Astor Piazzolla
Brief bio written by: Joe Yang
Astor Piazzolla (March 11, 1921 - July 4, 1992) was born in Mar Del Plata,
Argentina, to Italian immigrants. A talented bandoneón player since
his youth, he spent most of his childhood in New York City.
When he was 13, his musical talent caught the attention of Carlos Gardel, who even asked young Astor to accompany him on tour. But Astor's father didn't let him, saying that he was too young. Although it was a huge disappointment to Piazzolla, it was a decision that saved his life because it was on that same tour that Gardel and many of his fellow musicians died in a plane crash.
Returning to Argentina in 1937, Piazzolla found work playing tango music in night clubs, and for a time, was even part of Anibal Troilo's famous orchestra. After receiving acclaim for entering a composition contest, Piazzolla received a grant to study in Paris with Nadia Boulanger, a well-known composition instructor at the time.
Trying to deny that he was
a tango musician, Piazzolla did all he could to study music "seriously"
and become a musician/composer in the vein of Stravinsky and Bach. But
Boulanger, being able to read his personality and style, convinced Piazzolla
that musically speaking, he was a tango guy through and through.
In 1955 Astor fully embraced tango and formed a famous octet, known as
the Octeto de Buenos Aires. Having studied and enjoyed a number of different
musical genres, Piazzolla began experimenting with a new approach to tango
and is credited with pioneering a style of tango called nuevo tango
(new tango). More abstract-sounding than traditional tango, his nuevo
tango was a blend of classical and jazz...and not without controversy
among purists.
Gaining acceptance of his
revolutionary approach was largely an uphill battle among tango communities
and the media, but artistic circles eventually came around (first in North
America and Europe) and his place was cemented in tango history. In the
60s Piazzolla even collaborated with famous Argentinean writer Jorge Luis
Borges, where his music was played over some of Borge's poetry.
Although much of his tango music is deemed too abstract to be danced to,
Astor Piazzolla went on to record a number of songs that became famous,
such as Libertango and Adios Nonino (dedicated to his father). Most believe
that he composed about 3,000 songs and recorded approximately 500. Click the players below to hear examples of Piazzola's music...
Prologue
Oblivion (Performed by Quartango)