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Eduardo Arolas
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Browse piano sheets by Eduardo Arolas on Zen Virtual Piano. Eduardo Arolas was born on February 24, 1892, in Barracas, a young industrial neighborhood on the southern edge of Buenos Aires. He grew up among workshops, warehouses, workers and cart drivers, left school after third grade, and held jobs to help his family, as a busboy, delivery boy, print-shop apprentice, sign maker, illustrator and cartoonist, cartooning being another of his passions. His formal musical studies were with José Bombig, who led the National Penitentiary band and ran a conservatory on Avenida Almirante Brown in La Boca. A young worker among workshops who also took jobs as an illustrator and cartoonist may suggest a visual imagination beside his music. His first tango dates from 1909, when he could not yet read or write music, and early masters such as Agustín Bardi and Roberto Firpo later played alongside him. In 1912 he began recording for Poli-phon with Tito Roccatagliatta on violin, Vicente Pecci on flute and Emilio Fernández on guitar, and in 1917 he formed a quintet that recorded for Victor. A first tango written before he could read music may suggest an instinctive route into composing. Octave phrasing was his creation, as were harmonized thirds played with both hands and the rezongos, low notes that make the bandoneon seem to grumble. With Juan Maglio Pacho he perfected the legato technique of the bandoneon, and all of these elements became essential to tango. An avant-garde Arolas often used unconventional instruments such as the saxophone, violoncello and banjo. La Cachila is considered his masterpiece, and the cover of the song Lágrimas carries his own self-portrait. Octave phrasing and harmonized thirds, beside the saxophone and banjo, may suggest a bandoneon player testing the instrument's range. A self-portrait on the Lágrimas cover, beside his work as an illustrator and cartoonist, may suggest his drawing reached his music publications. At some point his lover Delia López ended up involved with his brother, and he slid into alcoholism and chronic sadness. A second European trip in 1922, aimed at finding work, brought no help from the tango musicians already there, yet he secured good contracts in Paris and Madrid by himself. He died of tuberculosis on September 29, 1924, in a hospital in Paris, aged 32, and a street in Buenos Aires carries his name in tribute. Paris and Madrid contracts won alone, beside his struggle with alcoholism, may suggest a working life that held up despite private trouble.
Browse piano sheets by Eduardo Arolas on Zen Virtual Piano.
Eduardo Arolas was born on February 24, 1892, in Barracas, a young industrial neighborhood on the southern edge of Buenos Aires. He grew up among workshops, warehouses, workers and cart drivers, left school after third grade, and held jobs to help his family, as a busboy, delivery boy, print-shop apprentice, sign maker, illustrator and cartoonist, cartooning being another of his passions. His formal musical studies were with José Bombig, who led the National Penitentiary band and ran a conservatory on Avenida Almirante Brown in La Boca. A young worker among workshops who also took jobs as an illustrator and cartoonist may suggest a visual imagination beside his music.
His first tango dates from 1909, when he could not yet read or write music, and early masters such as Agustín Bardi and Roberto Firpo later played alongside him. In 1912 he began recording for Poli-phon with Tito Roccatagliatta on violin, Vicente Pecci on flute and Emilio Fernández on guitar, and in 1917 he formed a quintet that recorded for Victor. A first tango written before he could read music may suggest an instinctive route into composing.
Octave phrasing was his creation, as were harmonized thirds played with both hands and the rezongos, low notes that make the bandoneon seem to grumble. With Juan Maglio Pacho he perfected the legato technique of the bandoneon, and all of these elements became essential to tango. An avant-garde Arolas often used unconventional instruments such as the saxophone, violoncello and banjo. La Cachila is considered his masterpiece, and the cover of the song Lágrimas carries his own self-portrait. Octave phrasing and harmonized thirds, beside the saxophone and banjo, may suggest a bandoneon player testing the instrument's range. A self-portrait on the Lágrimas cover, beside his work as an illustrator and cartoonist, may suggest his drawing reached his music publications.
At some point his lover Delia López ended up involved with his brother, and he slid into alcoholism and chronic sadness. A second European trip in 1922, aimed at finding work, brought no help from the tango musicians already there, yet he secured good contracts in Paris and Madrid by himself. He died of tuberculosis on September 29, 1924, in a hospital in Paris, aged 32, and a street in Buenos Aires carries his name in tribute. Paris and Madrid contracts won alone, beside his struggle with alcoholism, may suggest a working life that held up despite private trouble.
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Eduardo Arolas
Common questions
Eduardo Arolas was an Argentine tango bandoneon player and composer born in Buenos Aires in 1892.
La Cachila is considered Eduardo Arolas's masterpiece.
He created octave phrasing, harmonized thirds and the rezongos, and with Juan Maglio Pacho refined the legato technique.
He died of tuberculosis on September 29, 1924, in a hospital in Paris.