A Brief Harmony of Tango, Part III

(Zur deutschen Version)

Eduardo Arolas

1. Introduction

1.1 Minor Keys

Heretofore, we have explored two fundamental aspects of tonality: the relationships of the dominant  and subdominant to the tonic. We have seen how dominant and subdominant functions were employed to establish a tonality and to provide a musical contrast to the tonic in order to make a composition more interesting. For reasons of simplicity, so far we discussed pieces set in major keys. However, there exists another kind of tonality that is particularly important to tango: the minor keys.

Major and minor keys are distinguished by different types of scales, that is, the distribution of whole and half tone steps varies. As a consequence, the harmonies are diverse as well. The chord built on the tonic, for example, corresponds to the designation of the key and is either major or minor.

All major and minor scales consists of five whole tone and two half tone steps. In a major scale, the half-tone steps are located between third and fourth as well as between the seventh and eighth scale degree. (In the following examples, half tone steps are indicated by curved brackets above the respective notes. The tonic chord is played at the end of each example.) The sequence of half and whole tone steps in a major scale remains the same in ascending and descending motion.

In a (natural) minor scale, the half-tone steps are located between the second and third as well as sixth and seventh scale degrees.

It is the location of the first half-tone step that renders the tonic chord major or minor. Being located between the third and fourth scale degrees in the major scale, the tonic chord is necessarily a major chord. Correspondingly, since the first half-tone step is located between the second and third scale degrees in a minor scale, the tonic chord will be a minor one.

It is a particularity of the minor scale, however, that it is rarely used in its natural state. For melodic and harmonic reasons, the sixth and seventh degree are raised by a half step in ascending melodic motion, and lowered again in descending motion. This kind of scale is commonly called the “melodic minor scale”.

It becomes apparent from the example that the harmonic possibilities of a minor key are greater than those of a major one. For example: in a major key, the subdominant and dominant are always major chords. In a minor key, however, they can appear as major or minor chords, depending in what scalar context they occur (that is, ascending or descending melodic motion).

1.2 Relative Major-Minor Keys

Major and minor keys that share the same key signature are called relative keys. Their relationship is obvious: the chords built with the natural scales are common to both keys. Yet, tonic, subdominant and dominant are different in each key and hence their tonality is distinct. The following example shows the scale degrees of the relative keys F-major and d-minor. The tonic degree is indicated by square boxes, the subdominant and dominant by brackets above or below the degree numerals, respectively.

Relative major and minor keys: scales.

The example illustrates that relative keys are similar inasmuch as they share a common body of sound material, that is, the chords. On the other hand, they are distinct entities because the chords function differently in relationship to the respective tonic. For example, the dominant of the minor key (d: V in the example) can only be a secondary dominant in the major key (F: III in the example). The interrelation between tonic and dominant is fixed and particular to just one key. (Secondary dominants were discussed in A Brief Harmony of Tango, II.)

We have seen in our previous discussions of harmony in tango music that composers used the dominant and subdominant keys as a musical contrast to the tonic key. It was done in order to emphasize the formal structure of a piece and to make it sound more interesting. Both the tonic and the contrasted tonality were major keys in these cases. One will also find major and minor keys used in such fashion. This was, in fact, a method used by composers more frequently than setting up a contrast between keys of the same kind.

The reason for this preference seems to be that a contrast between major and minor keys is more perceptible on the one hand and, on the other, the harmonies become richer and more expressive through minor keys. In addition, the different sound quality of a cheerful major and somber minor key lent itself especially well to express the melancholy mood of many tango song texts.

2. Arolas, “El Tigre del Bandoneón”

Many tango dancers today may not be familiar with the name Eduardo Arolas, but undoubtedly they will recognize a good number of his compositions. There is no milonga where one will not hear tangos like “Comme il faut”, “Derecho viejo”, “Retintín”, “La guitarrita”, or any other of Arolas' many compositions.

Arolas was highly respected by his peers both as a bandoneonist and composer. Born in 1892 in Buenos Aires, he died at the young age of 32 in Paris. Consequently, there exist comparatively few recordings of Arolas and his orchestras, and those that are extant are primitive audio recordings of poor quality—hence his inconspicuous fame today.

His first instrument was the guitar, which he played in the cafés of his hometown, but he soon switched to the bandoneon. When he composed his first tango, “Noche de garufa”, in about 1909 he was still musically illiterate and his friends had to write down the music for him. In 1911, however, he entered a conservatory and studied music for three years. The knowledge he gained in music theory greatly influenced his music. His pieces—and Cardos among them—attest a composer with a solid understanding of music theory and an alacrity for experimentation.

3. “Cardos”

A biographer of Arolas counted Cardos among the composer's “unknown” pieces. We have encountered only two recordings of it, one of them being the superb version by the Orquesta Típica Victor given below as an example. Showing no traces of the habanera rhythm, the piece appears to be a late composition by Arolas, having been composed most likely in the 1920s.

Like most instrumental tangos of the first quarter of the 20^th century, Cardos is a three-part composition. Its structure is very regular: each of the three sections (referred to hereafter as A, B, and C, respectively) is 16 measures long. In turn, each of the sections is divided into antecedent and subsequent phrases of 8 measures.

This division continues on even smaller levels: each eight-measure phrase breaks down into two periods of four measures which are again divided into motifs of two measures length. The two-measure motifs are the smallest melodic units that express a musical idea. Each four-measure period ends with some kind of cadence; those occurring at the end of the consequent phrases are emphasized and articulated stronger.

Sections A and B are written in d-minor, as is indicated by the key signatures and final chords. In both cases, the final chord is preceded by a strong cadence that anchors the tonality firmly in d-minor. Section C, however, which shares the same key signature, ends on an F-major chord. This final chord is also preceded by a strong cadence and thus this section is written in F-major, which is the relative major key to d-minor.

If the piece is performed with all its repetitions (see the video with the performance of the Orquesta Típica Victor below), the tonal structure unfolds as follows:

The formal layout and the tonal relationships between the sections are quite conventional. Apart from being set in a different key, section C, the trio, is surrounded by the other section through repetitions. Looking at the piece as a whole, it begins and ends in d-minor but turns to a contrasting key (for musical variety) in the middle. This contrasting key is not the dominant or subdominant; in this case it is the relative key F-major.

We have stated above that it is a characteristic of relative major and minor keys to have several chords in common. As a consequence, it is easy to move harmonically from one relative key to the other. That is to say, it is but a small degree of change that may hardly be noted. Yet, if the demarcation between relative major and minor keys is weak, then there is room for ambiguity. This ambiguity is exactly what Arolas brings forward to make his piece interesting. Unlike the straightforward, rather conventional large-scale layout of the piece, the harmonic development within each section is much more involved and engaging.

3.1 Section A

It was observed that the formal division of Cardos is very regular. Each section consists of sixteen measures that, in turn, are divided into two phrases of eight measures length, and so forth.

The antecedent phrase of section A demonstrates the division into four-measure periods most clearly since the second period is identical to the first; measures 5 to 8 are simply a repetition of measures 1 to 4.

Cardos, Section A, Antecedent Phrase

The second phrase echos the melodies of the first one with different harmonies and without repetition. The division into four-measure periods is nevertheless maintained.

Cardos, Section A, Subsequent Phrase

Cardos, Section A

In terms of tonality, the two phrases of the section differ significantly. Looking at the antecedent phrase by itself, it is not clear in which key it is written. The two four-measure periods (which are identical) consist of two simple motifs built on an F-major and d-minor chord, respectively, and their dominants. The harmonies can be interpreted either as being in d-minor or F-major. If it is in F-major, then the phrase starts on the tonic (I), which is common way to start a piece. If it is in d-minor, then the antecedent phrase ends on the dominant (V), which is a typical way to end an antecedent phrase. Hence, the tonality in this phrase is left ambiguous.

The following example (the music being reduced to chord progressions) shows the harmonic analysis in both d-minor and F-major.

Cardos, Section A, Antecedent Phrase, harmonic reduction

In the consequent phrase, however, the tonality becomes unambiguous. Both periods end with a dominant cadence on d-minor (V-I, see measures 3-4 and 7-8, respectively).

Cardos, Section A, Consequent Phrase, harmonic reduction

In summary, the section starts with an antecedent phrase that is tonally ambiguous, whereas the consequent phrase is firmly establishes d-minor as the key.

Cardos, Section A, harmonic reduction

3.2 Section B

It was a striking feature of section A that the antecedent phrase consisted of two periods of which the second was an exact repetition of the first. A similar scheme can be found in section B. Here, however, the repetition involves the complete phrases. Moreover, the motifs are involved in another kind of repetition: a sequence. All two-measure motifs are similar; yet, they are not literal repetitions, but are shifted down to a different scale degree.

Cardos, Section B, Antecedent Phrase

The consequent phrase repeats the preceding one almost exactly and only changes melodically at the end to emphasize the cadence.

Cardos, Section B, Consequent Phrase

The first period (measures 1 to 4, two motifs of the sequence) contains a harmonic progression (D-g-C-F) where each chord is a fifth lower than the preceding one. Hence, this progression resembles a series of secondary dominants, where the preceding chord resolves to the following one. And, since it is a series of dominant progressions, there is no clearly defined tonic. Therefore, this sequence could equally well be interpreted as being in d-minor or F-major. It is only in the second period (measures 8 to 5) where the key is established as d-minor through a strong cadence (measures 6 to 8).

Both sections A and B are harmonically congruent, then. Both are set in d-minor, but a clear articulation of the key takes place only after passages that are tonally ambivalent.

Cardos, Section B, harmonic reduction

3.3 Section C

Section C continues the pattern of repetitions set up previously. The two motifs of the first period (measures 1-2 and 3-4, respectively) are arranged as a sequence.

Cardos, Section C, Antecedent Phrase

The consequent phrase, as in section B, repeats the antecedent one almost completely and only introduces some variation at the end in order to emphasize the cadence.

Cardos, Section C, Consequent Phrase

Cardos, Section C, harmonic reduction

Harmonically, section C differs from the others inasmuch as it is less ambivalent about its key. This is largely a consequence of being set in a major key (F), which is more homogenous than a minor key. Another reason is that one may consider both periods as extended cadences in F-major.

Cardos, Section C, Antecedent Phrase, Harmonic Reduction

Starting out on the tonic, the first period (measures 1-4) returns to d-minor, however, by introducing a “deceptive cadence” in measure 4. Deceptive cadences are a common feature in major-minor tonality. The term describes a situation in which a regular dominant cadence does not resolve to the tonic (V-I) as expected but to the relative minor (V-VI).

The second period (measures 5-8) reintroduces a harmonic progression that we have encountered already in section B: it is the harmonic sequence of secondary dominants, D-g-C-F. In section B, it appeared in the first period of each phrase. Here, in section C, it appears in the second period. The correspondence goes further: the first period in section C ended with a deceptive cadence on d-minor. In section B it was the second period that ended with a cadence on d-minor. In short, we find that the composer recapitulated the harmonic progressions of section B in section C by swapping four-measure periods.

Cardos, Section C, Harmonic Reduction

4. Conclusion

Our analysis suggests that the tonal structure of Cardos has been carefully planned. Sections A and B are set in d-minor, whereas section C is set in the relative key, F-major. Sections A and B are tonally more involved in comparison to the clearly defined section C. The d-minor key is made explicit only after moving through harmonic progressions that are tonally ambivalent. Section C, by contrast, is unequivocally set in C-major from the outset. Thus, the tonal structure of section C, the trio, provides a polarity to the preceding sections.

Arolas' Cardos is a fascinating composition that surprises through its economy of means. The composer created a piece in which a few melodic and harmonic ideas are developed with great expressiveness. Cardos is the work of an experienced composer who planned his piece with care and consideration. Nothing in this piece appears by chance but has its proper place and function.

Arolas' fame as a bandoneonist is legendary but an estimation of his work as a composer is still lacking. Cardos shows one thing very clearly: he was a serious composer who should be taken serious.

Eduardo Arolas: Cardos, Orquesta Típica Victor

© 2017 Wolfgang Freis