Histoire du Tango by Astor Piazzolla - Essay Example

Astor Piazzolla "Histoire du Tango" Astor Pantaleon Piazzolla is probably the most significant tango composer in the 20th century. With his diverse musical backgrounds, he contributed tango music that deviates from the traditional, yet loved by many listeners. During his career, he has written music outside the tango genre, but his true style and identity was to be found in his tango compositions. His works were thought to have revolutionized tango music, resulting in what has been termed as "Nuevo Tango" or "New Tango." His music turned out to be unique, with elements of classical and jazz incorporated in his compositions. With Histoire du Tango, Piazzolla presented music that captures the essence of the evolution of tango throughout the years. As with tango music, Astor Piazzolla's life was also filled with many changes and deviations that eventually helped him discover his true style and identity in the field of music. Piazzolla was born on March 11, 1921 to an Italian family in Mar del Plata, Argentina. His family moved to New York, and it was there that he first discovered his love for music. When his father gave him a bandoneon, he began to explore his musical talents that would have to undergo many changes and evolutions before he would come to realize the true directions in his music career. While growing up in New York, Piazzolla learned to appreciate classical music as he studied piano with Bela Wilda, a disciple of Rachmaninov (Pessinis and Kurl). During that same time, he met with the tango legend, Carlos Gardel, who became a good friend to him. When the family then decided to move to Argentina in 1936, Piazzolla started to play with some orchestras. Whereas he learned to appreciate the music of Bach while studying with Bela Wilda, he began to embrace tango as a musical style when he lived in Argentina. He was particularly impressed with the Elvino Vardaro's alternative style of rendering tango pieces (Pessinis and Kurl). This strengthened his decision to stay in Argentina and explore tango. After playing with various orchestras, Piazzolla finally played for the orchestra of Anibal Troilo in 1939. During his stay with the orchestra, Piazzolla began to show his style with his works, although Troilo thought that his works were a little too radical, so he thought it necessary to edit Piazzolla's works (Pessinis and Kurl). Piazzolla continued to develop his skills and talent music. In 1944, he formed his own orchestra, which brought to the public a more vibrant form of tango music, more daring and dynamic (Pessinis and Kurl). This sparked the first controversies in Piazzolla's career. The orchestra was disbanded eventually in 1949, and the musician decided to take a different path musically. He thought that it was better for him to pursue classical music instead. Even as he did that, Piazzolla also listened to a lot of jazz music. In his quest to find his own style, Piazzolla decided to stay away from tango music. In the early 1950s, Piazzolla created music pieces that very much deviated from the traditional tango music during that time. He won the first prize for the Fabien Sevitzky competition with his "Buenos Aires" symphony, which caused strong reactions from some of the listeners who thought that the music was an abomination of classical music, when he incorporated the bandoneon in the symphony. As part of the prize, he was privileged to study under the legendary educator, Nadia Boulanger, who played a huge role in Piazzolla's discovery of his own style. Because of his decision to stay away from tango and pursue classical music, Piazzolla did not reveal his past musical experience to his teacher. Eventually, Boulanger found out the true style of Piazzolla and encouraged him to follow his own direction. Boulanger was quoted as saying to Piazzolla, in reference to his rendition of his tango Triunfal, "your classical pieces are well written, but the true Piazzolla is here, never leave it behind" (Pessinis and Kurl). His teacher's encouragements became the driving force for him to compose tango in a style that is very much different from the traditional tango that the public knew. His creations were not met with total enthusiasm, especially in Argentina. When he returned to the country in 1955 and formed his orchestra, he presented what would eventually bring about the age of contemporary tango. His music has elements of classical music, tango and jazz, creating a new form of music called, "nuevo tango." Piazzolla preferred that the audience listened to his music instead of dancing with it, so he made the jazz elements different from what dancers would usually expect (Denniston). Followers of traditional tango were furious about the music that Piazzolla created. However, this new form of music has generated new followers, especially those who are not very familiar with traditional tango. The appeal of Piazzolla's music attracted listeners into appreciating tango as a whole. Younger audience who grew up with Piazzolla's music began to embrace tango and took inspiration in Piazzolla's work to rediscover the dance that influenced the formation of the music (Denniston). Piazzolla eventually disbanded his orchestra in 1958 and moved back to New York, where he experimented with jazz and tango. He returned once more to Argentina, composing and performing more tango music. Piazzolla became famous for his composition for quintets of bandoleon, violin, bass, piano and electric guitar. His beautiful compositions helped tango achieve a new kind of life that would enlighten the public about the music of tango. During the 1970s and onwards, his works have become the influential music in tango. Before his death in 1992, he managed to compose over 1000 pieces. His works were influential to other musicians such as Gidon Kremer, the Kronos Quartet and Yo-Yo-Ma, and became the basis for many tango compositions. It was during the 1980s that Piazzolla created one of his masterpieces, Histoire du Tango. This is among the works of Piazzolla that offer an alternative style in presenting tango. As with his other tango pieces, music enthusiasts prefer hearing Histoire du Tango performed on stage than accompanying the music with a dance. The piece of music is a short description of the story of the dance that was the primary driving force for the development of tango music. Histoire du Tango is divided into four movements, namely, Bordel 1900, Caf 1930, Night-club 1960, and Concert d'aujourd'hui. It was originally written for flute and guitar, but other renditions have been made, including guitar and violin, and soprano saxophone and piano. It is characteristically a joyful and sprightly interplay of the two instruments, presenting a challenge to the performers and a listening pleasure to the audience. The four movements represent what Piazzolla thought to be the four main stages in the evolution of tango. The first movement, Bordel 1900, characterizes the origins of the dance in Buenos Aires, Argentina. During its early years in the 1900s, tango was danced in only danced by men only. The dance was performed in prostitution houses and was associated with places of ill repute. The elite did not want to be associated with the dance, although the popularity of the dance began to spread, even in Europe (Denniston). The music in this first movement basically portrays the masculine atmosphere of the dance. The second movement, Caf 1930, further explores the growth of tango music. The sound in this movement is characteristic of the music typically played when tango became popular in caf-concerts in Europe. Here, the dance has incorporated the female partner, letting out a passionate expression of love, lust and deception. The dance, during this time has reached what is thought to be its Golden Age (Denniston). The third movement, Night-club 1960, is descriptive of the eventual popularity of the dance and music in nightclubs and ballrooms. This is characterized with the fusion of Tango with Brazilian bossa nova, the music of the Brazilian upper and middle classes. This portion would be for serious listeners. The fourth movement is called Concert d'aujourd'hui. This would be the era of the contemporary tango where classical, jazz and traditional tango are blended together, resulting in a new kind of music that can be both sung and danced. Piazzolla's music would definitely fall much into this era of the alternative style of tango music. Piazzolla's Histoire du Tango is an intelligent narration of the story of tango and its changes from one form to another as time progressed. Piazzolla also played a huge role in this evolution. In it he also tells of his contributions to the music, in the latter part of the music, where he managed to revive the interest of the public in tango. He gained more respect in countries outside Argentina, where he received harsh criticisms for his defilement of the traditional tango music. Argentina eventually accepted him and his music as it learned of the influence that Piazzolla had on the world of music. Astor Piazzolla revolutionized tango greatly, creating a new set of enthusiasts from around the world and giving the music a new dimension that allowed music lovers to appreciate the beauty of tango music. In this revolution, Piazzolla took on criticisms from all over, but mainly from the supporters of pure tango. To them, the musician has destroyed the essence of pure tango. Despite this, however, Piazzolla continued with the type of music that was originally his. With Histoire du Tango, he succeeded in presenting through music the evolution of the dance that inspired the creation of the uniquely passionate Argentinian music. With it, listeners learn that tango is not strictly the music that became popular in ballrooms. It was once an unacceptable piece of dance that started with the common people and evolved into the music and dance that everyone came to know. Piazzolla's contribution to tango opened new doors to the music, which will certainly evolve into new forms in the future. Works Cited Denniston, Christine. "A Brief Introduction to the History of Tango Music." Totaltango. 17 Mar. 2006 . Pessinis, Jorge, and Carlos Kurl. "Astor Piazzolla: Chronology of a Revolution." Piazzolla.org. 2002. 17 Mar. 2006. . Read More