La Margarita (1994) is an unforgettable collaboration between iconic Uruguayan musician Jaime Roos and legendary writer and playwright Mauricio Rosencof. Blending the rich musical traditions of Uruguay—candombe, murga, tango, and milonga—with elements of folk and rock, as he is known for, Roos sets to music a cycle of sonnets that tell a tender, naive love story. These poems were written by Rosencof under harrowing conditions during his imprisonment by the Uruguayan dictatorship in the 1970s.
Includes 16-page booklet.
Jaime Roos and Mauricio Rosencof are two of Uruguay’s most beloved and influential artists. Roos, a groundbreaking musician, redefined Uruguayan music in the 1980s with his signature fusion of deep-rooted local rhythms and cosmopolitan flair. Rosencof, a celebrated writer and playwright who emerged in the early 1960s, was also a prominent figure in the historic Tupamaros guerrilla movement.
Their paths converged in 1987, when Roos composed the score for Rosencof’s play El Regreso del Gran Tuleque. During this collaboration, Roos discovered a series of sonnets Rosencof had written while imprisoned under Uruguay’s brutal dictatorship. Held in solitary confinement for over eleven years, Rosencof composed these poems as a lifeline—scribbled on cigarette papers and hidden in the hems of clothes his family collected for laundering. Against all odds, both the author and his poems survived. The sonnets tell a delicate, moving love story set in 1950s Montevideo. Roos, inspired and captivated, rose to the challenge of transforming them into music.
The result was La Margarita—a groundbreaking project in which Roos masterfully fused Uruguay’s rich musical traditions—candombe, murga, tango, and milonga—with elements of folk and rock, creating a deeply evocative set of songs as only he could deliver.
Beyond its beautiful music, La Margarita stands as a testament to resilience, creativity, and the enduring power of love and art.
1. El Regreso
2. Encuentro
3. Turbación
4. La Mirada
5. Sandía
6. Indiferencia
7. Conversación
8. El Beso
9. Fama
10. Lluvia
11. Nocturno
12. Golondrinas
13. Maga
14. Otoño
15. En La Esquina
