Roberto Firpo
Roberto Firpo
1884 - 1969
Roberto Firpo's musical arrangements are played at almost every milonga, yet relatively few of today's dancers know his name. No one had a greater impact on the music of tango. Firpo was the first to introduce the piano into the orquesta típica. It was Firpo who discovered the great tango La Cumparsita in that little café in Montevideo in 1917 and turned it into the best known tango of all time.
His milonga arrangements are classic and copied by almost every orquesta típica. His original recordings due to age and quality are less common; hence the lack of common recognition of his genius.
His tangos do tend to be very fast and should be carefully reviewed before including them in a tanda. In fact, the original sheet music of his time often lists the music as "tango milonga." In the early days, it was sometimes hard to distinguish between a tango and a milonga. [see Elshaw]
In 1930, he had made enough money at tango that he bought a cattle ranch. He made a million pesos the first year, but river floods wiped out his entire heard the following year, and he lost the ranch. He took the rest of his money and tried his luck in the stock market. He lost everything when the market crashed, and he wound up going back to his tango orchestra the rest of his life.
The orquesta típica usually comprises a string section (of violins, viola, and cello), a bandoneón section (of 3 or more bandoneons), and a rhythm section (of piano and double bass). An orquesta típica is an expanded version of a sexteto tipico, which includes 2 bandoneons, 2 violins, double bass and piano.
"The happiest day of my life cost me two hundred pesos," referring to the purchase of his first piano.
Resources:
Elshaw, Keith. Roberto Firpo: His Ideas Define What Tango Becomes. ToTango.com. Retrieved March 7. 2018, from http://www.totango.net/Firpo.html
History of Tango: Part 8: Roberto Firpo and the acceptance of the piano in the Orquesta Típica. Escuela de Tango de Buenos Aires. Marcelo Solís. Retrieved March 6, 2018, from http://escuelatangoba.com/marcelosolis/history-of-tango-part-8-roberto-firpo-and-the-acceptance-of-the-piano-in-the-orquesta-tipica-2/
Roberto Firpo. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 20:39, March 6, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Roberto_Firpo&oldid=721699224
Roberto Firpo: Biography, history. Todotango.com. Retrieved March 6, 2018, from
www.todotango.com/english/artists/info/19/Roberto-Firpo
Stoll, Richard. July 23, 2015. Roberto Firpo. THE EDUCATED TANGUERO
Essential Tango Knowledge. Retrieved March 6, 2018 from http://tango.5toll.com/en/2015/07/23/roberto-firpo/