Tango

A syncopated dance of Buenos Aires, its bands speaking through the bandoneon.

Related

ModernTangoThe bandoneonViolin

Tango took shape in the port districts of Buenos Aires, joining syncopation, embrace and the bandoneon.

Origins and era

In the 1880s, migrants in the port districts mixed Italian, Spanish, African and Creole music. The habanera and milonga supplied the frame, and the bandoneon, brought from Germany, became the signature timbre. Tango became fashionable in Paris, and Carlos Gardel turned the tango song into mass culture. The 1940s were the golden age of the dance orchestra, and after 1955 Piazzolla carried nuevo tango into the concert hall.

What you hear

The metre is usually 2/4, and the bass plays a 3+3+2 syncopation with accents on weak beats. The bandoneon's reeds give a nasal tone, the violin plays counter-melody, and piano and guitar fill the harmony. Singers use Buenos Aires slang, and melodies often fall away in a sigh. Tempo is flexible, and a band may push forward or stop between phrases.

Key figures

Gardel brought tango song to radio and film, and d'Arienzo filled the floor with a strong beat. Troilo and Pugliese refined the orchestra, and Piazzolla wrote tango as chamber music and concerto. Canaro and De Caro left a large catalogue of standards.

Lineage

Milonga, habanera and European dance music feed in; nuevo tango, tango jazz and electro tango come out.

Common misunderstandings

Tango is not Spanish flamenco, whose rhythm and instruments differ. It is not only dance, since songs and instrumental works matter equally. Piazzolla is not all of tango; the traditional dance orchestra remains central.

Sources

• The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., entry Tango（Oxford University Press），用于核对布宜诺斯艾利斯的年代与人物
• Robert Farris Thompson, Tango, The Art History of Love（Pantheon Books, 2005），用于核对舞蹈与音乐的关系

Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.