“La Cumparsita” is one of the most famous and instantly recognizable tangos ever written. Gerardo Matos Rodríguez, a young Uruguayan musician, wrote the original melody in 1916. The first version was instrumental only, intended as a march for a student carnival parade.
When pianist and orchestra leader Roberto Firpo premiered the piece, he added sections from two of his own tangos: La gaucha Manuela Curda completa These additions transformed Matos Rodríguez’s simple march into the dramatic tango structure we know today.
