Astor Piazzolla. The Father of the Nuevo Tango (anteprima)

Music credits:

Adiós Nonino, Oblivion, Che tango che: © by A. Pagani Edizioni Musicali SRL

Le grand tango: © by Edizioni CURCI SRL

Meditango, Violentango, Libertango, Twenty years after (Veinte años después), Años de soledad, Zita, Muerte: © by Edizioni CURCI SRL / A.PAGANI SRL

Editorial Director: Laura Moro

English Translation: Antonio Peruch

Manuscript Editor: Pino Pignatta

Editor: Jansan Favazzo

Cover Artwork: Marina Giaccio, Francesco Leonini

Graphics and Layout: Anna Cristofaro

Exclusive rights for all countries: Edizioni Curci S.r.l. – Galleria del Corso, 4 – 20122 Milano, Italy

© 2023 by Edizioni Curci S.r.l. – Milano

All rights reserved

EC 12406 / ISBN: 978886394401

www.edizionicurci.it

It is not particularly easy for authors to be grateful to their publishers (musical or otherwise): there are always reasons for discontent. It is therefore with great satisfaction that I, Laura E. Piazzolla, thank Edizioni Curci and congratulate them—serious individuals, specialized professionals, who make possible the dissemination of the music of my husband, Astor Piazzolla, with the high class and seal of high quality that it deserves. During the long years that have passed since the beginning of this collaboration, Edizioni Curci has known how to interpret the essence of Astor Piazzolla’s works. Affectionatel,

Laura Escalada Piazzolla President, Fundación “Astor Piazzolla”

Many writers have attempted to capture the complexity and grandeur of Astor’s artistic legacy in their publications. Without any doubt, the author of this great book manages to convey through his precise and meticulous analysis, the evolutionary process that the works of Maestro Astor Piazzolla went through. Paolo Picchio, himself a specialized musicologist in the study of the accordion (close relative of the bandoneon), offersus foundational study material on the life and works of Astor Piazzolla.

Daniel VillaflorPiazzolla Vice President, Fundación “Astor Piazzolla”

2023 by Edizioni Curci S.r.l. - Milano. Tutti i diritti sono riservati.

Piazzolla’s music has been part of my whole life. I could not be more proud of the legacy that today I have the honor of administering together with the Curci publishing house that, before and after the fundamental meeting between Pagani and Piazzolla, has intertwined its history with ours, contributing to the creation of many works symbolic of Italian musical excellence. Thecollaboration between Curci and Pagani has ensured that all the works of Piazzolla, even those that predate this synergy, would obtain the recognition that they always have deserved. Paolo Picchio was among the protagonists of this path, for years making an important contribution to the hard work of disclosure obstinately desired by my father for this wonderful repertoire.

Alain Pagani A. Pagani Edizioni Musicali

Often one talks about authors, composers, or artists who outside of their genius, their art, and creativity, in which they succeed in giving the best of themselves, are not as special in everyday life or in private life.

None of this applies to Astor Piazzolla. Themaestro was also a playful man, full of enthusiasm, joie de vivre and, above all, grateful towards the people who supported him, allowing him to live with serenity, free to concentrate on his own music.

Edizioni Curci have been aided and facilitated by the always proactive, friendly support and total trust of the Piazzolla family, for whose esteem I am forever grateful.

Moreover, my grateful thoughts go to Maestro Aldo Pagani who, believing in Astor Piazzolla’s extraordinary talent, introduced him to my father, Giuseppe Gramitto Ricci. Together they projected the music and art of this Argentine composer beyond national borders, contributing to its worldwide success that even today knows no bounds.

To read the pages of this book is to retrace the steps of this exciting artistic story. We are proud and honored to be its supporters and protagonists.

Alfredo Gramitto Ricci CEO Edizioni Curci

2023 by Edizioni Curci S.r.l. - Milano. Tutti i diritti sono riservati.

Tango is an expressive art form comprising dance, music, and poetry or, as some more cautiously retain, dance, music, and song. Thefact that three diffeent arts are at play in this musical genre is certainly one of the elements of its success. Its birthplace was the Rio de la Plata estuary and the approximate date was 1880. Theetymology of the term is uncertain, perhaps of African derivation. Thisfirstphase of its life is called rioplatense, strongly underlining its origin. Still to this day, these twenty years are being studied in search of the most genuine character of this art form.

Buenos Aires attracted many immigrants during this time, following the appeals of the Constituent Assembly of the Confederation, which aimed at the development of the country1. In 1870, Argentina had a population of 1,700,000 inhabitants. In 19142 it would become 7,800,000. Thecontact between diversities, for once, richness and not a stumbling block, became the fertile soil in which the tango was born. We must see this as a reality of ethnic and cultural mixing with the contribution of three continents (Africa, America, and Europe) that poured into the tango their customs, moods, and aspirations, and which reflectin the tango the new social order that this cultural mixing was generating.

Tango was born from the encounter of Argentine and Uruguayan Creoles with the immigrants (particularly Italians, accustomed to popular dance). Understood as dance, it was strongly influencedby the contribution of four local dances – the milonga, the habanera, the candombe, and in part the zamacueca (from which is borrowed the game of seduction between dancers).

1 Thesame goes for Montevideo, on the other shore of the estuary.

2 See Rémi Hess, Le Tango, PUF, Paris, 1996 (Tango, Besa Editrice, Nardò, 2001, translation by Fulvio F. Palese).

2023 by Edizioni Curci S.r.l. - Milano. Tutti i diritti sono riservati.

From the musical point of view, tango rhythm was born under the influenc of the milonga, habanera, and black candombe. From the latter two derives tango’s typical shift in accent (syncopation).

Thefirstinstrumental ensembles consisted of guitar, violin, and flute sometimes harp. Thetango is truly a huge novelty, and from the dance perspective, represents an outright revolution. It is, in fact, an improvised dance, created in the moment.

Born in rural areas and in places next to the cities3, then, urbanizing itself, tango fascinates all the social classes of Buenos Aires and Montevideo. Inevitably, it also spreads among the lower strata of the population, near the seaport (from which derives the term porteño). In this underworld environment, rituals are repeated with predetermined gestures and there develops a specifi dialect jargon (lunfardo, also used to avoid being understood by the police). At the milongas (dance halls), tango dancers must let themselves be transported by the music and must wait for what the melodic line of the piece will suggest. Therhythm is there, but repetitive gestures never arise. It is in another world from the most pervasive couple-dance of the time, the waltz, which arrived with the European immigrants, and in which there dominated a game of continuous repetition that reflecteda well-definedsocial order. Unconcerned with exterior appearances, tango instead unleashed all its charge of sensuality, its passion, but also its rawness. Culturally, tango functioned as a link between the diffeent ethnic groups populating the barrios, the districts of Buenos Aires. It contributed to the integration of these groups and became the musical genre in which they identifiedthemselves.

With this trajectory, tango rose to become a national art form in which the whole nation of Argentina found its intimate essence. Soon, the wealthy young people of the city became passionate about it, thus giving life to that cultural process that allowed the tango to enter the academias (where the milonga already was danced), in the casas de baile, in the porteños cabarets. However, not all the well-to-do society of the time was disposed to welcome this novelty. For some, this new musical genre would become acceptable only after it had conquered Paris and Europe.

3 Theseareas, with the so-called migratory flood,would soon become suburbs. © 2023 by Edizioni Curci S.r.l. - Milano. Tutti i diritti sono riservati.

Thegrowth of the tango in the twentieth century was demonstrated by various factors, including the enlargement of the instrumental configurtions. Thusthe orquesta typica was born, at this time a quintet or sextet composed of violin, sometimes flute,contrabass, piano4, sometimes guitar. However, the new great protagonist was the bandoneon.

Thisinstrument is imported into Argentina by German immigrants. It immediately asserts itself due to its incisive timbre and its ability to deliver rhythmic accentuation. It lead the transformation of tango in a more sentimental-dramatic direction. The“voice” of the bandoneon is capable of crying, roaring, yearning, threatening, biting, begging, and scratching – not of expressing joy and irony. Nonetheless, it is an instrument that can shape sound impressively.

Thedevelopment of tango in Argentina also was demonstrated by new opportunities to enjoy music. More and more frequently, people went to clubs not only to dance it, but also to listen to it. TheFrench scholar Rémi Hess5 has identifiedthree tango genres: tango-milonga (instrumental, rhythmic), tango-romance (instrumental or vocal, lyric and melodic with a romantic text), and the tango-canción (accompanied voice, with a dramatic, pessimistic, fatalistic tone).

Thesuccess of tango and its musical richness could not be contained within Argentina’s borders. From the early years of the twentieth century, tango landed in Paris (a destination mythologized and idealized by every Argentine), in other European capitals, and in the United States. Thus,tango carried Argentine culture to the world, but at the price of its hybridization. Th Europeans desired to know new dances, they wanted to learn them, and consequently they codifiedthem. But how does one formalize a dance that is improvised? For the rioplatense inhabitants, tango was an orally transmitted tradition that one could almost think of as a culture of the body whose codificationwas impossible to imagine. To write out a tango choreography would be to kill it.

4 In clubs frequented by the wealthier classes, it was much easier to finda piano available. Furthermore, in these years at the beginning of the century, Argentina would become a country importing a consistent number of pianos.

5 Rémi Hess, op. cit.

© 2023 by Edizioni Curci S.r.l. - Milano. Tutti i diritti sono riservati.

European hybridization firstled to the birth of the French or Frenchized tango (sober, without excesses, a bit slower), then to the English, and finally to the “international tango.” Distorted and mutilated, a dance born among the barrios of Buenos Aires necessarily became “decent,” reduced in its charge of sensuality, tamed to allow dance masters to carry out their (destructive) work in a professional manner. Thisdegenerative process would produce the international “ballroom dance” and the “sports dance,” which had nothing to do with the milongas. Thee is more: returning home after the favor achieved in the world, the tango inevitably became the object of a real and true clash between the custodians of the authentic rioplatense tradition and the dance masters eager to learn what was fashionable abroad. With respect to the original form, what catches the eye is that the desire for the exotic in Europe at the beginning of the century too often resulted in a misrepresentation of tango. Just think of the musicians who played the tango dressed as gauchos (the heroes of the boundless pampas, dedicated to cattle breeding). Another truly striking example is found in the exoticism that the Italian-American actor Rudolph Valentino used in his cinematic parodied tango 6, which had nothing to do with authentic tango.

If in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, on the dance side, the tango is faced with these contradictions, on the musical side, on the other hand, it is preparing to live a golden age. Thesuccess it has in the most prestigious clubs brings financialwell-being to the musicians, and furthermore, leads to investing money to enlarge orchestras. Tango is on the radio, in the academias, in cabarets, in theaters, in the cinema, and, most importantly, in the recording industry.

Thiswas the period of maximum splendor for the sung tango, indissolubly tied to the most celebrated exponent of the history of this genre –Carlos Gardel. Thenational singer, nicknamed “the creole nightingale,” makes the most of his talents at a time when excellent musicians, inspired lyricists, and fascinated intellectuals contribute to the tango. He exalts his beautiful voice in intense international concertizing and in recordings,

6 Even if paradoxically it cannot be denied that Valentino contributed to the worldwide success of the tango, albeit with a strongly distorted image.

© 2023 by Edizioni Curci S.r.l. - Milano. Tutti i diritti sono riservati.

in which he interprets, above all, his own songs. Afterwards, there is no shortage of acting roles for him in both feature and short films.Thefigue of Gardel enters history and becomes mythologized – beyond the emotion of such a tragic and sudden death7 – because he personifiesthe man of uncertain origin (certainly an immigrant) who succeeds in life, reaches stardom, and fulfillshimself8.

Close to popular feeling, Gardel sings a fatalistic tango of impossible or lost love with a heartfelt interpretation. He seems to have envisaged for himself the role of world ambassador of tango (excluding singing in dialect jargon).

It would be impossible to mention all the leading figues of this golden age. However, we must at least remember Julio De Caro, violinist, composer, and orchestra conductor—a musician with the ability to transfer into the tango important principles of polyphony and of exploiting the timbre of the instruments. His concept foresaw that the contrabass, piano (left hand), and bandoneon should get the harmonically and rhythmically incisive parts, while the piano (right hand) and violins would play legato melodic lines.

Thee were other greats of the time. Osvaldo Fresedo, bandoneonist and composer led orchestras in which he included harp and vibraphone. To Juan Carlos Cobián, pianist and composer, we must attribute the introduction of the 4/8 time signature and a sincere admiration for jazz. Osvaldo Pugliese, pianist and composer, was leader of one of the most important orchestras in the history of this musical genre. He was inimitable for his way of phrasing and admired by dancers because he created a tango appropriate to dance. Finally, Aníbal Troilo, bandoneon virtuoso and composer, conducted an orchestra that involved famous instrumentalists and singers, and gave concerts and recorded like few others. He reconciled musical evolution (giving space to singers), interpretative refinement,and danceability. Right in these years of great cultural ferment, a young bandoneonist by the name of Astor Piazzolla would begin to take his firststeps into the world of tango...

7 Carlos Gardel died on June 24, 1935 in Medellín (Colombia) in a dramatic plane crash.

8 He would also realize the dream of every Argentine: to go to Paris and triumph.

© 2023 by Edizioni Curci S.r.l. - Milano. Tutti i diritti sono riservati.

© 2023 by Edizioni Curci S.r.l. - Milano. Tutti i diritti sono riservati.

1921-1955: from Buenos Aires to Paris via New York

Astor Piazzolla was born on March 11, 1921 to Vicente Piazzolla and Assunta Manetti. He was given a middle name, Pantaleón, after his paternal grandfather. ThePiazzollas were originally from Trani, the Manettis from the province of Massa-Carrara. Children of immigrants, both of Astor’s parents were born in Mar del Plata, and the future composer liked to call them Nonino and Nonina1, to kid them about their age: the family had a certain carefree spirit.

Vicente Piazzolla settled in New York with his family from 1924 to 1929 and then again from 1931 to 1936, at which time he definitiely returned to Argentina. During the firstof the two New York periods, Astor studied music. He was only six years old when his father, passionate about tango, decided to give him a bandoneon bought at the pawnshop for 18 dollars2. Don Vicente could never have imagined that that event would forever change the history of Argentine music.

Starting in 1934, the young Piazzolla (by now thirteen) began to assiduously follow one of the stars of Tango-Canción, Carlos Gardel. Thefamous singer and actor often took Piazzolla with him to his shows, receiving valuable help with the English language in exchange. Thebest known

2 Cfr. Diego Fischerman, Abel Gilbert, Piazzolla el mal entendido – Un estudio cultural, Edhasa, Buenos Aires, 2009; Natalio Gorín, op. cit. Fischerman and Gilbert claim that Astor received the bandoneon at the age of eight. Gorín, who wrote up the composer’s memoirs from a series of taped interviews, reported the age of six, and told of Astor’s disappointment from that very moment, since he expected skates

1 Natalio Gorín, Astor Piazzolla – A manera de memorias, Atlantida, Buenos Aires, 1990.

© 2023 by Edizioni Curci S.r.l. - Milano. Tutti i diritti sono riservati.

image that portrays them together is a still from the film El día que me quieras (1935), in which Astor plays the canillita, a boy who sells newspapers on the street3. Soon after, however, their destinies would diverge: on June 24, 1935, at Medellín airport, Gardel dies tragically in a collision between two aircraft. Thescenes of his funeral, easily available on the web, give an idea of the level of popularity reached by the “creole nightingale”, world ambassador of tango.

When the Piazzolla family returns to Argentina in 1936, the influenceof Gardel on the young Astor is still alive. What makes him a professional musician is the purchase of a prized Alfred Arnold bandoneon (in jargon

“Doble A”) and the discovery of the instrumental sextet of violinist Elvino Vardaro. What ignites his passion, in particular, is Vardaro’s arrangement of José Pascual’s tango Arrabal4 .

Mar del Plata is certainly not the place to gain experience. Astor soon moves to Buenos Aires, where he auditions as a bandoneonist for the tango orchestra of Francisco “Tano” Lauro. For the occasion, in an attempt to impress him, he performs pieces by Mozart and Gershwin, but Lauro brusquely dampens Astor’s enthusiasm: more than certain daring executions on the fueye5, his orchestra needs rhythm and accent! In short, he wanted to hear a tango. Astor complies and thus obtains his firstcontract6. His study of classical composers would bear fruit later on.

Lauro’s orchestra soon proves to be too confininga space for the qualities and ambitions of the young Piazzolla. Finally, in 1939, he becomes a part of the ensemble of Aníbal Troilo, one of the best bandoneonists around, but he is still not satisfied.He wants to compose, to arrange, to mature musically. He has already written a piano piece, which he calls Concerto. One fineday, he presents himself to Arthur Rubinstein, who is visiting Buenos Aires, to make him listen to it. Thegreat Polish pianist, who at that time

3 It can be found in Natalio Gorín, op. cit., p. 145. On the taringa.net website, on the page dedicated to Piazzolla and Gardel, there is the still, a video fragment of the scene, and a letter that Astor wrote in 1978 to the late Gardel, a full forty-four years after their encounter

4 Natalio Gorín, op. cit.

5 From the Spanish “fuelle”, or “bellows”. In the popular language of Buenos Aires, it means bandoneon.

6 Natalio Gorín, op. cit.

is fifty-thee years old and at the peak of his success, is staying in one of the most beautiful aristocratic residences in the city – the Palacio Álzaga Unzué. While not expecting any visit, Rubinstein kindly welcomes the young Astor and, after playing his Concerto at the Steinway, he points out that the title is inappropriate, since it is a solo piano piece. In any case, sensing his passionate desire to study, he immediately put Astor in contact with the Argentine composer Juan José Castro. Before taking his leave, however, Astor has one more request: he would like to hear Rubinstein play a piece by Maurice Ravel. Themaestro complies. Now he can go home, happy, with a photo and a dedication in his pocket 7 .

Castro, who is very busy, directs the young Piazzolla to Alberto Ginastera 8 . Thegreat porteño composer will teach him the basics of composition and orchestration, but also the importance of widening as much as possible his own cultural horizons and of exposing himself to other artistic expressions (from painting to theater to literature). In tango orchestras, on the other hand, one speaks only of soccer, racing, and gambling.

In 1944, Astor Piazzolla leaves the Troilo ensemble to become the conductor of Francisco Fiorentino’s orchestra. Here he has the opportunity to experiment, and, for example, he writes a rather original arrangement of the tango Copas, amigos y besos by Mariano Mores. Surprisingly, the opening is given to a solo cello. Such a daring choice could not be favorably looked upon by a traditionalist like Fiorentino, but above all by the patrons of the clubs, who openly mock it by satirically mimicking a classic ballet 9 .

7 Gorín, op. cit., reports the date of 1941; Fischerman e Gilbert, op. cit., that of July 1940.

8 According to Fischerman e Gilbert, op. cit., the teaching relationship between Piazzolla e Ginastera is interrupted in 1945.

9 At that time, people would only go to clubs to dance. Themusical stimulus generated by the isolated sound of a cello was not a difficulchallenge but was culturally unacceptable, and therefore laughable. Nowadays, the tango’s revolutionary process has been completed, and thus, dancers are proud to try their hand at Piazzolla’s compositions, more stimulated by the most innovative musical passages.

© 2023 by Edizioni Curci S.r.l. - Milano. Tutti i diritti sono riservati.

Chronology and Listening Guide

1921 Astor Pantaleón Piazzolla is born in Mar del Plata on March 11 at 2:00 a.m. to Vicente Piazzolla and Assunta Manetti. Th name Astor is chosen by the parents perhaps to pay homage to their cellist friend Astor Bolognini. Pantaleón, on the other hand, is the name of his paternal grandfather.

1924 ThePiazzolla family moves to New York and lives in Greenwich Village .

1927 Vicente, his father, gives Astor a used bandoneon purchased at a pawnshop.

1929 Temporary return to Argentina with return to New York in 1930 (some texts claim in 1931). Thefamily moves to Little Italy

1934 Theyoung Astor meets Carlos Gardel. He often accompanies him shopping and sometimes plays the bandoneon during his shows. Due to his age, Astor cannot accept Gardel’s invitation to join him in Hollywood.

1935 At the age of 14, Astor Piazzolla is hired for $25 for a small role (the canillita, or street vendor of newspapers) in the film El día que me quieras with Carlos Gardel.

1936 ThePiazzolla family returns to Mar del Plata.

1938 Astor moves to Buenos Aires in hopes of success with the bandoneon.

1939 He joins Aníbal Troilo’s orchestra as second bandoneonist.

© 2023 by Edizioni Curci S.r.l. - Milano. Tutti i diritti sono riservati.

1941 He gets engaged to Dedé Wolff(Odette Maria Wolff),whom he has known since 1940.

1941 For Troilo’s orchestra, he arranges Azabache (text by Homero Expósito and music by Enrique Francini and Héctor Stamponi).

1941 Having learned that Arthur Rubinstein is in Buenos Aires, Piazzolla meets him to show him his own composition. Rubinstein immediately points out to the young man that in order to grow musically he needs to study with an excellent teacher. Thus,not long after, he would study with Alberto Ginastera.

1942 Astor and Dedé get married on October 31.

1943 Piazzolla composes Prelude No. 1 for violin and piano.

1943 Thefirstchild, Diana Irene, is born in July.

1943 For his daughter’s birth, Astor composes the Suite para cuerdas y arpa Op.1.

1943 For Troilo’s orchestra, he arranges Inspiración, a piece by Peregrino Paulos that would be recorded on disc. Subsequently, in 1947, Piazzolla would record this same arrangement.

1944 Piazzolla leaves Troilo’s orchestra to become the conductor of singer Francisco Fiorentino’s orchestra

1944 He composes Suite para piano op. 2 (Preludio - Siciliana - Toccata tritonale).

1944 For Fiorentino, he arranges En las noches and Noches largas.

1944 He composes Cuatro piezas breves para piano op. 3 (Paisaje - Titeres - Pastoral - Toccata).

1944 He composes Tres piezas breves para cello y piano op. 4 (PastoralSerenade - Siciliana).

1944 He composes Obertura dramática op. 5.

1945 He composes the Sonata n. 1 op. 7 for piano (Presto; Coral con variaciones; Rondó). In 1968, he would declare to Speratti that Alberto Ginastera made his students study it.

© 2023 by Edizioni Curci S.r.l. - Milano. Tutti i diritti sono riservati.

Listening – ADIÓS NONINO

This piece was composed in 1959, the year Vicente (Nonino) died. Astor receives the news while on tour in Central America, precisely in Puerto Rico. After the tour, he returns to New York and there – alone in a room and dejected – he sketches the well-known initial theme. To complete the whole piece, Piazzolla uses the rhythmic part of a previous 1954 work entitled Nonino, but in this case he works a lot on the two melodies (the faster one and the slower one) making them marvelously poignant.

Piazzolla always has had a fondness for this work and has included it many times in his recordings, probably also in testimony of the affection for his father, who had directed him towards the study of the bandoneon. In his live concerts, Astor included this piece often, even in his last years of concertizing. The longest performances of this piece – for example, that of the 1984 Montreal Festival – are preceded by very beautiful opening piano solos (on this occasion performed by Pablo Ziegler).

The piece presents some of the typical characteristics of tango compositions, such as the duality generated by the presence of two themes of contrasting character (often differentiated in tangos by tonality, by flow, and by melodic structure). For example, the two main themes of Adiós Nonino are identified with two typical rhythms in tango history. We must remember that several cultural elements influenced this musical genre: African, European, and American. The rhythms that merged into the tango are the habanera, the candombe, and the milonga.

© 2023 by Edizioni Curci S.r.l. - Milano. Tutti i diritti sono riservati.

The traditional rhythm of the tango was “squared” (or regular).

The influence then exerted by the evolutions that took place during the twentieth century led to defining the rhythm of contemporary tango (or, in the words of Piazzolla, of the New Tango) as 3+3+2.

The well-known opening theme of Adiós Nonino is based on the rhythmic structure of regular tango:

...while the second theme – the sweeter and more melodic one –takes on the features of the milonga:

In listening to the piece, it also emerges that Piazzolla very much insists in contrasting the incisive sound of the bandoneon right-hand manual, to which he assigns the principal melodies, with the more sombre and dark sound of its left-hand manual, to which he assigns rhythmic elements in response to the melody. In any case, his bandoneon is always the absolute protagonist. In the version of the Montreal Festival of 1984, on the other hand, you will notice that everything is built on the bandoneon / violin dialogue (Fernando Suárez Paz on that occasion).

© 2023 by Edizioni Curci S.r.l. - Milano. Tutti i diritti sono riservati.

Analytical index of cited works*

1964, 85, 158

500 motivaciones, 96

Acentuado (Cinco Piezas), 109, 182

Adiós Nonino, 43, 44, 45,

130, 134, 137, 138,

A Don Nicanor Paredes, 54, 144, 158

A intrusa, 101

Al compas de los tamangos, 55

Alevare (from María de Buenos Aires), 57

Alfredo y Beatriz, 103

Alguien le dice al Tango, 54, 55, 144, 158

Allegro tangabile (from María de Buenos Aires), 57, 62

Amelitango, 78, 139

Amanecer y Final, 101

Años de soledad (Years of solitude),

Aplazado, 44

Aria de los analistas (from María de Buenos Aires), 57

Armaguedon, 97, 185

As ilhas (in Spanish Las islas), 85, 94, 95, 160

Ausencias, 115

Ave Maria (Tanti anni prima), 111, 112, 147

Bailongo, 123

Baires 72, 76

Balada para él, 69, 70, 84, 159

Balada para mi muerte, 69, 70,

Balada para un loco, 58,

150, 153, 155, 162, 164, 179

Balada para un organito loco (from María de Buenos Aires), 57

Ballet-Tango, 130, 134, 168

Bandò, 26, 27, 44

* Numbers in bold indicate the Listening suggestions.

© 2023 by Edizioni Curci S.r.l. - Milano. Tutti i diritti sono riservati.

Bandoneón, 90, 91, 92, 139

Bandoneón, guitarra y bajo, 52

Barrio Marais, 97

Bidonville, 89

Biyuya, 100, 108, 120, 146, 149, 150

Bordel 1900 (from Histoire du Tango), 114, 115, 116, 141, 182, 185

Boricua, 43

Bruno y Sarah, 95, 97

Buenos Aires Hora Cero, 49, 71, 76, 77, 137, 138, 139, 140, 142, 144, 154

Buenos Aires – Tres movimientos sinfónicos (initially Sinfonia Buenos Aires op. 15), 14, 23, 25, 181

Butcher’s death, 123

Café 1930 (from Histoire du Tango), 114, 115, 116, 141, 182, 185

Calambre, 44, 47, 106, 144

Caliente, 52, 108, 146, 149

Calle de Londres, 97

Caminata, 103

Campeón (Tango Blues), 99

Campero (Cinco Piezas), 102, 109, 182

Campo, camino y amor, 88

Canal de Ostende 1 e 2, 97

Canción de la venusinas, 69, 73, 159

Canción para un hombre triste, 97

Canto de Octubre (Melodia en La menor), 39, 53

Canto y Fuga, 96

Carta a los arboles y las chimeneas (from María de Buenos Aires), 57

Casapueblo, 72, 172

Cavalcata, 111

Celos, 101

C’est l’amour, 55

Chanson pour un amour inachevé (Hay una niña en el alba), 102, 164

Chau Paris, 26, 27

Che tango che, 113, 153, 164

Chin Chin, 100, 142, 146, 149, 150

Chiquilín de Bachín, 58, 59, 62, 69, 70, 94, 103, 106, 150

Cierra tus ojos y escucha (Close your eyes and listen), 85, 86, 102, 174

Cité Tango (in Spanish Ciudad Tango), 96, 97

Combate en la fabrica, 89, 90, 94, 160

Compadre (Cinco Piezas), 102, 109, 182

© 2023 by Edizioni Curci S.r.l. - Milano. Tutti i diritti sono riservati.

Natalio Gorín , Astor Piazzolla – A manera de memorias , Atlantida, Buenos Aires, 1990 (Italian edition: Astor Piazzolla , Di Giacomo Editore, Roma, 1995, translation by Hugo Aisemberg, Cecina Cutini, and Luisa Majone)

Diego Fischerman and Abel Gilbert , Piazzolla el mal entendido – Un estudio cultural, Edhasa, Buenos Aires, 2009 (Italian edition: Piazzolla – La biografi , minimum fax, Roma, 2012, translation by Natalia Cancellieri)

María Susana Azzi , Astor Piazzolla, Editorial El Ateneo, Buenos Aires, 2018 (Italian edition: Astor Piazzolla . Una vita per la musica , Sillabe, Livorno, 2021, translated by Giulia Sadun)

Monographic works on Piazzolla

Theprincipal monographs on Astor Piazzolla can be divided into three categories – books based on interviews with the composer, books written by his family members or professional colleagues, and books written by scholars.

1. Books based on interviews with the composer: Alberto Speratti , Con Piazzolla, Galerna, Buenos Aires, 1969

Natalio Gorín , Astor Piazzolla – A manera de memorias, Atlantida, Buenos Aires, 1990

© 2023 by Edizioni Curci S.r.l. - Milano. Tutti i diritti sono riservati.

2. Books written by family members or professional colleagues:

Diana Piazzolla , Astor, First edition: Emecé, Buenos Aires, 1987; Second edition: Corregidor, Buenos Aires, 2005

Oscar López Ruiz , Piazzolla, loco, loco, loco. 25 año de laburo y jodas conviviendo con un genio, Ediciones de la Urraca, Buenos Aires, 1994

Horacio Malvicino , El Tano y yo, Corregidor, Buenos Aires, 2008

3. Books written by scholars:

Carlos Kuri , Piazzolla, la música límite, Corregidor, Buenos Aires, 1992

María Susana Azzi and Simon Collier , Le Grand Tango. Thelife and music of Astor Piazzolla, Oxford University Press, New York, 2000

Omar García Brunelli , Estudios sobre la obra de Astor Piazzolla , Buenos Aires, Gourmet Musical, 2008

Diego Fischerman and Abel Gilbert , Piazzolla el mal entendido – Un estudio cultural, Edhasa, Buenos Aires, 2009

Marcelo Gobello , Astor Piazzolla, su ciudad y su mondo, Corregidor, Buenos Aires, 2015

María Susana Azzi , Astor Piazzolla, Editorial El Ateneo, Buenos Aires, 2018

Other sources

Therecord references are mainly taken from the website www.discogs.com. Thefilmreferences are from the IMDb website www.imdb.com.

© 2023 by Edizioni Curci S.r.l. - Milano. Tutti i diritti sono riservati.

Vuoi saperne di più?