Enrique Maciel (July 13, 1897 – January 24, 1962) was a versatile and sensitive

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 Defi ...

, lyricist, and harmonium, piano, bandoneon and guitar performer. The latter is the instrument that identified him permanently in the memory of tango listeners.

Life and work

Born to an Afro-Argentine family (most likely a descendant of West African peoples) in Buenos Aires, in 1897, Maciel received his early musical instruction in a local parochial school, and his first professional performance was in 1915. His first tango, "Presentación," remains unpublished. He joined small groups acting in houses and dance halls, touring the provinces. Among his peers, he was closest to bandoneonist Ángel Danesi.Todo Tango:Enrique Maciel
, Published in "Cuadernos de difusión del Tango", no 20 In 1920, in

Bragado Bragado is a city in the center-northwest province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the head town of Bragado Partido. The city is 210 km west-southwest from Buenos Aires City, not far from the Salado River. Bragado is served by the Sarmiento ...

, he met the poet Enrique Maroni and immediately released their collaboration with the tango "La tipa," leading to recording three years later by

Rosita Quiroga Rosa Rodríguez Quiroga de Capiello (January 16, 1896 in Buenos Aires – October 16, 1984), better known as Rosita Quiroga, was an Argentine singer, lyricist and composer. She was the first woman tango singer from the poorer side of Buenos Ai ...

. A year later, Maciel became a contractual guitarist with RCA-Victor, where he accompanied the Chilean duo Glos-Balmaceda. There, he met

José María Aguilar José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

, with whom he made recordings in a guitar duo, accompanied by fellow RCA artists. Maciel's skill as a pianist earned him the tripling of an otherwise modest salary. His first new tango under this arrangement was "Grief" - performed by

Osvaldo Fresedo Osvaldo Fresedo (May 5, 1897 - November 18, 1984), nicknamed ''El pibe de La Paternal'' ("the kid from La Paternal") was an Argentine songwriter and director of a tango orchestra. He had one of the longest recording careers in tango history, fro ...

and Rosita Quiroga (on harmonium). In 1925, the pianist Carlos Geroni Flores presented Ignacio Corsini to Maciel, who was incorporated into his popular group as a guitarist and pianist. Corsini's performances alongside Maciel continued until 1943, and their companions included José Aguilar on guitar and

Rosendo Weight Rosendo is a Spanish male given name. The name comes from St. Rudesind, San Rosendo, in Spanish (907–977) who was Bishop of Iria Flavia at the time of Rodrigo Velázquez. Places named after the saint include San Rosendo, a town in Chile. The bes ...

; Aguilar left the set in 1928 and joined

Armando Pagés Armando may refer to: * Armando (given name) * Armando (artist) (1929–2018), the name used by Dutch artist Herman Dirk van Dodeweerd * Armando (producer) Armando Gallop (sometimes written as Armando Gallup) (February 12, 1970 – December 17, ...

.La Pulpera
The group became popular on Argentine radio, particularly on ''

Radio Buenos Aires Radio Buenos Aires (call sign LS 6) is an Argentinian radio station that broadcasts from Buenos Aires. History It began broadcasting from 270 Belgrano Avenue, under the license that belonged to ''Radio Del Pueblo'' (formerly ''Radio América'', ...

''. They gradually fell out of favor with listeners, however, and the group disbanded during the 1950s.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maciel, Enrique 1897 births 1962 deaths People from Buenos Aires Afro-Argentine musicians Argentine composers Argentine multi-instrumentalists Tango musicians 20th-century composers