Tango: Piazzolla and His Music Astor Piazzolla 1921 - 1992
Aug 20, 2015
Tango: Piazzolla and His Music
Astor Piazzolla1921 - 1992
Tango: Piazzolla and His Music
The Early Years: 1921 -1939
• Born in Mar del Plata, Argentina – March 11,1921
• Grew up in New York City (1925-1938)
• Began playing the bandoneon at age 9
• Wrote his first tango at age 11
• Returned to Argentina at age 16
• Moved to Buenos Aires at age 18 to become a professional musician
Tango: Piazzolla and His Music
1933Age - 12
Tango: Piazzolla and His Music
Tango or Classical?: 1939 - 1954
• Working for Anibal Troilo
• Studies with Alberto Ginastera - 1940
• Marries Dedé Wolff – 1942
• Fiorentino, his first recording - 1944
• Orchestra Tipica de Astor Piazzolla - 1946
• Wins Sevitsky Prize for Composition - 1953
Tango: Piazzolla and His Music
Anibal Troilo’s Band - 1946
Tango: Piazzolla and His Music
Piazzolla and Anibal Troilo, ca. 1943
Tango: Piazzolla and His Music
Paris: 1954 - 1955
• Studies with Nadia Boulanger
• Firmly establishes his style and lays groundwork for his nuevo tango
• Begins relationship with Editions Universelles and SACEM
• Records with Lalo Schifrin and Paris Opera musicians
• Beginning of jazz influence (Gerry Mulligan)
Tango: Piazzolla and His Music
Lessons with Nadia Boulanger – Paris, 1955
Tango: Piazzolla and His Music
The Bandoneon
• Member of free reed Chemnitz concertina family
• 71 keys: 33 keys, left and 38 keys, right
• Bisonic – different notes as bellows move in and out
• Provides the “signature sound” of the tango
Tango: Piazzolla and His Music
Buenos Aires to New York: 1955 - 1960
• Returned to BA and formed a Tango Octet
• Important relationship with poet Horacio Ferrer begins
• Seeks the “big break” in NYC in 1958
• Jazz-Tango Quintet a failure
• Adios Nonino - 1959
Tango: Piazzolla and His Music
Buenos Aires Octet - 1957
Tango: Piazzolla and His Music
New Tango Quintet: 1960 - 1967
• Returned to BA and formed the New Tango Quintet
• Birth of the Nuevo Tango
• A period of creativity, controversy and success
• Successful U.S. Tour including NYC Philharmonic Hall
• Divorce, Depression and Drugs
Tango: Piazzolla and His Music
The New Tango Quintet - 1962
Tango: Piazzolla and His Music
Recovery: 1967 - 1971
• Egle Martin and Horacio Ferrer to the rescue
• Operitta: Maria de Buenos Aires, 1968
• Amelita Baltar and Ballada para un loco
• Film scores, e.g. Alma
• Instrumental works, e.g.Tangazo and Four Seasons of Buenos Aires
Tango: Piazzolla and His Music
Egle Martin
Horacio Ferrer
To the Rescue: Maria de Buenos Aires
Amelita Baltar
Tango: Piazzolla and His Music
Paris and Buenos Aires: 1971 - 1973
• Disbanded the Quintet and flew to Paris with Amelita
• Oratorio: El Pueblo Joven, 1968
• Formed the Nonet and toured under auspices of the Argentine government
• Aldo Pagani becomes Piazzolla’s agent
• Heart attack – October, 1973
Tango: Piazzolla and His Music
Nonet - 1972
Tango: Piazzolla and His Music
Jazz & Rock Experiments: 1974 - 1978
• Recovery in Rome
• Fame in Europe: Libertango
• Collaboration with Gerry Mulligan
• Electronic octet, 1975
• Argentina wins the World Cup in 1978!
• Laura Escalada – to become his second wife
Tango: Piazzolla and His Music
Rehearsal with Gerry Mulligan - 1974
Tango: Piazzolla and His Music
Electronic Octet in Paris - 1975
Tango: Piazzolla and His Music
The Second Quintet: 1979 - 1988
• Peak years in Piazzolla’s career
• Global touring with a stable group of outstanding musicians
• Important collaborations - Milva - Gary Burton
• New home in Punta del Este, Uruguay
• Quadruple bypass surgery in 1988
Tango: Piazzolla and His Music
The Second Quintet - 1987
Tango: Piazzolla and His Music
The Last Years: 1989 - 1992
• The Sextet
• Appearances with Symphonies and String Quartets
• Athens, Greece - the Last Concert
• Debilitating Stroke in 1990
• Died July 4, 1992 in Buenos Aires
Tango: Piazzolla and His Music
Piazzolla’s Last Concert – July 3, 1990
Tango: Piazzolla and His Music
Piazzolla’s Legacy
• More than 3,000 compositions
• More than 1,500 recorded performances
• Centers devoted to his music in Buenos Aires and Montevideo
• Music lives on in movies and the repertoire of tango, classical, jazz and pop performers
• Adios Nonino