The following lines are written with the enthusiasm of a neophyte :
I am not at all specialized in the Argentinean style of music called
"tango" -- even if I love it.

I'd just like to share with the other members of the MMD some reflec-
tions inspired by listening to a recently issued CD with tango songs and
mechanical organ (see reference at the end of this message).

Here are some historical data, before I ask a few questions.  (I hope
there are not too many mistakes, because I am not a specialist : the
complete story of tango would need certainly much more space.)

Tango music and dance appeared in Argentina circa 1870/80, and was at
first confined to places of bad reputation (sailor's cafes, brothels,
etc.).  It was called "tango canyenge" (Canaille : rascal, scoundrel?)
or milonga.  It was a fast dance, rather joyful, very dynamic and
rhythmical and always "showy", often acrobatic -- something like the
fast rock-and-roll of the 1950s, to which you may add some kind of
showy and fierce Spanish temper.

Accompaniment was usually with accordion (not yet the bandoneon),
guitar, harp(?), sometimes flute, mandolin or violin...  At the
same period it seems that some barrel organs were imported into the
country, and that some were used to play the tango music mainly
outdoors, in the street.

It seems that around 1900 the bandoneon was introduced, and the tango
became fashionable even in the "good" society, where young ladies began
to play it on the piano...

At that period most of the tango music seems to change to a slower and
more nostalgic music with bandoneon, piano and strings (no more barrel
organs), and tango "academies" are numerous in the 1920's in Buenos
Aires.  Records are made for the phonograph, and the tango fashion
spreads in Europe and the States, becoming sometimes a purely innocent
and fashionable dance, far away from the sulfurous atmosphere of its
debuts.

The French-born (in Toulouse !) musician Carlos Gardel comes to
Argentina, and becomes in the 1920/30s an idol, with beautiful lyrics
and music.  That is the kind of tango music which is preferred to-day.

Tango music has a strong appeal to many musicians and composers.  For
example, Astor Piazzola (1921-1992) proposed from 1955 a new tango
style, more modern, and the very famous classical orchestra conductor
Daniel Barenboim is a wonderful tango pianist.


This historical introduction is only to ask the following questions.
(Perhaps a member of the MMD living in Argentina or knowing this place
well could answer).

1)  Do you know about existing barrel organs, made around 1900 or even
before, *for the Argentinean market* and actually playing tango music?
Which style (probably the old style)? It would be fascinating to
listen to that music.

2)  Were there only portable barrel organs, or even bigger ones?
Gavioli?  Mortier?  (From the CD booklet, it seems that some instruments
were permanently posted in some dance-cafes around 1900).

3)  Was the music in Argentina notated only on cylinders, or also later
on books?

4)  If such organs do exist, are there any which may be seen and heard
in a museum (Argentina or elsewhere)?

5)  If they do exist, are there any recordings of such instruments?

I emphasize that I ask questions about mechanical organs *made for the
Argentinean market* only, as of course many instruments in European
or North-American collections play books of music with tangos, usually
written in the 1930s or later, for the European or North-American
market.  These tangos usually belong to the "fashionable" drawing-room
or ballroom style, and lack the strength and rhythm and the incredible
changes of atmosphere which characterize the "original" Argentinean
Tango.  I listened to some recordings (especially Dutch street organs,
or Decap dance organs), and these tangos are nearer to a 2-beat march
than a real 4-beat tango, with its strong bass accents and elusive
song ornaments.

Some people even wonder if a mechanical instrument can really reproduce
real tango music ... that could be an endless discussion.

(An automatic violin -- Mills or Hupfeld -- or even a reproducing piano
should theoretically be more gifted for that than the barrel organ.
And in that last instrument, reeds would perhaps be better suited than
pipes).

Concerning the CD I spoke of in the beginning of this posting:

  Title : "L'epoque tango"
  Produced in France.

Good texts sung by a wonderful female singer, Haydee Alba, with
accompaniment of a 32-key mechanical organ made by the French organ
makers "Le Ludion", in Toulouse.  The notation of the books is by
Michel Amirault, who works with Le Ludion.  Ref. PS 65198 SF 501.
Contact "Le Ludion", Philippe Crasse (a member of the MMD) at
<Philippe.Crasse@LeLudion.com>.

The CD comes with a very well-made 36-page booklet, in English, French
and Spanish.  The music is not perfect (it lacks some of the tremendous
pulsation which is so characteristic of the tango music), but recordings
which combine a barrel organ with good singing and music outside the
traditional repertoire are rare enough, so the whole thing is very
interesting.

Bibliographical sources on Tango.  There are many, many books and
articles about tango (and certainly several web sites), but I used
extensively :

 - the booklet of the above mentioned CD,

 - the good introduction of a book about tango lyrics by Henri Deluy
and Saul Urkievich: "Tango, une anthologie" (in French, Ed. Pol,
Paris, 1988).

 - A book relating the fascinating life of Carlos Gardel (ca. 1890-
1935), by Edmundo Eichelbaum (1984),

 - and several booklets accompanying recordings of "standard" tango
music, which give a lot of information too.

For years now, many French people are interested in the tango music and
dancing, especially because many Argentinean people fleeing from the
dictatorship in Argentina took refuge in Paris in the 1970s.  (A very
moving movie, "Tango, l'exil de Gardel", was made in 1985 by Fernando
Solanas about these refugees and their passion for tango music and
dance).

Best regards

Philippe Rouille  (Paris, France)
rouille@cnam.fr
http://www.cnam.fr/museum/musica_mecanica/