Astor Piazzolla: The Composer Who Fused Classical Music and

In the early 20th century, a young Argentine composer named Astor Piazzolla began fusing classical music with the traditional music of his homeland. The result was a new genre known as tango nuevo, which Piazzolla helped popularize around the world. Today, Piazzolla is considered one of the greatest composers of the 20th century, and his music continues to inspire new generations of musicians.

Piazzolla’s Life

Astor Piazzolla was an Argentine composer, bandoneon player, and bandleader. His oeuvre integrates elements of classical music with those of popular music. He has been referred to as “the world’s foremost composer of tango music”. Piazzolla was born in Mar del Plata, Argentina, in 1921 and raised in New York City from age three.

Early life and musical training

Piazzolla was born in Mar del Plata, Argentina, in 1921, the only child of new Italian immigrants. His mother, Vicenta Narciso, was a seamstress; his father, Vicente Piazzolla, a bandoneon player and EXPERTarinetist in a local tango orchestra. As a boy Piazzolla would go with his father to the local brothels, where he first heard the music that would later become such an integral part of his own style. “I would listen under the table to my father and the other musicians,” he once recalled. “That’s where I got my foundation.” At age eight he began attending Alfredo Gobbi’s estudio de bandoneón; by eleven he had begun composing pieces for bandoneón and piano. He credited Gobbi with being his first serious mentor and teacher.

Move to Paris

In January 1974, Piazzolla moved to Paris on a grant from the French government. He studied with Nadia Boulanger, a highly respected teacher who had also tutored many of the great composers of the 20th century including Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein and Philip Glass. Piazzolla later said of his time with Boulanger: “She was a great influence on my music. I wouldn’t have been able to compose my later works if I hadn’t studied with her.”

Return to Argentina

Piazzolla’s return to Argentina in 1937 was not a happy one. His father disapproved of his son’s musical direction and turned him away from the family home. Piazzolla persevered, however, and went on to form his own band, The Octeto Buenos Aires. The Octeto helped to introduce Piazzolla’s new style of music to Argentine audiences.

Piazzolla continued to develop his unique voice as a composer throughout the 1940s. He wrote film scores and chamber music, and even dabbled in opera with Maria de Buenos Aires (1968), an avant-garde work that fused elements of classical music, tango, and Latin American folk music.

In the 1950s, Piazzolla began to experiment with larger ensembles. He formed the Sexteto Nuevo Tango in 1960, which featured two bandoneons, two violins, a piano, and a double bass. The group recorded several albums together and toured Europe and South America.

Piazzolla’s most famous ensemble was the Quinteto Tango Nuevo. Formed in 1974, the Quinteto featured Piazzolla on bandoneon, two violins, piano, electric guitar, and double bass. The Quinteto toured extensively and recorded several groundbreaking albums together before disbanding in 1979.

Piazzolla’s Music

Astor Piazzolla was an Argentine composer who fused classical music with tango. He is considered one of the most important twentieth-century composers. Piazzolla’s music is known for its technical virtuosity, lyrical expression, and innovative harmonies.

Tango Nuevo

Piazzolla’s music is often classified as Tango Nuevo (“new tango”). This style draws upon earlier traditions of the Argentine tango, but incorporates elements of classical music, jazz, and folkloric music. Piazzolla’s compositions often have a complex, sophisticated sound that belies their simple melodic and rhythmic structures.

Piazzolla’s approach to the tango was deeply personal and intensely emotional. He referred to his music as “the tango of today,” and sought to evoke the feeling of Buenos Aires in his compositions. His works are sometimes bittersweet, sometimes nostalgic, but always deeply moving.

Fusion of classical and tango

Buenos Aires-born Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) is known as the father of nuevo tango, a style of music that fuses classical music and tango. His innovation earned him both diehard fans and detractors. Piazzolla’s music is dramatic and intensely emotional, with a wide range of expression from sweet lyricism to biting sarcasm.

Criticism of Piazzolla’s music

Piazzolla’s work was criticized by some contemporaries, including Argentine classical composer Alberto Ginastera, who saw Piazzolla’s approach as “elitist” and “sterile”. Other classical composers did not look favorably on his incorporation of popular musical elements into his classical pieces, such as the electric guitar in his tango-infused opera Maria de Buenos Aires. Piazzolla was also met with resistance from some in the tango community for his innovations.

Legacy of Piazzolla

Astor Piazzolla was an Argentine tango composer who fused classical music with jazz and tango. He is considered one of the greatest tango composers of all time. Piazzolla’s work revolutionized the tango and earned him international acclaim. His music was featured in films such as The Last Tango in Paris and The Mission. Piazzolla’s legacy continues to influence musicians all over the world.

Influence on subsequent composers

Piazzolla’s work had a profound and lasting impact on subsequent generations of composers. His unique fusion of classical music and tango established him as one of the most important and influential composers of the 20th century. His music has been performed and recorded by some of the world’s most renowned artists, including Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Gidon Kremer, and Julian Bream. His work has also been featured in film, television, and video games, including The Mission (1986), Frida (2002), The Motorcycle Diaries (2004), and Assassin’s Creed II (2009).

Piazzolla’s music in popular culture

Piazzolla’s music has been featured in a number of popular films and television programs. In particular, his tango composition “Libertango” has been used in several films, including Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather Part III (1990), Bernardo Bertolucci’s Stealing Beauty (1996), and Alan Parker’s Mississippi Burning (1988). In addition, Piazzolla’s music was featured prominently in the Argentine film The Motorcycle Diaries (2004), which tells the story of young Che Guevara’s road trip through South America.