La cumparsita

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"La cumparsita" (little street procession, a grammatical diminutive of la comparsa) is a tango written in 1916 by the Uruguayan musician Gerardo Matos Rodríguez, with lyrics by Argentines Pascual Contursi and Enrique Pedro Maroni [es]. It is among the most famous and recognizable tangos of all time.^[1]^[2] Roberto Firpo, director and pianist of the orchestra that premiered the song, added parts of his tangos "La gaucha Manuela" and "Curda completa" to Matos' carnival march ("La cumparsita"), resulting in "La cumparsita" as it is currently known.^[3]^[4] "La cumparsita" was first played in public in the old Café La Giralda in Montevideo, Uruguay. The Tango Museum of Montevideo stands currently on that site.^[5]

The title translates as "the little parade", and the first version was a tune with no lyrics. Later, Matos Rodríguez produced a version with lyrics that begin: "The parade of endless miseries marches around that sick being who will soon die of grief."^[6] However, the most popular version of the song is accompanied by lyrics by Pascual Contursi and is also known as "Si supieras".

^ Gusman, Luis (2000). "La Cumparsita". Encyclopedia of Contemporary Latin American and Caribbean Cultures. CRC Press. p. 462 (restricted online copy, p. 462, at Google Books). ISBN 978-0-415-22971-5.
^ Bethell, Leslie (1995). The Cambridge history of Latin America. Cambridge university Press. p. 361 (restricted online copy, p. 361, at Google Books). ISBN 978-0-521-49594-3.
^ "La cumparsita", the great collaboration of Roberto Firpo. Archived 2011-03-10 at the Wayback Machine
^ History of "La Cumparsita" Archived 2011-07-06 at the Wayback Machine
^ "La Cumparsita se adhiere a la marca país Uruguay Natural por su centenario".
^ "La Cumparsita [Matos Rodríguez]" (in Spanish). Todo Tango. Retrieved 19 September 2017.

[Gusman-1] Gusman, Luis (2000). "La Cumparsita". Encyclopedia of Contemporary Latin American and Caribbean Cultures. CRC Press. p. 462 (restricted online copy, p. 462, at Google Books). ISBN 978-0-415-22971-5.

[2] Bethell, Leslie (1995). The Cambridge history of Latin America. Cambridge university Press. p. 361 (restricted online copy, p. 361, at Google Books). ISBN 978-0-521-49594-3.

[3] "La cumparsita", the great collaboration of Roberto Firpo. Archived 2011-03-10 at the Wayback Machine

[4] History of "La Cumparsita" Archived 2011-07-06 at the Wayback Machine

[5] "La Cumparsita se adhiere a la marca país Uruguay Natural por su centenario".

[6] "La Cumparsita [Matos Rodríguez]" (in Spanish). Todo Tango. Retrieved 19 September 2017.

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La cumparsita

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