CARLOS GARDEL, THE HEART OF THE TANGO.
A SYMBOL OF LOVE FOR CARLOS GARDEL IN THE CITY OF BUENOS AIRES
Source: Roberto Fiadone (painter) 2006 Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons
STORY OF THIS POST.
My Blog group gave us the following prompt for the
FTSF Blog Hop:
“If I could hang out with any celebrity, it would be…”
My choice was… Carlos Gardel!
When I mentally went through my list of celebrities, I
was somewhat shocked to discover that most of them were either dead or retired!
That’s what comes of being an oldie!
However, I don’t live exclusively in the past, I do
admire some present day celebrities, but they don’t seem to be from Hispanic
America, which is the focus of this Blog.
There is also another factor that is working for me
here and that is the fact that my life is filled with music: I love music, I
listen to music, I play a musical instrument, I enjoy some of the beautiful
lyrics of my best loved songs.
So I finally chose my favorite of all times, Argentina’s
famous composer, singer and actor of the 1920s and 1930s, Carlos Gardel. He is
actually still amongst us; his legacy has made him immortal!
He was an
incredible interpreter of the Tango, as well as all types of ballads and love
songs and his compositions are still well loved in Spanish America.
Gardel’s singing voice, and the ease with which he
used it to portray emotions, was so powerful that UNESCO recognizes his music
and recordings as an Intangible World Heritage.
His partner was Alfredo LePera, a gifted lyricist who
provided the beautiful verses for Gardel’s musical compositions.
Carlos Gardel and Alfredo LePera met their tragic
deaths in a plane accident in Medellin, Colombia, on June 24, 1935. They were
on tour and on their way back to Buenos Aires, Argentina.
For this post I have chosen a lovely melody called LEJANA
TIERRA MIA.
LEJANA TIERRA MIA
THE IMMORTAL CARLOS GARDEL
Source: José María Silva, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons
This song represents the Tango-canción at its best. It
expresses an immigrant’s longing for his home country, and therefore has a
distinct flavor of the traditional songs from Spain. It is not really a Tango,
but a Tango-Vals, although the accents on the rhythm are different to the more
well known Viennese Waltz.
This song was created as part of a movie called Tango
Bar, produced in February 1935 in Long Island, New York, for Paramount
Pictures. It was released to public view a few months after the tragic deaths
of both Gardel and LePera. YouTube has videos of the some of the scenes that
include Gardel actually singing this song in the movie.
For this post I have chosen another type of video which includes the singing and a historical record of Buenos Aires, I hope you will listen to it, it is beautiful and interesting!
MY VERY FREE TRANSLATION OF THE LYRICS.
Verse.
Distant land of mine,
Under your sky,
Under your sky
I want to die some day
With your solace,
With your solace.
And hear the golden song
Of your bells
That I yearn for.
If I return to gaze at you,
I don’t know if I will laugh
Or I will cry.
The silence of my village,
Broken solely by
An ardent Romeo’s serenade
Under a sweet silver moon.
On a flowered balcony
The murmur of a pledge
Can be heard,
Carried on the breeze
With other throes of love.
Interlude.
The balcony is still there
With its flowers
And its sun
You’re not there
I miss you…
Oh my love!
Verse
Distant land of mine
And of my love
How I name you
In my sleepless nights
With eyes full of wonder…
Tell me, little star of mine,
that my hopes are not in vain;
You know well…
That I must soon return…
To my bygone love.
SOME CLOSING WORDS.
This particular composition by Gardel – LePera holds a
special significance for me: it was the first of Gardel’s repertoire that I
played in public on my new Casio keyboard. The interpretation evoked a lot of
sentiment in the listeners, as it did in me also.
In spite of the tragic and premature deaths, the
partnership of Gardel and LePera is very much with us still.
For this post I have chosen a video that includes
Gardel singing "Lejana Tierra Mia", while showing scenes from Buenos Aires of the
first decades of the 1900s. The classic style of the buildings is common to
most of the important cities of Spanish America.
I have also added some examples of the Fileteado art
which in Buenos Aires goes hand in hand with the Tango culture.
FILETEADO ART DECORATING A STORE FRONT IN BUENOS AIRES
Source: Roberto Fiadone (painter), CC BY SA 3.0. Wikimedia Commons
SPANISH VERSES
(This Blog is bilingual)
Lejana
tierra mía
Bajo tu
cielo,
Bajo tu
cielo,
Quiero
morirme un día
Con tu consuelo,
Con tu consuelo.
Y oír el
canto de oro
De tus
campanas
Que siempre
añoro;
No sé si
al contemplarte
Al regresar
Sabré reír
o llorar…
Silencio
de mi aldea
Que sólo
quiebra la serenata
De un
ardiente Romeo
Bajo una
dulce luna de plata.
En un
balcón florido
Se oye
el murmullo
De un
juramento,
Que la
brisa llevó con el rumor
De otras
cuitas de amor.
Siempre
está
El balcón
Con su flor
Y su sol…
Tú no
estás, faltas tú…
¡Oh! Mi
amor…
Lejana
tierra mía
De mis
amores,
Como te
nombro
En mis
noches de insomnio
Con las
pupilas
Llenas de
asombro…
Dime,
estrellita mía,
Que no
son vanas mis esperanzas;
Bien sabes
tú.. Que pronto he de volver…
A mi
viejo querer
CARLOS GARDEL STREET IN BUENOS AIRES
Notice the Fileteado street art decorating the building!
Source: Alexav8, CC BY SA 3.0. Wikimedia Commons
See you on my next post! I hope you have enjoyed this
one!
© 2013
joanveronica (Joan Robertson)
I will be very happy to receive your comments! Just
click the word “comments” lower down.
Awesome Joan and was very interesting to hear he recored this song near my neck of the woods on Long Island in NY (I live in Nassau County on Long Island!). Thank you as always for linking up with us!! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Janine, so hsppy for your comment! I never thought of the connection you mention, my main interest in the location of the recording has always been a way of showing that Carlos Gardel was important enough an artist to have actually worked with Paramount in New York, quite a feat for a Latino in those years! He was on his way to Hollywood, but died before that happened. See you on the next hop!
DeleteWow, such a talented man! A great share, Joan! Nicely done and so beautiful. Can you imagine what he would have accomplished if he'd made it to Hollywood?!
ReplyDeleteHi Terry, so happy for your comment! I usually have a recording of Gardel's compositions going while I work at my computer, it sure fills the void of being alone in the world! Especially as most of my readers are hundreds of miles away! So have a good day and I'll se you on the next Hop!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post! And beautiful lyrics.
ReplyDeleteHi Kristi, so happy you visited and liked this post! I'm a great admirer of the tune and the lyrics, I so enjoy listening to these recordings, they are amazingly clear in spite of their age. That's technology for you! See you on a next post!
DeleteThat was beautiful! Thank you so much for sharing! I always enjoy your unique take on FTSF!
ReplyDeleteHi Stephanie, what a nice way to start the day, reading your comment! I'm so glad you liked this post, and yes, it would be difficult to find another Blogger with similar content, I'm such a non-common mix of cultures! But it's fun! See you!
DeleteThis is amazing, what a beautiful song! If you read my post you would know about my "relationship" with Woody Allen. This song sounds so much like something he would love, and use for a very important part in one of his movies. Thank you so much for introducing me to this, I love music and definitely love expanding my repertoire!
ReplyDeleteHi Jen, so happy for your visit and your comment! I've only just found it, there seems to have been a glitch, but it's made my day regardless. You would find many lovely tunes in the repertoire of Carlos Gardel, I know. I play several of them on the keyboard, and I definitely prefer something that is beautiful, not just beat, beat, beat! So thanks again and have a good day!
DeleteHi Joan! OMG when I started reading, I kept thinking about one of the classes I was taking for my MAT (that I didn't finish, lol). I had to read a long play called "Las asesinas de Gardel" - totally brought back memories. :) I hope you have a wonderful fin de semana (y semana santa si la celebras). HUGS!
ReplyDeleteHi Cyndi, you are one up on me, I've never heard of that play! Thanks for the visit and the coment, I'll have to do some reading, I think! Have a good day!
DeleteJoan - I'm never disappointed by reading one of your posts. Always interesting, always introducing me to something new, and always extremely well written. The music, dated as it may be, still brings about a feeling of either a lazy summer afternoon, or a moonlit evening. Great Job!
ReplyDeleteHi Rich, these are compliments indeed! I'm so glad you liked this post and my writing in general,it gets to feel a bit lonely way down here at the end of the world! And the music is a classic, even though it's an oldie (like me!). Gardel's songs will never go out of fashion, they are part of Spanish America's heritage and are revered by many. If you enter Twitter, and check #Tango or #Gardel, you will usually read a whole pile of entries that say the person is actually listening to a recording at that moment. Quite impressive for someone who has been dead these many years! See you on the next post!
Delete