Alfredo Le Pera
Encyclopedia
Alfredo Le Pera (4 June 1900? – 24 June 1935) was an Argentinian journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, dramatist, and lyricist
Lyricist
A lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...
, best known for his brief but fruitful collaboration with the tango
Tango music
Tango is a style of ballroom dance music in 2/4 or 4/4 time that originated among European immigrant populations of Argentina and Uruguay . It is traditionally played by a sextet, known as the orquesta típica, which includes two violins, piano, double bass, and two bandoneons...
singer Carlos Gardel
Carlos Gardel
Carlos Gardel was a singer, songwriter and actor, and is perhaps the most prominent figure in the history of tango. He was born in Toulouse, France, although he never acknowledged his birthplace publicly, and there are still claims of his birth in Uruguay. He lived in Argentina from the age of two...
. Some of their best-known collaborations are the tangos Volver, Melodía de arrabal, Cuesta abajo, Soledad, Volvió una noche, Golondrina, Lejana tierra mía, Por una cabeza
Por una Cabeza
"Por una cabeza", meaning "by a head [of a horse]" in Spanish, is one of the most famous and popular tango songs by Carlos Gardel and Alfredo Le Pera , written in 1935. Alfredo Le Pera was a Brazilian from São Paulo, the fourth most Italian-influenced area in Brazil, and also the birthplace of...
, Mi Buenos Aires querido
Mi Buenos Aires querido (song)
Mi Buenos Aires querido is a tango by Carlos Gardel and Alfredo Le Pera, released in 1934. It is the soundtrack of its eponymous movie by Julio Irigoyen ....
, and El día que me quieras.
Le Pera was born in São Paulo, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. When he was two months old, his italian parents move to Buenos Aires. At the beginning of his career, he worked for several Argentinian periodicals as a theater critic. In 1931, he travelled to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, where he met Gardel. Le Pera wrote tangos together with Gardel as well as preparing the scripts for a number of his films.
Le Pera is credited with elevating the literary quality of tango lyrics while respecting the popular character of the musical form.
He died in a plane crash on 24 June 1935 in Medellín
Medellín
Medellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.3 million...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, along with Carlos Gardel
Carlos Gardel
Carlos Gardel was a singer, songwriter and actor, and is perhaps the most prominent figure in the history of tango. He was born in Toulouse, France, although he never acknowledged his birthplace publicly, and there are still claims of his birth in Uruguay. He lived in Argentina from the age of two...
and other musicians with whom they were on tour.