New: Milonga for viola and piano: "Calle Florída"

December 14, 2020, 4:06 PM · I was born in Argentina. My mother performed Tango on piano in Buenos Aires during the 1930s and 40s. I told her I wrote a Tango and played her this piece over the phone. Now at 101 years old living in Florida, she told me, "Hermoso, pero no es un Tango, ché. Es una Milonga, pero no puro Milonga." Calle Florída is a busy shopping district in Bs. As. near the Cervantes Conservatory where she studied in the 1930s. She continues to play Tango on the community piano at her assisted-living facility. Print the sheet free at raulkottler.com See/hear the scrolling score at https://youtu.be/4uoXR3wS9FQ.

Replies (3)

Adrian Heath

Edited: December 20, 2020, 2:40 PM · I like it!

I played tangos in the 80's, in the dance band of La Coupole, Boulevarde Montparnasse (beneath the famous "brasserie"), but also on viola in the quintet Gotan (not the later Gotan Project).

The highlight was taking part in a tango festival in Havanna in 1984 with the Quartetto Cedron, and the Trio Mosalini, all invited over from Paris. I have a photo of the final concert where we joined in with Osvaldo Pugliese's orchestra. He didn't look too sure about having a "tangero inglese" squatting his orchestra. (And we were in the middle of the Faulklands war....)

My signature in certain forums is Vardaro, my favorite tango violinist, who played often with Julio da Caro.

Francesca Rizzardi

December 14, 2020, 8:14 PM · Thank you, Raul! This is exciting. I have been getting into Latin music and never heard of a milonga. Discovering your music comes at a good time--I'm still studying viola but because I can't play with others right now, it's hard to get motivated some times.

Adrian Heath

Edited: December 20, 2020, 2:41 PM · My copy of the Oxford Companion to Music dates from 1944, and Julio da Caro wrote the article on the Tango, explaining it s origins in the negro slave community as the Candombe. Milonga and Tango styles emerged with arrival of musicians from Europe.

A later edition has just few lines describing the Tango as a Spanish dance linked to the Paso Doble, which my Argentine friends consider a grievous insult!

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New: Milonga for viola and piano: "Calle Florída"

Replies (3)

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