Tango music
Encyclopedia
Tango is a style of ballroom dance
music in 2/4
or 4/4 time that originated among European immigrant populations of Argentina
and Uruguay
(collectively, the "Rioplatenses
"). It is traditionally played by a sextet, known as the orquesta típica
, which includes two violin
s, piano
, double bass
, and two bandoneon
s. Earlier forms of this ensemble sometimes included flute
, clarinet
and guitar
. Tango may be purely instrumental or may include a vocalist. Tango is well-known across much of the world, along with the associated tango dance
.
Even though the present forms developed in Argentina and Uruguay from the mid 19th century, there are records of 18th and early 19th century Tango styles in Cuba
and Spain
, while there is a flamenco Tangos
dance that may share a common ancestor in a minuet-style European dance. All sources stress the influence of the African communities and their rhythms, while the instruments and techniques brought in by European immigrants in the 20th century played a major role in its final definition, relating it to the Salon music
styles to which Tango would contribute back at a later stage.
The first Tango ever recorded was made by Angel Villoldo
and played by the French national guard in Paris
. Villoldo had to record in Paris because in Argentina at the time there was no recording studio.
Early tango was played by immigrants in Buenos Aires
, where many argue the tango was born. The first generation of tango players was called "Guardia Vieja" (the Old Guard). By the end of the 19th century, this blend of salon, European and African music was heard throughout metropolitan Buenos Aires
. It took time to move into wider circles: in the early 20th century it was the favorite music of thugs and gangsters who visited the brothels, in a city with 100,000 more men than women (in 1914). The complex dances that arose from such rich music reflects how the men would practice the dance in groups, demonstrating male sexuality and causing a blending of emotion and aggressiveness. The music was played on portable instruments: flute
, guitar
and violin
trios, with bandoneón
arriving at the end of the 19th century. The organito, a portable player-organ, broadened the popularity of certain songs. Eduardo Arolas
was the major instrument of the bandoneón's popularization, with Vicente Greco soon standardizing the tango sextet as consisting of piano
, double bass
, two violins and two bandoneons.
Like many forms of popular music, the tango was associated with the underclass, and the better-off Argentines tried to restrict its influence. In spite of the scorn, some, like writer Ricardo Güiraldes
, were fans. Güiraldes played a part in the international popularization of the tango, which had conquered the world by the end of World War I
, and wrote a poem ("Tango") which describes the music as the "all-absorbing love of a tyrant, jealously guarding his dominion, over women who have surrendered submissively, like obedient beasts".
One song that would become the most widely known of all tango melodies also dates from this time. The first two sections of La Cumparsita
were composed as a march instrumental in 1916 by teen-aged Gerardo Matos Rodríguez
of Uruguay.
from Argentine Pampas, and Argentine Candombe
. In Argentina there was Milonga "from the country" since the mid eighteenth century. The first "payador" remembered is Santos Vega
. The origins of Milonga seem to be in the Pampa with strong African influences, especially though the local Candombe (which would be related to its contemporary Candombe in Buenos Aires). It is believed that this candombe existed and was practised in Argentina since the first slaves were brought into the country.
Although the word "tango" to describe a music/dance style had been printed as early as 1823 in Havana
, Cuba
, the first Argentinian written reference is from a 1866 newspaper, that quotes the song "La Coqueta" (an Argentine tango
). In 1876 a tango-candombe called "El Merenguengué" became very popular, after its success in the Afro-Argentines carnival held in February of that year. It is played with guitar, violin and flute in addition to the Afro-Argentine Candombe drums ("Llamador" and "Repicador"). This has been seriously considered as one of the strong points of departure for the birth and development of the Tango.
The first "group" of tango, was composed of two Afro-Argentines, "the black" Casimiro Alcorta (violin) and "the mulatto" Sinforoso (clarinet). They did small concerts in Buenos Aires since the early 1870's until the early 1890's. "The black Casimiro" is author of "Entrada Prohibida" ("Entry Forbidden"), then signed by the brothers Teisseire, and "la yapa"; in turn, is credited with the tango "Concha sucia", which was later amended and signed by F. Canaro as "Cara sucia" ("dirty face"). It must be said, thought that this duo was the author and performer of many of the early tangos now listed as "anonymous", since at that time were not used to signing works.
Before the 1900s, the following tangos were being played: "El queco" (anonymous, attributed to clarinetist Lino Galeano in 1885), "Señora casera" (anonymous 1880), "Andate a la recoleta" (anonymous 1880), "El Porteñito" (by the Spaniard Gabriel Diez in 1880), "Tango Nº1" (Jose Machado - 1883), "Dame la lata" (Juan Perez, 1888), "Que polvo con tanto viento" (anonymous 1890), "No me tires con la tapa de la olla" (A.A. 1893), "El Talar" (Prudencio Aragon - 1895).
The first recorded musical score (though no author) is "La Canguela" (1889) and is in the Museum of the City Score Rosario. On the other hand, the first copyrighted tango score is "El entrerriano", released in 1896 and printed in 1898 - by Rosendo Mendizabal
, an Afro-Argentine. As for the transition between the old "Tango criollo" (Milonga from the Pampas, evolved with touches of Afro-Argentine Candombe, and some of Habanera), and the Tango of the Old Guard, there are the next songs: Ángel Villoldo
("El choclo", 1903) ("El Pimpolla", 1904), ("La Vida del Carretero", 1905) y ("El Negro Alegre", 1907), de Gabino Ezeiza
("El Tango Patagones", 1905), y de Higinio Cazón
("El Taita", 1905). Moreover, the first tango recorded by an orchestra was "Don Juan", whose author is Ernesto Ponzio. It was recorded by the orchestra of Vicente Greco.
Tango soon began to gain popularity in Europe, beginning in France. Superstar Carlos Gardel
soon became a sex symbol
who brought the tango to new audiences, especially in the United States
, due to his sensual depictions of the dance on film. In the 1920s, tango moved out of the lower-class brothels and became a more respectable form of music and dance. Bandleaders like Roberto Firpo
and Francisco Canaro
dropped the flute and added a double bass
in its place. Lyrics were still typically macho, blaming women for countless heartaches, and the dance moves were still sexual and aggressive.
Carlos Gardel
became especially associated with the transition from a lower-class "gangster" music to a respectable middle-class dance. He helped develop tango-canción in the 1920s and became one of the most popular tango artists of all time. He was also one of the precursors of the Golden Age of tango.
Gardel's death was followed by a division into movements within tango. Evolutionists like Aníbal Troilo
and Carlos di Sarli
were opposed to traditionalists like Rodolfo Biagi
and Juan D'Arienzo
.
era in the United States.
Some of the many popular and influential orchestras included the orchestras of Juan D'Arienzo
, Francisco Canaro
, and Aníbal Troilo
. D'Arienzo was called the "Rey del compás" or "King of the beat" for the insistent, driving rhythm which can be heard on many of his recordings. "El flete" is an excellent example of D'Arienzo's approach. Canaro's early milongas are generally the slowest and easiest to dance to; and for that reason, they are the most frequently played at tango dances (milongas
); "Milonga Sentimental" is a classic example.
Beginning in the Golden Age and continuing afterwards, the orchestras of Osvaldo Pugliese
and Carlos di Sarli
made many recordings. Di Sarli had a lush, grandiose sound, and emphasized strings and piano over the bandoneon, which is heard in "A la gran muñeca" and "Bahía Blanca
" (the name of his home town).
Pugliese's first recordings were not too different from those of other dance orchestras, but he developed a complex, rich, and sometimes discordant sound, which is heard in his signature pieces, "Gallo ciego", "Emancipación", and "La yumba". Pugliese's later music was played for an audience and not intended for dancing, although it is often used for stage choreography for its dramatic potential, and sometimes played late at night at milongas.
, whose Adiós nonino
became the most influential work of tango since Carlos Gardel's El día que me quieras
was released. During the 1950s, Piazzolla consciously tried to create a more academic form with new sounds breaking the classic forms of tango, drawing the derision of purists and old-time performers. The 1970s saw Buenos Aires developing a fusion of jazz
and tango. Litto Nebbia
and Siglo XX were especially popular within this movement. In the 1970s and 1980s, the vocal octet Buenos Aires 8
recorded classic tangos in elaborate arrangements, with complex harmonies and jazz influence, and also recorded an album with compositions by Piazzolla.
The so-called post-Piazzolla generation (1980-) includes musicians such as Dino Saluzzi
, Rodolfo Mederos
, Gustavo Beytelmann and Juan Jose Mosalini. Piazzolla and his followers developed Nuevo Tango, which incorporated jazz and classical influences into a more experimental style.
Tanghetto
and Carlos Libedinsky
are good examples of the subtle use of electronic elements. The music still has its tango feeling, the complex rhythmic and melodious entanglement that makes tango so unique. Gotan Project
is a group based in Paris, consisting of musicians Philippe Cohen Solal, Eduardo Makaroff
and Christoph H Muller. They formed in 1999. Their releases include Vuelvo al Sur/El capitalismo foráneo (2000), La Revancha del Tango
(2001), Inspiración Espiración
(2004), and Lunático
(2006). Their sound features electronic elements like samples, beats and sounds on top of a tango groove. Some dancers enjoy dancing to this music, although many more traditional dancers regard it as a definite break in style and tradition. Still, the rhythmic elements in Gotan Project's music are more complex than in some of the other "electro tango" songs that were created afterwards.
Bajofondo Tango Club (Underground tango club) and its follow-on album "Supervielle" are examples with a stronger "electro" feeling than Gotan Project. Bajofondo Tango Club's beats are more regular, more dominant. The rhythms are less complex but the tango feeling is still there.
Other examples can be found on the CDs Tango?, Hybrid Tango
, Tangophobia Vol. 1
, Tango Crash (with a major jazz
influence), Latin Tango by Rodrigo Favela (featuring classic and modern elements), NuTango. Tango Fusion Club Vol. 1 by the creator of the milonga called "Tango Fusion Club" in Munich
, Germany
, Felino by the Norwegian group Electrocutango
and "Electronic Tango", a various artists' CD. In 2004, a music label, World Music Network, also released a collection under the title The Rough Guide to Tango Nuevo.
with his Tangos
recording with bandoneon
ist Olivier Manoury. Since then, al Tango, Yo-Yo Ma
, Martha Argerich
, Daniel Barenboim
, Gidon Kremer
, Plácido Domingo
and Marcelo Alvarez
have performed and recorded Tangos.
Some classical composers have written tangos, such as Isaac Albéniz
in España (1890), Erik Satie
in Le Tango perpétuel (1914), Igor Stravinsky
in Histoire du Soldat
(1918), John Cage
in Perpetual Tango (1984), John Harbison
in "Tango Seen from Ground Level" (1991), and Milton Babbitt
in "It Takes Twelve to Tango" (1984). The influence of Piazzolla has fallen on a number of contemporary composers. The "Tango Mortale" in Arcadiana by Thomas Adès
is a striking example as is the orchestral Totentango
by Matthew King
.
Many popular songs in the United States
have borrowed melodies from tango: the earliest published tango, El Choclo, lent its melody to the fifties hit Kiss of Fire
. Similarly Adiós Muchachos became I Get Ideas
, and Strange Sensation was based on La Cumparsita
.
Ballroom dance
Ballroom dance refers to a set of partner dances, which are enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world. Because of its performance and entertainment aspects, ballroom dance is also widely enjoyed on stage, film, and television....
music in 2/4
Time signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
or 4/4 time that originated among European immigrant populations of Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
and Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
(collectively, the "Rioplatenses
Rioplatense Spanish
Rioplatense Spanish or River Plate Spanish is a dialectal variant of the Spanish language spoken mainly in the areas in and around the Río de la Plata basin of Argentina and Uruguay, and also in Rio Grande do Sul, although features of the dialect are shared with the varieties of Spanish spoken...
"). It is traditionally played by a sextet, known as the orquesta típica
Orquesta típica
Orquesta típica, or simply a típica, is a Latin-American term for a band which plays popular music. The details vary from country to country. The term tends to be used for groups of medium size in some well-defined instrumental set-up.- Argentina :In Argentina, a típica is a tango orchestra...
, which includes two violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
s, piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
, and two bandoneon
Bandoneón
The bandoneón is a type of concertina particularly popular in Argentina and Uruguay. It plays an essential role in the orquesta típica, the tango orchestra...
s. Earlier forms of this ensemble sometimes included flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
and guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
. Tango may be purely instrumental or may include a vocalist. Tango is well-known across much of the world, along with the associated tango dance
Tango (dance)
Tango dance originated in the area of the Rio de la Plata , and spread to the rest of the world soon after....
.
Origins
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, while there is a flamenco Tangos
Tangos
Tangos is a flamenco palo closely related in form and feeling to the Rumba. It is often performed as a finale to a Tientos. Its compas and llamada are the same as that of the Farruca and share the Farruca's lively nature. However, Tangos is normally performed in the A Phrygian mode.Tangos is...
dance that may share a common ancestor in a minuet-style European dance. All sources stress the influence of the African communities and their rhythms, while the instruments and techniques brought in by European immigrants in the 20th century played a major role in its final definition, relating it to the Salon music
Salon music
Salon music was a popular music genre in Europe during the 19th century. It was usually written for solo piano in the romantic style, and often performed by the composer at events known as "Salons". Salon compositions are usually fairly short and often focus on virtuoso pianistic display or...
styles to which Tango would contribute back at a later stage.
The first Tango ever recorded was made by Angel Villoldo
Ángel Villoldo
Ángel Gregorio Villoldo Arroyo was an Argentine musician and one of the pioneers of tango. He was born south of the city of Buenos Aires. He was lyricist, composer and one of the major singers of the era. He is also known by the pseudonyms A. Gregorio, Fray Pimiento, Gregorio Giménez, Angel Arroyo...
and played by the French national guard in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Villoldo had to record in Paris because in Argentina at the time there was no recording studio.
Early tango was played by immigrants in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, where many argue the tango was born. The first generation of tango players was called "Guardia Vieja" (the Old Guard). By the end of the 19th century, this blend of salon, European and African music was heard throughout metropolitan Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
. It took time to move into wider circles: in the early 20th century it was the favorite music of thugs and gangsters who visited the brothels, in a city with 100,000 more men than women (in 1914). The complex dances that arose from such rich music reflects how the men would practice the dance in groups, demonstrating male sexuality and causing a blending of emotion and aggressiveness. The music was played on portable instruments: flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
and violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
trios, with bandoneón
Bandoneón
The bandoneón is a type of concertina particularly popular in Argentina and Uruguay. It plays an essential role in the orquesta típica, the tango orchestra...
arriving at the end of the 19th century. The organito, a portable player-organ, broadened the popularity of certain songs. Eduardo Arolas
Eduardo Arolas
Eduardo Arolas was an Argentine tango Bandoneon player, leader and composer.Arolas first learned to play the guitar before learning the bandoneon which became his instrument of choice. His nickname was El Tigre del bandoneón .Arolas composed his first tango in 1909 before he could even read or...
was the major instrument of the bandoneón's popularization, with Vicente Greco soon standardizing the tango sextet as consisting of piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
, two violins and two bandoneons.
Like many forms of popular music, the tango was associated with the underclass, and the better-off Argentines tried to restrict its influence. In spite of the scorn, some, like writer Ricardo Güiraldes
Ricardo Güiraldes
Ricardo Güiraldes was an Argentine novelist and poet, one of the most significant Argentine writers of his era, particularly known for his 1926 novel Don Segundo Sombra, set amongst the gauchos.-Life:...
, were fans. Güiraldes played a part in the international popularization of the tango, which had conquered the world by the end of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and wrote a poem ("Tango") which describes the music as the "all-absorbing love of a tyrant, jealously guarding his dominion, over women who have surrendered submissively, like obedient beasts".
One song that would become the most widely known of all tango melodies also dates from this time. The first two sections of La Cumparsita
La Cumparsita
"La cumparsita" is a musical piece written by Gerardo Matos Rodríguez, an Uruguayan musician, in 1916. It is among the most famous and recognizable tango songs of all time....
were composed as a march instrumental in 1916 by teen-aged Gerardo Matos Rodríguez
Gerardo Matos Rodríguez
Gerardo Hernan Matos Rodríguez Montevideo, Uruguay, also known as Becho, was a Uruguayan musician, composer and journalist.-Background and early career:...
of Uruguay.
Argentinian roots of Tango
Besides the global influences mentioned above, early Tango was locally influenced by Payada, the MilongaMilonga
Milonga can refer to an Argentine, Uruguayan, and Southern Brazilian form of music which preceded the tango and the dance form which accompanies it, or to the term for places or events where the tango or Milonga are danced...
from Argentine Pampas, and Argentine Candombe
Candombe
Candombe is a musical genre that has its roots in the African Bantu, and is proper of Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil .Uruguayan Candombe is the most practiced and spread internationally and has been recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity...
. In Argentina there was Milonga "from the country" since the mid eighteenth century. The first "payador" remembered is Santos Vega
Santos Vega
Santos Vega was an Argentine gaucho, and invincible payador , who was only defeated by the Devil himself, disguised as the payador Juan sin Ropa .The myth states he is buried near San Clemente del Tuyú.President Bartolomé Mitre was the first to compose a poem based...
. The origins of Milonga seem to be in the Pampa with strong African influences, especially though the local Candombe (which would be related to its contemporary Candombe in Buenos Aires). It is believed that this candombe existed and was practised in Argentina since the first slaves were brought into the country.
Although the word "tango" to describe a music/dance style had been printed as early as 1823 in Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, the first Argentinian written reference is from a 1866 newspaper, that quotes the song "La Coqueta" (an Argentine tango
Argentine tango
Argentine tango is a musical genre of simple quadruple metre and binary musical form, and the social dance that accompanies it. Its lyrics and music are marked by nostalgia, expressed through melodic instruments including the bandoneon. Originated at the ending of the 19th century in the suburbs of...
). In 1876 a tango-candombe called "El Merenguengué" became very popular, after its success in the Afro-Argentines carnival held in February of that year. It is played with guitar, violin and flute in addition to the Afro-Argentine Candombe drums ("Llamador" and "Repicador"). This has been seriously considered as one of the strong points of departure for the birth and development of the Tango.
The first "group" of tango, was composed of two Afro-Argentines, "the black" Casimiro Alcorta (violin) and "the mulatto" Sinforoso (clarinet). They did small concerts in Buenos Aires since the early 1870's until the early 1890's. "The black Casimiro" is author of "Entrada Prohibida" ("Entry Forbidden"), then signed by the brothers Teisseire, and "la yapa"; in turn, is credited with the tango "Concha sucia", which was later amended and signed by F. Canaro as "Cara sucia" ("dirty face"). It must be said, thought that this duo was the author and performer of many of the early tangos now listed as "anonymous", since at that time were not used to signing works.
Before the 1900s, the following tangos were being played: "El queco" (anonymous, attributed to clarinetist Lino Galeano in 1885), "Señora casera" (anonymous 1880), "Andate a la recoleta" (anonymous 1880), "El Porteñito" (by the Spaniard Gabriel Diez in 1880), "Tango Nº1" (Jose Machado - 1883), "Dame la lata" (Juan Perez, 1888), "Que polvo con tanto viento" (anonymous 1890), "No me tires con la tapa de la olla" (A.A. 1893), "El Talar" (Prudencio Aragon - 1895).
The first recorded musical score (though no author) is "La Canguela" (1889) and is in the Museum of the City Score Rosario. On the other hand, the first copyrighted tango score is "El entrerriano", released in 1896 and printed in 1898 - by Rosendo Mendizabal
Rosendo Mendizabal
Rosendo Mendizabal was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. His family enjoyed a solid economic position, being fatherless at the age of three along with his brother....
, an Afro-Argentine. As for the transition between the old "Tango criollo" (Milonga from the Pampas, evolved with touches of Afro-Argentine Candombe, and some of Habanera), and the Tango of the Old Guard, there are the next songs: Ángel Villoldo
Ángel Villoldo
Ángel Gregorio Villoldo Arroyo was an Argentine musician and one of the pioneers of tango. He was born south of the city of Buenos Aires. He was lyricist, composer and one of the major singers of the era. He is also known by the pseudonyms A. Gregorio, Fray Pimiento, Gregorio Giménez, Angel Arroyo...
("El choclo", 1903) ("El Pimpolla", 1904), ("La Vida del Carretero", 1905) y ("El Negro Alegre", 1907), de Gabino Ezeiza
Gabino Ezeiza
Gabino Ezeiza, nicknamed "Black Ezeiza" , was an Argentine musician.Ezeiza was invincible, the most famous in the art of payar, both in land and in Uruguay...
("El Tango Patagones", 1905), y de Higinio Cazón
Higinio Cazón
Higinio D. Cazón was a musician and Songwriter.His minstrel activity led to many parts of the Republic, but the preferred center of their performances was in Buenos Aires and the people of this province. He published a booklet called joy and sorrow, which included his composition Ombú Under...
("El Taita", 1905). Moreover, the first tango recorded by an orchestra was "Don Juan", whose author is Ernesto Ponzio. It was recorded by the orchestra of Vicente Greco.
1920s and 1930s, Carlos Gardel
Carlos Gardel
Carlos Gardel was a singer, songwriter and actor, and is perhaps the most prominent figure in the history of tango. He was born in Toulouse, France, although he never acknowledged his birthplace publicly, and there are still claims of his birth in Uruguay. He lived in Argentina from the age of two...
soon became a sex symbol
Sex symbol
A sex symbol is a celebrity of either gender, typically an actor, musician, supermodel, teen idol, or sports star, noted for their sex appeal. The term was first used in the mid 1950s in relation to the popularity of certain Hollywood stars, especially Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte...
who brought the tango to new audiences, especially in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, due to his sensual depictions of the dance on film. In the 1920s, tango moved out of the lower-class brothels and became a more respectable form of music and dance. Bandleaders like Roberto Firpo
Roberto Firpo
Roberto Firpo was an Argentine tango pianist, composer and leader.Firpo was born in the Flores district of Buenos Aires, where his father owned a grocery store...
and Francisco Canaro
Francisco Canaro
Francisco Canaro was an Uruguayan-Argentine violinist and tango orchestra leader.His parents, Italians emigrated to Uruguay, and later - when Francisco Canaro was less than 10 years old, they emigrated to Buenos Aires in the late nineteenth century. Canaro was born in San José de Mayo, Uruguay,...
dropped the flute and added a double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
in its place. Lyrics were still typically macho, blaming women for countless heartaches, and the dance moves were still sexual and aggressive.
Carlos Gardel
Carlos Gardel
Carlos Gardel was a singer, songwriter and actor, and is perhaps the most prominent figure in the history of tango. He was born in Toulouse, France, although he never acknowledged his birthplace publicly, and there are still claims of his birth in Uruguay. He lived in Argentina from the age of two...
became especially associated with the transition from a lower-class "gangster" music to a respectable middle-class dance. He helped develop tango-canción in the 1920s and became one of the most popular tango artists of all time. He was also one of the precursors of the Golden Age of tango.
Gardel's death was followed by a division into movements within tango. Evolutionists like Aníbal Troilo
Aníbal Troilo
Aníbal Carmelo Troilo was an Argentine tango musician.Anibal Troilo was a bandoneon player, composer, and bandleader in Argentina. His orquesta típica was among the most popular with social dancers during the golden age of tango , but he changed to a concert sound by the late 1950s...
and Carlos di Sarli
Carlos di Sarli
Carlos Di Sarli was an Argentine tango musician, orchestra leader, composer and pianist.- Early years :Carlos di Sarli was born at 511 Buenos Aires street in the town of Bahia Blanca, located in Southern Argentina...
were opposed to traditionalists like Rodolfo Biagi
Rodolfo Biagi
Rodolfo Biagi was an Argentine Tango musician who started his musical career by playing background music for silent movies, and this was where he was first discovered by a tango band leader....
and Juan D'Arienzo
Juan D'Arienzo
Juan d'Arienzo was an Argentine tango musician, also known as "El Rey del Compás" . Departing from other orchestras of the golden age, D'Arienzo returned to the 2x4 feel that characterized music of the old guard, but he used more modern arrangements and instrumentation...
.
Golden Age
The "Golden Age" of tango music and dance is generally agreed to have been the period from about 1935 to 1952, roughly contemporaneous with the big bandBig band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
era in the United States.
Some of the many popular and influential orchestras included the orchestras of Juan D'Arienzo
Juan D'Arienzo
Juan d'Arienzo was an Argentine tango musician, also known as "El Rey del Compás" . Departing from other orchestras of the golden age, D'Arienzo returned to the 2x4 feel that characterized music of the old guard, but he used more modern arrangements and instrumentation...
, Francisco Canaro
Francisco Canaro
Francisco Canaro was an Uruguayan-Argentine violinist and tango orchestra leader.His parents, Italians emigrated to Uruguay, and later - when Francisco Canaro was less than 10 years old, they emigrated to Buenos Aires in the late nineteenth century. Canaro was born in San José de Mayo, Uruguay,...
, and Aníbal Troilo
Aníbal Troilo
Aníbal Carmelo Troilo was an Argentine tango musician.Anibal Troilo was a bandoneon player, composer, and bandleader in Argentina. His orquesta típica was among the most popular with social dancers during the golden age of tango , but he changed to a concert sound by the late 1950s...
. D'Arienzo was called the "Rey del compás" or "King of the beat" for the insistent, driving rhythm which can be heard on many of his recordings. "El flete" is an excellent example of D'Arienzo's approach. Canaro's early milongas are generally the slowest and easiest to dance to; and for that reason, they are the most frequently played at tango dances (milongas
Milonga (place)
Milonga is a term for a place or an event where tango is danced. People who frequently go to milongas are sometimes called milongueros. The term "milonga" can also refer to a musical genre....
); "Milonga Sentimental" is a classic example.
Osvaldo Pugliese
Osvaldo Pedro Pugliese was an Argentine tango musician. He developed dramatic arrangements that retained strong elements of the walking beat of salon tango but also heralded the development of concert-style tango music.Some of his music, mostly since the 50s, is used for theatrical dance...
and Carlos di Sarli
Carlos di Sarli
Carlos Di Sarli was an Argentine tango musician, orchestra leader, composer and pianist.- Early years :Carlos di Sarli was born at 511 Buenos Aires street in the town of Bahia Blanca, located in Southern Argentina...
made many recordings. Di Sarli had a lush, grandiose sound, and emphasized strings and piano over the bandoneon, which is heard in "A la gran muñeca" and "Bahía Blanca
Bahía Blanca
Bahía Blanca is a city located in the south-west of the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, by the Atlantic Ocean, and seat of government of Bahía Blanca Partido. It has a population of 274,509 inhabitants according to the...
" (the name of his home town).
Pugliese's first recordings were not too different from those of other dance orchestras, but he developed a complex, rich, and sometimes discordant sound, which is heard in his signature pieces, "Gallo ciego", "Emancipación", and "La yumba". Pugliese's later music was played for an audience and not intended for dancing, although it is often used for stage choreography for its dramatic potential, and sometimes played late at night at milongas.
Tango nuevo
The later age of tango has been dominated by Ástor PiazzollaÁstor Piazzolla
Ástor Pantaleón Piazzolla was an Argentine tango composer and bandoneón player. His oeuvre revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed nuevo tango, incorporating elements from jazz and classical music...
, whose Adiós nonino
Adiós Nonino
Adiós Nonino is a composition by tango composer Ástor Piazzolla, written in October 1959 while in New York in memory of his father, Vicente "Nonino" Piazzolla, a few days after his father's death....
became the most influential work of tango since Carlos Gardel's El día que me quieras
El día que me quieras
El día que me quieras is a song composed by Carlos Gardel, an Argentinian singer-musician, with text by Alfredo Le Pera. It became a heavily recorded tango standard, even by artists outside of the realm of tango.-Luis Miguel version:...
was released. During the 1950s, Piazzolla consciously tried to create a more academic form with new sounds breaking the classic forms of tango, drawing the derision of purists and old-time performers. The 1970s saw Buenos Aires developing a fusion of jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and tango. Litto Nebbia
Litto Nebbia
Litto Nebbia is a singer, songwriter and producer prominent in the development of Argentine rock.-Life and work:Félix Francisco Nebbia was born in Rosario to Martha and Félix Nebbia, in 1948. His parents were struggling musicians, though during his early teens, Litto left secondary school to join...
and Siglo XX were especially popular within this movement. In the 1970s and 1980s, the vocal octet Buenos Aires 8
Buenos Aires 8
Buenos Aires 8 was an Argentinian vocal ensemble which specialised in recording Tango classics such as music by Ástor Piazzolla. Its members were:* Chichita Fanelli* Magdalena León...
recorded classic tangos in elaborate arrangements, with complex harmonies and jazz influence, and also recorded an album with compositions by Piazzolla.
The so-called post-Piazzolla generation (1980-) includes musicians such as Dino Saluzzi
Dino Saluzzi
Timoteo "Dino" Saluzzi is an Argentine musician.The son of popular carpero composer and instrumentalist Cayetano Saluzzi, Dino played the bandoneón since his childhood...
, Rodolfo Mederos
Rodolfo Mederos
Rodolfo Mederos is an Argentine bandoneonist, composer and arranger. He lived in Cuba and France; in Argentina, he founded the cult group Generación Cero.- Beginnings :...
, Gustavo Beytelmann and Juan Jose Mosalini. Piazzolla and his followers developed Nuevo Tango, which incorporated jazz and classical influences into a more experimental style.
Neo-tango
Tango development has not stopped here. The following examples are not filed under "Tango Nuevo" since such classification is usually done with hindsight rather than when still undergoing development. These recent trends can be described as "electro tango" or "tango fusion", where the electronic influences are available in multiple ranges: from very subtle to rather dominant.Tanghetto
Tanghetto
Tanghetto is a musical group based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and one of the most important on the neo tango scene.The style of Tanghetto is a blend of tango and electronic music. Formed in 2001 by producer and composer/songwriter Max Masri . Then Max Masri asked guitarist and composer Diego S...
and Carlos Libedinsky
Carlos Libedinsky
Carlos Libedinsky is an Argentine musician, composer and producer. He is most renowned for his neo-tango project, Narcotango.Before tango, Libedinsky transited through different genres, such as rock, pop, blues, medieval and renaissance music...
are good examples of the subtle use of electronic elements. The music still has its tango feeling, the complex rhythmic and melodious entanglement that makes tango so unique. Gotan Project
Gotan Project
Gotan Project is a musical group based in Paris, consisting of musicians Philippe Cohen Solal , Eduardo Makaroff , and Christoph H. Müller .-History:...
is a group based in Paris, consisting of musicians Philippe Cohen Solal, Eduardo Makaroff
Eduardo Makaroff
Eduardo Makaroff is a musician, songwriter and producer born in Buenos Aires, Argentina.He arrived in Paris in 1990 where he still lives today, a city he considers the second capital of tango music after Buenos Aires....
and Christoph H Muller. They formed in 1999. Their releases include Vuelvo al Sur/El capitalismo foráneo (2000), La Revancha del Tango
La Revancha del Tango
La Revancha del Tango is the debut album of Gotan Project, released in 2001. In October 2010 the album was certified Gold by the BPI for sales of 100,000+ in the UK.-Track listing:# "Queremos Paz" – 5:15# "Época" – 4:28...
(2001), Inspiración Espiración
Inspiración Espiración
-Track listing:# "La Cumparsita" - 0:32# "Cité Tango" - 3:54# "Round About Midnight" - 7:09# "Confianzas" - 5:28# "The Man " - 7:12# "Percusiόn " - 4:14# "La Del Ruso " - 7:01...
(2004), and Lunático
Lunático
Lunático is the third album by Gotan Project. It was released in 2006 by the Paris-based ¡Ya Basta! records, run by Philippe Cohen Solal. The album is named Lunático after the racehorse of legendary tango master Carlos Gardel....
(2006). Their sound features electronic elements like samples, beats and sounds on top of a tango groove. Some dancers enjoy dancing to this music, although many more traditional dancers regard it as a definite break in style and tradition. Still, the rhythmic elements in Gotan Project's music are more complex than in some of the other "electro tango" songs that were created afterwards.
Bajofondo Tango Club (Underground tango club) and its follow-on album "Supervielle" are examples with a stronger "electro" feeling than Gotan Project. Bajofondo Tango Club's beats are more regular, more dominant. The rhythms are less complex but the tango feeling is still there.
Other examples can be found on the CDs Tango?, Hybrid Tango
Hybrid Tango
Hybrid Tango is a side project by the members of Buenos Aires-based electronic neo-tango band Tanghetto.Released in December 2004, Hybrid Tango contains twelve instrumental tracks in which, apart from the blend of electronic music and tango that is the distinctive sound of Tanghetto, there are...
, Tangophobia Vol. 1
Tangophobia Vol. 1
Tangophobia Vol. 1: Contemporary Sounds of Buenos Aires is a compilation CD released by Argentine independent label Constitution Music. It contains tracks from different neo-tango and electronic artists from Buenos Aires, including NeoShaft, B.A...
, Tango Crash (with a major jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
influence), Latin Tango by Rodrigo Favela (featuring classic and modern elements), NuTango. Tango Fusion Club Vol. 1 by the creator of the milonga called "Tango Fusion Club" in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Felino by the Norwegian group Electrocutango
Electrocutango
Electrocutango is an electrotango project founded by Sverre Indris Joner, based in Oslo, Norway. Their album Felino was originally music created for TanGhost, a tango/theater performance based on Henrik Ibsen's play Ghosts, directed by Per-Olav Sørensen . The show was choreographed by famous...
and "Electronic Tango", a various artists' CD. In 2004, a music label, World Music Network, also released a collection under the title The Rough Guide to Tango Nuevo.
Musical impact
The tango has become part of the repertoire for great classical musicians. One of the first classical interpreters to do this "cross over" was the baritone Jorge ChaminéJorge Chaminé
Jorge Chaminé is a Portuguese operatic baritone.Of Spanish and Portuguese parentage, he began his musical studies at an early age...
with his Tangos
Tangos
Tangos is a flamenco palo closely related in form and feeling to the Rumba. It is often performed as a finale to a Tientos. Its compas and llamada are the same as that of the Farruca and share the Farruca's lively nature. However, Tangos is normally performed in the A Phrygian mode.Tangos is...
recording with bandoneon
Bandoneón
The bandoneón is a type of concertina particularly popular in Argentina and Uruguay. It plays an essential role in the orquesta típica, the tango orchestra...
ist Olivier Manoury. Since then, al Tango, Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...
, Martha Argerich
Martha Argerich
Martha Argerich is an Argentine pianist.-Early life:Argerich was born in Buenos Aires and started playing the piano at age three...
, Daniel Barenboim
Daniel Barenboim
Daniel Barenboim, KBE is an Argentinian-Israeli pianist and conductor. He has served as music director of several major symphonic and operatic orchestras and made numerous recordings....
, Gidon Kremer
Gidon Kremer
Gidon Kremer is a Latvian violinist and conductor. In 1980 he left the USSR and settled in Germany.-Biography:Kremer was born in Riga to parents of German-Jewish and Latvian-Swedish origins. He began playing the violin at the age of four, receiving instruction from his father and his grandfather,...
, Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo KBE , born José Plácido Domingo Embil, is a Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range...
and Marcelo Alvarez
Marcelo Álvarez
Marcelo Raúl Álvarez, , is an Argentine lyric tenor who achieved international success starting in the mid-1990s....
have performed and recorded Tangos.
Some classical composers have written tangos, such as Isaac Albéniz
Isaac Albéniz
Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pascual was a Spanish Catalan pianist and composer best known for his piano works based on folk music idioms .-Life:Born in Camprodon, province of Girona, to Ángel Albéniz and his wife Dolors Pascual, Albéniz...
in España (1890), Erik Satie
Erik Satie
Éric Alfred Leslie Satie was a French composer and pianist. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde...
in Le Tango perpétuel (1914), Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
in Histoire du Soldat
Histoire du soldat
Histoire du soldat , composed by Igor Stravinsky, is a 1918 theatrical work "to be read, played, and danced" . The libretto, which is based on a Russian folk tale, was written in French by the Swiss universalist writer C.F. Ramuz...
(1918), John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
in Perpetual Tango (1984), John Harbison
John Harbison
John Harris Harbison is an American composer, best known for his operas and large choral works.-Life:...
in "Tango Seen from Ground Level" (1991), and Milton Babbitt
Milton Babbitt
Milton Byron Babbitt was an American composer, music theorist, and teacher. He is particularly noted for his serial and electronic music.-Biography:...
in "It Takes Twelve to Tango" (1984). The influence of Piazzolla has fallen on a number of contemporary composers. The "Tango Mortale" in Arcadiana by Thomas Adès
Thomas Adès
Thomas Adès is a British composer, pianist and conductor.-Biography:Adès studied piano with Paul Berkowitz and later composition with Robert Saxton at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London...
is a striking example as is the orchestral Totentango
Totentango
Totentango is a short orchestral work by the British composer Matthew King, commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra who premiered the work in the Barbican Hall in London in February 2010. The conductor at the first performance was Pavel Kotla...
by Matthew King
Matthew King (composer)
Matthew King is a British composer and pianist. His works include opera, piano and chamber music, choral and orchestral pieces.-Career:...
.
Many popular songs in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
have borrowed melodies from tango: the earliest published tango, El Choclo, lent its melody to the fifties hit Kiss of Fire
Kiss of Fire
"El Choclo" is a popular song written by Ángel Villoldo, an Argentine musician...
. Similarly Adiós Muchachos became I Get Ideas
I Get Ideas
-Origin:The music is a 1927 tango-canción called "Adios, Muchachos", composed by Argentinian Julio Cesar Sanders...
, and Strange Sensation was based on La Cumparsita
La Cumparsita
"La cumparsita" is a musical piece written by Gerardo Matos Rodríguez, an Uruguayan musician, in 1916. It is among the most famous and recognizable tango songs of all time....
.
See also
- History of TangoHistory of TangoTango, a distinctive dance and the corresponding musical style of tango music, began in the working-class port neighborhoods of Buenos Aires ; and years later in Montevideo, Uruguay; the area of the Rio de la Plata.-Etymology:...
- Finnish tangoFinnish tangoFinnish tango is an established variation of the Argentine tango and one of the most enduring and popular music forms in Finland. Brought to Europe in the 1910s by travelling musicians, Finns began to take up the form and write their own tangos in the 1930s...
- List of tango music labels
- Music of ArgentinaMusic of ArgentinaThe music of Argentina is known mostly for the tango, which developed in Buenos Aires and surrounding areas, as well as Montevideo, Uruguay. Folk, pop and classical music are also popular, and Argentine artists like Mercedes Sosa and Atahualpa Yupanqui contributed greatly to the development of the...
- Argentine tangoArgentine tangoArgentine tango is a musical genre of simple quadruple metre and binary musical form, and the social dance that accompanies it. Its lyrics and music are marked by nostalgia, expressed through melodic instruments including the bandoneon. Originated at the ending of the 19th century in the suburbs of...
- Music of UruguayMusic of UruguayThe music of Uruguay includes a number of local musical forms. The most distinctive ones are tango, murga, a form of musical theatre, and candombe, an afro-Uruguayan type of music which occur yearly during the Carnival period. There is also milonga, a folk guitar and song form deriving from Spanish...
- Uruguayan tangoUruguayan tangoUruguayan tango is a form of dance that originated in the neighborhoods of Montevideo, Uruguay towards the beginnings of the 20th century a few years later than Argentine tango...
- Vals (dance)Vals (dance)Vals is an Argentine tango style, the tango version of waltz. Unlike Argentine Tango and Milonga, there are no stopping figures. The vals is danced in a continuous movement. Not to be confused with the Peruvian Waltz, most widely known as Vals criollo....