SHOTLIST:

1. Various of the bandoneon, in an arrangement workshop in Buenos Aires
2. Bandoneon teaching workshop by Carla Algeri, Director of the Bandoneon Polo in Buenos Aires
3. Street artist playing bandoneon

STORYLINE:

This instrument of German origin, which is in danger of extinction, is what gave tango its sound of nostalgia, passion and melancholy, combined emotions that only the characteristic music of Buenos Aires, forged by immigrants who long for their land, their loves and its past, has managed to give.

The bandoneon has accompanied the history of Argentines for more than a century, moments of joy and sadness of millions of Argentines who have forged a culture in which the sound of this instrument is practically the sound of Argentina, because it isn´t you can think of an Argentine tango without bringing to mind the sound of the bandoneon, or thinking of Argentina, without immediately thinking of tango.

The bandoneon allowed the tango to dump all emotions, find nuances, a compositional depth that was derived from a basic and popular style, to its refined and complex style, which manages to amalgamate a set of feelings born in uprooting, which can only emanate this music which was born in the port of Buenos Aires by immigrants and their descendants who had left behind a life to explore a distant and unknown land.

It is said that the "milongas", as the halls are called where tango is played and danced, its walls are filled with the cry of the bandoneon, always referring to the melancholic sound and to the torn lyrics that characterize this music.

This instrument was created in Germany with the idea of replacing the church organ, for religious music, hence its sacred and melancholic sound.

The instrument arrived in the country around 1900, imported from Germany by the hands of sailors and immigrants, was adopted by musicians of the time and that is how the bandoneon collaborated in the formation of the particular sound of Rio Plata's tango, becoming a true symbol of it.

It is said that the bandoneon is currently in danger of becoming extinct, due to numerous causes. The main one, that almost 70 years ago practically no new instruments are manufactured, so the old German models are still used.

In the absence of qualified personnel, often used instruments fall into the hands of amateur repairmen who end up ruining them.

In turn, building new bandoneons is expensive, it is an artisanal instrument, which has a limited market.

With the aim of contributing to the promotion of bandoneon as a central element of Tango, since 2014 the Bandoneón Pole was created in southern Buenos Aires, a cultural area where there is bandoneon teaching, luthery workshops, a factory instrument, a library of files and scores and an editorial that publishes material linked to tango.

The bandoneon is the soul of tango, so, although that melancholy so characteristic of the Argentine and the music that characterizes it seems to set a date of death, the bandoneon will remain alive as long as the tango continues to generate increasing interest in the new generations of everything the world.