I grew up performing the works of the great Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona on piano. His lyricism and rhythmic vitality always had a big influence on me and has made its way into my music. When Hiram approached me about composing a theme and variations style piece, I instantly wanted to arrange this melody – something well known to all Cubans. This work takes Lecuona’s wonderful melody and features the Euphonium taking it in different acrobatic directions. When performing this work, it is important to note that when the salsa kicks in at letter F, the style of the
staccato and marcato accents should get shorter and more influenced by jazz articulations. Also be sure to play every note without an accent or marcato two dynamics softer than notes with those articulations to give them an almost “ghosted” sound.