The Tango Revival. Historically Informed Performance (HIP) in the First Decade of the new Tango

Abstract

This paper analyzes how the first musicians of the tango joven movement approached
the artistic legacy of tango from the perspective of the Historically Informed Performance (HIP) philosophy. By examining the testimonies of some of the most experienced musicians, it is argued that their sense of disruption in the oral tradition of
tango led them to interpret its classical repertory in a distanced and (philo-) academicist way. During the first decade of the tango joven (ca. 1998-2008), this quest allowed them to assimilate the performative conventions of the style, and a sense of the tradition that allowed them to create their own tangos in the aftermaths of this artistic phenomenon. The HIP philosophy has not yet been related to popular music.
However, an overview of its fundamental ideas reveals striking coincidences with theapproach to performance that was developed by the tango joven musicians in the beginnings of their projects.