ARGENTINE TANGO AND BANDONEON

BANDONEON - A German invention different from the accordion which is a Chinese invention. The bandoneon, which came by the way of the harmonica and later the concertina, was invented around the 1850. It was used by folk musicians of the time in funerals and to substitute the organ in churches. When a large number of them are played together it sounds like a pipe organ. Because of its portability bandoneons where also used in religious processions. In the late 1800s this "new and strange" instrument was soon adopted by tango musicians in Argentina and Uruguay and it became the blood and soul of tango. Once you hear a tango played with bandoneon you cannot accept one being played without it.