The piano has been described as the backbone of the tango orquesta, and Dr Daniel Rojas brought his formidable professional skills to this question at a presentation on 12 August 2017.

This edition includes a report on this discussion, recognises El Señor del Tango, and closes with the second part of the discussion of how we learn tango with Sarah Bonnar. That’s Tango Capital, Sunday evening from 7:00pm to 8:00pm:

• broadcasting on 2xxfm 98.3 in Canberra
• streaming to the web at http://www.2xxfm.org.au
• on demand from http://www.2xxfm.org.au/programs/tango-capital/

Image: Dr Daniel Rojas explaining a point at the Sydney Tango House on 12 August 2017

PLAYLIST:

• Chau Pinela, the name a reference to a casual farewell (from lunfardo); it’s a tango recorded by Carlos Di Sarli; on 3 September 1930 music and lyrics by Humberto Castiglioni and sung by Ernesto Famá.
• La Estancia, the name a reference to a cattle run; it’s a tango recorded by Carlos Di Sarli; on 4 November 1930 music and lyrics by Pintín Castellanos and sung by Ernesto Famá.
• Flora, the name a reference to a woman’s name; it’s a tango recorded by Carlos Di Sarli; on 4 November 1930 with music composed by Augusto Pedro Berto lyrics by Carlos Keller Sarmiento and sung by Ernesto Famá.
• Felicia, the name a reference to a woman’s name; it’s a tango recorded by Juan D’Arienzo; on 29 April 1954 with music composed by Enrique Saborido, first recorded in 1927 and lyrics by Carlos Mauricio Pacheco.
• El Ingeniero, the name a reference to The Engineer, The Architect, or The Builder); it’s a tango recorded by Carlos Di Sarli; on 31 January 1955 with music composed by Alejandro Junnissi, first recorded in 1945.
• La Yumba, the name a reference to the rasping sound of the bandoneon; it’s a tango recorded by Osvaldo Pugliese; on 13 November 1952 with music composed by Osvaldo Pugliese, first recorded in 1946.
• Adiós Nonino from the ‘Adiós Nonino’ release in 1991, meaning ‘Farewell, Father’; it’s a concierto recorded by Astor Piazzolla; on ? 1960 with music composed by Astor Piazzolla in October 1960.
• Este Es El Rey, meaning ‘This Is The King’; it’s a tango recorded by Juan D’Arienzo; on 26 November 1971 with music composed by Carlos Ángel Lázzari, Manuel Antonio Caballero, and Juan Polito.
• Perfume from the ‘Tango Club’ release in 2002; it’s a tango recorded by Bajofondo; on 2002 music and lyrics by Luciano Supervielle  and sung by  Adriana Varela.

Last edition explored the life of Jorge Durán. This edition will feature his singing with Carlos Di Sarli through both periods, 1945 to early 1947 and from 1956 to 1958 . That’s Tango Capital, Sunday evening from 7:00pm to 8:00pm:

• broadcasting on 2xxfm 98.3 in Canberra
• streaming to the web at http://www.2xxfm.org.au
• on demand from http://www.2xxfm.org.au/programs/tango-capital/

Image Credit: https://todayintango.wordpress.com/category/sun-sign/capricorn/

PLAYLIST:

• Soy El Cantor De La Orquesta, meaning ‘I Am The Singer Of The Orquestra’; it’s a tango recorded by Carlos Di Sarli; on 23 April 1945 with music composed by Alfredo J Gobbi, lyrics by Osvaldo Antonio Bruzzi ,and sung by Jorge Durán.
• Tus Labios Me Dirán, meaning ‘Your Lips Will Tell Me’; it’s a tango recorded by Carlos Di Sarli; on 8 March 1945 with music composed by Emilio Brameri, lyrics by Héctor Marcó, and sung by Jorge Durán.
• Tu Íntimo Secreto, meaning ‘Your Innermost Secrete’; it’s a tango recorded by Carlos Di Sarli; on 30 October 1945 with music composed by Graciano Gómez in 1945 with lyrics by Héctor Marcó, and sung by Jorge Durán.
• Hoy Al Recordarla, meaning ‘Today Remember’; it’s a tango recorded by Carlos Di Sarli on 31 July 1945, music and lyrics by José Canet and sung by Jorge Durán.
• Un Tango…Y Nada Más, meaning ‘One Tango…And Nothing More’; it’s a tango recorded by Carlos Di Sarli on 5 July 1945 with music composed by Armando Lacava and Juan Pomati, lyrics by Carlos Waiss ,and sung by Jorge Durán.
• Vieja Luna, meaning ‘Old Moon’; it’s a tango recorded by Carlos Di Sarli on 4 June 1945, with music composed by Arturo Gallucci, lyrics by Celedonio Flores, and sung by Jorge Durán.
• Así Era Mi Novia, meaning ‘This Was My Girlfriend’; it’s a tango recorded by Carlos Di Sarli on 31 January 1946, with music composed by Carlos Di Sarli, lyrics by Héctor Marcó, and sung by Jorge Durán.
• Clavel Del Aire, meaning ‘Carnation Of The Aire’; it’s a tango recorded by Carlos Di Sarli on 6 June 1946, with music composed by Juan de Dios Filiberto in 1930, lyrics by Fernando Silva Valdés, and sung by Jorge Durán.
• Cosas De Tango, meaning ‘Things Of Tango’; it’s a tango recorded by Carlos Di Sarli on 31 January 1946, with music composed by Tito Ribero and first recorded in 1945, lyrics by Rodolfo M Taboada, and sung by Jorge Durán.
• A La Luz Del Candil, meaning ‘By The Light Of The Candle’; it’s a tango recorded by Carlos Di Sarli on 27 September 1956, with music composed by Carlos Vicentre Geroni Flores in 1927, lyrics by Julio Plácido Navarinne, and sung by Jorge Durán.
• Duele Más, meaning ‘It Hurts More’; it’s a tango recorded by Carlos Di Sarli on 19 December 1956, with music composed by Simón Bajour and Rafael Torrado, lyrics by Reinaldo Yiso, and sung by Jorge Durán.
• Quién Sino Tú, meaning ‘Who Are You?’; it’s a tango recorded by Carlos Di Sarli on 19 December 1956, with music and lyrics by Edmundo Rivero, first recorded in 1955, and sung by Jorge Durán and Roberto Florio.
• Serenata Mía, meaning ‘My Serenade’; it’s a tango recorded by Carlos Di Sarli on 21 November 1957, music and lyrics by Juan Pablo Marín, and sung by Jorge Durán and Roberto Florio.
• Lo Que Me Hablaron De Vos, meaning ‘What They Told Me About You’; it’s a tango recorded by Carlos Di Sarli on 25 April 1957, with music composed by Leopoldo Federico, first recorded in 1956, lyrics by Raúl Gramajo, and sung by Jorge Durán.
• No Me Hablen De Ella, meaning ‘Do Not Talk To Me About Her’; it’s a tango recorded by Carlos Di Sarli on 30 September 1957, with music composed by Tití Rossi and Jorge Moreira, and sung by Jorge Durán.
• Donde Estas, meaning ‘Where Are You’; it’s a tango recorded by Carlos Di Sarli on 28 August 1958, with music composed by Manuel Sucher and first recorded in 1954, lyrics by Carlos Bahr and sung by Jorge Durán.
• Buenas Noches, Buenos Aires, meaning ‘Good Night, Buenos Aires’; it’s a tango recorded by Carlos Di Sarli on 16 January 1958, with music composed by Sebastián Piana, lyrics by Osvaldo Sosa Cordero, and sung by Jorge Durán.

Maggie Ferguson and Friends warmed up a cold winter night in Sydney with a hot presentation of a variety of tango at the Camelot Lounge on 6 August 2017. This edition includes a report on Hot Tango In Winter, introduces the voice of Jorge Durán, and finishes up with discussion of how we learn tango with Sarah Bonnar. That’s Tango Capital, Sunday evening from 7:00pm to 8:00pm:

• broadcasting on 2xxfm 98.3 in Canberra
• streaming to the web at http://www.2xxfm.org.au

Image: Tango Learning, courtesy of Sarah Bonnar

PLAYLIST:

• Sueño de Juventud, meaning ‘Dreams of Youth’; it’s a vals recorded by Carlos Di Sarli; on 28 September 1945, music and lyrics by Enrique Santos Discépolo in 1931 and sung by Jorge Durán.
• Que No Sepan Las Estrellas, meaning ‘They Know Not The Stars!’; it’s a tango recorded by Carlos Di Sarli; on 3 January 2945 with music composed by José Ranieri, lyrics by Alfredo Faustino Roldán and sung by Jorge Durán.
• Pueblera, meaning ‘Woman from the provinces’; it’s a milonga recorded by Carlos Di Sarli; on 14 January 1947 with music composed by Antonio Bonavena, lyrics by Horacio Sanguinetti and sung by Jorge Durán.
• Whisky, meaning ‘Whisky’; it’s a tango recorded by Carlos Di Sarli; on 4 October 1957 music and lyrics by Héctor Marcó in 1951 and sung by Jorge Durán.
• Loca Bohemia from the ‘Loca Bohemia’ release in 2011, meaning ‘Crazy Unconventional’; it’s a concierto recorded by Maggie Ferguson and Tango Oz in 2011 in Buenos Aires; music composed by Francisco De Caro, first recorded in 1928 and lyrics by Francisco Bautista Rímoli.
• Kicho from the ‘Oda Para Un Hippie’ release in 2005, the name a reference to Piazzolla’s double-bass player, “Kicho” Díaz; it’s a concierto recorded by Helmut Abel and Fortuna Quartett in 2005; music composed by Astor Piazzolla, first recorded in 1970.
• Historia De Un Amor, meaning ‘Story Of A Love’; it’s a tango recorded by Héctor Varela; on 13 March 1956 music and lyrics by Carlos Eleta Almarán, first recorded in 1955 and sung by Rodolfo Lesica.
• El Lloron from the ‘Classical Tango Argentino’ release in 1972, meaning ‘The Weeper (meaning “one who cries”)’; it’s a milonga recorded by Hugo Diaz; in 1972 with music composed by Juan Félix Maglio in 1933 and lyrics by Enrique Cadícamo.
• Desde El Alma, meaning ‘From The Soul’; it’s a tango recorded by Osvaldo Pugliese; on 26 December 1985 with music composed by Rosita Melo, first recorded in 1927 and lyrics by Victor Piuma Vélez and Homero Manzi.

Following on from the 2 July edition discussing Juan D’Arienzo’s reinvention of himself in 1935, the statement that he speeded up the music has been challenged. The point made is that, with the switch away from 4/4 to 4/8, D’Arienzo’s new sound was based around 8 shorter notes rather than 4 moderate notes, and that these shorter notes would give an impression of being faster – just because there are more of them in a given time.

It’s a good point, and so it was back to the music for an answer. The 14 recordings D’Arienzo made in 1935 (played on 9 July 2017) formed a sample, and were matched to recordings from other orquestas from 1935 or earlier. Sets matched these criteria for 7 of D’Arienzo’s recordings, including two matches for 2 of D’Arienzo’s recordings (Re Fa Si and Nueve De Julio), and the percentage differences in speed for the pairs of recordings are summarised in the table.

The results show that the differences between D’Arienzo and his contemporaries on the same pieces of music sampled vary between 2.8% and 36.5%—and in every case D’Arienzo is the faster of the two. Some other points emerge:

• The comparison track played on the 2 July edition of Tango Capital was Canaro’s 1935 recording of Hotel Victoria; D’Arienzo’s version was definitely more lively, yet the difference in speed is only 3.4%. Clearly a small difference in speed is both detectable and effective.
• Predictably, the 2 valses are most speeded up—by 21.1% and 36.5%–thus restoring them to something closer to the speed of the Viennese waltz that had had a strong grip on popular dancing for decades—the popularity that D’Arienzo was trying to emulate. But the tangos are also speeded up, substantially in some cases.
• There do not appear to be patterns based around particular orquestas. Thus, for example, whilst D’Arienzo increased the speed over two of the Canaro recordings by a substantial amount, he only increased the speed over the third Canaro recording by 3.4%, the second lowest in the set.
• There is no chronological pattern; the differences do not vary in parallel with the age of the comparison recording:

There are some caveats on this analysis…the matching was not exhaustive (only around 3,500 recordings checked), D’Arienzo’s music in subsequent years may have varied in speed from the 1935 recordings, only a small number of contemporaries were identified from the many that were recording at the time…nonetheless the results do suggest that D’Arienzo really did speed up the music a little, and in so doing he gained an edge in excitement over his contemporaries.

Last edition introduced the life of Cátulo Castillo. This edition will feature his music and lyrics as played and sung over 4 decades, exploring the ways singers presented the lyrics in many different styles. That’s Tango Capital, Sunday evening from 7:00pm to 8:00pm:

• broadcasting on 2xxfm 98.3 in Canberra
• streaming to the web at http://www.2xxfm.org.au
• on demand from http://www.2xxfm.org.au/programs/tango-capital/

Image Credit: https://javierbarreiro.wordpress.com/2015/08/24/catulo-castillo/

PLAYLIST:

• Viejo Ciego, meaning ‘Blind Old Man’; it’s a tango recorded by Francisco Canaro in 1928, with music composed by Cátulo Castillo and Sebastián Piana in 1926, lyrics by Homero Manzi, and sung by Charlo.
• Te Llama Mi Violín, meaning ‘My Violin Calls You’; it’s a tango recorded by Osvaldo Fresedo in 1942, with music composed by Elvino Vardaro, lyrics by Cátulo Castillo, and sung by Oscar Serpa.
• El Aguacero, meaning ‘The Downpour’; it’s a tango recorded by Lucio Demare on 9 September 1943, with music composed by Osvaldo Pugliese, lyrics by Cátulo Castillo, and sung by Horacio Quintana.
• La Madrugada, meaning ‘The Dawn’; it’s a tango recorded by Pedro Laurenz on 26 April 1944, with music composed by Ángel Maffia, lyrics by Cátulo Castillo, and sung by Carlos Bermúdez.
• Silbando, meaning ‘Whistling’; it’s a tango recorded by Emilio Balcarce on 22 October 1945, with music composed by Cátulo Castillo and Sebastián Piana in 1923, lyrics by José González Castillo (Juan de León), and sung by Alberto Castillo.
• Para Qué Te Quiero Tanto, meaning ‘Why I Love You So Much’; it’s a tango recorded by Domingo Federico on 19 July 1945, with music composed by Juan Larenza in 1945, lyrics by Cátulo Castillo, and sung by Carlos Vidal.
• Maria, the name a reference to a woman of that name; it’s a tango recorded by Astor Piazzolla on 16 October 1945, with music composed by Aníbal Troilo in 1945, lyrics by Cátulo Castillo, and sung by Francisco Fiorentino.
• Maleza, meaning ‘Weed’; it’s a tango recorded by Osvaldo Pugliese on 28 May 1945, with music composed by Enrique Juan Munné, lyrics by Cátulo Castillo, and sung by Alberto Morán.
• Luna Llena, meaning ‘Full Moon’; it’s a tango recorded by Enrique Rodríquez on 18 January 1945, with music composed by Mario Perini, first recorded in 1944, lyrics by Cátulo Castillo, and sung by Armando Moreno.
• Camino Del Tucumán, meaning ‘Road To Tucumán’; it’s a tango recorded by Ángel D’Agostino on 10 September 1946, music and lyrics by José Razzano and Cátulo Castillo in 1946, and sung by Ángel Vargas.
• Papel Picado, meaning ‘Confetti’; it’s a tango recorded by Ricardo Tanturi on 26 January 1948, with music composed by Cátulo Castillo and Sebastián Piana in 1934, lyrics by José González Castillo (Juan de León), and sung by Osvaldo Ribó.
• El Patio De La Morocha, meaning ‘Courtyard Of The Dark-haired Woman’; it’s a tango recorded by Edgardo Donato on 6 June 1951, with music composed by Mariano Morés in 1951, lyrics by Cátulo Castillo, and sung by Carlos Almada.
• Se Muere De Amor, meaning ‘If You Die Of Love’; it’s a tango recorded by Carlos Di Sarli on 5 March 1953, with music composed by Pedro Maffia in 1942, lyrics by Cátulo Castillo, and sung by Mario Pomar.
• La Cantina, meaning ‘The Trattoria’; it’s a tango recorded by Miguel Caló on 15 June 1954, with music composed by Aníbal Troilo, lyrics by Cátulo Castillo, and sung by Alberto Podestá.
• El Último Farol, meaning ‘The Last Streetlight’; it’s a tango recorded by Aníbal Troilo on 30 July 1969, with music composed by Aníbal Troilo, lyrics by Cátulo Castillo, and sung by Tito Reyes.

 

It would be a rare milonga that did not include any songs at all from Cátulo Castillo but being primarily a lyricist means that few know his name. This edition looks at his life and times, takes a look at the broader context in which tango developed through the piano lecture Clásicos Argentinos, and finishes up with discussion of a milonga tanda with Serkan Alasya.

That’s Tango Capital, Sunday evening from 7:00pm to 8:00pm:

• broadcasting on 2xxfm 98.3 in Canberra
• streaming to the web at http://www.2xxfm.org.au
• on demand from http://www.2xxfm.org.au/programs/tango-capital/

Image: Serkan Alasya DJing at BASH (Buenos Aires in the Southern Highlands) in November 2016.

PLAYLIST:

• Organito De La Tarde, meaning ‘Street Organist of the Afternoon’; it’s a tango recorded by Francisco Canaro in 1925, with music composed by Cátulo Castillo in 1923 and lyrics by José Gonsález Castillo (Juan de León).
• Eufemio Pizarro, the name a reference to a malevo, a street thug, whose name references Eufemio Zapata, Mexican revolutionary, and Francisco Pizarro, Spanish conquistador; it’s a tango recorded by Francisco Canaro on 21 April 1947, music and lyrics by Cátulo Castillo and Homero Manzi in 1947, and sung by Alberto Arenas.
• Café De Los Angelitos, meaning ‘Café Of The Angels’; it’s a tango recorded by Rodolfo Biagi on 15 June 1945, music and lyrics by Cátulo Castillo and José Razzano in 1944, and sung by Alberto Amor.
• La Última Curda, meaning ‘The Last Drunk’ (from lunfardo); it’s a tango recorded by Anibal Troilo on 7 May 1963, with music composed by Anibal Troilo in 1956, lyrics by Cátulo Castillo and José Razzano, and sung by Roberto Goyeneche.
• El Último Café from the ‘Tango’ release by pianist Marcela Fiorelli in 2012, meaning ‘The Last Coffee’; it’s a tango concierto, with music composed by Héctor Stamponi in 1963 and lyrics by Cátulo Castillo.
• Sacale Punta; it’s a milonga recorded by Edgardo Donato on 9 March 1938, with music composed by Osvaldo Donato, lyrics by Sandilio Gómez, and sung by Horacio Lagos and Randona.
• De Punta A Punta, meaning ‘From End To End’; it’s a milonga recorded by Edgardo Donato on 6 March 1939, with music composed by Osvaldo Donato, lyrics by Sandilio Gómez, and sung by Horacio Lagos.
• El Torito, meaning ‘The Tower’; it’s a milonga recorded by Edgardo Donato on 14 November 1939, with music composed by Ángel Villoldo in 1910 and lyrics by Carlos Pesce and Antonio Polito.
• Ella Es Así, meaning ‘She Is Like That’; it’s a milonga recorded by Edgardo Donato on 10 October 1938, with music composed by Luis Martino, lyrics by Manuel Carretero, and sung by Horacio Lagos.
• Perdonáme, meaning ‘Forgive Me’; it’s a tango recorded by Osvaldo Fresedo on 13 December 1954, with music composed by Héctor Stamponi in 1946, lyrics by Cátulo Castillo, and sung by Héctor Pacheco.