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TANGO MUSIC IN THE 1920s

FRANCISCO DE CARO (composer of Loca Bohemia, track 10) was the pianist and largely the creative force of the legendary Sexteto Julio De Caro.  With his brother, leader and violinist Julio, they revolutionized the way tango was written and interpreted, founding the “Guardia Nueva” movement…Many years later Astor Piazzolla would honor their contribution with his composition “Decarissimo”…the great fame that his brother Julio would attain was in no small part due to Francisco’s artistic leadership.

Below, in the words of Pascal Roche….

“Composers and arrangers who enchanted all in the 1940s, (the Golden Age of tango) claimed the “Decareana” influence. Osvaldo Pugliese said that his style was directly inspired from the De Caros.

Julio and Francisco’s father José De Caro, who had been director of the Scala of Milano, wished his two sons to become accomplished musicians. He trained them to be instrumentalists grounded in composition, harmony, counterpoint and fugue. They chose to dedicate their talent to tango, to their father’s despair (he did not talk to them for 20 years following this decision).

Their legacy is an amazingly rich repertoire, in which the instruments’ voices unite in heady counterpoint and variations. Because of their training in classical music, the De Caro brothers raised tango to the level of a scholarly music.

Thanks to them, tango also began to be performed in concerts. This music touches me through its lightness and profoundness, through its humour, its subtleties and its softness…These qualities are so seldom found nowadays…Hoping to be true to them… Julio & Francisco…”