Del cuplé al tango. El compositor José Padilla en la escena dramática de Buenos Aires

Abstract

José Padilla Sánchez (1889-1960) was an outstanding Spanish composer of the theatrical genre género chico. His catalogue registers nearly eighty titles, incIuding zarzuelas, sainetes líricos, operetas and revistas, as well as more than three hundred songs and cuplés. At the beginning of 20th Century he made at least two trips to Buenos Aires. In the fIrst one, in 1914, as Musical Director and composer of different works of Spanish repertoire. In 1919, in the second one, he settled down for almost two years in the city and in those years he got deeply inserted in the musical activities of the Buenos Aires theatres. At that time, he assimilated all the musical characteristics and particularities that defined the género chico criollo. In this paper it is examined the production that Padilla realized in that last period of time, particularly analyzing the musical traces of tango rioplatense in its theatrical version.