Guardia Vieja I: 1895–1910

Between approximately 1895 and 1910 the music and dance that had gestated in the arrabales acquired a recognizable identity as tango criollo and entered a period later called the first stage of the Guardia Vieja. Small ensembles—typically trios combining flute or clarinet, violin, and guitar—provided the core instrumentation.^[1][5] The guitar (or sometimes piano) supplied the habanera bass rhythm while the higher instruments carried the melody; occasional singers accompanied the groups in cafés, beer halls, conventillo courtyards, and academias.^[1] Solo guitar or piano performances and municipal marching bands also circulated the repertoire. Organitos, portable barrel organs cranked by Italian immigrants, proved decisive for popularization: cylinders held eight to eleven tunes, and the instruments moved from suburban streets into more central neighborhoods, making forbidden or marginal melodies familiar to a broader public before radio existed.^[2][6] Local makers included Rinaldi-Roncallo and La Salvia; the latter family claimed to be the first domestic constructors after their grandfather’s arrival in 1875.^[6] Sheet music began to appear with registered authors. Rosendo Mendizábal (Afro-Argentine, signing as A. Rosendo) published “El entrerriano” in 1897 or 1898 after first playing it on 25 October 1897 at María la Vasca’s house in Palermo; dedicated to estanciero Ricardo Segovia, it is regarded as the first tango with a clear three-part structure (two 16-bar sections and one 32-bar section) and the earliest widely accepted published example.^[3][7] Ernesto Ponzio’s “Don Juan” (1898 or 1899) and Ángel Villoldo’s “El choclo” (1903) quickly joined it as foundational instrumental works; Villoldo and Enrique Saborido’s “La morocha” (1905) added lyrics and became one of the first tangos exported in quantity.^[1][4] Other early printed pieces include Manuel O. Campoamor’s “El Sargento Cabral” (1898/99) and Villoldo’s “El porteñito.” Many earliest musicians and dancers were of African descent; Mendizábal himself belonged to this milieu, and figures such as Casimiro Alcorta continued to perform into the period.^[3][8] Acoustic recording technology arrived in the region around 1901. Early cylinders and discs captured Villoldo, the Gobbi couple (Alfredo and Flora, later called “Los Reyes del Gramófono”), Gabino Ezeiza, and others; examples include “El pimpollo” (1904), “El choclo,” and “La morocha” by Flora Gobbi.^[4][9] These recordings were made both locally and, in some cases, in Europe by traveling artists such as Villoldo and the Gobbis. The music remained largely functional for dancing: fast, rhythmic, with limited harmonic complexity and a strong habanera pulse. Venues stayed rooted in the arrabal and working-class districts, though by the end of the decade tango appeared in carnival balls and occasional theater programs. The period ends around the Centennial of 1910, when the bandoneón began to displace the flute and guitar as the defining instrument and larger recorded ensembles emerged.^[1][4] This decade fixed the basic ternary form, the first named repertoire, and the street-level diffusion mechanisms that the next generation would expand.

Trios of flute or clarinet, violin, and guitar predominated; the guitar maintained the habanera rhythm while melodic instruments improvised or played written lines.^[1][5] Organitos supplemented live groups, projecting the same repertoire mechanically into courtyards and streets. Marching bands performed arrangements for carnival and public events. Singers, when present, delivered simple or topical verses rather than the later narrative tango-canción.^[1]

“El entrerriano” (Mendizábal, 1897/98) is the earliest tango with a registered author and a documented ternary structure; it was first played at María la Vasca’s and dedicated to Ricardo Segovia.^[3][7] “Don Juan” (Ponzio, 1898/99) and “El choclo” (Villoldo, 1903) completed the trio of pieces most often cited as defining the genre’s early musical identity. “La morocha” (Saborido/Villoldo, 1905) combined music and lyrics and traveled abroad on sheet music.^[1][4] Many scores still carried the label “tango criollo.”

From roughly 1901, phonograph cylinders and gramophone discs captured the repertoire. Villoldo, the Gobbis, and others recorded in Buenos Aires and Paris; French military bands such as the Banda de la Guardia Republicana also issued tango discs around 1908.^[4][9] Organitos remained the primary mass medium for the non-record-buying public throughout the decade.^[2][6]