Gerardo Hernán Matos Rodríguez (March 28, 1897 – April 25, 1948), also known as Becho, was a Uruguayan musician, composer and journalist. Becho was not attributed to this Uruguayan musician. The term Becho is given to another Uruguayan violinist. A song is written about him and sung by Alfredo Zitarrosa: Carlos Julio Eizmendi
Uruguayan Violinist.
Background and early career
Gerardo Hernán Matos Rodríguez was born in
Montevideo
Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...
, the son of the owner of the ''Moulin Rouge'', a popular local cabaret. He studied architecture, but did not complete the course. He began composing as a young student in 1917, and his first known work was "
La Cumparsita", which he wrote on the piano of the Federación de Estudiantes of Urugua
. It became one of the most recognizable tango pieces, though Matos was initially too shy to play the piece himself and it became well known through the performance of others.
He travelled widely throughout Europe and stayed in Paris for a time, as well as working as Uruguayan consul to Germany. In 1931, he collaborated on the film score for ''Luces de Buenos Aires'', shot in
Joinville-le-Pont, France, and starring renowned tango vocalist
Carlos Gardel.
Principal compositions
![La cumparsita partitur](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/La_cumparsita_partitur.jpg)
The most famous classic tango of all times is "
La Cumparsita", written by Matos Rodríguez in 1916, with lyrics added later by
Pascual Contursi
Pascual Contursi (November 18, 1888 – May 28, 1932) was an Argentine poet, singer, and guitarist. He composed lyrics for 33 tango compositions – many well-known.
Life and work
Pascual Contursi was born in Chivilcoy, a pampas town, in 1888. ...
and
Enrique Pedro Maroni.
Roberto Firpo
Roberto Firpo (May 10, 1884June 14, 1969) was an Argentine tango pianist, composer, and leader. Firpo was among the first innovators of the classic tango music genre. He was the establisher of the piano in the tango orchestra.
Firpo was born ...
, director and pianist of the orchestra that premiered the song, added parts of his tangos "La Gaucha Manuela" and "Curda Completa" to Matos' carnival march, resulting in "La Cumparsita".
Matos Rodríguez also composed pieces for theater plays premiered 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 ...
, among them
Manuel Romero's ''El Gran Circo Rivolta''. He led his own tango orchestra in Montevideo for a short time afterwards.
Other tangos composed by him include: “Che papusa, oí”, “Son grupos”, “Yo tuve una novia”, “Cuando bronca el temporal”, “Hablame”, “Pobre corazón”, “Haceme caso a mí”, “Canto por no llorar”, “Rosa reseca”, “Botija linda”, “El pescador”, “Te fuiste, ¡ja, ja!”, “Adiós Argentina”, “Mi provinciana”, “La milonga azul”, “Dale celos”, “Raspail”, “Mocosita”, “La muchacha del circo”, and “San Telmo”. Rodríguez collaborated with the lyricists
Enrique Cadícamo
Enrique Domingo Cadícamo ( Luján, Buenos Aires province, July 15, 1900 – Buenos Aires, December 3, 1999) was a prolific Argentine tango lyricist, poet and novelist. From an initial Symbolist bent, he developed a distinctive, lunfardo-ri ...
, Victor Soliño, Juan B. A. Reyes,
Manuel Romero and
Fernán Silva Valdés Fernan or Fernán is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include:
* Fernán Blázquez de Cáceres, Spanish nobleman
* Fernán Caballero (1796–1877), Spanish novelist
* Fernando Fernán Gómez (1921–2007), Spanish actor ...
. With the latter he wrote a series of ''Canciones Montevideanas'' ("Songs of Montevideo"), including "Margarita Punzó".
He died in Montevideo after a long illness in 1948.
See also
*
Music of Uruguay
The most distinctive music of Uruguay is to be found in the tango and candombe; both genres have been recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Uruguayan music includes a number of local musical forms such as murga, a ...
References
Todo Tango: Gerardo Matos Rodríguez
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matos Rodriguez, Gerardo
20th-century composers
20th-century pianists
1897 births
1948 deaths
Burials at the Central Cemetery of Montevideo
People from Montevideo
Uruguayan composers
Male composers
Uruguayan expatriates in France
Uruguayan expatriates in Germany
Uruguayan people of Spanish descent
Uruguayan pianists
Male pianists
Uruguayan male musicians
Uruguayan tango musicians
20th-century male musicians