I believe the tango will be remembered as one of our century's most important musical innovations, perhaps on par with ragtime, jazz and rock-and roll. If you come to enjoy this music as much as I do, perhaps you'll also be amazed that these wonderful piano tangos, composed in the early years of this century, have remained virtually unknown outside Argentina for almost a hundred years. But perhaps lack of easy access to the music is one reason why the tango has remained so elusive and romanticized, stereotyped and misunderstood.

        The tango is above all dance music. The dance and its music were born and evolved together in the final decades of the 19th century in the slums on the outskirts of Buenos Aires and in neighboring Montevideo, Uruguay (just across the Rio de la Plata). During its earliest years, from about 1880 to 1900, few tangos were recorded or committed to paper. But during this final quarter of the 19th century was born a new generation of musicians who would soon take the tango beyond its simple beginnings. These are the composers of the guardia vieja, the "old guard." From about 1900 to 1920 they developed the tango into one of this century's most romantic and beautiful musical forms. This album is an introduction to their piano music.

        During the early years, tangos might be played by a solo pianist in a cafe, or by a duo or trio with flute, violin, guitar or bandoneon. But publishers discovered that tango partituras, piano sheet music, could sell up to tens of thousands of copies. Despite the fact that the guardia vieja composers played many different instruments, piano scores became the vehicle for capturing the evolution of the tango as the composers experimented with its form. This sheet music also served as charts for the early groups, sometimes containing lines for other instruments.

        Many of the early composers were self-taught, played by ear, and had to rely on friends to notate their music on paper. Some were part-time musicians, supporting themselves in other trades. And many played more than one instrument. By the late teens hundreds of composers had published literally thousands of tangos in Buenos Aires and Montevideo, though many tunes were printed in very small runs.

        Around 1920 the vocal tango became much more prominent, initially propelled by the popularity of folksinger Carlos Gardel. An entire genre of vocal tango music evolved with lyrics that might be compared to our country-western music. During the 1920s as the tango became more widely accepted, bands expanded to meet this rising popularity. Eventually the duos, trios and quartets of the early days grew to become the Argentine equivalent of our swing-era big bands -- tango orchestras with 20 pieces or more, featuring entire sections of bandoneons and strings. Both the expansion of the orchestras and the rise of the vocal tango give the music a very different style after about 1920.

        By the mid-20s almost every tango had words, and most were reduced to just two parts instead of the three- and four-part compositions of earlier years. In these and most later arrangements the right hand is reduced to a single-note melody line, echoing the vocalist. And the left hand accompaniment loses most of its earlier complexity, often assuming a steady rhythm of four equal quarter notes. What rhythm is left has moved over into the right-hand melody line. Later music has its own charm -- it's still very lyrical and rhythmic. But much of the complexity and variety of the earlier tangos is gone; later music is more stylized and less interesting for the pianist. Of course, the same might be said of American popular piano music arrangements, as compared to the richness of ragtime piano scores. And like America's fondness for the big-band era, the Argentines consider the 20s, 30s and 40s to be their golden age of tango.

        In contrast, the earlier guardia vieja piano tangos on this album embody great variety. Many pieces follow some variant of an ABACA form, though sections may be composed of 8, 12, 14, 16, 20, 24 or even 13 or 23 bars! Modern listeners maybe shocked at how upbeat and positive this music is. But during these early years the tango had not yet become stereotyped into a minor-key, fatalistic expression of life's miseries. Some pieces are perky, upbeat and entirely in major keys. Others incorporate odd major-minor shifts within measures and sections. It's tempting to wonder whether these represent fragments of folk themes from the vanishing way of life of the pampas. Also present are the minor key moods now associated with stylized impressions of later tangos. But these are often mixed in surprising ways with major key sections. Guardia vieja piano tangos are not monodimensional! Overall, the music embodies great depth and complexity and a tremendous range of emotional expression; these attributes make it fun to play and very appealing to listen to.

        If you're a pianist and would enjoy trying your hand at some of this wonderful music, please contact me to order a copy of Argentine Tangos for Keyboard, published by the Mel Bay Company, which contains 42 guardia vieja tangos reproduced from their original sheet music. Available for $21 postpaid (US orders) from Bill Matthiesen, 33 Stormview Road, Lanesboro, MA 01237. Or contact me at bill@bfv.com, or by phone at 413-442-9172.

For additional information or bookings, contact Bill Matthiesen
at 413-442-9172 .... or email bill@bfv.com