“Que veinte anos no es nada” – “Twenty years in the blink of an eye”

“Volver”: Juan Simon & CT Tango Ensemble: Stanislav Angelov – Bandoneon & Accordeon / Albert Combrink – Piano / Petrus de Beer – Violin / Carles Lazar – Double Bass

Performed in “Tango Dreams” at the Artscape Theater, Cape Town, South Africa – LIVE Amateur Video

CT Tango Ensemble in 2014 released their THIRD CD, “TANGO DREAMS” – available for purchase and download HERE.

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“Con el alma aferrada a un dulce recuerdo” – To the soul a sweet memory clings

More about the song “Volver” and it’s Composer Carlos Gardel and the lyricist Alfredo le Pera

Carlos Gardel (born Charles Romuald Gardes; 11 December 1890 – 24 June 1935) was a singer, songwriter, composer and actor, and one of the most prominent figures in the history of tango. The unerring musicality of Gardel’s exquisite voice (some describe it as a tenor, others a lyric baritone) and the dramatic phrasing of his lyrics made miniature masterpieces of his hundreds of three-minute tango recordings. Together with lyricist and collaborator Alfredo Le Pera (1900-1935), Gardel wrote several classic tangos. In a space of roughly three years, the team produced some of the most-loved tango songs of all time, as fresh and popular today as they were in the lifetime of their creators.

” Que es un soplo la vida” – Life is but a breath

Dying tragically in a plane crash, young and beautiful at the height of his career, Gardel became an archetypal tragic hero mourned throughout Latin America. For many, Gardel embodies the soul of the tango style. He is commonly referred to as “Carlitos”, “El Zorzal” (The Song Thrush), “The King of Tango”, “El Mago” (The Magician), “El Morocho del Abasto” (The Brunet Boy from Abasto), and “El Mudo” (The Mute). (See the bottom of the article for a selected list of his compositions)

Gardel was famous as a handsome actor, singer and composer. He wrote the now very famous Tango-canción “Volver” for the film El Día Que Me Quieras (The day that you will love me),  in which he starred as well. The first recording was produced in New York, at “Victor” studios, on the 19^th of March, 1935, almost exactly three months before both the composer and the lyricist met their tragic deaths in a plane crash. Gardel and Le Pera were coming to the end of a promotional tour for the film, when, on 24 June 1935, the plane in which they were taking off from the airport in Medellin, Colombia crashed into another plane on the runway, killing them both and most of the other passengers on board, including the other musicians travelling with them.

Alfredo Le Pera (1900-1935), was born in São Paulo, Brazil, the son of Italian immigrants who moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1902. At the beginning of his career, he worked for several Argentinian periodicals as a journalist and theatre critic and in 1928 became involved in the film industry. He worked for Paramount Pictures while living in Paris and in 1932 the studio arranged for him to work with Carlos Gardel, at a time when the company was looking for ways to increase Gardel’s international appeal . Le Pera wrote the scripts for a series of films, including Melodía de Arrabal (1933), Cuesta abajo (1934), El Tango en Broadway (1934), El día que me quieras (1935) and Tango Bar (1935), and also wrote the lyrics for tangos composed and performed by Gardel in these films. These tangos would become classics of the genre across the Spanish-speaking world.

 

Download Free Sheet Music for “Volver” (Carlos Gardel)

 

“Volver” (Carlos Gardel – music/Alfredo Le Pera – lyrics, 1935)

Lyris in Spanish (Castellan0)

Yo adivino el parpadeo
de las luces que a lo lejos,
van marcando mi retorno…
Son las mismas que alumbraron,
con sus palidos reflejos,
hondas horas de dolor.
Y aunque no quise el regreso,
siempre se vuelve al primer amor.
La quieta calle donde el eco dijo:
Tuya es su vida, tuyo es su querer,
bajo el burlon mirar de las estrellas
que con indiferencia hoy me ven volver…

Volver,
con la frente marchita,
las nieves del tiempo
platearon mi sien…
Sentir… que es un soplo la vida,
que veinte anos no es nada,
que febril la mirada
errante en la sombras
te busca y te nombra.
Vivir,
con el alma aferrada
a un dulce recuerdo,
que lloro otra vez…

Tengo miedo del encuentro
con el pasado que vuelve
a enfrentarse con mi vida…
Tengo miedo de las noches
que, pobladas de recuerdos,
encadenan mi sonar…
Pero el viajero que huye
tarde o temprano detiene su andar…
Y aunque el olvido, que todo destruye,
haya matado mi vieja ilusion,
guardo escondida una esperanza humilde
que es toda la fortuna de mi corazon.

Vivir… con el alma aferrada
a un dulce recuerdo
que lloro otra vez…

“Volver” (Carlos Gardel – music/Alfredo Le Pera – lyrics, 1935)

Lyris in ENGLISH

I imagine the flickering
of the lights that in the distance
will be marking my return.
They’re the same that lit,
with their pale reflections,
deep hours of pain
And even though I didn’t want to come back,
you always return to your first love
The tranquil street where the echo said
yours is her life, yours is her love,
under the mocking gaze of the stars
that, with indifference, today see me return.

To return
with withered face,
the snows of time
have whitened my temples.
To feel… that life is a puff of wind,
that twenty years is nothing,
that the feverish look,
wandering in the shadow,
looks for you and names you.
To live…
with the soul clutched
to a sweet memory
that I cry once again

I am afraid of the encounter
with the past that returns
to confront my life
I am afraid of the nights
that, filled with memories,
shackle my dreams.
But the traveler that flees
sooner or later stops his walking
And although forgetfulness, which destroys all,
has killed my old dream,
I keep concealed a humble hope
that is my heart’s whole fortune.

To live… with the soul clutched
to a sweet memory
that I cry once again

 

The ONE AND ONLY Carlos Gardel singing his song,”Volver”
(Carlos Gardel – music/Alfredo Le Pera – lyrics)

“Un dulce recuerdo, que lloro otra vez” – A sweet memory, I cry again…

Music Compositions

Gardel wrote the music and Alfredo Le Pera the lyrics for the following compositions: