Among compositions written
during the early part of tango history, there exist a number of
pieces that have been recorded by later tango orchestras as both
tangos and milongas. The different versions of some pieces will sound
familiar to the experienced tango dancer, perhaps without realizing
that these tangos are danced today in two different ways. Or, it may
instead come as a surprise that another version exists, not to be
danced the way it is customarily done today.
A striking example is El
Porteñito by Ángel Villoldo
(1861-1919), which most tango dancers will know as a milonga
performed by the orchestra of Ángel D'Agostino, sung by Ángel
Vargas. Yet, one can also hear it performed as a tango by the
orchestra of Juan D'Arienzo and—less frequently—by the Orquesta
Típica Victor, Canaro's Quinteto Pirincho, and Adolfo Pérez.
Villoldo himself defined El Porteñito
a “tango criollo”, not a milonga. In fact, Villoldo composed
hardly any milongas, and those have little in common with milongas as
we understand them today. The largest part of his output consists of
tangos—tangos with a variety of attributes besides “criollo”:
“argentino”, “nacional”, “milonga”. Later tango
orchestras recorded these pieces generally one way or another. For
example, the “tango milonga” El Esquinazo
and the “tango criollo” El Torito
were usually recorded as milongas, and the “tango criollo” La
Morocha as a tango. D'Arienzo
arranged the “tango argentino” Bolada de aficionado
as a milonga, but the “tango criollo” Yunta brava
he played as a tango.
We
repeat: The composer labeled all these pieces tangos. It will not
concern us here why orchestras chose to perform the pieces one way or
another. We simply accept it as a historic fact. We will suggest,
however, that the variant interpretations evince a conceptual change
of tango and milonga within the first four decades of the twentieth
century. We focus on compositions by Villoldo—the “numen of our
[Argentinian] popular music” (Francisco Canaro)—because they were
and still are widely known and his œuvre provides an ample source of
examples. The argument presented below applies to the work of other
composers as well.
1.
A Modern View of “Tango” and “Milonga”
Today,
tango is almost exclusively regarded as dance music. From that perspective, the milonga is distinguished from tango by having a
faster tempo and by having a continuous rhythmic foundation. The
rhythmic foundation is provided by a distinct rhythm that originated
from the Cuban “habanera”.
It
is this rhythm that forms the link between Villoldo's tango
compositions and their later arrangements as milongas. While the distinction of a milonga employing the habanera and a tango not using
it holds true for tango music from the 1930s on, this cannot be said
of pieces written during the first two decades of the twentieth
century. During that period, tangos used the habanera rhythm for
rhythmic accompaniment as well.
As
an example, we have extracted the lower part of a piano score of
Villoldo's “tango criollo” Don Pedro, which shows a use of
the habanera rhythm that is very similar to what one might expect of
a milonga. The tango consists of three sections (indicated as A, B,
C, respectively) that are played in the example without the customary
repetitions.
Villoldo, Don Pedro, excerpt, slow
The
habanera rhythm is prevalent throughout the piece. The only
difference to a milonga is the slow tempo. Were we to speed up the
tempo, the “tango criollo” could easily be danced as a milonga:
Villoldo, Don Pedro, excerpt, fast
Is
a milonga, then, simply a fast tango with the habanera rhythm as an
accompaniment figure? For many milongas of the 1930s and 1940s, such
a description would hold true. But, as we have pointed out already, some twenty years earlier,
the distinction based on the habanera rhythm could not have been
made. The rhythm was then prevailing in tangos
as well. Furthermore, it turns out that in the early days of
tango, the word “milonga” was commonly associated with poetry and
song rather than with dance music or a specific dance.
2.
“Criollo” Music
The
development of tango runs parallel—luckily—to the development of
music recording. At the beginning of the 20th century,
Argentina did not have a music recording industry. However, foreign
companies from the United States and Europe sent engineers to Buenos
Aires who recorded local musicians. These recordings were sent back
to the factories in the US or Europe and manufactured into records.
The recording companies then shipped the records (together with other
recordings from their inventory) back to be sold in Argentina.
In
order to distinguish Argentinian recordings from foreign ones, the
former were customarily referred to as the “repertorio criollo”.
The adjective “criollo” was employed to identify music pieces and genres that originated in Argentina or the countries of the
River Plate region. Tango and milonga were part of this body of
“native” music, which included a great number of song (estilo,
décima, vidalita, triste, etc.) and dance forms (pericón, gato,
zamba, chacarera, etc.).
Before
the advent of radio in Argentina, the larger record companies
advertised their new releases in newspapers and magazines. While
advertisements are not sales records or stock lists, they do give an
insight into what kind of music the orchestras played and was
listened to by the audience. At the very least, music record
advertisement shows what kind of music the recording companies
thought would resonate with their customers. The following
advertisement of the North-American record company Victor, published
in November 1906 for records to be sold at the Cassels department store in
Buenos Aires, announces the arrival of a “new criollo catalog”
that had been recorded three months earlier.
 |
| Advertisement Cassels & Co., Buenos Aires, 1906 |
The
total list of more than 140 pieces consists of “songs, recitations,
tangos, national arias, orchestra and [wind] band pieces, etc.”.
Milongas are not mentioned;
but there is one tango in the itemized
list: Villoldo's El Porteñito, sung by Mrs. de Campos to the
accompaniment of an orchestra. There is
no particular mention of dance music, but songs and pieces performed
by bands and orchestras could, of course, include dances.
A
more extensive and detailed list—also by Victor—is given in the
following advertisement of the Casa Lepage of Max Glücksmann,
published in 1909. Glücksmann was a key figure in the development of
film and music in Argentina. He had acquired Casa Lepage, the company
of his former employer, in the preceding year. Like no other, he saw
the business potential for “criollo” products and was
instrumental in the promotion of tango. (In a later interview, he
stated that he was very proud of having made three men very rich:
Roberto Firpo, Francisco Canaro, and Carlos Gardel.)
 |
| Advertisement Casa Lepage of Max Glücksmann, Buenos Aires, 1909 |
Like
the advertisement of 1906, the list consists largely of vocal music (30 double-sided records). The largest group of pieces is made
up of songs accompanied by guitar (24 pieces). Among “estilos”,
“décimas”, etc. there is also one milonga, El Perro, sung
by a “payador” (itinerant singer).
Moreover,
the list includes also 13 tangos. Three are sung with orchestra
accompaniment by Alfredo Gobbi (Villoldo's El Porteñito and
El Caprichoso) and Lea Conti (Tango de la Pollerita),
respectively. Five tangos were recorded by the Orquesta Argentina
Victor (Villoldo's El Choclo and, again, El Porteñito,
as well as Bevilacqua's Apolo) and the orchestra of the Apolo
Theater of
Buenos Aires (Ruiz, Golpea
que te van a abrir and Alarcón, Tirale
mateca al gringo). Five more tangos are performed by wind bands (two of them were recorded—most likely in the United States—by the wind band of
John Philip Sousa).
The
types of music present in the list could be categorized into three
groups. The largest group consists of songs with guitar
accompaniment. Wind bands and orchestras make up another group; it
includes most of the tangos and some valses and thus comes closest to
dance music. The third group is perhaps best described as music for
the stage, that is, music that would be performed in a theater,
varieté, or cabaret. There are comic songs and scenes sung by Ángel
Villoldo and/or Alfredo Gobbi, recitations, and music numbers from
plays. There are also actors among the performers. Lea Conti and
Arturo de Nava were actors of the troupe of the Podestá family.
Conti, in fact, was married to Antonio Podestá, who is credited to
have been the first to compose tangos for the theater (some of them
undoubtedly sung by his wife). Arturo de Nava also acted with the
Podestá troupe as a galan and tango dancer.
Two
events in 1912 changed the course of tango history: tango became a
fashionable dance in Paris, and the German recording enterprise
Lindström opened the first record manufacturing plant in Argentina,
making Max Glücksmann the exclusive representative for its Odeon
label. The developments in Paris popularized tango also in Argentina,
which led to the emergence of the “orquesta típica”—a
standardized small orchestra consisting of violins, bandoneons, bass
and piano—that performed tango music. Glücksmann took the best
musicians under contract: at first Roberto Firpo, then Eduardo
Arolas, Carlos Gardel, Francisco Canaro, etc.
 |
| Advertisement Casa Lepage of Max Glücksmann, Buenos Aires, 1914 |
The
music is not specifically advertised as dance music but it is clear
from the repertory that the orchestras specialize in this kind of
music. Most pieces are tangos, followed by a handful of “vals”
and a few North-American dances—yet, no milongas.
 |
| Advertisement Victor Talking Machine Co., Buenos Aires, 1917 |
In
the course of the second decade of the 20th century, tango
developed a stronger identity as dance music. The “repertorio
criollo” in the example appears divided into vocal and dance
pieces. Wind bands and symphonic (theater) orchestras are replaced by
“orquestas típicas” and (also slowly disappearing) “rondallas”
(that is, orchestras consisting of violins, mandolins, flute and
piano). By far the most common dance recorded is tango, followed by
vals, some occasional “criollo” or “foreign” dances.
Milongas, however, appear neither as dance nor as vocal music.
In
the 1920s, one can occasionally find recordings of pieces that are
identified as milongas. They are not dance pieces, however, but
songs, typically with guitar accompaniment. The following example
includes two milongas: one is composed and sung by Rosita Quiroga,
the other is composed and sung by the duo Néstor Feria (“El Gaucho
Cantor”) and Ítalo Goyeche.
 |
| Advertisement Discos Victor, Buenos Aires, 1923 |
In
summary, sales advertisements of music records from the first three
decades of the 20th century
demonstrate that tangos were
recorded and sold from the very beginning of music recording in
Argentina. The formation of a standard tango orchestra and a focus on
dance music commenced after 1912, when tango had become popular in
Paris and received world-wide attention. Records with milongas, on
the other hand, were rarely advertised, and these pieces were not
recorded by orchestras but were songs with guitar accompaniment.
3.
The Meaning of “Milonga” and “Milonguero” before 1930
From
its very beginnings, tango was always associated with dance. Most
tangos were composed as instrumental music, to be played by
instrumental ensembles of various sizes. In the early days of tango,
pieces with texts were relatively rare. Yet, if a text was written,
it often broached the topic of dancing tango and dancing it well. In
Villoldo's El Torito, for example, the narrator of the song
prides himself with his skill in dancing the national Argentinian
dances (which, incidentally, do not include the milonga):
Aquí tienen a “El
Torito",
el criollo más
compadrito
que ha pisao la
población.
y en cualquier baile
argentino
donde yo me he
presentao,
pues yo y mi prenda
formamos
la zamacueca, el
cielito,
|
Here he is, “The
Bullock”,
and in every
Argentinian dance
even the best
dancing lad
because I and my
better half make
the zamacueca,
the cielito
the huella
and the pericón.
|
By
contrast, the association between milonga and dance was much more
ambiguous. One can find text sources that recount situations where
one danced to the music of a milonga, but such descriptions remain
very general and do not enter into specifics of the dance. The reason
for this is, in part, that the term “milonga” was not only used
to describe a specific type of music, but it was also used in a very
general sense for events at which music was performed and, more
specifically, the performance of a poem, sung to the accompaniment of
a guitar.
 |
| Illustration, “La Milonga del Cocoliche”, Caras y Caretas, Buenos Aires, 1916 |
The
milonga, therefore, had a very strong association with poetry and
the sung performance of a poem. In the late 19th and early
20th centuries, writing poetry was a very popular pastime in Argentina, enjoyed and practiced in all walks of life. The milonga was one of
the popular poetic forms—like the vidalita, relación, décima,
triste, etc.—and it was meant to be sung with or without guitar.
José Betinotti, Milonga Obsequio, 1913
As
poems, milongas are narrative texts, that is, they consist of
multiple verses and relate a story. Depending on the narrator, the
text may describe a scene from country or city life, but many are
sentimental accounts of misery and lost love.
It
follows from the affiliation between milonga and poetry that the
“milonguero”, the practitioner of milongas, was not a dancer (its
modern connotation) but a composer or performer of milongas. In 1920,
for example, the journalist Ricardo Sanchez described the milonguero
as the urban counterpart to the rural itinerant singer, the payador:
The milonguero is well known in the Republics of the River
Plate. His personality has something of the payador, the
gaucho poet (admirably described by Ascasubi). With the exception,
however, that the latter encompasses wider horizons and, improvising
to the cadence of the music, raises his inspiration from the ardent
patriotic song that electrifies, to the moving sentimental triste;
whereas the former cultivates a special genre, eminently marked, with
a suburban flavor that his mates enjoy.
There
is another distinction to be made as well. The payador is an
exclusively rural type; he is the troubadour of our highlands and his
stage are the bodegas and shelters of the countryside. The milonguero
is found only in the cities. The locations in which he performs are
the small cafés of the suburbs, the dance and gaming halls known as
academias, where the most select of lower class fellows get
together.
…
There are only a few legitimate milongueros among us. The
majority of those who call themselves so are no more than routine
imitators, or they sing—lacking that spontaneous inspiration of the
early ones—what they have learned from memory. But the others are
most of the time original and charming.
The
association between milonga and singing continued through the 1920s
and was expressed in tangos as well. The text of Carlos di Sarli's
Milonguero viejo dedicated to Osvaldo Fresedo and written by Enrique Carrera Sotelo, narrates the
nightly serenade of a milonguero:
El barrio duerme y
sueña
al arrullo de un triste
tango llorón;
en el silencio tiembla
la voz milonguera de un
mozo cantor.
La última esperanza
flota en su canción,
en su canción maleva
y en el canto dulce
eleva
toda la dulzura de su humilde amor.
|
The quarter sleeps and dreams
to the lullaby of a sad, weepy tango;
through the silence trembles
the milonguera
voice of a young singer.
The last hope runs
through his song,
through his
beguiling song
and sweet singing he
raises
all the sweetness of
this humble love.
|
Enrique Carrera Sotelo, Milonguero viejo
Even
in 1931, when Homero Manzi and Sebastián Piana composed their
Milonga sentimental and planted the seed for a new kind of
milonga, the protagonist of the poem was a singer:
Milonga pa' recordarte.
Milonga sentimental.
Otros se quejan
llorando
yo canto pa' no llorar.
...
Milonga que hizo tu
ausencia.
Milonga de evocación.
Milonga para que nunca
la canten en tu balcón.
|
Milonga to remember,
sentimental milonga.
others lament weepingly,
I sing so as not to weep.
…
Milonga caused by your absence,
milonga of reminiscence.
Milonga so that they may never
sing it on your balcony.
|
Homero
Manzi: Milonga Sentimental
4.
Tango and Milonga As Musical Forms
The
different purposes of tango and milonga resulted in different musical
structures. Since the music of a milonga was an accompaniment to
poetic text, the music was kept simpler in order not to distract from
the vocal performance of the “milonguero”. Benotti's milonga
Obsequio, given as an example above, begins with a short
guitar introduction of four measures (a). Then, the first strophe of
the milonga is sung, consisting for two phrases of eight and twelve
measures (bc), respectively. The guitar introduction is repeated and
the next strophe is sung, and so forth. The resulting musical form is
a simple repeating scheme of introduction and strophe:
a
bc a bc a …
Tango,
however, was primarily instrumental music, and the musical form
needed to be more elaborate to make it interesting to the listeners.
We mentioned above that the tango “Don Pedro” consisted of three
sections, the third part of which (C) being frequently labeled as a
“Trio”. Such a three-part division is typical for tangos composed
before 1930.
Each
of the three sections has its own melodies, composed in a different
character to distinguish it audibly from the others. In addition, the
sections are harmonically differentiated, and here the “Trio”
section was the one that provided the most striking harmonic “color”
to the piece. The early composers, like Villoldo, liked to move into
the relative major or minor key (depending on the main key of the
piece), later composers were fond of the parallel major or minor key,
respectively.
One
may look upon the sections as building blocks from which a piece is
constructed by means of repetition. A repetition scheme may look like
AB C AB or ABC ABC A, but there is no general rule on how such a
scheme is to be executed. In fact, much of the musical interest stems
from the variety with which tangos can be formally organized.
Re-arranging a repetition scheme was also a means for orchestras to
create a version distinct from other orchestras.
5.
From Tango to Milonga: Villoldo's El Porteñito
El
Porteñito is one of Villoldo's most successful compositions,
having been recorded numerous times in a long series starting before
1906. The record advertisements from 1906 and 1909, given above,
include three versions: two for voice and orchestra—sung by “Mrs.
de Campos” (1906) and Alfredo Gobbi (1909), respectively—and one
orchestra version played by the house orchestra of the Victor company.
As
one of the relatively few tangos that had a text, El
Porteñito was recorded by many singers. The following
example presents a French singer, Andrée Vivianne (or Andhrée
Viviane, as she was known in Paris), who worked for some years in
Buenos Aires and recordedit there in 1909.
El Porteñito, Andrée Vivianne, 1909
If
the habanera rhythm and the tempo of the orchestra introduction hints
at a modern-day milonga, the character of the piece changes once the
singer begins with the first strophe; the tempo is slowed down
considerably. In fact, the rendition is not a dance at all: there are
too many tempo changes, ritenutos, and fermatas for any dancer to
follow. This recording represents a typical concert performance of a
song, as it would be given in a theater, varieté, or cabaret.
Alfredo
Gobbi and his wife Flora Rodríguez recorded a similar version, also
with orchestra accompaniment. However, they changed the text and
turned the tango into another kind of stage performance they
specialized in: a comic scene. El criollo falsificado tells
the story of an immigrant to Buenos Aires who pretends to be a
genuine “criollo” and is proud of his tango skills. His mangled
Spanish and clumsy behavior unmask him, however, as a recently
arrived “peasant gringo”, and he is duly ridiculed by the genuine
“porteña” Flora Rodríguez.
El Criollo Falsificado, Flora Rodríguez and Alfredo
Gobbi, 1906
In
this recording, the orchestral interludes between strophes are
replaced by dialogue. The performance is, therefore, even less of a
dance than the Vivianne recording. However, since the subject matter
of the text touches upon dancing, it is entirely possible that the
Gobbis also danced during the performance—a tango, of course.
The
following version of El Porteñito, recorded in 1949 by Adolfo
Pérez and the Orquesta Típica de la Guardia Vieja, is actually the
youngest one we are going to present. Yet, as the name of the
orchestra and instrumentation (bandoneons, violins, a flute, and 2
guitars instead of a piano, no double bass) suggest, the orchestra
tried to invoke a tango style of earlier times.
El Porteñito, Adolfo Pérez and the Orquesta Típica
de la Guardia Vieja, 1949
Pérez's
recording is an odd interpretation of El Porteñito, inasmuch
as it mixes elements of different phases in the development of tango.
An instrumentation with guitars and flute was characteristic of tango
orchestras around 1915. At that time, melody and the accompaniment
would have been clearly separated, with the guitar playing a clear
and steadfast habanera rhythm. Just as the single flute, the violin
and bandoneon were not always doubled in the orchestra. These
instruments would have played the melody together, only occasionally
adding some embellishments. Pérez's instrumentation is much more
complex than that of early tangos. He introduces lots of counter
melodies, full harmonies, lively bass lines that one would expect
from a symphony orchestra rather than a tango band. In this respect,
Pérez's El Porteñito is a product of the 1940s, but it was
dressed up as a slow tango with a habanera rhythm in order to sound
“historic”.
The
Orquesta Típica Victor's rendition of El Porteñito, instead,
is representative of the style of the late 1920s. Different from the
examples presented above, the dotted habanera rhythm has completely
disappeared from the accompaniment. Instead, a steady pulse of
straight eighth notes provided by the piano and lower bandoneons is
heard almost incessantly throughout the piece. It lends a march-like
character to the recording and makes clear what the music is intended
for: dance, that is, tango.
El Porteñito, Orquesta Típica Victor, 1928
Juan D'Arienzo recorded a number of Villoldo's tangos: some of them
as milongas, others as tangos—including El Porteñito.
Stylistically, his version of does not differ significantly from the
one recorded by Típica Victor nine years earlier. Both orchestras
have dropped the habanera rhythm, play in about the same tempo, and
use the same instrumentation. Differences are mainly a matter of each
orchestra's own style. For example, D'Arienzo has the bandoneons play
a variación in section C and the last repetition of section
A. And, as if to make his version sound even more like a tango, he
changed the rhythmic structure and added more síncopas, most
obviously in section B.
El Porteñito, Orquesta Típica Juan
D'Arienzo, 1937
Our final example of El Porteñito, recorded 1943 by Ángel
d'Agostino, is probably the best known version today.
El Porteñito, Orquesta Típica Ángel
d'Agostino, 1943
The
recording is a very clear example of a “modern” milonga: a dance
piece with a speedy tempo and a well articulated habanera rhythm in
the accompaniment. This milonga is no longer a song, a poem
accompanied by a guitar. The text has been changed and shortened,
just to be sung to two repetitions of the B section. In comparison to
the earlier sung versions of El
Porteñito
presented here, the text has become secondary. The song
has become a milonga as we understand it today: a
piece of dance music.
It
is clear that by the time of d'Agostinos recording, the very concept
a milonga had changed since the late 1920s. This is a history of its
own and beyond the scope of this presentation, but to demonstrate
once more that musicians thought differently about the milonga before
and after the 1930s, we present one more example.
In
the late 1920s, many recordings were released whose titles evoke the
milonga: “Cuando llora la milonga”,
“Milonga”, “Milonga con variación”, “Milonga canyengue”,
“La eterna milonga”, “Milonga criolla” (Canaro, 1928), etc.
All these pieces were, however, tangos. Even Canaro's “Milonga
criolla” of 1928, a tango, is not identical with his well-known
recording of the milonga “Milonga criolla” of 1936. Some thirty
years later, however, he recorded the tango again—this time under
the title “Arrabalera” and turned into a … milonga.
Orquesta Típica Francisco Canaro (1936, 1928),
Quinteto Pirincho (1960)
© 2017 Wolfgang Freis
