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el Bandoneón EB-CD 76

Liner notes from the CD HOMENAJE a los POETAS del TANGO by Roberto Daus Enrique Santos Discépolo, "Discépolo" to his friends and those who worked closely with him, was born the 27th of March 1901 in Once, a neighbourhood right in the centre of Buenos Aires. He was orphaned during infancy and spent a year in the care of an aunt, but at ten years of age went to live under the guardianship of his older brother Armando. At this tender age of life he was introduced into the world of theatre, a world much frequented by his brother, an assiduous attendant at get-togethers of artistic people. It was the year 1917 when Enrique actually made his own personal debut on the boards of the Mayo theatre, and from that moment on his activities never ceased. At the same time when he was performing on stage he was also writing his first works for the theatre with the collaboration of Mario Folco, such as "Los Duendes" and "Paselo Cabo".

Years later, together with his brother Armando, he produced "The Organito" in 1925, a work which had its first showing at the National Theatre and in which Olinda Bozan appeared, among others. This legendary figure of Argentine comedy was entrusted with the initial performance of the very first tango Enrique Santos Discépolo had written "Bizcochito "-for "La Porota", a short comedy by the dramaturgist Jose Antonio Saldias, and which was recorded much later by the singer Juan Carlos Marambio Catan. Enrique's second offering was "Que vachache", which was popularized in Buenos Aires by the unrivalled Tita Merello, it already having been performed for the first time in Montevideo.
Then in 1927, Azucena Maizani, the well-remembered "ñata gaucha",("the snub-nosed gaucho", a nickname bestowed by Mercedes Simone in 1935) introduced the world to "Esta noche me emborracho". The major poetic works of the tango had been given a start that did not stop until the death of this man who brought an intellectual element as well as a reflective quality to the genre that was without precedent. Enrique Santos Discépolo also made incursions into the world of musical composition with the same talent that he had demonstrated in the written part. In 1935, his life now involved romantically with Tania, a singer of Spanish origin, Discépolo made a tour of various Spanish, Portuguese, French and North African cities, performing in some and enjoying being just a tourist in others. On his return to Buenos Aires he formed an orchestra with which he debuted in front of the microphones of Radio Municipal, and at the beginning of 1937 went into the recording studios, this last experience turning out to be the least fortunate of all the many which "Discépolo" had undertaken throughout the whole length and breadth of his artistic life.
The cinema also counted among his achievements, for he worked on different occasions as actor, director or scriptwriter in "Mateo", "EI alma del bandoneón", "Melodia parteña", "Cuatro carazones", "Un señor mucamo", "Fantasmas de Buenos Aires" and "EI hincha", just some of the films which counted with the genius of Discépolo.

In 1949 he travelled to Central America, where he performed with considerable success, particularly in Mexico and Cuba, and on his return went back to collaborting with pianist Mariano Mores with whom ho had already written the tango "Uno" in 1943, also presenting to the world "Sin palabras" in 1946 and "Cafetin de Buenos Aires" in 1948. His social concerns led him to carry out certain trade union responsibilities, and he held the post of vice-president of the Argentine Society of Authors and Composers (SADIAC) at different times. And over the radio airwaves the people of Argentina also came to know yet another facet of him, that of lecturer, in the programme "Pienso y digo Io que pienso" (I think and say what I think). Discépolo's tangos marked the genre with an indelible form, and numbers such as the celebrated "Cambalache", written in 1935, through their validity and profoundness exceeded the bounds of enlightenment, converting them into themes of universal worth and importance. Enrique Santos Discépolo died in his home on Callao Avenue in Buenos Aires on the 23rd of December 1951 when his heart, sick with a severe depression, finally stopped at 11.20 p.m. that summer night. From a window, "Discépolo" made his final farewell to his native city. Roberto Daus. (translation.- Mike Baillie)