Emilio Balcarce. Argentine music at Escuela de tango de Buenos Aires.

“Si sos brujo” by Osvaldo Pugliese y su Orquesta Típica, 1952.

Emilio Balcarce

Violinist, bandoneonist, bandleader, arranger and composer (22 February 1918 – 19 January 2011)

Enamored with music, his blood is nurtured by the sap of tango and the four-to-the-bar beat circulates in his veins as soon as his fingers caress the strings of his violin and transfer his feeling to the bandoneon keyboard.

He decided to play bandoneon to make it weep or sing influenced by its expressive forcefulness, the sweetness of its nuances and the harmony of its chords.

Playing as second violin for Osvaldo Pugliese —Herrero was the lead violin—, recorded “Si sos brujo” (composed by him). Continue reading at www.todotango.com…

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“La yumba” by Osvaldo Pugliese y su Orquesta Típica, 1952.

Osvaldo Pugliese

Pianist, leader, composer.
(2 December 1905 – 25 July 1995)

It was his father who taught him his first music lessons, he started his first steps with violin too, but soon he switched to piano.

In the 40s Pugliese recorded some instrumental pieces of his own which anticipated the avant-garde. Such is the case of “La yumba” (which became a sort of anthem of his orchestra).

Pugliese became the most faithful example of the De Caro style, but with a strong rhythmic beat, very appealing to the dancers but without sacrificing quality. Continue reading at www.todotango.com…

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“La mariposa” by Osvaldo Pugliese y su Orquesta Típica, 1966.

Pedro Maffia

Bandoneonist, leader, composer, teacher
(August 28, 1899 – October 16, 1967)

It is not known what secret gift made Pedro Maffia find in the core of the bandoneon sounds that nobody had discovered before.

Until the second decade of the twentieth-century bandoneon players tended to imitate the flute —gradually displaced in the early quartets— and the barrel organ with their instrument. After undergoing his childhood frequent beating with a chain made by his brutal father, who forced him to beg for money after each tango he played, Maffia was who delivered the bandoneon needed by this popular genre to leave behind the playful Guardia Vieja (old stream) and turn serious, concentrated, fairly dreaming and frequently sad. Continue reading at www.todotango.com…

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Recuerdo. Argentine music at Escuela de Tango de Buenos Aires

“Recuerdo” by Osvaldo Pugliese y su Orquesta Típica, 1944.

The tango piece “Recuerdo”, a family secret

The tango piece “Recuerdo” was born at a time when the genre grew and evolved constantly, when the inspiration of the composers seemed infinite, so much so that today it would be difficult to choose a «hinge», a milestone, from which one concludes that there is a time before and a time after some or other piece.

However, we can say that “Alma de bohemio” (1914) by Roberto Firpo is an indubitable mark of an avant-garde creation because of the originality of its melodic structure and the complex density of its music that foretell us the appearance of a tango more polished, of a modern tango. The same happens with “Recuerdo” ten years later, with the difference that it bore lyrics almost since its inception and these words also influenced, finally, on the musical result of the piece. Let us remember that the lines by Juan Andrés Caruso for “Alma de bohemio” date back to 1929, that is to say, fifteen years after its creation. Continue reading at www.todotango.com…

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“Bien compadre” by Osvaldo Pugliese y su Orquesta Típica, 1949.

Emilio Balcarce

Violinist, bandoneonist, bandleader, arranger, and composer (February 22, 1918 – January 19, 2011)

Only a great one, after handing an arrangement for the orchestra to Aníbal Troilo, can be relieved from the suffering of the implacable torment of Pichuco’s eraser from which nobody escaped.

That rare privilege was conferred to him in 1958 when Emilio Balcarce, in his condition of orchestrator, delivered the music sheets of his arrangements of “La bordona”.

The latter is his most significant work due to the beauty of its melody which always sounds contemporary despite the passing of time.

He was by then the inspired musician who had walked along with the music staff in every possible way and who, discovering the secrets of perfect harmony, was shaping the best sounds of the most important orchestras. Continue reading at www.todotango.com…