Writing this Tango Course is both an obligation and a great pleasure for me. It is an obligation because I would like to contribute something (of all the things that I owe) in return as an appreciation of having been fortunate enough to educate myself in the Orchestras, where I learned to play Tango. The Orchestras were a crucible where the ideas of its members and/or other creative musicians experimented, played, and came together to create playing styles, rhythmic forms, etc. These contributions were what took the Tango, little by little, to such a high musical level. Nowadays, it is not at all easy to belong to an Orchestra, considering the fact that so few can subsist. This makes it more difficult for those who want to have careers in Tango music to acquire the vast knowledge necessary for playing and interpreting it. Let us not forget that the Orchestras have always been the best schools for such an apprenticeship. It is also a great pleasure to be able to transmit and share that what I have learned, trying always not to leave anything out (that is my real intention) by relying on my memory which fortunately still helps me. I never intended for my conclusions to be taken as the absolute truth, nor wanted to win something over anyone, in anything. This course just shows my position, and the ideas with which I have always worked. We will deal here with the Tango in versions which, in my understanding, are genuine manifestations of itself. I love the Tango because I love good music, and I got into it to learn to play it, not to change it. If my versions and arrangements have something different about them, it is only because this is my language, and I have expressed myself through it. I will also talk about the incorporation of new contributions and changes, as long as they are authentic within the genre. The many streams of opinion may or may not coincide with what will be said in this course. Considering the broadness of the theme and the flexibility which should govern artistic creation, other concepts may prove constructive as well. I sincerely hope that this course will be useful to someone, Horacio Salgán

Tango music rapidly became a global phenomenon as early as the beginning of the twentieth century, with about 30% of gramophone records made between 1903 and 1910 devoted to it. Its popularity declined between the 1950s and the 1980s but has since risen to new heights. This Companion offers twenty chapters from varying perspectives around music, dance, poetry, and interdisciplinary studies, including numerous visual and audio illustrations in print and on the accompanying webpages. Its multidisciplinary approach demonstrates how different disciplines intersect through performative, historical, ethnographic, sociological, political, and anthropological perspectives. These thematic continuities illuminate diverse international perspectives and highlight how the art form flourished in Argentina, Uruguay and abroad, while tracing its international and cultural impact over the last century. This book is an innovative resource for scholars and students of tango music, particularly those seeking a diverse international perspective on the subject.

The Art of Tango offers a systematic exploration of the performance, arrangement and composition of the universally popular tango. The author discusses traditional practices, the De Caro school and the pioneering oeuvre of four celebrated innovators: Pugliese, Salgán, Piazzolla and Beytelmann. With an in-depth focus on both reception and practice, the volume and its companion website featuring supplementary audio-visual materials analyse, decode, compare and discuss literature, scores and recordings to provide a deeper understanding of tango’s artistic concepts, characteristics and techniques. River Plate tango is explored through the lens of artistic research, combining the study of oral traditions and written sources. In addition to a detailed examination of the various approaches to tango by the musicians featured in this book, three compositions by the author embodying creative applications of the research findings are discussed. The volume offers numerous tools for developing skills in practice, inspiring new musical output and the continuation of research endeavours in the field. Illustrating the many possibilities of this musical language that has captivated musicians and audiences worldwide, this book is a valuable resource for everyone with an interest in tango, whether they be composers, performers, arrangers, teachers, music lovers or scholars in the field of popular music studies.

'Tracing Tangueros' offers an inside view of Argentine tango music in the context of the growth and development of the art form's instrumental and stylistic innovations. The authors trace tango's historical and stylistic musical trajectory in Argentina, beginning with the guardia nueva's crystallization of the genre in the 1920s, moving through tango's Golden Age (1932-1955), and culminating with the 'Music of Buenos Aires' today.

This book is the first to explore tango argentino as translocal practice, with a focus on the European context. Beyond that, the book crosses borders in the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods, ranging from participant observation to statistical data evaluation, including optical motion capture for movement analysis. Most of all, it is an important contribution to the emerging field of choreomusicology, focusing on movement and sound structures, dancers and musicians, and the complex relations between all of these factors that all have their share in shaping tango argentino practice.

In this generously illustrated book, world-renowned Yale art historian Robert Farris Thompson gives us the definitive account of tango, "the fabulous dance of the past hundred years–and the most beautiful, in the opinion of Martha Graham.” Thompson traces tango’s evolution in the nineteenth century under European, Andalusian-Gaucho, and African influences through its representations by Hollywood and dramatizations in dance halls throughout the world. He shows us tango not only as brilliant choreography but also as text, music, art, and philosophy of life. Passionately argued and unparalleled in its research, its synthesis, and its depth of understanding, Tango: The Art History of Love is a monumental achievement.