Aníbal Troilo was born on Cabrera Street 2937, between Anchorena and Laprida (in the heart of the Abasto neighborhood), but from the age of eight (after his father’s death), he lived on Soler Street 3280, between Gallo and Agüero.
His parents were named Felisa Bagnoli (daughter of Marco Bagnoli Giaccio and Maria Raffaella Sammartino, from Agnone, in Isernia, siblings Americo, Nicolás, Arsenio, Carmelo, Anunciación, and Ernesta) and Aníbal Troilo (son of Quirino and Concepción, from Archi, in Chieti). They were married in the church of Balvanera on November 11, 1909. The surnames of the maternal family include, among others: Busico, d’Agnillo, di Curtis, Santarelli, and La Banca. His father gave him the nickname Pichuco, a name for one of his best friends; the nickname could be a deformation of the Neapolitan picciuso, which means “crybaby.” He had two siblings, a brother, Marcos, and a sister, Concepción, who died at a young age.
During his childhood, Troilo listened to the bandoneón being played in the bars of his neighborhood. At the age of 10, he persuaded his mother to buy him his first bandoneón. Felisa bought it for 140 pesos at that time, to be paid in 14 installments of 10 pesos each; but after the fourth installment, the seller disappeared and never claimed the rest.
With that bandoneón, Troilo played almost his entire life.
A year later, in 1925 (when he was 11 years old), Pichuco made his first performance, in a bar next to the Abasto Market (the central market for fruits and vegetables in Buenos Aires). Later, he joined an orchestra of ladies. At the age of 14, he had already formed a quintet.
He studied until the third year at the prestigious Carlos Pellegrini High School of Commerce.
In December 1930, he was hired to be part of the famous sextet of violinist Elvino Vardaro, pianist Osvaldo Pugliese, and Alfredo Gobbi (son) (who was only the second violin of the ensemble, but later became famous as an orchestra conductor). There, he had Ciriaco Ortiz as a partner, to whom Troilo later considered himself indebted. That sextet did not make any recordings.
Troilo went through numerous orchestras, including those of Juan Pacho Maglio, Julio de Caro, Juan D’Arienzo, Ángel D’Agostino, and Juan Carlos Cobián.
With his orchestra (whose members varied a lot), he worked almost uninterruptedly, both in live performances and recordings, until the year of his death, 1975. From 1953 until the mid-1960s, Troilo maintained a musical activity parallel to his orchestra’s in a duo with guitarist Roberto Grela, which later became the Troilo-Grela Quartet. In 1968, already separated from Grela, he formed his own quartet. In addition to this, Troilo recorded two songs (El motivo and Volver) as a bandoneón duo with Astor Piazzolla.
Aníbal Troilo (center, with the bandoneón). Then, from left to right: Osvaldo Fresedo, José Razzano, Francisco Canaro, and Enrique Santos Discépolo, in 1944.
Monument to “Pichuco” in the Chacarita cemetery. Sculpture by Juan Carlos Ferraro. On August 3, 1971, he married Greek Zita (Ida Dudui Kalacci) civilly. When his mother Felisa died, as a tribute, the couple married in church. (Actually, Pichuco married Zita only after his mother’s death).
The death of his best friend, the poet Homero Manzi (1907-1951), caused him a profound depression that lasted more than a year. In his memory, he composed the tango Responso. In 1971 (in commemoration of the twentieth anniversary of the poet’s death), Troilo inaugurated Homero Manzi Square.
Various historians point to Troilo as addicted to alcohol and cocaine, being him who suggested the addition of lyrics to the tango “Los Dopados.”
The Bandoneón Mayor of Buenos Aires died at 0:10 hours on May 19, 1975, at the Italian Hospital due to a stroke and successive heart attacks. He is buried in the Rincón de los Notables of the Chacarita cemetery, next to Agustín Magaldi and Roberto Goyeneche.
Anibal Troilo´s Orchestra
In the first formation of Aníbal Troilo’s Typical Orchestra, Orlando Goñi, Enrique Kicho Díaz, Roberto Gianitelli, Juan Miguel Toto Rodríguez, and the singer Francisco Fiorentino (among others) participated, with which they debuted at the Marabú nightclub in Buenos Aires on July 1, 1937.
It is often said that, in its beginnings, the orchestra played “a la parrilla,” a term used in tango jargon to generally refer to music performed without a written arrangement, whether or not it has had previous rehearsals. Evidently, the music of this early period (like the version of Tinta verde from 1938 or Toda mi vida from 1941 with Fiorentino) had relatively simple arrangements, even for the time―if we compare them to the sophistication of arrangements by Julio De Caro, for example. However, it is hardly conceivable to coordinate the actions of eleven or twelve musicians without any kind of sheet music; although, in tango, as in most popular music, the resulting sound depends more on the understanding of some understood rules of the game that are not usually (or cannot be) written down. The simplicity of this music, which follows the logic of an orchestra created to play in dance venues, is relative, as it presents a wide range of expressive nuances (in volume and dynamics), always executed―at least in the recordings that have been preserved―with great clarity and effect, which distinguishes it from other dance orchestras. The tempo (that is, the speed) is always lively.
Regarding music in which most of what is played is not written down, it is reasonable to assume that the sound changed along with the instrumentalists; that is why the influences of the various pianists on Troilo’s orchestra are a topic of discussion. In the recordings from 1942, the orchestra began to play with arrangements written in greater detail (allowing for some sophistication). Around this time, Troilo began to delegate the responsibility of writing arrangements to other musicians, such as Astor Piazzolla (who was part of his orchestra between 1939 and 1944), among others. Piazzolla arranged Inspiración (1943) and Chiqué (1944). Even after leaving the orchestra, Piazzolla continued to occasionally arrange for Troilo’s orchestra. From then on, the music of his orchestra would change greatly depending on the arranger, although always maintaining the great expressive precision that characterized it from its beginnings. During this time, Troilo’s orchestra became part of a phenomenon of division of musical work between directors and arrangers/orchestrators, which already existed before, in which orchestras such as those of Francisco Canaro, Juan D’Arienzo, Osvaldo Fresedo, and even Osvaldo Pugliese participated. There were also numerous orchestra directors and performers who created their own arrangements, such as Julio De Caro, Astor Piazzolla, Julián Plaza, and Horacio Salgán.
All of his recordings with the singer Francisco Fiorentino are from this early period, as well as some recordings with Alberto Marino.
Aníbal Troilo and his orchestra. Photograph on the cover of the album Che Buenos Aires (1969). Parallel to the decrease in work in dance venues, the tempo of the orchestra began to slow down more and more, with other aspects of music being privileged. Usually, the late forties and the fifties are considered a transition period for Troilo’s orchestra. This is the time of arrangements by Argentino Galván (such as the version of Romance de barrio with Floreal Ruiz), by Ismael Spitalnik (as in Ojos negros, from 1948), by Emilio Balcarce (as in El último organito, from 1949, sung by Edmundo Rivero), none of whom were members of the orchestra. Eduardo Rovira also arranged for Troilo’s orchestra during this period. During this period, Troilo worked successively with singers Amadeo Mandarino, Alberto Marino, Floreal Ruiz, Edmundo Rivero, Aldo Calderón (the best half-voice in the history of tango), Jorge Casal, Raúl Berón, Carlos Olmedo, and Pablo Lozano.
This process culminated around 1960, when we find an orchestra in which pianist Osvaldo Berlingieri and bandoneonists Ernesto Baffa and later Raúl Garello participated, who also served as arrangers. Around this time, Troilo began to play arrangements by Julián Plaza (for sung songs, such as Te llaman malevo, recorded in 1957 with Ángel Cárdenas, and instrumental pieces, some of Plaza’s own, such as Danzarín). At this point, the sound of Troilo’s orchestra had already definitively changed. During this period, Roberto Rufino, Roberto Goyeneche, Elba Berón, Tito Reyes, and Nelly Vázquez sang with Troilo.
From the 1950s, with greater emphasis from the second half of the sixties, Troilo gradually gave up playing the first bandoneón to other performers, first in sung songs, and later in some instrumental ones, dedicating himself exclusively to conducting the orchestra and not to playing. This marked the entry of Troilo’s orchestra into another division of musical work, now between performer and director, in which the aforementioned orchestras of Francisco Canaro and Juan D’Arienzo also participated; the difference is that, in Troilo’s case, it was not due to an inability to play his instrument (which he continued to do in some instrumental solos, or even during entire songs).
From the 1960s until his last performances (already without Baffa and Berlingieri, who had formed their own orchestra), the sound of the orchestra did not change much, anchoring itself in a style based on orchestral effects that sounded more or less modern but never excessively complex. During this time, Raúl Garello was the arranger (as in almost all the songs on the album that Troilo recorded with Goyeneche in 1971).
As for Troilo’s singers, it is often said that “they were just another instrument of the orchestra,” a statement that refers―musically, at least―to the integration of the singer and the orchestra in a coherent sound result, where the orchestra and the singer execute pauses and nuances with the same meaning. It is striking, for example, how two versions of the same tango sung by two different singers (like El motivo, sung by Goyeneche in 1961, and by Tito Reyes in 1965, with the same arrangement) do not differ much. On the other hand, songs from the early period have more instrumental parts than sung parts. Usually, the orchestra first played the music corresponding to the verse and the chorus (most sung tangos have two parts, some three), then accompanied the singer, and then returned to play the same music as at the beginning, often with instrumental solos. The primacy of the instrumental part over the sung part is due, in principle, to the fact that the music is intended for a dancing audience. The most extreme case of this modality is perhaps Los mareados in Fiorentino’s version: that tango has three
The duet Troilo-Grela
In 1953, Troilo formed a duo with guitarist Roberto Grela to perform in the play “El patio de la morocha” (more similar to a sainete than a musical) by Cátulo Castillo, where Troilo played the role of bandoneonist Eduardo Arolas playing alongside Grela. The duo, which also participated in some films and made several presentations (even accompanying singers), later became the Typical Quartet Troilo-Grela, with the addition of Edmundo P. Zaldívar (h.) on guitar and Enrique “Kicho” Díaz on double bass. With this lineup, they recorded twelve tracks between 1955 and 1956. In 1962, the quartet recorded ten more tracks, now with Eugenio Pro on double bass and Ernesto Báez on guitar. In both cases, the tracks are instrumental.
The musical partnership with Grela allowed Troilo to play “a la parrilla” (that is, without written arrangements, with a dynamic based solely on rehearsals), a tango tradition. Even after the incorporation of two more instrumentalists (who usually maintain the rhythm, giving greater melodic freedom to both Troilo’s bandoneon and Grela’s guitar), the sound remains simple and clear (these adjectives corresponding to two aesthetic values that Troilo cultivated throughout his career, even in a massive formation like the typical orchestra). The pursuit of a simple sound is given not only by the arrangements but also by the choice of instruments, with the violin and piano absent (the latter instrument was not found in the early tango formations but became part of the genre only when it began to be played in venues equipped with a piano).
Anibal Troilo: Performer and Composer
Aníbal Troilo in 1969. The sound of Troilo’s bandoneon is easily recognizable and changes relatively little throughout his life (compared, for example, to the resulting sound of the orchestra) and across different ensembles. It is characterized by impeccable phrasing, by a very particular (and also very Tango-like) way of “saying” the melodic phrases with his instrument. Troilo’s bandoneon solos are usually played with low volume (even when playing over the entire orchestra, which is remarkable) and with extreme delicacy. His performances are delicately paced but not necessarily slow, and almost never involve many fast notes, except when executing variations, of course (Variations are a characteristic feature of the genre consisting of a solo played quickly over the already known melody of the Tango, which usually uses four notes per beat and is often found at the end of the piece).
Troilo composed many excellent and widely disseminated and versioned pieces throughout his career, both instrumental and sung. His compositions are characterized by a relative harmonic simplicity and very beautiful, simple but not obvious melodies. Among the instrumentals, highlights include the milonga “La trampera” and the tangos “Milonguero triste,” “Responso,” and “Contrabajeando” (the latter in collaboration with Piazzolla). Among the sung pieces, “Barrio de tango,” “Che bandoneón,” “Sur,” and the waltz “Romance de barrio,” all with lyrics by Homero Manzi, stand out; “Desencuentro,” “La última curda,” “María,” and “El último farol,” with Cátulo Castillo; “Garúa” and “Pa’ que bailen los muchachos,” with poems by Enrique Cadícamo; “Toda mi vida” and “Mi tango triste” with lyrics by José María Contursi; and “Coplas,” based on a poem by Alberto Martínez.
The National Bandoneon Day
On July 11, 2005, the Argentine National Congress declared the date as National Bandoneon Day through Law 26.035. It was enacted on May 18, 2005, and officially promulgated on June 16, 2005. The proponents of this law were Francisco Torné, grandson of Zita Troilo, and the poet Horacio Ferrer, a friend of the musician and president of the National Tango Academy.
The Work of Anibal Troilo
As a composer, he created an extensive number of tangos, among the most remembered are:
- 1941 (March 4): Toda mi vida
- 1941 (April 16): Con toda la voz que tengo (milonga)
- 1941: Total pa’ qué sirvo
- 1942: Barrio de tango
- 1942: Pa’ que bailen los muchachos
- 1942: Acordándome de vos
- 1942: Valsecito amigo
- 1943: Garúa
- 1944: Naipe
- 1945: Garras
- 1945: María
- 1946 (May 14): Tres y dos
- 1946: Con mi perro (milonga)
- 1946: Mi tango triste
- 1947 (August 19): Romance de barrio
- 1948 (February 23): Sur
- 1950: Che, bandoneón
- 1951: La trampera (milonga)
- 1951: Discepolín
- 1951: Responso (dedicated to his best friend, the poet Homero Manzi, who had recently passed away)
- 1953: A Pedro Maffia (with the quartet featuring guitarist Roberto Grela)
- 1953: Vuelve la serenata
- 1953: Una canción
- 1953: Patio mío
- 1953: Milonga del mayoral
- 1954: La cantina
- 1955: A la guardia nueva
- 1956: La última curda (lyrics by Cátulo Castillo)
- 1957: Te llaman Malevo
- 1961: A Homero
- 1962: ¿Y a mí qué?
- 1962: Desencuentro
- 1962: Coplas
- 1964: Yo soy del treinta
- 1965: Milonguero triste
- 1966: Dale tango
- 1969: Nocturno a mi barrio (accompanied with solo bandoneón)
- 1969: Milonga de La Parda
- 1969: El último farol
- 1970: Fechoría (milonga)
- 1971: Una canción
- 1972: La patraña
- 1975: Tu penúltimo tango
