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Song

La Cumparsita

La Cumparsita is a tango whose melody was composed in 1916 by the Uruguayan student Gerardo Matos Rodríguez as a carnival march for the Federation of Students of Uruguay. Roberto Firpo arranged and premiered it at Café La Giralda in Montevideo; later lyrics by Pascual Contursi and Enrique Pedro Maroni made it the most widely known tango.

La Cumparsita originated as a simple march written by the eighteen-year-old Uruguayan architecture student Gerardo Hernán Matos Rodríguez for the carnival comparsa of the Federation of Students of Uruguay. Sources place the composition between late 1915 and early 1916; the first sheet music appeared in Montevideo from Arista y Lena in 1916 and in Buenos Aires from Breyer Hermanos the following year. In April 1916 a friend presented the elementary score to pianist and orchestra leader Roberto Firpo, who was performing at Café La Giralda in Montevideo. Firpo recast the piece as a tango, adding a third section drawn from his earlier tangos La gaucha Manuela and Curda completa together with a fragment of Verdi’s Miserere from Il trovatore, and the orchestra played it that night to immediate local success. Matos Rodríguez, still a minor, declined Firpo’s suggestion of joint authorship. The first commercial recording is credited to Firpo for Odeon in 1916, though some accounts date the session to 1917. The instrumental version circulated modestly until 1924, when Pascual Contursi and Enrique Pedro Maroni, without the composer’s permission, fitted new lyrics and the title Si supieras. The sung version, popularized by Carlos Gardel, transformed the piece into the emblematic tango of the Golden Age and triggered a lengthy copyright dispute that was finally settled in 1948, assigning the majority of royalties to Matos Rodríguez’s estate. In 1998 the Uruguayan parliament officially declared La Cumparsita the popular and cultural hymn of Uruguay. Its closing bars have become the traditional signal that a milonga is ending.

Composition and premiere

Matos Rodríguez, nicknamed Becho, sketched the melody while associated with the student federation whose carnival banner carried the cocoliche spelling Cumparsita. The original two-section sketch was rudimentary; pianist Carlos Warren helped prepare a cleaner copy before it reached Firpo. Firpo’s own recollection places the café premiere in 1916 and describes the enthusiastic reception that followed. Contemporary sheet-music editions credit Matos Rodríguez alone as composer.

Lyrics and legal history

Contursi and Maroni’s 1924 lyrics begin with the line Si supieras and were first performed in a Buenos Aires theatrical sketch. Matos Rodríguez later wrote his own verses, but the Contursi-Maroni text became standard. The 1948 settlement, mediated in part by Francisco Canaro, allocated 80 percent of rights to the Matos Rodríguez estate and 20 percent to the lyricists’ estates. Matos Rodríguez had earlier recovered the publishing rights sold while he was underage.

Recordings and cultural status

Firpo’s 1916 Odeon disc is generally regarded as the first recording. Gardel recorded the Contursi lyrics in 1924 in Buenos Aires and again in Barcelona in 1928. Juan D’Arienzo’s driving 1930s–1940s versions established the piece as the conventional closing tanda at milongas worldwide. Astor Piazzolla recorded it four times between 1946 and 1967.

References

  1. 1.La cumparsita · todotango.com“La cumparsita was initially a little march, composed by the young student of architecture, Gerardo Hernán Matos Rodríguez on an uncertain date, that we can place between the late 1915 and the early 1916”
  2. 2.La cumparsita · en.wikipedia.org“La cumparsita is a tango written in 1916 by the Uruguayan musician Gerardo Matos Rodríguez”
  3. 3.La cumparsita · es.wikipedia.org“La cumparsita fue creada inicialmente como una marcha, compuesta en 1917 por el joven estudiante de arquitectura Gerardo Matos Rodríguez”
  4. 4.La cumparsita · todotango.com“En abril de ese año, el joven Matos Rodríguez, por intermedio de un amigo, acerca la música al director y pianista Roberto Firpo”
Data: recordings, facts and sources

Recordings by year

Source: TangoCloud catalogue

19172008

1917: 1, 1925: 1, 1926: 1, 1927: 2, 1928: 3, 1929: 2, 1930: 1, 1931: 3, 1935: 1, 1936: 2, 1937: 2, 1940: 2, 1942: 3, 1943: 3, 1944: 1, 1946: 2, 1949: 1, 1950: 1, 1951: 5, 1952: 4, 1953: 4, 1954: 1, 1955: 4, 1956: 2, 1957: 2, 1958: 2, 1959: 2, 1960: 1, 1961: 4, 1962: 1, 1963: 2, 1964: 1, 1965: 1, 1966: 1, 1967: 2, 1968: 4, 1969: 1, 1970: 1, 1971: 1, 1973: 2, 1975: 1, 1977: 2, 1979: 1, 1983: 2, 1986: 1, 1987: 2, 1998: 1, 2000: 1, 2001: 1, 2002: 1, 2005: 1, 2008: 1

Credit

Music
Gerardo Matos Rodríguez

Source: TangoCloud catalogue

Lyrics

Español

La cumparsa De miserias sin fin Desfila En torno de aquel ser Enfermo Que pronto ha de morir De pena. Por eso es que en su lecho Solloza acongojado Recordando el pasado Que lo hace padecer... Abandonó a su viejita Que quedó desamparada, Y loco de pasión Ciego de amor Corrió tras de su amada, Que era linda, era hechicera De lujuria era una flor, Que burló su querer Hasta que se cansó Y por otro lo dejó... Largo tiempo después Cayó al hogar materno, Para poder curar su enfermo Y herido corazón... Y supo Que su viejita santa, La que él había dejado El invierno pasado De frío se murió... Hoy ya solo, abandonado A lo triste de su suerte, Ansioso espera a la muerte Que bien pronto ha de llegar, Y entre la triste frialdad Que lenta invade el corazón, Sintió la cruda sensación De su maldad... Entre sombras Se le oye respirar Sufriente, Al que antes de morir Sonríe Porque una dulce paz Le llega... Sintió que desde el cielo Su madrecita buena, Mitigando sus penas Sus culpas perdonó...!

English · machine translation

The cumparsa Of endless miseries Parades Around that being Sick Who will soon die Of sorrow. That's why in his bed He sobs in sorrow Remembering the past That makes him suffer... He abandoned his old lady Who was left forsaken, And mad with passion Blind with love He ran after his beloved, Who was pretty, she was a sorceress Of lust she was a flower, That mocked his love Till he grew weary And for another she left him... Long after He fell to his mother's home, In order to heal her sick And wounded heart... And he knew That his holy old lady, The one he had left Last winter From the cold she died... Now alone, abandoned To the sadness of his fate, Anxiously awaits death Which is soon to come, And amidst the sad coldness That slowly invades his heart, He felt the raw sensation Of his evil... In the shadows You can hear him breathing Suffering, Who before dying Smiles Because a sweet peace Comes to him... He felt that from heaven His good little mother Mitigating his sorrows His faults she forgave...!

Every recording

95 recordings by year · source: TangoCloud catalogue

  1. La cumparsitaRoberto Firpo1917
  2. La cumparsitaFrancisco Lomuto1925
  3. La cumparsitaOrquesta Típica Victor1926
  4. La cumparsitaFrancisco Canaro1927
  5. La cumparsitaOsvaldo Fresedo1927
  6. La cumparsitaRoberto Firpo1928
  7. La cumparsitaJuan D'Arienzo · Raquel Notar, Carlos Dante1928
  8. La cumparsitaJuan D'Arienzo · Carlos Dante1928
  9. La cumparsitaFrancisco Canaro1929
  10. La cumparsitaOrquesta Donato-Zerrillo · Agustin Magaldi1929
  11. La cumparsitaJulio De Caro1930
  12. La cumparsitaOrquesta Típica Los Provincianos (Ciriaco Ortiz) · Roberto Diaz1931
  13. La cumparsitaOrquesta Típica Brunswick1931
  14. La cumparsitaHoracio Pettorossi1931
  15. La cumparsitaEdgardo Donato1935
  16. La cumparsitaFrancisco Lomuto1936
  17. La cumparsitaOsmar Roma1936
  18. La cumparsitaCuarteto Típico Roberto Firpo1937
  19. La cumparsitaJuan D'Arienzo1937
  20. La cumparsitaRicardo Tanturi1940
  21. La cumparsitaJosé María Lucchesi1940
  22. La cumparsitaRodolfo Biagi · Jorge Ortiz1942
  23. La cumparsitaRodolfo Biagi1942
  24. La cumparsitaCarlos Di Sarli1942
  25. La cumparsitaOsvaldo Fresedo1943
  26. La cumparsitaAníbal Troilo1943
  27. La cumparsitaJuan D'Arienzo1943
  28. La cumparsitaAlfredo De Angelis · Nestor Rodi1944
  29. La cumparsitaÁngel D'Agostino · Ángel Vargas1946
  30. La cumparsitaOrquesta Francini-Pontier · Alberto Podestá1946
  31. La cumparsitaFeliciano Brunelli1949
  32. La cumparsitaOsmar Maderna1950
  33. La cumparsitaCarlos Di Sarli1951
  34. La cumparsitaJuan D'Arienzo1951
  35. La cumparsitaFrancisco Canaro · Mario Alonso1951
  36. La cumparsitaAníbal Troilo1951
  37. La cumparsitaAstor Piazzolla1951
  38. La cumparsitaAlberto Mancione1952
  39. La cumparsitaÁngel D'Agostino · Tino García1952
  40. La cumparsitaJorge Fernández1952
  41. La cumparsitaAníbal Troilo1952
  42. La cumparsitaEnrique Rodríguez con su Orquesta De Todos Los Ritmos1953
  43. La cumparsitaDonato Racciatti1953
  44. La cumparsitaDonato Racciatti1953
  45. La cumparsitaPedro Laurenz1953
  46. La cumparsitaHéctor Varela1954
  47. La cumparsitaQuinteto Pirincho (Francisco Canaro)1955
  48. La cumparsitaCarlos Di Sarli1955
  49. La cumparsitaArmando Pontier1955
  50. La cumparsitaJosé Basso1955
  51. La cumparsitaJosé Basso1956
  52. La cumparsitaHéctor Varela1956
  53. La cumparsitaAstor Piazzolla1957
  54. La cumparsitaMariano Mores1957
  55. La cumparsitaJorge Caldara · Carlos Montalvo, Miguel Martino1958
  56. La cumparsitaHéctor D'Esposito1958
  57. La cumparsitaQuinteto Pirincho (Francisco Canaro)1959
  58. La cumparsitaOsvaldo Pugliese · Jorge Maciel, Carlos Guido, Luis Mela1959
  59. La cumparsitaDonato Racciatti1960
  60. La cumparsitaJosé Basso1961
  61. La cumparsitaAlfredo De Angelis1961
  62. La cumparsitaFrancisco Canaro1961
  63. La cumparsitaDomingo Federico · Ruben Maciel1961
  64. La cumparsitaEnrique Alessio1962
  65. La cumparsitaAníbal Troilo1963
  66. La cumparsitaJuan D'Arienzo1963
  67. La cumparsitaMiguel Caló1964
  68. La cumparsitaReynaldo Nichele1965
  69. La cumparsitaFlorindo Sassone1966
  70. La cumparsitaFulvio Salamanca1967
  71. La cumparsitaLeopoldo Federico Y Roberto Grela1967
  72. La cumparsitaHéctor Varela1968
  73. La cumparsitaFlorindo Sassone1968
  74. La cumparsitaAníbal Troilo1968
  75. La cumparsitaDonato Racciatti1968
  76. La cumparsitaOsvaldo Manzi Y El Octeto Marabú1969
  77. La cumparsitaFlorindo Sassone · Oscar Macri1970
  78. La cumparsitaJuan D'Arienzo1971
  79. La cumparsitaFlorindo Sassone1973
  80. La cumparsitaOrquesta Francini-Pontier1973
  81. La cumparsitaLos Solistas De D'Arienzo1975
  82. La cumparsitaEnrique Francini1977
  83. La cumparsitaMariano Mores1977
  84. La cumparsitaOsvaldo Fresedo1979
  85. La cumparsitaJosé Basso1983
  86. La cumparsitaJosé Basso1983
  87. La cumparsitaMariano Mores1986
  88. La cumparsitaLos Solistas De D'Arienzo1987
  89. La cumparsitaNuevo Quinteto Real (Horacio Salgán)1987
  90. La cumparsitaOrquesta Forever Tango1998
  91. La cumparsitaOrquesta Escuela de Tango2000
  92. La cumparsitaHoracio Salgan y Ubaldo De Lio2001
  93. La cumparsitaOrquesta El Arranque2002
  94. La cumparsitaOrquesta Típica Silencio2005
  95. La cumparsitaOrquesta Forever Tango2008

Commented on1

Michael Lavocah — commented on La cumparsita2020-10-16Single source

Listen

  1. La cumparsitaRoberto Firpo1917
  2. La cumparsitaFrancisco Lomuto1925
  3. La cumparsita1926
  4. La cumparsitaFrancisco Canaro1927
  5. La cumparsitaOsvaldo Fresedo1927
  6. La cumparsitaRoberto Firpo1928
  7. La cumparsitaJuan D'Arienzo · Raquel Notar, Carlos Dante1928
  8. La cumparsitaJuan D'Arienzo · Carlos Dante1928
  9. La cumparsitaFrancisco Canaro1929
  10. La cumparsitaAgustín Magaldi1929
  11. La cumparsitaJulio De Caro1930
  12. La cumparsitaOrquesta Típica Los Provincianos (Ciriaco Ortiz) · Roberto Díaz1931

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