“Each 11 of July is celebrated as the National Day of the Bandoneón As homage to the birthday of anÍbal Troilo” …

Thus read a headline on a major Argentine newspaper last week. Neither Troilo’s name nor the instrument that contributed to his rising as one of the greatest tango personalities are foreign words to tango dancers around the world.  But not many tango lovers know the history of the “tango wind box”. So, let’s take advantage of the summer hiatus of our classic TALK A TANGO column to examine the major technical and historic features of the instrument considered the “soul” of tango music.

(Continue Reading…)

Talk A Tango – Last Tanda,
Osvaldo Fresedo. Elegance And Refinament

The evolutionary trend initiated by Roberto Firpo had in Julio De Caro and Osvaldo Fresedo its most relevant figures. De Caro lifted tango music from the rough streets of the suburbs to the conservatory and opera houses. Fresedo dressed tango up in a tuxedo and guided it through the finest salons of Buenos Aires aristocratic nights. With the irruption of De Caro and Fresedo in the musical landscape, two distinct stylistic lines at the vanguard begun to evolve. The De Caro line, represented by brothers Julio and Francisco as well as by Pedro Maffia and Pedro Laurenz, sought a continuous exploration and expansion of tango horizons. The Decarean school, impulsive and dramatic, was the storm. In contrast, Fresedo, with a serene and harmonic style was the calm.

(Continue Reading…)

SEVENTH TANDA
THE TANGO REVOLUTION OF THE ROARING TWENTIES

After the end of WWI, tango, as other expressions of art, headed towards reform and renovation. A new generation of musicians formed under the shadow of the Old Guard began to question the dogmatic structure that prevailed in the composition and interpretation of tango music. The ample acceptance gained by the Orchestra Típica suggested new interpretative possibilities, but these possibilities stonewalled against the rigid instrumental execution in 2×4 mode. New ideas were in demand to produce popular music that would depart from the repetitive habanera-like style that had dominated tango music during the first two decades of the Twentieth Century. The anarchic style that characterized the initial times of the Guardia Vieja became outdated.

(Continue Reading…)

Talk A Tango – Sixth Tanda,
The secrets of La Cumparsita

We have seen in our previous column how Roberto Firpo transformed a simple march into a popular tango, when touring Uruguay in 1916. Gerardo Matos-Rodriguez, who was the actual author of the march, had no idea that, many years later, his tango would be solemnly declared Cultural and Popular National Anthem of Uruguay and he would be considered a national hero. The new tango had been initially conceived by Matos-Rodriguez as an easy-listening marching song to be danced during the approaching carnival festivities. But after Firpo added a third section to the song (Continue Reading…)

FOURTH TANDA: FRANCISCO CANARO. THE STUBBORN OLD GUARDIAN

We have seen in previous pages how a century ago, tango music made its triumphant arrival to Buenos Aires nightlife clubs off Corrientes St. in the hands of Vicente Greco. Now, let’s focus our attention on a fellow musician of Greco, who became a giant figure in tango history, Francisco “Pirincho” Canaro. Born in Uruguay in 1888, Francisco Canaro … (Continue Reading)