with soothing trumpet solo. The second part is even darker, ending in void. It's the smell you don't expect from Martinů. I was not prepared to hear something like it at all.

Composer: Bohuslav Martinů
Work: La revue de cuisine, II. Tango
Recording: The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Christopher Hogwood