Music of Astor Piazzolla

Description

Astor Piazzolla’s contribution has meant an integral synthesis of the tangos whole range, from its early foundations to our days. Piazzolla displayed a marked modernist inclination. He firmly believed that new musical criteria should be incorporated to the tango, especially in relation to its harmonic and formal contents. He always knew, although he was not arrogant about it, the scope and significance of his work, geared towards a universalisation of the tango which could not have been achieved through any other path than that of artistic excellence. After a long struggle to impose his new concept of tango (which was harshly berated in traditional tango circles), Piazzolla was awarded the title “Illustrious Citizen of Buenos Aires” on December 4, 1985, for his achieve- ments as a representative of the music of Rio de la Plata. Paraguay’s Ministry of Education and Culture invited him to inaugurate his “Double Concerto for Guitar, Bandoneon and Orchestra”. The performance, in which I also partici- pated, was held on December 23, 1985 in Montevideo. Eventually both capitals of Rio de la Plata were to unanimously acknowledge “the tango had entered the concert hail”. On July 5, 1992, after two years of struggling against a terrible illness, the emi- nent musician died in Buenos Aires