Milonga Tradicional

Naomi Stamoolis, oboe; Malachi Stamoolis, guitar

Song by S. Arriagada, arranged by R. Maldonado

“Let every creature rise and bring Peculiar honors to our King.”

I recently heard this excerpt from Isaac Watts’s hymn “Jesus Shall Reign Where’er the Sun” and was struck by the archaic use of the word “peculiar.” We think of it as meaning strange, but in Watts’s time it simply meant unique or particular. In that sense, every culture has its musical peculiarities, and they can be and ultimately will be sounded for the honor of our King. The music of Argentina is distinctive in its use of the milonga rhythm (featured here on the guitar) and in the way it moves between parallel minor and major keys.