Let the music play on

THE TANGO MUSIC

 

Tango music is a particular style of music that began in late eighteenth and nineteenth hundred years among the European settler and African slave populaces of Argentina during the improvement of the cutting edge tango dance. The styles that affected this popular melodic style have come from sources like flamenco, polka, mazurika, hanabera, contradanse, valso criolo, milonga and candombe , while the most commonplace instruments are guitar, bandoneón (otherwise called "Tango accordion"), piano, violin, woodwind and twofold bass. The customary and tango music can be played both with a performance instrument, or an outfit ensemble (orquesta típica) that typically incorporates a woodwind, piano, twofold bass, and no less than two of the two violins and bandoneóns. While solo guitars and clarinets are intriguing, they are in many cases a piece of tango music outfit band, and similar turns out as expected for a singer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image from goanddance

 

The musicality of the advanced tango holds the 2/4 or 4/4 beats for every action with two upbeats and two downbeats, with continuous utilization of complemented notes, nostalgic verses, abrupt changes in elements, utilization of slides (glissandi), frequently utilization of staccato (walk like expressions), serious yet melancholic mind-set and opportunity for extemporization that is energized by its old jazz beginnings. It is exceptionally interesting to find tango music that comprises just beats. The tango is known as one of the most versatile musical and dancing styles in the world, being able to morph quickly with the changes in musical styles, social environment or even changes in clothing fashion! In recent years tango music evolved into many new styles, including Tango Nuevo, Electro Tango and other.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image from therealargentinas

 

ORIGIN OF TANGO MUSIC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image from tangology101 

 

Since the origins of the tango style are closely tied with the mix of influences from immigrants and slaves located in Argentina and Uruguay (most notably port cities of Buenos Aires and Montevideo), the exact form of tango music changed widely over the years. Most probably, the original tango music that was played during early “conventillos” (gatherings of immigrants, poor and working-class people in communal dance halls or open fields) could not be easily identified today as a tango. That early tango community eventually became known as "Guardia Vieja" (the Old Guard), but their efforts eventually paid off. During those early years of tango music history, bandoneons (large square-shaped concertina/accordion with bellows played by pressing buttons or keys) became highly popular in Argentina and Uruguay. That early tango community eventually became known as "Guardia Vieja" (the Old Guard), but their efforts eventually paid off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image from pinterest

 

As the popularity of tango music rose, it eventually reached the core of Buenos Aires where it started being played in higher end dance halls and theater stages. During that same time, first compositions started capturing the minds of the upper classes of people across entire Argentina and Uruguay (such as one of the first tango “El Entrerriano” by Argentine pianist Rosendo Mendizabal in 1890s and the first tango recording made in Paris by Angel Villoldo) which were by that time experiencing sudden increase of national wealth.Younger generations of wealthy nobles became ambassadors of tango dance and tango music beyond the borders of South America.

 

Argentina

One of the earliest tango songs that became widely popular in Argentina was tango-candombe called "El Merenguengué" that was performed frequently at the Afro-Argentines carnival that was held in February of 1876. The mentionings of the word “tango” in historical records were rare by then, and earliest findings point to 1823 Havana Cuba, an 1866 newspaper and 1789 government proclamation that banned the “tango” gatherings of slaves and lower classes in the port areas of Buenos Aires.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image from worldmusiccentral

 

The first organized “group” of tango musicians started operating in Buenos Aires between the early 1870s and early 1890s, consisting of two Afro-Argentines Casimiro Alcorta and Sinforso who played violin and clarinet.

 

Before 1900, Argentine became home of the dozens of popular tango songs, including:

 

Señora casera”

 

“Andate a la recoleta”

 

Lino Galeano’s “El queco”

 

Gabriel Diez’s “El Porteñito”

 

Jose Machado’s “Tango Nº1”

 

Juan Perez’s “Dame la lata”

 

Prudencio Aragon’s “El Talar”

 

Eloísa D’Herbil’s “Y a mí qué” and “Che no calotiés!” and others

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image from argentmusic

 

All these songs were almost exclusively performed live, but that era came to the end with the arrival of the recording equipment to Argentina or with the ability of Argentinian composers to travel to more developed parts of the world (usually Paris) where they could record their music. Some of the earliest recorded tango songs in Argentina were:

 

1889 - “La Canguela”

 

1896 - Rosendo Mendizabal’s "El entrerriano”

 

1903-1907 - Ángel Villoldo’s "El choclo", “El Pimpolla”, “La Vidadel Carretero” and “El Negro Alegre”

 

1905 - Higinio Cazón’s “El Taita”

 

1905 - Gabino Ezeiza’s “El Tango Patagones”