Caroline Demers
Quebec’ s World of Tango Music
Caroline Demers
Rooted in the soul of the Argentine people, the tango has conquered the whole world, as much by its music as by its dance. This musical culture that originated in the Rio de la Plata at the end of the 19th century was exported around the world at the beginning of the 20th century. The dancers, for their part, have appropriated three musical styles proper into what is commonly called the Argentine tango— the milonga, the vals and the tango. The names Osvaldo Pugliese, Anibal Troilo, Carlos Gardel and Astor Piazzolla resonate across the international tango community. Many other musicians and composers have contributed to the evolution and actualization of tango. Amongst them are several Quebecers who are presented here.
Within the tango music groups of Montreal, there is usually at least one person of South American origin. Most studied music without ever thinking that one day, they would be playing tango music. But their cultural heritage was so deeply implanted in them that tango became quite natural.
This was the case with Damian Nisenson, a saxophonist who recognized that his childhood memories in Argentina of the sixties, had a tango soundtrack. People danced to this music played on their radio or in the popular venues with live orchestras of as many as thirty musicians.
The pianist Victor Simon grew up in a family of folk musicians, in Santiago del Estero in northern Argentina. At the age of three, He was playing the guitar with with his brothers in Los Hermanos Simón By seven, he had improvised folk music on the piano.
For Romulo Larrea, born in Uruguay, being a tango musician was a dream transmitted by his father. He had the privilege of studying bandoneon with one of the best pedagogues in Montevideo and listening to live orchestras of Anibal Troilo, Juan D’ Arienzo, Alfredo De Angelis and Astor Piazzolla.
The Quebec bandoneonist Denis Plante was very young when he was seduced by the music of Astor Piazzolla, whom his parents listened to at home. He loved the music so much that he went to listen to it at the 1984 Montreal International Jazz Festival, going alone on his bicycle at the age of thirteen!
Astor Piazzolla is a musician-composer who has profoundly marked the twentieth century, both in Montreal and throughout the world. His arrival in Montreal, deeply touched the heart of Quebec and contributed to the appearance of tango musicians in Quebec. His music still exerts a great influence on the style of many of today’ s musicians.
Pablo Bonacina, guitarist emeritus, says that his music is well written, accessible and easy to play.
Piazzolla, at the end of the story, has added an entire chapter for himself. This is the last, we are only epilogues.... Astor Piazzolla remains the most important figure, because of his work, his qualities as an interpreter, his global distribution, the place that his repertoire gave to well-written music and his vast general culture which, combined with His curiosity, allowed the evolution of the tango repertoire.
— Denis Plante
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