While I definitely have some appreciation for the early practitioners of the Argentine tango and its singers (Carlos Gardel being the most well-known), I prefer the folk music from Argentina which was being played pre-tango, and during the same early years of the tango’s rise to international fame. In particular, folkloric guitar music brought from rural areas into the urban center of Buenos Aires.
A fine example is performed here, by Rafael Iriarte and Rosendo Pesoa, recorded for Odeon in the mid-1920s. Iriarte (whose nickname was “The Rat”) recorded a number of duets during this period both with Pesoa and with Jose Maria Aguilar, another master of the acoustic guitar. He also had a career as an accompanist for numerous tango vocalists, but again, for me it’s the folk material that stands out. He died in 1961.
If you’re interested in more work by Iriarte, check this CD.
Technical Notes
Label: Disco Nacional
Issue Number: 9610
Matrix Number: E 1901
Excavated Shellac 
This is wonderful, totally gorgeous actually (and it sounds absolutely nothing at all like THE WHO’s “Eminence Front” – yay!).
Thanks! I’m very glad you dug this one.
I have an earlier Iriarte from about 1924 – a duet with Aguilar – and it’s just as good, though it’s an acoustic recording and has less resonance than this, despite the fact that there’s some distortion on the louder portions of this track…eh, I’ll get what I can find!
But that brings me to a tangent – the acoustic guitar music of South America is really pretty amazing for me. Much of it is obviously influenced by the “arte clasico” guitar music from Spain…the flourished guitar pieces which stem from folkloric melodies and then were expanded upon to become “classical” music. But to say it’s “classical” doesn’t really do it justice, as you wouldn’t want to associate it with powdered wigs. At least I wouldn’t. Their original compositions definitely stem from folk idioms. Anyway, just a brief rambling…perhaps some more guitar next week…
I know what you mean with liking the folkloric guitar sound. There’s a primacy of sadness w/ many recording from agustin barrios mangore (paraguay), & also my new fave: andres chazarreta (argentina). Beautiful minor/major modulation. seems to be a real strong romantic “lifesyle” streak running through these guitarists, which is cool. I’d like to have heard this one, but the link is crossed out.
Hi Matthew – Thanks for stopping by – I was turned on to your work from our mutual friends at Aboveground Records.
Hopefully soon, most of the tracks on this site will return. I plan on posting some South American classical guitar, too. (Barrios is a fave of mine – his 78s seem to be the most difficult of all the S.A. guitarists to turn up – and if they do, they are wrecked!)
Hi there. I found this track on the Free Music Archive website and like it very much. I really wanted to sync this track to one of my ‘home movies’ so I’ve been researching the rights issues on this. I believe though the rights are listed on the FMA website as being ‘orphaned’ the Argentine copyright law extends to 70 years after death of the creator. As Iriarte died in 1961, then I guess I wouldn’t be able to use the track until 2031 😦 Still, lovely find and thanks for sharing it.