Mi Serenata Tango Music
Tango music has a long and rich tradition stretching back over a hundred years. There are literally tens of thousands of recordings from tango’s Golden Age, ranging from faster and highly rhythmical to slower and dramatic.
Due to this rich variety, tango music, unlike many other musical genres, doesn’t “after a while sound all the same”. There are three broad sub-genres under the tango umbrella: tango itself, milonga and vals (Spanish for “waltz”), each with its own distinctive rhythm. Rather than trying to describe these rhythms in words for you, listen yourself to the songs below.
The first song, Champagne Tango, is, as its name suggests, a tango! And just to show you an example of the richness and variety within each of these three genres, we give you not just one but two very different versions of this famous tango – a faster, rhythmic version by D’Arienzo and then a slower, romantic version by Di Sarli.
The second title, Milonga Brava, as its name similarly suggests, is a milonga and as such has a distinctive and recognisable rhythm very different to the tango.
The third title, Pobre Flor, is a particularly beautiful waltz.
Champagne Tango
What's in a name? The first version of Champagne Tango was recorded in 1914 by Firpo. It was written by Manuel Aróztegui. Francisco Canaro y Su Quinteto Pirincho also has an excellent version of it. The versions below are from Juan D'Arienzo "El Rey del Compás" (King of the Beat) recorded in 1938 and Carlos Di Sarli's recorded in 1958 respectively.
It seems that Champagne Tango is one of those melodies adopted and adapted by many great tango maestros of the day, due to its simplistic elegance and taste. With this in mind our milonga was founded on a name encompassing such ambience, accompanied by the great music of the golden age of tango.
Milonga Brava
Milonga Brava by Francisco Canaro and sung by Roberto Maida is evergreen. Canaro is one of the most popular tango artists: his recordings, both traditional tango and milongas, are noted as singly beautiful and melodic.
Pobre Flor
Alfredo de Angelis y su Orquesta's Pobre Flor, with his signature dual vocalists Carlos Dante y J. Martel, was written in 1946.