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Tango is one of the main musical elements of the national identity of modern Argentina. It is born in the marginalized environment of the port of Buenos Aires, but soon conquers Europe and the USA, where it is carried by traveling Argentine musicians and dancers during the first decade of the 20th century. Its acceptance by the upper and middle classes was due to its transformation from a multicultural musical expression of the underworld to a dance-music one for whites, as well as to its thematic cleansing of its overtly sensual origins. Primarily marginal types and their provocative liminality are replaced by quaint figures who are possessed by unquenchable, but stylized love passions. This is how a “tamed” musical genre emerges that recalls a more romantic Argentina. Tango takes Parisian cabarets by storm, and its initially targeted popularity soon develops into widespread appeal. Record companies, composers and orchestras manage it as an integral part of their business. At the end of the 1920s and the beginning of the 1930s, Greece succumbs too to this “tangomania”. During the interwar period, tango has a central place in the repertoire of elafro (light music) and enriches discography’s catalogs with hundreds of original compositions which complement the systematic arrangements of popular pieces, mainly of European origin, “dressed” with Greek lyrics.
It should also be noted that we have time and time again stumbled upon songs whose creators were born in a different place, worked in another, and, in the end, met in a third location and created a new work, often inspired by something pre-existing. Undoubtedly, cases of this type demonstrate the complexity regarding the issues of ownership of works, but also the problem of applying national signs to musical creations. One such case is the song "Floretsita".
It is an adaptation with Greek lyrics of the tango milonga "Florecita" (or "Petite fleur"), set to music by the Brazilian composer, lyricist, bandoneonist and conductor José M. Lucchesi (Socaba, Brazil, March 29, 1897 - Paris, February 10, 1989) and French lyrics by René Pujol.
It was the main musical theme of the French film "Mon gosse de père", in which a song version, performed by the protagonist Alice Cocéa, was also included.
The musical score of the tango, arranged by Francis Salabert, was published in Paris in 1930 by Francis Salabert's publishing house.
According to the findings so far, three recordings have been found in French historical discography:
- Orchestre José Sentis, France, 1927 (Pathé Saphir 8084 - 6974)
- M. Danielo - Orchestre del tango Sud-Américain José Lucchesi, Paris, April 4, 1927 (Gramophone BFR 482-1 - KI 5143 & 3-230525)
- Alice Cocéa - Orchestre del tango Sud-Américain José Lucchesi, Paris, June 11, 1930 (Gramophone BF3350-2 - K5962)
Α Greek musical score, in the name of José M. Lucchesi with the title "Floretsita" and lyrics by Aimilios Dragatsis, different both in terms of the musical text and the lyrics in relation to the present recording, was published by the Gaitanos - Konstantinidis - Starr publishing house.
Research and text: Leonardos Kounadis, George Evangelou and Nikos Ordoulidis
Tango is one of the main musical elements of the national identity of modern Argentina. It is born in the marginalized environment of the port of Buenos Aires, but soon conquers Europe and the USA, where it is carried by traveling Argentine musicians and dancers during the first decade of the 20th century. Its acceptance by the upper and middle classes was due to its transformation from a multicultural musical expression of the underworld to a dance-music one for whites, as well as to its thematic cleansing of its overtly sensual origins. Primarily marginal types and their provocative liminality are replaced by quaint figures who are possessed by unquenchable, but stylized love passions. This is how a “tamed” musical genre emerges that recalls a more romantic Argentina. Tango takes Parisian cabarets by storm, and its initially targeted popularity soon develops into widespread appeal. Record companies, composers and orchestras manage it as an integral part of their business. At the end of the 1920s and the beginning of the 1930s, Greece succumbs too to this “tangomania”. During the interwar period, tango has a central place in the repertoire of elafro (light music) and enriches discography’s catalogs with hundreds of original compositions which complement the systematic arrangements of popular pieces, mainly of European origin, “dressed” with Greek lyrics.
It should also be noted that we have time and time again stumbled upon songs whose creators were born in a different place, worked in another, and, in the end, met in a third location and created a new work, often inspired by something pre-existing. Undoubtedly, cases of this type demonstrate the complexity regarding the issues of ownership of works, but also the problem of applying national signs to musical creations. One such case is the song "Floretsita".
It is an adaptation with Greek lyrics of the tango milonga "Florecita" (or "Petite fleur"), set to music by the Brazilian composer, lyricist, bandoneonist and conductor José M. Lucchesi (Socaba, Brazil, March 29, 1897 - Paris, February 10, 1989) and French lyrics by René Pujol.
It was the main musical theme of the French film "Mon gosse de père", in which a song version, performed by the protagonist Alice Cocéa, was also included.
The musical score of the tango, arranged by Francis Salabert, was published in Paris in 1930 by Francis Salabert's publishing house.
According to the findings so far, three recordings have been found in French historical discography:
- Orchestre José Sentis, France, 1927 (Pathé Saphir 8084 - 6974)
- M. Danielo - Orchestre del tango Sud-Américain José Lucchesi, Paris, April 4, 1927 (Gramophone BFR 482-1 - KI 5143 & 3-230525)
- Alice Cocéa - Orchestre del tango Sud-Américain José Lucchesi, Paris, June 11, 1930 (Gramophone BF3350-2 - K5962)
Α Greek musical score, in the name of José M. Lucchesi with the title "Floretsita" and lyrics by Aimilios Dragatsis, different both in terms of the musical text and the lyrics in relation to the present recording, was published by the Gaitanos - Konstantinidis - Starr publishing house.
Research and text: Leonardos Kounadis, George Evangelou and Nikos Ordoulidis
© 2019 KOUNADIS ARCHIVE
