Songs can come from just about anywhere when they’re in high demand, and “Como dos extraños” offers an interesting case in point…
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José María Contursi
This waltz is among the most beloved ones to emerge from that unrepeatable decade of the ’40s, and it marks a special moment in the careers of its creators…
José María Contursi hit his full stride in the early 1940s, and a tango like “En esta tarde gris” shows how he had become the Petrarch of the tango songbook, establishing romantic anguish as the theme of the decade.
As the new style of tango romanza emerged in the 1920s, tango melodies took on a more emotive role and the genre’s heavy dance rhythms subsided, allowing the tango to emulate, for brief moments it had not risen to before, the soaring notes of the opera.
Pascual Contursi had launched the tango on its narrative mission in 1916 with “Mi noche triste”… but by the advent of the 1940s the new generation was turning their focus inward to romantic themes. Foremost among these poets of intense longing was Pascual’s own son, José María Contursi.
Written by José María Contursi, “Garras” (Claws) is the harrowing portrait of a forgotten lover, which makes an unusual shift of scenery as it changes from a cold night in the city to the haunting ambience of a folktale.
The tango “Gricel” is a snapshot of a love affair which was to take over the life and career of José María Contursi, whose passion for the young Susana Gricel Viganó gave voice to many other tangos that share the imagery and longing of this one…
“Quiero verte una vez más,” the 1939 hit tango with lyrics by José María Contursi and music by Mario Canaro, the youngest of the Canaro brothers. This dance-floor favorite foregrounds the intense longing of lost love, and features a double-length chorus—something very common in jazz standards but not often encountered in tango.