Tango Sooke

Budapest National Symphony Orchestra Strings
Music of Brent Straughan
Maestro: Krisztián Balassa
Leader: Andrea Igaz
Executive Producer, Musiversal.com: Rita Tulha
Music Producer: Alex Palmer
Sound Engineer: Tamás Kurina
Pro Tools Operator: Láposi Gergő (Greg)
Mixing Engineer/Editor: Henrique Vilhena
Mastering Engineer: Luiz Tornaghi
Cameraman: Mészáros Bence
Colour Grading: Julia Hostetler
Obrigado: André Miranda, whose passionate commitment to “crowd funding” orchestral recording time has made so much music come to life, which would otherwise sleep in silence. Musiversal.com, and Bonnie Wilde, who graciously let us virtually “attend” my recording session from her sewing room in the rockies.
In May of 2024 I was present at a concert wherein a group of very young string players “The Sooke Harmony Project” - led by Maria Wang -prepared to perform ahead of the Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra’s regular concert.
It’s a great thrill for the young players, and I very much looked forward to hearing their performance. Only one small cellist from the section, however, showed up! Teacher, Maria., immediately grabbed her cello, looked at me, narrowed her eyes and said;
“You’re not playing in this concert are you…?”
“No”, says I, “No, I’m not”.
Suddenly, I was conducting!
There wasn’t any music for me, and I didn’t know the piece.
We had two quick run-throughs in the green room, and off we marched upstairs to the concert!
I looked out at all those bright beaming little faces, and beamed right back ! Suddenly, everything seemed possible!
The piece went splendidly, the audience was thrilled. I received a great many compliments on their performance for weeks afterwards. I was so inspired by those happy little faces that I immediately went home and wrote “Tango Sooke”.
At the back of my mind, however, there remained a deep sadness.. My youngest brother was locked in a darkening struggle with multiple myeloma. Every which way he turned, the treatments pitilessly failed.
Bruce was the cheerful one in our family, the one who could get along with anyone. He turned his business into a remarkable success story, without loss of connection to his family.
As I worked on the music, Bruce’s good cheer bubbled up everywhere throughout the piece; irrepressibly optimistic, as ever - you can see it in the musicians’ smiles as they play. I finished the work quickly and convinced a few friends in the “Sooke Philharmonic String Workshop” to read it through the next day - thank you Hsing Jou, Carol Sperling, Valerie Sim, Ken Heise, Trevor MacHattie, and Mary-Jane Watson. I made a couple of quick video clips on my iPhone, and e-mailed them to my brother. His sons played it for him. It was the last music he ever heard. I promised Bruce that “Tango Sooke” would be done properly one day, and in his memory; a promise now kept.
Farewell dear brother, go with God until he sees fit to re-unite us. We loved you the moment we set eyes on you, and that never changed.