The Argentinian will not be offended if we say tango is a little bit Italian too. First of all, the last names of many of the most important Argentinian composers of this genre from the first half of the 1900s clearly declare their Italian origins: Juan D’Arienzo, Carlos Di Sarli, Osvaldo Pugliese, Aníbal Troilo, Enrique Delfino, Francisco De Caro… Secondly, tango was wildly successful with generations of Italians, throughout those decades and beyond.

Some of Italy’s renowned musicians and songwriters were also inspired by the dance that originated in Río de la Plata, such as Cesare Andrea Bixio (with his popular “Tango delle Capinere”), Carlo Innocenzi, Armando Fragna, Bixio Cherubini and many more.

Here is a gallery of music score covers: Italian tango songs from the first half of the past century, with illustrations by famous artists such as Nicola Salerno (also known as Nisa, who also worked as a songwriter) and Umberto Onorato.