The
original tango ensembles were trios of violin, guitar
and flute, but around the end of the nineteenth century
the bandoneón, the tango accordion, arrived
from Germany, and the classic tango orchestra was born.
The box-shaped button accordion, which is now inextricably
linked with Argentine tango, was invented around 1860 in
Germany to play religious music in organless churches. One
Heinrich Band reworked an older portable instrument nicknamed
the "asthmatic worm", which was used for funeral
processions as well as lively regional dances, and gave
his new instrument the name "Band-Union", a combination
of his and his company's names. Mispronounced as it
traveled the world, it became the bandoneón.
As
an expression of the working classes, the fortunes of
the tango have inevitably been linked with social and
political developments in Argentina and the social classes
they empowered. The figure of Juan D'Arienzo,
violinist and bandleader, looms large from the 1930s on.
With a sharp, staccato rhythm, and prominent piano, the
Juan D'Arienzo orchestra was the flavour of those
years. His recording of "La cumparsita" at the
end of 1937 is a classic and considered one of the greatest
of all time.
Tango
fortunes revived again in the 1940s, and the music enjoyed
a second golden age with the rise of Perón in 1946
and his emphasis on nationalism and popular culture to
win mass support. This was the era of a new generation
of bandleaders. At the top, alongside Juan D'Arienzo
were Osváldo Pugliese, Hector Varela and
the innovative Aníbal Troilo. Of all bandoneón
players, it was Troilo who expressed most vividly, deeply
and powerfully, and so tenderly, the nostalgic sound of
what is now regarded as a noble instrument. When he died
a few years ago half a million people followed his funeral
procession to the cemetery.
Buenos
Aires in the late 1940s was a city of five or six million
and each barrio would have ten or fifteen amateur tango
orchestras, while the established orchestras would play
in the cabarets and nightclubs in the center of the city.
Somehow in this era, however, tango began to move away
from working class to middle class and intellectual milieus.
Tango became a sort of collective reminiscence of a world
that no longer existed – essentially nostalgia.
CARLOS
GARDEL
The
extraordinary figure of Carlos Gardel (1887–1935)
was – and still is – a legend in Argentina,
and he was a huge influence in spreading the popularity
of tango round the world. He was born in Toulouse, France,
but taken to Buenos Aires at the age of four by his single
mother. He came to be seen as an icon of Arrabal culture,
and a symbol of the fulfillment of the dreams of the poor
porteño workers.
In
Argentina, it was Gardel above all who transformed tango
from an essentially low-down dance form to a song style
popular among Argentines of widely differing social classes.
His career coincided with the first period of tango's
golden age and the development of tango-canción
(tango song) in the 1920s and 30s. The advent of radio,
recording and film all helped his career, but nothing
helped him more than his own voice – a voice that
was born to sing tango and which became the model for
all future singers of the genre.
In
the 1920s, like most tango singers, Gardel sang to guitar
rather than orchestral accompaniment. Everything about
Gardel, his voice, his image, his suavity, his posture,
his arrogance and his natural machismo spelled tango.
Interestingly enough he started out as a variety act singing
traditional folk and country music in a duo with José
Razzano.
During
his career, Gardel recorded some nine hundred songs and
starred in numerous films, notably The Tango on Broadway
in 1934. He was tragically killed in an air crash in Colombia
at the height of his fame, and his legendary status was
confirmed. His image is still everywhere in Buenos Aires,
on plaques and huge murals, and in record-store windows,
while admirers pay homage to his life-sized, bronze statue
in the Chacarita cemetery, placing a lighted cigarette
between his fingers or a red carnation in his buttonhole.
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Tango
program classes in Buenos Aires Argentina
