Tango in 1921

The available material on tango in 1921 covers four topics: a birth, a film, the musical activity of established performers, and a body of recordings that a discography listing dates to that year ^[1][2][3][5].

The year's best-documented birth was that of Astor Pantaleón Piazzolla. He was born in Mar del Plata on 11 March 1921 and later became a bandoneonist, orchestra director, arranger and composer ^[1][4]. Outside Argentina, the Italian actor Rodolfo Valentino caused a worldwide sensation in 1921 with the film Los cuatro jinetes del Apocalipsis. In it he took on the identity of an Argentine tango dancer dressed as a gaucho ^[2].

In Buenos Aires, two pieces of musical activity are recorded for the year. A biography of Carlos Gardel states that the duo hired the Argentine guitarist Guillermo Barbieri in 1921 ^[2]. A biography of Francisco Canaro states that he assembled a 32-piece orchestra that year to play at the carnival balls of the teatro Opera ^[5].

The recordings dated to 1921 fall into two groups. One is a set of instrumental sides credited to Roberto Firpo. The other is a larger set of vocal sides credited to Carlos Gardel, mostly with guitar accompaniment by José Ricardo and Guillermo Barbieri, and in some cases with José Razzano ^[3]. Besides tangos, the vocal sides include valses, zambas, tonadas, a gato, a fado and a tangón ^[3].

A biography of Carlos Gardel records that in 1921 the duo hired the Argentine guitarist Guillermo Barbieri ^[2]. Barbieri took the role of second guitar and kept it until Ricardo retired ^[2]. This matches the recordings dated to 1921, several of which credit Barbieri alongside José Ricardo and Carlos Gardel ^[3].

The same biography gives a proportion for 1921 of eight out of twenty-two, stated as 30%, after six out of twenty-four, stated as 25%, in 1920 ^[2]. The available excerpt does not say what was being counted ^[2].

According to a biography of Francisco Canaro, he assembled a 32-piece orchestra in 1921 to play at the carnival balls of the teatro Opera in Buenos Aires ^[5]. The biography describes the teatro Opera as now disappeared ^[5]. It also describes an orchestra of that size as unknown in tango until then ^[5].

Also in 1921, the Italian Rodolfo Valentino caused a worldwide sensation with the film Los cuatro jinetes del Apocalipsis ^[2]. In the film he adopted the identity of an Argentine tango dancer dressed as a gaucho ^[2].

Astor Pantaleón Piazzolla was born in Mar del Plata on 11 March 1921 and died in Buenos Aires on 4 July 1992 ^[1]. He was the son of Vicente Piazzolla and Asunta Manetti ^[1]. Both parents were born in Mar del Plata to Italian parents ^[1]. He was later a bandoneonist, orchestra director, arranger and composer ^[1].

An English-language biography confirms the year and place of his birth ^[4]. It describes Mar del Plata at that time as a fishing port on the Atlantic Ocean, 420 kilometres south of Buenos Aires ^[4]. The town was also an aristocratic seaside resort that was not yet very popular ^[4].

A discography listing credits the following sides to Roberto Firpo and dates them to 1921, shown with genre and TINT work code ^[3]:

Five of these seven sides are listed as tangos, one as a tango milonga and one as a vals ^[3].

The same listing dates several sides to 1921 that are credited to José Ricardo with Carlos Gardel ^[3]:

Other sides from 1921 are credited to Guillermo Barbieri and José Ricardo with Carlos Gardel ^[3]:

Three sides from 1921 are credited to Guillermo Barbieri, José Ricardo with Carlos Gardel, and José Razzano ^[3]:

Two sides from 1921 are credited to Carlos Gardel alone ^[3]:

One work, Muñequita de lujo, appears twice among the 1921 entries under the same work code, T0370125613 ^[3]. One entry is an instrumental side by Roberto Firpo; the other is a vocal side credited to Guillermo Barbieri and José Ricardo with Carlos Gardel ^[3].

The Gardel-related entries for 1921 cover a range of genres ^[3]. They include tangos such as Margot and Zorro gris, valses such as Tu diagnóstico, zambas such as La tupungatina and Pobre mi negra, and tonadas such as Maragata and Jujeña ^[3]. They also include a gato, Con los ojos del alma; a fado, De mi tierra; and a tangón, El pañuelito ^[3].

The listing gives 1921 as the recording year for these sides ^[3]. For the works themselves, 1921 should be read only as the date of the earliest known recording in this listing, not as a year of composition or first performance ^[3].