Blog

Cobian 1923 and de Caro 1924 to 1926

In this series of recordings, whose speed has been carefully researched and adjusted to match the era, we present six albums by Juan Carlos Cobian and Julio de Caro from the time before the invention of the electric microphone.

Cobián himself did not record very much. The two albums from 1923 stand alone. Cobián founded this orchestra after leaving Osvaldo Fresedo. Among others, violinist Agesilao Ferrazzano and Luis Petrucelli on bandoneon are featured. Both had also previously played with Fresedo. Pedro Maffia (bandoneon) is also featured. And the second violin is played by none other than Julio De Caro! In this respect, the 1923 OT Cobían can be seen as the direct predecessor of the OT De Caro.

Osvaldo Fresedo 1924 to 1926

During this recording period, the sextet “Orquesta Típica Fresedo,” which later became famous, under the direction of Osvaldo Fresedo on the bandoneon, underwent a personnel and stylistic reorganisation and, with the change from the former record company Victor to Nacional Odeón, also a reorganisation in terms of distribution.

There were certainly some highlights during this period, but income continued to be generated more from sheet music sales than from record sales. The acoustic recording technology using a funnel was simply still too rudimentary for a real music distribution business to be successful.

Nine albums dealing exclusively with the early recordings of Osvaldo Fresedo are currently being released. For the first time in more than 100 years, some of his music is been made available for dancing again. In addition, the careful sound processing and adaptation to the speed at which this music was recorded in the 1920s has created a sublime listening and dancing experience.

It all began with the Orquesta Tipica Vicente Loduca in 1917, when a dance orchestra with Fresedo and his bandoneon and Francisco Canaro on violin set the trend for everything that happened later in tango. The Loduca album (see below) contains all the recordings currently known of Fresedo with this orchestra.

After a trip to the New York music scene, Fresedo received a contract with the Victor label in 1922 and began performing with his own orchestra and recording in the studio. There was no electric microphone at the time. Its predecessor was a funnel, which is why it is also referred to as an acoustic recording.

Finally, “Danza y Movimiento” has published sheet music for tango, jazz, bolero, bossa and modern classical music. Some of the works have been arranged for solo instruments (piano, violin, cello, bass), smaller ensembles, small orchestras or even guitar and vocals. They are available worldwide as downloads on various platforms.

Click here for the current overview of sheet music editions.

Making music yourself is an emotional experience. This experience requires sheet music. The music publisher of “Danza y Movimiento” is called Ediciones La Palmera and has built up a catalog of more than 800 original works over 25 years. Sheet music has not yet been published. Especially in the world of tango, there is a lack of good sheet music editions for small ensembles or individual instruments.

I have now decided to arrange 24 different works for different instruments and/or instrumentations in a pilot project with the support of a whole series of authors. This is a time-consuming and cost-intensive activity and I am grateful to those who have supported me. The current 30 arrangements are offered on these platforms:

Notendownload (prelistening, audio included with purchase)
Stretta (prelistening, audio included with purchase)
Apple Books (prelistening, audio included with purchase)
Score Exchange (Prelistening)
SheetMusicPlus (Prelistening)
Musicnotes

All platforms are linked on our overview page of sheet music editions. Purchasing from Apple Books is only possible when using an iPhone or iPad.