Friday 27 November 2009

La Milonga de mis Perros

I have this CD, "Candombe" by Francisco Canaro and orchestra.

On it is Milonga de mis Perros, "Milonga of my dogs". The words are easy to hear (I think - I don't understand it all) but the piece as a whole is a beautiful little tone poem that makes me cry.

The poet has two dogs, who are his only friends, his companions. We learn their names, Cimarrón and Capitán. And we hear their voices, and even their shapes and personalities. They respond when he mentions their names.

Cimarrón (which seems to mean "Runaway" or "Maverick" in the farming sense, or in some contexts an escaped slave) sounds like a little, yappy, bouncing dog, perhaps something like a spaniel. He's played, I think, by the right hand of the bandoneón. Capitán has a deeper voice; he sounds like a bigger dog, perhaps something like a labrador or one of those big hunting dogs that runs around with its nose to the ground - and he's played by the left hand of the bandoneón.

We can hear their pattering feet and the way they run around, jump up and down and play and bark at things, prick up their ears, and come at the word of command.

It's such a brilliant little piece of music. I don't know why it makes me cry.

[Edit: to clarify, the band is Francisco Canaro y su Orquesta Típica, the singer is Carlos Roldán, and the track is dated 1942 and titled La milonga de mis perros and it sounds absolutely nothing like a 'nuevo' track I have somewhere called Milonga de los perros.]

[Update: muuuuuch later, I have worked out how to use Spotify, so if you have Spotify and want to listen (free) to this track, you can do so.]

7 comments:

Tangocommuter said...

Can't help wondering if it's not intended as a bit of a joke, after the Milonga de Mis Amores...

Mis Amores was written by Pedro Laurenz in 1937: he must have been a young rival of Canaro at the time, but I can't find a date for Mis Perros. I must look up the CD.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for that, almost every tango tune tells a story and when we know what it is everything becomes clearer. I will listen to "Milonga de mis Perros" with new ears now.

Claudita said...

1942 - I love that track!

msHedgehog said...

It says on the CD, 1942, the length is 02:58, the singer for this track is Carlos Roldán.

Chris said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Chris said...

You can hear it here at 23:13.

Graham Hughes said...

yes it's a wonderful piece - just superb