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Known in his native land as "El Gran Astor" ("The Great Astor") he is widely considered the most important tango musician of the second half of the Twentieth Century ( Carlos Gardel being the most important of the first half).
Among Argentinians, he was a controversial figure both musically and politically. It is said that in Argentina everything may change — except tango — and Piazzolla broke this rule. His music gained acceptance in Europe and North America before it did at home; his revolutionary reworking of this traditional musical form aligned him, perhaps inevitably, with those who wished to make other changes in Argentine society.
Most of his childhood was spent with his family in New York City. A child prodigy on the bandoneon, Piazzolla met Gardel there. He studied with the Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera and the French composer and conductor Nadia Boulanger. He returned to Argentina in 1937.
His nuevo tango was distinct from traditional tango in its incorporation of elements of jazz and in being more dissonant and contrapuntalCounterpoint is a musical device where two or more melodic phrases occur simultaneously. The term comes from the Latin punctus contra punctum (note against note). A note moves against another note when the interval between those two notes either grows or than traditional tango. He also introduced untraditional instruments. He included orchestral instruments like the fluteThis article pertains to the musical instrument. For the sailing ship class that has a variant spelling using this word, see Fluyt. The flute (technically transverse flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. A musician who plays the flute is s, jazz instruments like the saxophoneoctave lower than an Alto Sax. The saxophone or sax is a musical instrument of the woodwind family, usually made of brass and with a distinctive loop bringing the bell upwards. It was invented by Adolphe Sax in the mid- 1840s. The saxophone is most common, electric and electronic instruments, and a full jazz/rock drum kit.
Piazzolla played with numerous ensembles beginning with the 1946Events January January 4 Theodore Schurch becomes the last person to be executed for offences committed under the Treachery Act of 1940 January 7 Allied recognize Austrian republic with 1937 borders the country is divided into four occupation zones Januar Orchestra, the 19551955 is a common year starting on Saturday. see link for calendar) Events January events January 2 Panama president Jose Antonio Remon is assassinated. January 19 The Scrabble board game debuts. February events February 8 Nikolai Bulganin ousts Georgi Mal "Octeto Buenos Aires", the 1960Events January-February January 1 Independence of Cameroon January 9 Aswan High Dam construction begins in Egypt January 11 Chad declares its independence. January 14 Ralph Chubb, the gay poet and printer, dies at Fair Oak Cottage in Hampshire. January 23 "First Quintet", the 19711971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). Events January January 1 British divorce Reform Act comes into force January 2 66 die in stairway crush at Rangers v Celtic football match, Glasgow, Scotland. See Ibrox disaster. Janua "Noneto", the 1978Events January January 1 The Copyright Act of 1976 takes effect, making sweeping changes to United States copyright law. January 1 Air India's Boeing 747 explodes near Bombay 213 dead. January 4 Referendum in Chile supports policies of Augusto Pinochet. "Second Quintet" and the 1989 "Sextet". As well as providing original compositions and arrangements, he was the director and Bandoneon player in all of them. His numerous compositions include orchestral work such as the "Concierto para Bandoneón, Orquesta, Cuerdas y Percusión", "Doble-Concierto para Bandoneón y Guitarra", "Tres Tangos Sinfónicos" and "Concierto de Nácar para 9 Tanguistas y Orquesta". Biographers estimate that Piazzolla wrote around 3.000 pieces and recorded around 500.
During the period of Argentine military dictatorship from 1976 to 1983, Piazzolla lived in Italy, but returned many times to Argentina, recorded there, and on at least one occasion had lunch with the dictator Jorge Rafael Videla. As recounted in Astor Piazzolla, A manera de Memorias (a comprehensive collection of interviews, constituting a memoir):
Also, from the same source:
Piazzolla also recorded albums in Argentina in those years, "Biyuya" in 1979 (Interdisc Slim 3055 L.P.), and in 1982 (in the middle of the Falkland/Malvinas war) "Piazzolla & Goyeneche" (RCA Victor AVS 4999 L.P.) in which Roberto Goyeneche -- a very famous tango singer -- makes a couple of anti- Margaret Thatcher remarks.
Piazzolla also recorded an album which was part of the official music soundtrack of the football World Cup that was held in Argentina in 1978 and was -- of course -- organized by the government, Videla's military dictatorship. The album, "Piazzolla 78" (Trova DA 5015), includes compositions such as "World Cup 78", "Penalty", "Goal" and "Champion".
Piazzolla was fluent in Spanish, English, French, and Italian. As he said during the 1987 "Central Park Concert", "I was born in Argentina, raised in New York, and my parents come from Trani Italia".