Tango

music and dance style

The Old Guard (Guardia Vieja)

The tango, born in the whorehouses at the beginning of the century, possessed a clearly defined musical style and choreographic art (Creole Tango). In Montevideo, Pintín Castellanos composed his famuous milonga "La Puñalada". At the same time Matos Rodriguez published "La Cumparsita" which was first played by Firpo at the "La giralda Bar" in Montevideo in 1916. This tango would later be performed by the most famous orchestras and even today it is one of the best known tangos from the Rio de la Plata.

The evolution of tango continued and in 1917 Contursi and Castriota composed the tango-canción "El dia que me quieras", which would be sung by Carlos Gardel. By then, the tango had its own instrumental music, its own dance, its own song: its own elegance.

Julio de Caro was a very important figure in the evolution of tango. His style was based on a mixture of the Creole current of 'Arolas' and the more European 'Cobián'. His tangos can be divided in two groups, one with a more rhytmic and elegant character (tango milonga) and another with a more intense melodic romanticism (tango romanza).

Transition Period

At the beginning of the forties the overwhelming personality of Anibal Troilo erupted onto the scene, gave tango an incredible momentum and was a source of inspiration to Astor Piazzolla. He was one of the greatest bandoneón players and inherited his art from the old masters of the bandoneón like Pedro Laurenz, Pedro Mafia and Ciriaco Ortiz, creating the most peculiar bandoneón playing style in the history of the tango. His tangos, in the renewing style of Julio de Caro, Pugliese, Gobi and Bardaro, formed the highlights of the forties, together with those of Mariano Mores and Horacio Salgán. His manner of conducting, his preference for slower tempos and his growing interest in arrangements and orchestration characterized his style.

The New Guard (Guardia Nueva)

Astor Piazzolla was better known to the generation of the forties as arranger of Anibal Troilo, but turned into the most important composer of the fifties. His creative personality blossomed with the tangos "Preparense" (1951) and "Lo que vendrá" (1953), the first exponents of the new tango. His spirited rhytmic themes and the long complex phrases as well as his approach to the history of tango formed the cradle of the 'Tango Nuevo'.

His creative talent lead him to Paris and to Nadia Boulanger, whose guidance and advice reaffirmed his vocation of renewer of the tango and acquainted him with European composition techniques. From that moment on his art has constantly evolved. One of the most typical examples is his "Buenos Aires Hora Cero", composed in 1965, in which Astor Piazzolla used the technique of random music as a sign of his never ending quest. (Baltazar Benítez - Translation: Jorge Sanchez)

What are the roots of Tango?

A lot has been written about the hazy origins of the tango, about its poetic and social topics, about the situation of the newly arrived immigrants in the American continent, etc. The mystery remains. What are the roots of tango? Sadness, solitude, exile?

There is only one answer: the composers and the instrumentalists gave birth to tango and its appeal made it a widespread phenomenon. Its major composers: Matos Rodríguez, Julio de Caro, Pintín Castellanos, Aieta, Laurenz and Troilo. Most important contemporary composer: Astor Piazzolla.

We are greatful to them and to many others like Firpo, Arolas, Bardi, Cobián. We hope this music, which is part of the cultural heritage of the Rio de la Plata, will continue to please all tango fans. (Alfredo Marcucci)

From: Alfredo Marcucci