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The possibility of having today—in our own hands—these eight original arrangements of the maestro Horacio Salgán published as photographic copies of his hand-written originals is a dream made real. For many years, musicians have dedicated themselves to listening over and over again to the recordings of these arrangements trying to understand the arte of this genius musician. Many have spent hours and hours transcribing from the recordings an approximate version of these arrangements published here. The guesswork is over. Here—for the first time—we proudly present the documents that generations of musicians have been waiting for.
Musicians from all over the world—regardless of genre or epoch—have educated themselves and built their own musical identity based on the work of the great masters who preceded them. Just as there is no classical pianist who has not studied the works of Chopin or Liszt, no composer or orchestra director who has not analyzed Bach or Beethoven, no jazz musician who is uninterested in the work of Duke Ellington, there is also no tango musician who has not marveled at and been inspired by listening to the music of Horacio Salgán. His music constitutes one of the most stimulating works that a musician can encounter. The complex and balanced elaboration of Salgán’s arrangements sums up, to a great extent, all that a tango musician wants to know and understand. It is no secret that Astor Piazzolla himself used to “escape” from the club where Aníbal Troilo played to be able to listen to Salgán’s orchestra, and once admitted that that experience was as stimulating as it was intimidating, to the extent that Piazzolla felt himself incapable of writing something at the same level musically. Emilio Balcarce also has told us that in the ‘50s he asked Salgán for some of his arrangements in order to study his way of writing. In other words, Salgán is one of the most admired and studied musicians in tango.
All of the arrangements included in this book were recorded by Salgán’s orchestra between 1950 and 1956 for the record labels RCA Victor and T. K. The two exceptions are “Mis Calles Porteñas” and “Aquellos Tangos Camperos,” whose first recorded version appears in the CD “Raras Partituras: Salgán” released in parallel with this book and performed by the “Gran Orquesta TangoVia Buenos Aires,” with piano and conducting by César Salgán, Horacio’s son.
If the tangos “La Llamo Silbando” or “Don Agustín Bardi” are universally considered two very important works in the musical evolution of tango, “A Fuego Lento” is in itself a chapter in the history of Argentine music. This book includes the original arrangement Salgán wrote for his orchestra in 1953, a work that elevated him as an artist to cult status and even today surprises us with its beauty and complexity.
“Mis Calles Porteñas” is an extraordinary document when it comes to understanding the complex Salganian puzzles. Salgán composed this work around a small musical motif which was brought to him by José Carlos De Angelis, an acquaintance who was a police chief with musical aspirations. Based on those few measures—specifically only the first four which begin the tango—Salgán developed a very rhythmic tango full of lyricism and an important innovation: the syncopated treatment of the melody. The most interesting thing about this tango is that this is the only recording (a “demo” made in 1946) of the first orchestra created by Horacio Salgán, which he directed between 1944 and 1948. This arrangement confirms what many suspected: in 1944, Salgán was already Salgán. All the elaborate complexity of his art was already present in his very first works for “orquesta típica” (tango orchestra). Here is the proof. To be able to analyze--and enjoy--this arrangement in its original version is a kind of small miracle, almost science fiction.
So, let’s enjoy the luxury of the art and generosity of Maestro Salgán. This book is without doubt an historical event.
Ignacio Varchausky
Artistic Director – TangoVia Buenos Aires
November 2008
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