[Tango-L] Time before tango

[Charles Roques]

Not only Collier and Thompson but many historians accept that there was milonga before tango but all great art forms, musical or otherwise, are hybrids and evolve from other influences into their own characteristic form.  There was no first milonga, or tango but more a mixture of sounds that eventually developed into tango. Tangos were being played well before 1900 and before the bandoneon came along, by small trios and quartets with flutes, violins, guitars and tubas and were mixed in with Neopolitan folk songs and waltzes and other music.   The evolution of the orquesta tipica also contributed to the changing sound of tango as the piano replaced the guitar, the bandoneon replaced the flute, the upright bass replaced the tuba.  The only instrument that remained was the violin.  Not to be underestimated was the absence of a drummer which contributed to the strongly rhythmic style of playing which in itself changed borrowed melodies into "tango" melodies.
 
Some of the most recognizable sounds associated with tango borrowed from other musical sources,  The habanera rhythm was well known and even put to music by classical composers like Bizet in "Carmen" but eventually came to be considered a tango rhythm.  I have heard Italian folk songs, waltzes, which sound very close to tango waltzes.

A very interesting combination of an African and an indigenous rhythm, played in counterpoint, can be heard in "Carnavalito," a milonga "criolla" played by Lucio DeMare.  Milonga purportedly evolved from these two rhythms together, whereas Candombe stayed with its African roots, and often kept the drums. 

Cheers,
Charles