er father was Juan Moragues and her mother María González. Both encouraged their two daughters to take up the singing career. Myrna told me that her mother was the one who most encouraged her career. Her mom had a very good voice but she did not sing in public.

As for her stage name she told me that it is the result of shortening her family name Moragues. They picked up the first and the last syllable.

When they were teenagers they formed the duo known as Las Hermanas Mores or Las Hermanitas Mores as people warmly used to call them. Her sister was named Margarita Moragues but for the duo she became Margot. Her voice was very pleasant, a little bit lower and less stronger than Myrna’s. They complemented each other very well. She told me that their secret was that they had much fun by singing. Oscar del Priore in his book about Mariano Mores of the Colección Clarín defines them as «two excellent female vocalists».

They studied at the music academy located on 400 Callao Street that Luis Rubistein directed. Other alumni were the female singers Aída Luz and Carmen Duval. In 1938 the Trío Mores was formed with Myrna, her sister Margot and Marianito. The latter was Mariano Martínez who later would take the family name of the girls.

In the book El tango después de Gardel, Humberto Barrella informs us that the independent voices on radio in 1938 were Ada Falcón, Carmen Duval, Dorita Davis, Yola Yoli, Agustín Irusta, Carlos Ugarte and the Trío Mores.

“Flor de hastío” is a guarania with lyrics by Elizardo Martínez Vila (Marvil) and music by Mores. On the sheet music front cover we find a photo of Mariano placed in the center and on each side Myrna and Margot and a writing that says: «A great hit by the Trío Mores».

In several books it is said they they sang “Estampa de varón” but Myrna told me it was not a tango of the trio’s songbook. Instead “Gitana”, by Luis Rubistein and Mariano Mores, and “Cuartito azul” were in its repertoire. Mariano says in an interview: «To her (as for Myrna) I dedicated my first piece “Cuartito azul”. She was my first girlfriend». He also said: «The girls were improving greatly, with an impressive quality. They had a nice way of expression when singing. I paid too much attention to that...».

In 1938 the trio recorded three tangos by Masao Koga, conductor of the Imperial Orchestra and advisor for Columbia and Victor: “Sueño angelical” (instrumental), “Recuerdos [b]” and “Mi geisha está triste”. The trio dismembered in 1940. Margot got married. Mariano Mores was member of the Francisco Canaro’s orchestra and Myrna appeared as vocalist for a short time until they married and quit for good on September 3, 1942. In spite of it she would always be connected with music and would accompany Mariano in all his appearances.

Her career as actress was brief. She appeared in the movies Mandinga en la sierra, El sobretodo de Céspedes and Frente a la vida.

In theater she worked in 1941 in the Canaro’s and Ivo Pelay’s play La historia del tango. Myrna sang “Nocturno a Rosario” and the waltz “Apasionadamente [b]” duetting with Ernesto Famá. The play had much acclaim so much so that Canaro recorded all the numbers that it included. Regretfully, “Nocturno a Rosario”, with lyrics by Homero Manzi and music by Sebastián Piana, was not recorded by Myrna.

In the late 60s she appeared on TV in the program La Familia Mores which was aired to much acclaim.

Myrna’s voice, aside the technical aspects that —according to the connoisseurs—, is very good, has a color and a timbre quite peculiar that transmits a porteño feeling and a unique expressive strength. She feels what she sings. Her secret is to be devoted to sentimental tango and to allow us as listeners to believe everything she says without hesitation. Depending on the situation, her voice may be a desperate call to someone or a hopeful love song.

There is a clear example in the number “Apasionadamente [b]” that was recorded and wonderfully performed by Ernesto Famá in a duo with Myrna. She contributes with a touch of warmth, romanticism and vocal command.

When I asked her about the difficulties of singing in a duo, she told me that she loved singing in duo and also as soloist. She always found it easy to adapt herself to music.

Her discography is scarce. She recorded with Canaro “Tan solo tú” and in a duo with Famá: “Tormenta en el alma”, written by José Luis Padula and Enrique Cadícamo, both on October 28, 1940. And the waltz “Apasionadamente [b]”, by Canaro and Pelay, also in a duo with Famá, on May 21, 1941.

She liked the female singers Mercedes Simone and Alba Solís in her beginnings.

Then she answered my question on the phone: Didn’t you ever regret having abandoned your career as female singer when you still had a lot to offer?

«I was never sorry for having quit, maybe because when Mariano and I decided to raise a family, that was more important than my show business career. I devoted myself to it. When I see my family today, I can see that I was not wrong.»

At the Teatro Ópera in 2006 Myrna returned to the stage and sang “Cuartito azul” in a show that starred the whole Mores’s family. She is a very professional and exacting woman. «I accepted to sing but the singer must have a behavior and practice daily».

It’s a pity she has not recorded more discs because she not only is a trained voice but also she brought her own personality and her feeling to tango. For that reason for the one who hears her she’s something more than memories: «The God of the most cruel oblivion / covered the flower of your love / I feel you like blood in my veins / light of my good yesterday / a mountain of memories is your voice that I’ll never forget» (“Recuerdos [b]”, tango by Masao Koga, 1938).

Acknowledgements: To Myrna for her simplicity and pleasantness, to Chino Carreras who allowed me to get in touch with her, to Silvia Colucci and Adriana Pisani for their unconditional help.

Note: This article is an excerpt of “Myrna Mores: Montaña de recuerdo es tu voz”, which can be read in full in the virtual publication "Tango y Cultura Popular.