Eduardo Arolas (February 24, 1892 – September 29, 1924) was an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries from a combination of Arge ...

bandoneon The bandoneon () or bandonion is a type of concertina particularly popular in Argentina and Uruguay. It is a typical instrument in most tango ensembles. As with other members of the concertina family, it is held between the hands, and played ...

player, leader and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

. Arolas first learned to play the guitar before learning the bandoneon which became his instrument of choice. His nickname was ''El Tigre del bandoneón'' (the tiger of the bandoneon). Arolas composed his first tango in 1909 before he could even read or write music. He went on to play with such early masters as

Agustín Bardi Agustin Bardi (August 13, 1884 – April 21, 1941) was an Argentine Tango pianist, violinist, and composer. Bardi was born in Las Flores district of Buenos Aires and was couched in music from a young age. During his life he produced around 70 p ...

and

Roberto Firpo Roberto Firpo (May 10, 1884June 14, 1969) was an Argentine tango pianist, composer, and leader. Firpo was among the first innovators of the classic tango music genre. He was the establisher of the piano in the tango orchestra. Firpo was born in ...

. In 1917 Arolas moved to

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

where he settled, he played a number of times at the Teatro Casino. From 1920 he resided mainly in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

where he died alone and alcoholic in 1924.

Legacy

Arolas is regarded as one of the early masters that helped to define the future of tango music in Argentina. He was avant-garde in his composition and often utilised unconventional instruments such as the

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

violoncello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C ...

and the

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

. His most famous works include Lágrimas, La cachila, El Marne and Viborita.

External links

Eduardo Arolas
on todotango.com
Eduardo Arolas
on tango.info

References

1892 births 1924 deaths Musicians from Buenos Aires Argentine emigrants to Uruguay Argentine tango musicians Place of birth missing Musicians from Montevideo Burials at La Chacarita Cemetery {{Argentina-musician-stub