Welcome back! Today’s post is about Tango. This Argentinian dance that has transcended the borders of the South American continent is one of the most sensual, rich and popular styles of music in Latin America. Tango is considered traditional of the city of Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina but where did it originate? As many countries in South America, there was an important amount of displaced people that migrated from Europe at the end of the 19th and the beginnings of the 20th centuries. Argentina and Uruguay received and welcomed an important number of Italians and Germans who were traveling to get away from the beginnings of the Great War (WWI) in the 1910s, and start over in a new place and be part of the society, searching for new opportunities. These immigrants brought with them their own cultural identity and traditions; this is the reason why Tango has such an interesting mixture of instruments and rhythms. The most important instrument here is the Bandoneón. This instrument is physically like an Accordion and the sound resembles a Harmonica. Surprisingly, the Bandoneón was born in the late 19th century in Germany and was meant to be used in church services and in popular music of that time. When brought to Argentina and Uruguay it was adopted by the newly born Tango, that was related directly to the Milonga (traditional style of music in Argentina and Uruguay). Other instruments present in the Tango ensemble are Violin or Flute, Double Base, Piano, and sometimes a singer. Tango was initially played in the cities of Buenos Aires and Montevideo inside of bars as music to be played in what we know today as “café - concert” setting, which was also getting popular in Paris and in bars across New York city where Jazz was also being played. By the 1930s, Tango had taken over the bars of these cities and was very well positioned in society. An important composer and figure of the Tango scene in Buenos Aires was Astor Piazzolla (1921 – 1992). Descendant of two Italian immigrants who moved to Mar del Plata in the 1890s and who later moved again to New York City for some years after Astor’s birth. Given the fact that his parents were two hardworking immigrants. His influences came from recordings by Argentinian singer Carlos Gardel as well as jazz and classical music, all present in his environment. He had the opportunity to study with composer Alberto Ginastera by recommendation of the celebrated pianist Arthur Rubinstein, who advised young Piazzolla to register for lessons with the famous Argentinian composer. With him he learned from works by contemporary composers such as Igor Stravinsky, Maurice Ravel and Béla Bártok. Later on in his life, he went to Paris to get away from the tango scene after winning the Fabian Sevitzky Award for his work Buenos Aires Symphony in Three Movements (1953) and studied composition and counterpoint with the acclaimed pedagogue Nadia Boulanger at the Fontainebleau Conservatory. When he came back to Buenos Aires in 1955, he had new ideas for his new ensemble called the Orquesta de Cuerdas, an octet formed by two bandoneons, two violins, double bass, cello, piano, and an electric guitar. Some of his most important works are the Histoire du Tango, Adios Nonino, Libertango, Oblivion, Le Grand Tango, the Estaciones Porteñas, among others. So, going back to our main topic, why is tango so popular? I must say that it is also because of its very passionate and provocative dance form. The fact that the lyrics of this music are usually very melancholic and somewhat sad, makes the dance be like that too. Dancing tango is a true art. It is danced with a partner, usually male and female, and looks a lot like the Spanish Flamenco. The movements go with the music that usually is played by a live band. The dress code is usually for the man to wear a nice suit, tie and nice shoes, as well as an iconic hat evoking those times of the 1920s. The lady wears a very fitted dress that not necessarily has to be red, and that has a long opening on one side of the legs to help with the dance as well. Hair goes back, usually in a bun and black heels for shoes. Very vintage looking if I´m being honest. I think that as the times have gone by, Tango has gotten popular due to the immigration of Argentinian and Uruguayan people, musicians and dancers to other places of the world, who then want to visit and live it themselves. I had this experience myself, twice and on orchestra tours and I must say, Buenos Aires is one of my favorite cities because it´s the perfect mixture of European heritage and Latin vibe that you don´t really find in all the countries of the “southern cone.” I encourage everyone to travel and get outside of your comfort zones. I have learned to love Latin American culture by traveling and there is nothing better than immerse yourself in it (even if you don’t know Spanish, Portuguese, French, Papiamento, or any native indigenous dialects). Let’s answer our other question… Can Tango be considered “Classical”? I think it can. There are works by Piazzolla that mixed all his musical experiences like the Tango Etudes for solo flute or violin. Wonderful pieces of music that challenge the player to play accurately and also in a dancing manner; or how about the Histoire du Tango? This work is for flute or violin and classical guitar. Four movements that represent the changes of the genre from 1930 to our days (or at least the 70s or 80s before his death in 1992). There are other works, like the Estaciones Porteñas that have changed the view of the violin world. A work inspired on Vivaldi´s Four Seasons but with a Tango twist. As one must know, the seasons in the southern hemisphere are opposite of the north. When in the USA we have Winter, they are in Summer. Therefore, the Estaciones Porteñas by Piazzolla start with Famous performer violinist Gidon Kremer commissioned an arrangement for solo violin and strings orchestra to Leonid Desyatnikov, who did a marvelous work at orchestrating this work meant for a smaller band. I will share with you today two recordings of this work and you can judge by yourself. The first one is going to be Astor Piazzolla himself playing the Primavera (Spring) Porteña with his Tango group and then the recording of Gidon Kremer and his Kremerata Baltica. ENJOY!!!!! P.S. Please comment, like, subscribe! I would love to hear ideas and recommendations for other topics you would like me to write about. Ok, see you next Wednesday! Bye!
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Thank you so much for clicking on this post! I am very excited to share my ideas about Latin American repertoire, especially for violin. I recently finished my Doctorate in Musical Arts at Shenandoah Conservatory, and I wrote my Lecture Recital Document on a piece for solo violin called Tres Estudios para Violin solo by Venezuelan composer Miguel Astor. I discovered with this piece that it is imperative to many musicians who live outside of their countries to bring our culture and traditions with us and really represent our countries. As a Venezuelan musician myself - born and raised- I must say that my way to express that sentiment of belonging is by playing and showing people of the world how rich is the music of my country and how wonderful are the ideas of Venezuelan composers that are not known in the USA. This is the reason why I have created this blog (soon to be podcast too... shhhh! stay tuned), to allow everyone to look through that window and discover an incredible source of music styles and sonorities that they might have not been exposed to before, and enjoy it in any form they want. It can be playing, researching, recording and why not, just listening to it! Please let me know in the comments section if you have any music suggestions or ideas for the podcast and of course, the blog! Here we hear what the people say! ;) My first musical recommendation is going to be a movement of a piece I love... - Histoire du Tango for flute/violin and guitar, by composer Astor Piazzolla. Here is a link to one of my favorite recordings of this work. Enjoy!!!! |