We should be just and fair: the famous Tango La Cumparsita may be regarded both, as Argentine and as Uruguayan tango. It was written by uruguaian, Gerardo Matos Rodriguez in 1917 and was first played in the coffee house La Giralda, Montevideo, Uruguay. Gerardo was 17 years old at the time, and in that moment he could not imagine that he was creating one of the most famous tango compositions in tango history.
After seven years he went to France, where he met the famous musician, Francisco Canaro, and found out that his tango was a major hit in Paris. Meanwhile, the tango lyricists Enrique Maroni and Pascual Contursi had added lyrics to the tango and renamed it 'Si Supieras'. The next twenty years Gerardo spent in and out of court trying to regain his rights as the true author of La Cumparsita, the most famous tango in the world. The tango La Cumparsita is considered the hymn of uruguayan tangos.
Like everything else about tango, there is a disagreement about who first recorded La Cumparsita, but most of the sources in history of Tango Argentino agree that Roberto Firpo was the one who first recorded it with his tango orchestra.
Here is presented a unique vocal version with lyrics written by composer, starting with words:
La Cumparsa
de miserias sin fin
desfila,
en torno de aquel ser
enfermo,
que pronto ha de morir
de pena.
- which nowadays can be so rarely heard.
Tags: Tango Uruguay Argentina La Cumparsita 78rpm 1930s Nostalgia
