The Wearied Sun
gently parting with the sea
at this hour you confessed
there was no love
I was saddened only slightly
without anguish, without sorrow
At this hour your words resound.
As we part, I will not be angry
The fault is ours, yours and mine.
The composition was recorded by the Tsfasman orches-
tra in 1937, and became an instant hit. The original title
was Parting. But, th public quickly turned it into Wearied
Sun. The original singer was Pavel Mihailov. Later, Leo-
nid Utyosov sang this tango, and once again regaining
popularity.
Another sad and sarcastic tango is the song Na Boasya-
novskoy Otkrilasya Pivnaya (On Bogasyanovskaya Street, A
New Drinking Saloon Opened), was produced in the mid-
30s by Strongilla Irtlach, Russian-speaking singer of Turkish
origin. She had not sung tangos. She was a professional
singer of Roma and Russian ballads. Her brilliant artist-
ry allowed her to experiment with genres of tango and
jazz. Obviously, On Bogasyanovskaya ... was recorded un-
officially, by chance, and perhaps at a home concert. The
music of this tango is by the Argentine composer Angel
Villoldo, and it was originally called El Choclo. The Russian
lyrics were written around 1912. The lyrics of these bal-
lads, and chansons are street slang stories of criminal life,
often using Fenya slang language, a Russian equivalent to
Lunfardo, A closer examination shows that the song sung
by Strongilla is derived from songs by the Jewish songwrit-
ers, Yasha Yadov or Miron Yampolsky. Despite the jargon,
tango is a mockery of Fenya. It was laughed at by lovers
of ballads in educated aristocratic circles. Here is
a brief retelling of the events, described in this
marvelous tango — On Bogasyanovskaya
The story is about one evening in a drinking sa-
loon on Bogasyanovskaya street. The storyteller,
was in the saloon and that it was the place for
criminals. There were some girls with their com-
panion Vas’ka, the pimp. One of the prettiest girls,
Rosa, enters the saloon, accompanied by Vas’ka,
She is as pretty as a Dionysus maiden. Vas’ka is
holding Rosa’s arm like a handle of a streetcar. He
begs her to dance with him this last tango. At ex-
actly this moment another man, Aronchik, a for-
eigner, invites her to dance in very gentle manner.
— 8 —
Lolita Torres announcement in Russian
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