His music is played often at milongas in Buenos Aires, and the instrumentals are the classic harder rhythmic tangos with a strong staccato dance rhythm. He also recorded many great milongas and fast valses.
More detail.....
(December 14, 1900 – January 14, 1976)
D'Arienzo was born on 14 December 1900 in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Balvanera.
By 1936 Juan D'Arienzo was at the height of his popularity. He was just 35 years old, one less than Julio De Caro –but stylistically at the other end of the musical horizon of tango. De Caro was already a star in 1924 when D'Arienzo began his rise to popularity when Pablo Osvaldo Valle took him to the brand new El Mundo radio station.
Like almost all the musicians in those days, he started in tango as a boy. He played violin in local venues at a very early age with Angel D'Agostino on piano, the bandoneon player Ernesto Bianchi (Lechuguita) and Ennio Bolognini, Remo and Astor´s brother. His first known performance goes back to 1919. In that year, he played with the Arata-Simari-Franco theater company when they presented the comic play by Alberto Novión, "El cabaret Montmartre" at the Nacional theater.
In an interview in 1949 with Andrés Muñoz,he said “We, D'Agostino and I on the violin, took part in the opening night of Alberto Novión´s sainete "El cabaret Montmartre". At the play a small tango orchestra appeared, led by us, and which accompanied Los Undar's, a famous dancing number formed by the partners la Portuguesa and El Morocho, two stars of tango canyengue”.
Doctor Luis Adolfo Sierra has established, however, that Roberto Firpo's orchestra premiered that show (Firpo, on piano; Cayetano Puglisi, on violin; Pedro Maffia and Juan Bautista Deambroggio, on bandoneons, and Alejandro Michetti, on drums) until September 1 of that year, when it was replaced by that of D'Arienzo-D'Agostino.
D'Arienzo remained linked to theater. Always with D'Agostino on piano, he accompanied Evita Franco, who beautifully sang tangos like "Loca", "Entra nomás" or "Pobre milonga".
He also played violin in the Frederickson jazz band and assembled a sextet with D'Agostino on piano; the other violin was Mazzeo. On bandoneons were Anselmo Aieta and Ernesto Bianchi, and Juan Puglisi on bass.
When D'Agostino left, he was replaced by Luis Visca, who was then composing "Compadrón".
1935 is the key year in D'Arienzo´s career. This is the year when the D'Arienzo we all remember really appeared. That happened when Rodolfo Biagi joined the orchestra. Biagi was a pianist who had played with Pacho, who had accompanied Gardel on some recordings, and had played with Juan Guido and Juan Canaro. By then, D'Arienzo was performing at the Chantecler. Biagi´s inclusion meant a change of time signature for D'Arienzo orchestra, which changed the four-eight for the two-four; that is to say, he returned to two-four, the fast frolic beat of the early tangos.
When Biagi left him in 1938 to assemble his own orchestra, D'Arienzo had already identified himself with the two-four definitively. Facing the martial rhythm by Canaro, the somewhat street band-like platitude of Francisco Lomuto, and De Caro´s symphonic attempts, D'Arienzo contributed a fresh, juvenile, enlivening air to tango.
Tango, which had been an ostentatious, challenging almost gymnastic dance, turned one day, according to Discépolo, into a sad thought which can be danced to. The dance had become subsidiary, displaced by lyrics and the singers, and then by the arrangement. D'Arienzo gave tango back to the dancers´feet and with that he revived the interst of the young in tango.
This nickname "king of beat", given by Príncipe cubano (Angel Sanchez Carreño), an MC at the cabaret Chantecler, turned into the king of the dance, and by getting people to the dance he earned a lot of money.
Tango lovers despise D'Arienzo. He is considered as a sort of tango demagogue. But D'Arienzo, as José Luis Macaggi has very well said, made possible that tango renaissance called "la década del cuarenta" (the 40s), a decade which represented The golden Age of Tango.
When D'Arienzo achieved success with the new beat, he dazzled the Chantecler dancers and El Mundo radio station broadcast it all over the country.
In 1949 D'Arienzo said: “In my view, tango is, above all, rhythm, nerve, strength and character. Early tango, that of the old stream (guardia vieja), had all that, and we must try not to ever lose it. Because we forgot that, Argentine tango entered into a crisis some years ago. Putting aside modesty, I did all was possible to make it reappear. In my opinion, a good part of the blame for tango decline is on the singers. There was a time when a tango orchestra was nothing else but a mere pretext for the singer´s performance. The players, including the leader, were no more than accompanists of the popular stars. For me, that can´t be. Tango is essentially music. In consequence, the orchestra, which plays it, cannot be relegated to the background to spotlight only the singer. The human voice is not, it should not be another thing but an instrument more in the orchestra. To sacrifice everything for the singer´s sake, for the star, is a mistake. I reacted against that mistake which caused the tango crisis and placed the orchestra in the foreground and the singer in his place. Furthermore, I tried to rescue for tango its masculine strength, which it had been losing. In my interpretations I stamped the rhythm, the nerve, the strength and the character which distinguished it in the music world and which it had been losing for the above reasons. Luckily, that crisis was temporary, and today tango has been re-established, our tango, with the vitality of its best times. My major pride is to have contributed to that renaissance of our popular music. [Edited quote from the Aquí Está magazine].
In 1975, a month before his death, D'Arienzo noted again: "The foundation of my orchestra is the piano. I regard it as irreplaceable. When my pianist, Polito is ill, I replace him with Jorge Dragone. If something happens to the latter I´m at a loss. Then the fourth violin appears as an essential element. It must sound like a viola or a cello. I assemble my group with piano, double bass, five violins, five bandoneons and three singers. Less members, never. I had even used, for some recordings, up to ten violins".[Interview made known by Telam and taken from La Voz del Pueblo, Tres Arroyos, 23 December 1975].
Due to the importance given to piano by the maestro, it is not superfluous to give here the list of his pianists: Alfonso Lacueva, René Cóspito, Vicente Gorrese, Nicolás Vaccaro, Juan Polito, Luis Visca, Carlos Di Sarli, Lidia Fassoli, Cesar Zagnolli, Rodolfo Biaggi, Juan Polito, Fulvio Salamanca, Juan Polito, Normando Lazara (Di Sarli only performed for a month, at the Chantecler, in 1934, replacing Visca)
In 1975, when the avant-garde movement was in bloom, D'Arienzo went on saying that "if musicians turned back to the pureness of two-four, the passion for our music would come again and, thanks to the modern media of broadcasting, we would reach world importance".[Interview made known by Telam and taken from La Voz del Pueblo, Tres Arroyos, 23 December 1975].
Originally published in Tango y Lunfardo Nº 132, Year XIV, Chivilcoy, 16 September 1997.
Paciencia
Juan D'Arienzo Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Anoche, de nuevo te tuve a mi lao.
¡Pa qué te habré visto si, después de todo,
Fuimos dos extraños mirando el pasao!
Ni vos sos la misma, ni yo soy el mismo. .
¡Los años! ... ¡La vida!... ¡Quién sabe lo qué!...
De una vez por todas mejor la franqueza:
Yo y vos no podemos volver al ayer.
Paciencia...
La vida es así.
Quisimos juntarnos por puro egoísmo
Y el mismo egoísmo nos muestra distintos.
¿Para qué fingir?
Paciencia...
La vida es así.
Ninguno es culpable, si es que hay una culpa.
Por eso, la mano que te di en silencio
No tembló al partir.
Haremos de cuenta que todo fue un sueño,
Que fue una mentira habernos buscao;
Así, buenamente, nos queda el consuelo
De seguir creyendo que no hemos cambiao.
Yo tengo un retrato de aquellos veinte años
Cuando eras del barrio el sol familiar.
Quiero verte siempre linda como entonces:
Lo que pasó anoche fue un sueño no más.
The lyrics of Juan D'Arienzo's song "Paciencia" narrate the story of two former lovers who have reunited after a long time. They both acknowledge that the passing of the years and the experiences they have lived through have changed them, and they are no longer the same people they used to be. Despite the desire to reconnect, they both come to the realization that they can't go back to the past and that they are better off accepting the present for what it is.
Through the use of metaphors, the song conveys the message that life happens, and we have to learn to accept it with patience. The line "Quisimos juntarnos por puro egoísmo, y el mismo egoísmo nos muestra distintos" translates to "We wanted to come together out of pure selfishness, and that same selfishness shows us as different." Here, D'Arienzo points out that sometimes our desires can cloud our judgment, causing us to overlook the fact that we might not be compatible with someone.
The song's overall message is one of acceptance, urging listeners to be patient and accept that things might not always go as planned. It highlights the importance of being honest and transparent and understanding that people change with time. As much as we may long for the past, we must always look forward and cherish the memories we have.
Line by Line Meaning
Anoche, de nuevo te vieron mis ojos;
Yesterday, once again, my eyes saw you;
Anoche, de nuevo te tuve a mi lao.
Yesterday, once again, you were by my side;
¡Pa qué te habré visto si, después de todo,
Why did I have to see you again if, after all,
Fuimos dos extraños mirando el pasao!
We were two strangers looking at the past!
Ni vos sos la misma, ni yo soy el mismo. .
Neither you nor I are the same.
¡Los años! ... ¡La vida!... ¡Quién sabe lo qué!...
Years pass and life changes, who knows what happens.
De una vez por todas mejor la franqueza:
Better to be frank once and for all:
Yo y vos no podemos volver al ayer.
You and I can't go back to yesterday.
Paciencia...
Patience...
La vida es así.
That's how life is.
Quisimos juntarnos por puro egoísmo
We wanted to come together out of pure selfishness,
Y el mismo egoísmo nos muestra distintos.
But that same selfishness makes us different.
¿Para qué fingir?
Why pretend?
Paciencia...
Patience...
La vida es así.
That's how life is.
Ninguno es culpable, si es que hay una culpa.
No one is to blame, if there is any blame.
Por eso, la mano que te di en silencio
That's why the hand I gave you in silence
No tembló al partir.
Did not shake when leaving.
Haremos de cuenta que todo fue un sueño,
Let's pretend it was all just a dream,
Que fue una mentira habernos buscao;
That seeking each other was a lie;
Así, buenamente, nos queda el consuelo
That way, we comfort ourselves
De seguir creyendo que no hemos cambiao.
By believing that we have not changed.
Yo tengo un retrato de aquellos veinte años
I have a picture of those twenty years
Cuando eras del barrio el sol familiar.
When you were the familiar sun of the neighborhood.
Quiero verte siempre linda como entonces:
I want to see you always beautiful like then:
Lo que pasó anoche fue un sueño no más.
What happened last night was just a dream.
Writer(s): J. D'arienzo, F. Gorrindo
Contributed by Maria D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Sandra Olivera
A 9 meses de la partida de mi VIEJO por el covid, lo recuerdo con éste tengaso que a el le gustaba.... besos al cielo Papi te extrañamos ❤🌹
Bernardino Rivas
Por favor no olvidar a Francisco Gorrindo de los pagos de Quilmes. La letra es de él, como otras tantas que son una lección de vida.
Juan Moya
Qué Tango ! Què orquesta ! Què cantor ! Enrique Carbel era un tremendo cantor.
Maria Luisa Fernandez
Mi mamá que tenía una voz maravillosa siempre lo cantaba...me emocioné hasta las lágrimas.
Eduardo Fernández
Esto es lo nuestro. Nuestra musica. Extraño las noches de tango en "La Viruta".
Jose Scorza
MI MADRE esto es de otra galaxia que belleza irrepetible.
RICARDO JAVIER KEMPA
Excelente pieza musical, dios! lo que fue el maestro Juan D'Arienzo un genio!!!! en toda su estructura, la música como así la letra una obra de antología!!!!!
tano javi
A 31 amantes del regeton nos les gusto...por dios arte en su máximo explondor!!!
Ernesto Horacio Ippolito
Flor de tangazo , como siempre Darienzo no nos traiciona; parece mentira como los argentinos nos fuimos, de apoco, distanciándonos del tango, nuestra música popular que también nos representaba, y en esa medida también fuimos perdiendo todos los hermosos valores que teníamos no solamente la gente del pueblo sino también quienes deberían dar el ejemplo quienes nos fueron representando,el tango no solamente con su ritmo, también con su melodia ademas los poetas agregaban hermosas letras que representan nuestro vvir cotidiano,.Ojala algún dia dios bendiga a nuestro pueblo y nos haga renacer como creo merecemos, muchas veces veo por internet esas milongas en otros paises y es una lastima que los argentinos nos perdamos esa maravilla, como otras mil cosas que tenemos y no sabemos valorar.
Lucas
No hay tangos nuevos. Ni cantantes de tangos nuevos. Pero ojo, que hay muchos jóvenes que escuchan tango. Yo tengo 29 años y escucho tango desde los 15. Y conozco varios pibes de mi edad que les gusta el tango. Yo creo que a la gente que le gusta mucho la música, le gusta el tango. En mi caso escucho Rock, Tango, Rap, Pop, folclore etc por qué me gustó mucho la música y se que hay más jóvenes como yo. El tango se puede haber alejado pero no morirá jamas