Casimiro Alcorta (1840–1913) was a musician of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, considered one of the fathers of

tango music Tango is a style of music in or time that originated among European and African immigrant populations of Argentina and Uruguay (collectively, the " Rioplatenses"). It is traditionally played on a solo guitar, guitar duo, or an ensemble, k ...

. An

Afro-Argentine Afro-Argentines are people in Argentina of primarily Sub-Saharan African descent. The Afro-Argentine population is the result of people being brought over during the transatlantic slave trade during the centuries of Spanish domination in the reg ...

son of slaves, Alcorta was born in Santiago del Estero, Argentina. He became free as a child, and took the name of his owner, as was typical. His mother, Casimira, was a slave of the landowner and musician Amancio Jacinto Alcorta (1805-1862), one of the first classical composers of Argentina. Casimiro excelled as a violinist, dancer and songwriter. His musical career spanned the years from 1855 to 1913, i.e., from the first time when the tango began to form, until it took final shape and identity. The first tango "group" was composed of Alcorta (violin) and Sinforoso (clarinet). As a dancer, he formed a legendary duo with his partner La Paulina, of Italian origin, with whom he remained until his death in 1913. As a composer, in 1884 he authored the music to famous tango "Concha Sucia" ("Dirty Cunt" in Argentine slang), which decades later would be renamed "Cara Sucia" ("Dirty Face"), with music rearranged by

Francisco Canaro Francisco Canaro (November 26, 1888 – December 14, 1964) was a Uruguayan violinist and tango orchestra leader. Canaro was born in San José de Mayo, Uruguay, in 1888. His parents were Italian immigrants, and later, when he was less than 10 y ...

. Alcorta is also known to have composed the tango "La yapa", later renamed "Entrada prohibida" ("Forbidden entry") and credited to brothers Teisseire. Alcorta died in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

in 1913, in the arms of Paulina.

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alcorta, Casimiro 1840 births 1913 deaths Argentine composers Afro-Argentine musicians People from Santiago del Estero Tango musicians