Program Note

A song of confession: ‘you are always in my heart.’

The Marne is a place in France. Written in the era when European culture was flowing into Argentina, this piece shows tango growing beyond dance music into a cosmopolitan urban culture.

Written in 1955 by the Panamanian composer Carlos Almarán in memory of his brother’s wife, who had passed away. Featured in film, it became a beloved song around the world, sung again by Luis Miguel, Andrea Bocelli, and many others. The lyrics tell that "since you left, the world means nothing."

A song that wishes for love to remain eternal even in the face of parting.

True to its title, a tango that paints the life of city dwellers — a portrait of Buenos Aires in its industrializing years.

A signature piece of the early 1930s. "The moment I saw your eyes, I was no longer who I had been." As the title says, it sings of a love captured by a single gaze.

A song that likens first love to a bud just beginning to open.

Argentina’s winter falls opposite to Korea’s. Rather than describing a cold season, the piece expresses the quiet hours we meet in life.

A rhythmic tango dancers love to dance. The title is said to evoke a fighting rooster that cannot see.

Two people who once loved each other more than anyone meet again after the years — and now look at each other like strangers.

A tango marked by fast, dynamic rhythm.

A song with the message that love is completed by the heart.

‘Tamboriles’ are traditional South American drums. In its rhythm, African and Argentine cultures beat together.

A song of the stillness of the night you left.

True to a title meaning ‘a single thrust, a decisive strike,’ a piece marked by fierce rhythm.

A metaphor for a heart ‘clear as crystal, and just as easily broken’ — expressing at once the beauty and the fragility of love.

A landmark of early tango composed in 1916 by Eduardo Arolas. Called ‘the Tiger of the Bandoneón’ (El Tigre del Bandoneón), he was an innovator of the instrument, and the piece carries the character of tango’s earliest years.

A song for the moment when love must be released rather than held.

The person is gone, yet the voice remains in memory’s ear — a song not of a real voice but of a remembered one.

‘Patético’ means solemn, heart-rending. From a restrained opening to an intense unfolding, it expresses the crossing of love and despair.

Evaristo Carriego was an Argentine poet of the early twentieth century who sang of working-class lives and neighborhood streets of Buenos Aires; his work later influenced Jorge Luis Borges. The piece is a tribute to him, carrying the mood of old Buenos Aires.

‘Amarras’ are the ropes that moor a ship to harbor — a title that stands for wanting to hold back the one who is leaving, or being unable to leave.

A tango classic first heard in 1934; its title means recollection of time gone by. Played by countless orchestras, it calls back people and moments now past.

A song of the wounded pride and regret we feel before love — tango deals not only with love’s splendor but with human weakness.

A song with the message that past every conflict and wound, what remains is love.

A confession to a loved one: "no more lies."