1636 Bandoneon first steps
Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2003 10:44:29 -0300
From: Alberto Gesualdi <clambat2001@YAHOO.COM.AR>
Subject: Bandoneon first steps
Charles Roques made some interesting comments about Jose Santa Cruz, a pardo/mixed blood that fought at the war of the Triple Alliance and used an early version of the bandoneon .
He worked at the Western Railway ( Ferrocarril Oeste ) , and have a son , Domingo Santa Cruz, born 1884 and died 1931.
Domingo Santa Cruz had an accident at the railway on 1900 . His left leg got broken and he remain lame for the rest of his life. His nickname was "Rengo/lame" Santa Cruz .
Since his childhood he used a simple model of bandoneon to learn to play by intuition/ear , without studying at an Academy .
His first Tango, Union Civica , was composed by ear, and his friend Bevilacqua helped him to make the scripts .
Domingo Santa Cruz was one of the first to introduce scales and arrangements to the bandoneon , expanding the possibilities of this instrument.
Around 1905 he was a well known musician , and had performances on cafes at la Boca and Barraca neighbourhoods. We have to remember the year , 1905. This neighbourhoods were almost suburbs of the centre of the city .La Boca was an active river port , with fishing boats sailing every day , and an active movement of goods to and from medium size ships that take general cargo. Barracas was a gathering place for the recollection of all the skins of animals, feathers , and the starting point for the caravans that take goods to the southern part of Buenos Aires, which was still under the danger of "malones" , the expeditions of natives to take cattle and horses away from the farmers. I am a bit reluctant to say "indians" , they were native people trying to keep the limits of their lands.
It would have been interesting to see the atmosphere of Barracas, where the suburb of the city and the people of the prairies met at the cafes. Music was evolving , and besides tangos, Santa Cruz must have played rancheras and other folklore music, as Gardel & Razzano do those days with their guitars ( in fact Gardel & Razzano started as payadores ,they were known as El Morocho y El Oriental).
On 1913 Domingo Santa Cruz set foot on the centre of the city , playing at Cafe Atenas., which was on Santa Fe y Canning ( actually Palermo neighbourhood , near the Botanic Garden) . His brother Juan played at the piano .Alcides Palavecino at the violin , amd Carlos "Hernani" Macchi at flute. Later Domingo create the tango "Hernani" for this friend and fellow musician,
Domingo Santa Cruz also lead a dancing school of popular dances at Gascon 1150 .
On 1916 he made a tour on Montevideo , playing at the cafe Tupi Namba with a quartet. Unfortunately , none of their music kept recorded.
We can imagine the kind of music played listening the recordings of one of his pupils at bandoneon. Juan Maglio , whose nickname was "Pacho" , and that became later widely popular , having the benefit of the recording of their music that help to keep his music alive. Juan "Pacho" Maglio was so popular that people went to music houses , saying "give me the new " Pacho " disk , please"
Domingo Santa Cruz composed also a polka, "Amelia" that got huge success and was used as the starting signal for dancers at the dancing house of Maria la Vasca , on Carlos Calvo and Jujuy , not very far than where today is the milonga Nino Bien.
Domingo Santa Cruz was a simple man, with not bad habits , except being a chain smoker . His health begun to tumble being still young , and on 1931 he had to be taken to Hospital Tornu ( specialized in tuberculosis and lung diseases)
He received gestures and ballrooms of financial support from the artists of the local community such as Francisco Canaro, Julio de Caro , Ada Falcon, Juan Maglio his pupil , and Ignacio Corsini, but it was too late .
Domingo Santa Cruz died on August the 5th, 1931
Warm regards
Alberto Gesualdi
P.S. I used the word "bandoneon" to describe the first instruments. But the technical word is concertina as Charles Roques mentioned. This early versions of 32 buttons were expanded as per requests of the local musicians , creating an interesting flow of exchange of music and manufacturing between the native players and the german manufacturers. In one point , a fundamental innovation was made to the instrument : two voices were set for each button , so it was possible to play one sound when opening and another one when closing. This made an impressive set of 142 voices as the AA bandonions, with 33 buttons for the left hand and 38 for the right hand, each button with two voices.
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