Enrique Santos Discépolo (''Discepolín'') (27 March 1901 – 23 December 1951) was an
Argentine tango
Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...
and
milonga musician and composer, author of famous tangos like ''Cambalache'' and many others performed by several of the most important singers of his time, amongst them notably
Carlos Gardel. He was also a filmmaker, actor and screenwriter.
Life
Discépolo was born 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 ...
on March 27, 1901. He was devoted to the arts from an early age and tried acting and theatre writing, with moderate success, before finally dedicating himself to
tango
Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...
. Although his decision to write popular music was not unrelated from his previous exchanges with theatre and acting, his elder brother
Armando resisted this move and therefore in the beginning things were not easy for Enrique. Armando had taken over his education after his parents died when Enrique was very young.
He wrote a few songs including the famous ''Que vachaché'' ("What Will You Do?") with little success until 1928, when singer Azucena Maizani performed his number ''Esta noche me emborracho'' ("I'm Getting Drunk Tonight"). Days after this performance, the tango's lyrics circulated across the nation and earned notoriety. Later that year, actress and singer
Tita Merello
Laura Ana "Tita" Merello (11 October 1904 – 24 December 2002) was an Argentine film actress, tango dancer and singer of the Golden Age of Argentine Cinema (1940–1960). In her 6 decades in Argentine entertainment, at the time of her death, s ...
rescued ''Que vachaché'', and propelled it to the same popularity as ''Esta noche me emborracho''. To finish a great year in 1928, he also met his partner,
Tania Tania is usually a given name. It may refer to:
Given name
* Tânia Alves, Brazilian actress and singer
* Tania Brishty, Bangladesh actress and model
* Princess Tania de Bourbon Parme, French designer
* Tania de Jong, Dutch-born Australian sopran ...
, who would accompany him for the rest of his life.
He continued to gain fame the following years, and, in 1934, he wrote ''
Cambalache'', its lyrics not only describing the political climate of its era, but also nearly predicting its future. ''Cambalache'' is often quoted by Argentines regarding the extent to which its lyrics apply today.
Discépolo died from a heart attack on December 24, 1951.
Style
Discépolo was versatile in his styling, having the ability to write songs that were ironic and moralistic, like ''Yira... yira...'', ''Cambalache'', romantic like ''Sueño de juventud'', sarcastic (''Justo el 31'', ''Chorra''), expressionist (''Soy un arlequín'', ''Quién más, quién menos''), passionate (''Confesión'', ''Canción desesperada'') and nostalgic (''Uno'', ''Cafetín de Buenos Aires'').
His tango songs, as those of most other tango composers, make extensive use of
lunfardo
Lunfardo (; from the Italian ''lombardo'' or inhabitant of Lombardy in the local dialect) is an argot originated and developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the lower classes in Buenos Aires and from there spread to other urban are ...
, thus making understanding his lyrics an exercise in patience for listeners unused to that dialect.
Selected Songs
*''Infamia'' ("Infamy")
*''Que vachaché'' ("What Will You Do?")
*''Yira... yira...''
*''Que sapa señor'' ("What's New, Sir?")
*''Cambalache'' ("Junkshop")
*''Sueño de juventud'' ("A Young Man's Dream")
*''Justo el 31'' ("Right on the 31")
*''Chorra'' ("She-Thief")
*''Soy un arlequín'' ("I Am a Harlequin")
*''Quién más, quién menos'' ("Who More, Who Less")
*''Confesión'' ("Confession")
*''Canción desesperada'' ("Desperate Song")
*''Uno'' ("One")
*''Cafetín de Buenos Aires'' ("Buenos Aires Cafe")
Selected filmography
Discépolo directed or co-directed a number of films:
* ''
Four Hearts'' (1939)
* ''
Caprichosa y millonaria'' (''Petty and Millionaire'') (1940)
* ''
Un señor mucamo'' (1940)
* ''
By the Light of a Star
''By the Light of a Star'' (Spanish:''En la luz de una estrella'') is a 1941 Argentine musical drama film directed by Enrique Santos Discépolo and starring Hugo del Carril, Ana María Lynch and María Esther Gamas.Rist p.202 It is a tango film, ...
'' (''En la luz de una estrella'') (1941)
* ''
Fantasmas en Buenos Aires'' (''Ghosts in Buenos Aires'' (1942)
* ''
Candida, Woman of the Year
''Candida, Woman of the Year'' ( es, Cándida, la mujer del año) is a List of Argentine films of 1943, 1943 Argentine comedy film directed by Enrique Santos Discépolo and starring Niní Marshall, Augusto Codecá, and Carlos Morganti.
Cast
* Nin ...
'' (1943)
* ''
The Fan'' (1951)
References
External links
Todo TangoBrief biography and some lyrics*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Discepolo, Enrique Santos
1901 births
1951 deaths
20th-century Argentine male actors
20th-century dramatists and playwrights
20th-century Argentine male singers
Argentine composers
Argentine dramatists and playwrights
Argentine film directors
Argentine film score composers
Argentine male film actors
Argentine male singer-songwriters
Argentine people of Italian descent
Burials at La Chacarita Cemetery
Male dramatists and playwrights
Male film score composers
Male screenwriters
Musicians from Buenos Aires
Tango musicians
20th-century Argentine male writers
20th-century Argentine screenwriters