19/2025 Carlos Di Sarli & Roberto Rufino - Tristeza Marina

Welcome to this week's tanda!

Today I want to share more of the beautiful music of Carlos Di Sarli, one of the greatest orchestra leaders and musicians of Argentine Tango. Di Sarli is considered one of "The Big Four" of Argentine tango orchestras and had one of the largest discographies along with Juan D'Arienzo, Aníbal Troilo and Osvaldo Pugliese. Each of the orchestras had their distinctive style and their music should be the foundation of any DJ set at a milonga.

What to play from Carlos Di Sarli?

Whether it’s instrumentals or vocal tracks, uptempo or downtempo — Di Sarli has it all. You can easily play multiple Di Sarli tandas at a milonga without repeating the same style, as long as you draw from the different key periods of his career and discography. Let's have a look at the key periods of Carlos Di Sarli:

The Di Sarli discography with Roberto Rufino

Di Sarli and Rufino made a total of 46 recordings, of which 34 were tangos, 8 milongas and 4 valses. The first recordings from 1939-1940, such as Corazon and Cosas olvidadas, are very uptempo and later recordings from mid-1941 to 1943, such as Griseta, Canta pajarito and Esta noche de luna are much slower. There are songs and styles for several great tandas and the following songs are some of my favorites.

Global Performance - Argentine Tango - tango.info

Tango.info since 2004: music, CDs, events, festivals, shoes, composers, lyricists, singers, teachers, DJs, videos

tango.infoTobias Conradi

Tanda of the Week - Carlos Di Sarli with Roberto Rufino

About the tanda

This tanda brings together four deeply emotional tangos — Tristeza Marina, Necesito Olvidar, Adiós Te Vas, and Si Tú Quisieras — whose lyrics speak of grief, lost love, and solitude.

Despite the sorrowful words, the music carries elegance, rhythm, and even moments of lyrical lightness. The rich melodies rise and fall like waves of emotion — sometimes heavy and slow, other times flowing more gently — offering dancers space for both quiet connection and expressive movement. The music lets us dance through pain with dignity, beauty, and perhaps a flicker of hope?

I thought about using the song Canta pajarito in the tanda but felt that it is several tones darker as a song and all hope would've been lost.

I feel that Tristeza marina works always as a great invitation to enter the dance floor, and once we have connected with our dance partner, Necesito olvidar and Adiós te vas are perfect ointment for our bleeding heart. Si tú quisieras is also about a lost love, but offers some comfort in nostalgy.

Tristeza marina (1943)

Sadness of the Sea lyrics by Horacio Sanguinetti “You love the sea more,” she said to me with sorrow as her crystalline voice broke. I remember the look of the twilight in her eyes and these words …

Poesía de gotán: The Poetry of the TangoDerrick Del Pilar

Si tú quisieras — TangoDC

Just as the lyrics for “Charlemos” bring the telephone into the world of song, “Si tú quisieras” revolves around the metaphor of photographs. Luis Rubistein, who penned the words for both tangos…

TangoDCJake Spatz

Performances to songs from this week's tanda

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More tandas from Carlos Di Sarli

Carlos Di Sarli

Carlos Di Sarli, tango pianist and orchestra leader, is known for his smooth, elegant style and timeless danceable classics like Bahía Blanca.

Tanda of the Week