Cuarteto (), sometimes called cuartetazo, is a musical genre born in Córdoba,

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. The roots of the cuarteto ensemble are in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

dance ensembles. The name was coined because the early dance-hall numbers were invariably four-piece bands (

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

). Cuarteto is almost always upbeat; its rhythm range is similar to that of modern Dominican merengue. In the 1970s, cuarteto became one of the cornerstones of Córdoba's cultural identity—together with ''Hortensia'' magazine. Both reflected a local brand of popular culture overlooked by the establishment, and proposed an alternative to the

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

-centered culture that television was spreading to the rest of the country. Cuarteto was one of the genres that gave birth to the Buenos Aires ''tropical'' scene, which was renamed as '' bailanta'' in the 1990s following the usage of

Corrientes province Corrientes (, ‘currents’ or ‘streams’; ), officially the Province of Corrientes (; ) is a Provinces of Argentina, province in northeast Argentina, in the Mesopotamia, Argentina, Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by (from the north, cl ...

Famous Names

Cuarteto Leo Cuarteto (), sometimes called cuartetazo, is a musical genre born in Córdoba, Argentina. The roots of the cuarteto ensemble are in Italian and Spanish dance ensembles. The name was coined because the early dance-hall numbers were invariably ...

was the leading cuarteto band for almost 30 years, back in the 1970s. It established the sonic texture that prevails in cuarteto to this day. In the 1980s, Carlos ''Mona'' Jiménez became the foremost exponent of cuarteto after the break-up of his two-member ''Cuarteto de Oro'' ("Golden Quartet"). He established a pattern of nonsense humour and extravagant behavior that many tried to ape without much success. One of his most popular songs was ''Quién se ha tomado todo el vino'' ("Who drank all the wine?"), which was danced with a characteristic hand move. Others, such as producer-bandleader ''Negro'' Videla, travelled to the Dominican Republic and

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

to expand the range of their repertoire. Videla is the unofficial ambassador of Dominican music in cuarteto, with successful covers of merengue hits. Since the late 1980s, the

Tru-la-lá Tru-la-lá is one of the best known cuarteto Cuarteto (), sometimes called cuartetazo, is a musical genre born in Córdoba, Argentina. The roots of the cuarteto ensemble are in Italian and Spanish dance ensembles. The name was coined beca ...

band has had great support from dancers. At one point they were endorsed by the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

church for avoiding racy themes in their lyrics. All in all, they have sold over a million records.

Rodrigo Rodrigo () is a Spanish, Portuguese and Italian name derived from the Germanic name ''Roderick'' ( Gothic ''*Hroþareiks'', via Latinized ''Rodericus'' or ''Rudericus''), given specifically in reference to either King Roderic (d. 712), the la ...

became the leading cuarteto singer in the mid-1990s, and made inroads into Buenos Aires middle-class audiences. He died in a car crash on June 24, 2000. Many people believe the crash was not an accident, as Rodrigo was (allegedly) a pawn in a feud between rival mobsters. His song ''La mano de Dios'' (The Hand of God), which celebrates

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona Franco (30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional association football, football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two ...

through his most famous goal, has become a classic dance song in Argentina, and was covered by Maradona himself in his successful 2005 talk show. Gary was another Cuarteto singer with the

band, who died of natural causes in 2001.

External links

Spanish language portal
{{Authority control Argentine styles of music Southern Cone music Argentine dances Dance in Argentina

Famous Names

See also

External links