Tango (music) - Musical Impact

Musical Impact

The tango has become part of the repertoire for great classical musicians. One of the first classical interpreters to do this "cross over" was the baritone Jorge Chaminé with his Tangos recording with bandoneónist Olivier Manoury. Since then, al Tango, Yo-Yo Ma, Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim, Gidon Kremer, Plácido Domingo and Marcelo Alvarez have performed and recorded Tangos.

Some classical composers have written tangos, such as Isaac Albéniz in España (1890), Erik Satie in Le Tango perpétuel (1914), Igor Stravinsky in Histoire du Soldat (1918). The list of composers who wrote inspired by tango music also includes John Cage in Perpetual Tango (1984), John Harbison in "Tango Seen from Ground Level" (1991), and Milton Babbitt in "It Takes Twelve to Tango" (1984). The influence of Piazzolla has fallen on a number of contemporary composers. The "Tango Mortale" in Arcadiana by Thomas Adès is a striking example as is the orchestral Totentango by Matthew King.

Many popular songs in the United States have borrowed melodies from tango: the earliest published tango, El Choclo, lent its melody to the fifties hit Kiss of Fire. Similarly Adiós Muchachos became I Get Ideas, and Strange Sensation was based on La Cumparsita.

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