by Mauricio Annunziata

I. Callejón empedrado

II. Conventillo de La Boca

III. La desdichada seductora

IV. Timba maleva

Although luckyly never I have exerted them, partly, always fascinated the marginal professions and scopes to me, of the same form that us can catch a film that deals with this. However, I feel a great sadness when obsevar its movements, the revolt of strongest and those than suffer when not seeing a positive light in their poor made loose hope lives. Or we know that this can happen in the suburbs or the heart of all great city.

But what has of special the bad (mala) life (vida)  of Buenos Aires? Simply that it gave to a great contribution to the creation and the expansion of a purely Argentine musical phenomenon —call it tango— that today is patrimony of the humandidad, but in the first decades of century XX it was censured so that he was used like «prelude» in the preludes, but that sucesivamentes managed to enter the halls the highest aristocracy. The lunfarda poetry  (lunfardo is the Buenosairean dialect of the Spanish language),  later would confirm to us what happened in auqellos years: killers, lady's men, women of occasion, deceits, swindles, races and many games of chance. But, he is of also supposing, that the answer to all this is the pain the victims of such offenses.

My work «La mala vida de Buenos Aires» (The bad life of Buenos Aires), is formed by four descriptive pictures, or episodes. But before entering detail, I want to detail something that several people asked porqué these four pieces to me independently do not comprise of the cycle «De mi Sur » (From my South), since as characteristic of style and duration she would adapt perfectly. The answer is simple. Through them there is a evolution of the dance that consolidates tango only in the last one, reason why these four episodes must be executed integrally, never loose and in that order.

A germ is born of tango in the first picture as a «Buenosairean waltz» consolidates the character and the virilidad and the anger in second, the sadness, bitterness, desolation and shame in the third and final finishing touch, the authentic tango with a nostalgic intermezzo and sweet to end at a tremendous final.

«Callejón empedrado» (Stone street) is first of the pieces. Faithful testimony of the bad street life where each paving stone could tell us to a lived history different blood, passion and loves.

Very different it is the second «Conventillo de la Boca» (poor house of La Boca), district where houses with common patio (courtyard) abounded these precarious houses that sometimes it was transformed into a violent scene of hampa. In them the tumult produced with bursting in of the confrontations can be heard.

«La desdichada seductora » (The unfortunate seducer), third component of the collection, reveals to us step by step how a woman must be sold in her humble room with the echo of bandoneón to the other side of the wall. The music has a climax of three simultaneous tonalities —I leave it like indication for its understanding—.

The fourth and last function, «Timba maleva» (Chance games of gangster ) takes us garçonier, essential is those atmospheres, with the flexions of a tango already consolidated, uses as its predecessor, «milonga » stops in its central section to speak to us nostalgically, as if it was watched at the happened thing until the moment in the work. The work is closed with an energycal and fervent end that marks that the bad life exists and is fundamental part of our Buenosairean music.

The four episodes in the same reference and tonality, together form one of my more beloveds and obtained works works: «La mala vida de Buenos Aires» (The bad life of Buenos Aires).

Mauricio Annunziata

Barcelona, November 2000