Will go in order as best as I know it:
- PRE 1900’s – Original “tango” music was very rhythmic. Think gaucho’s (Argentinean cowboys), 3 dudes outside with guitar/banjo/flute, that kind of old school folklore sounds. Basic beats, and some basic lyrics. Think Carlos Gardel type of music…but even older. It wasn’t even called tango, it was only MILONGA back then.
- 1900’s – more “official” music instruments and brought indoors to whorehouses. They removed the flute, added a bass. The tango music was very much “canyenge” during this era and with this super repetitive beat…not lending to much dance creativity.
- 1920’s – Canaro slows down the milonga to give it a steady uniform beat and begins to add layers to the music.
- 1920’s Influx of immigrants to the “New World” in Argentina from Europe, brought their musical influence and bandoneon. Much richer sound, classically trained musicians, deeper instruments like violin and bandoneon. Ok, much nicer and richer but still kinda plain and dry. Tango music kinda fades out of popularity again.
- early 1930 – D’arienzo lights the tango scene on fire with his heavy beat making tango oh so much more fun to dance to. All other tango orchestras at the time follow suit. You’ll notice 1930’s Di Sarli and other characteristically slower/melodic orchestras were playing faster during that era.
- 1935-1943 – the “Golden Age” of tango music. Tango songs had rich layers of both rhythmic and melody sounds as well as nicer lyrics, giving dancers lots of different options to dance to. Tango orchestras were in their prime and playing for packed crowds of dancers everywhere. The tango music had also Everybody owes D’arienzo one.
- 1944 – orchestras get bored of the same old formula and start evolving. Most get more lyrical and more stagey.
- 1950-1960’s – “classic tango music” has officially evolved to its peak and so has its dancers. The great depression from 1930’s starts to take its toll on and with political bans against public gatherings preventing practicas/milongas, and rock n roll’s popularity, tango almost dies for 30 years until 1980 leaving few dancers to pass on the art.
- 1970’s – many of the great orchestra leaders like D’arienzo, Troilo, Calo dies by the 70’s. But we do get the emergence of Astor Piazzolla and his first entrants into what we know today as “nuevo tango music”.
Tango music trends:
- 1980’s – with the political regime ending, tango emerges from the underground and starts to spread around the world in the form of “stage tango shows”. The world is captured by it’s raw passion and the music and it’s dance begins to evolve again.
- 1990’s – classic tango music as well as it’s dance style reaches it’s peak, before evolving into many different styles. With the death of the old dancers and composers, came the birth of 2 new forms of tango. One was a more intimate close-embrace dancing style focusing on connection rather than fancy tricks, the “milonguero” style coined by an American. The other was an even bigger, flashier, open style with big moves like high boleos, kicks, volcadas and colgadas, called “nuevo” which also came with it’s own music.
- 2000’s – the shortlived nuevo tango movement fades out as the new generation of dancers mature and prefer the seemingly more elegant, old school dance of substance in classic tango. The Golden Age tango music proliferates milongas all over the world and continues to be restored from old records.
- 2010’s – Golden Age tango music is still trending. There is also the emergence of “tango cover bands” made up of talented musicians, some attempting to play popular songs from the Golden Age in their original arrangement, others in their own modernized interpretation.