Le Grand Tango: The Life and Music of Astor Piazzolla

Marķa Susana Azzi, Simon Collier, Professor of History Simon Collier

Oxford University Press, 2000 - Biography & Autobiography - 326 pages

Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) was the great pioneer of modern tango music, a masterly composer and bandoneon player who won increasing international fame with his Quintet in the 1980s, in Europe, North and South America, and Japan. Born in Mar del Plata, Argentina, he was taken by his parents to New York at the age of 4, and grew up on the tough streets of the Lower East Side. As a teenager he became passionately fond of both jazz and classical music, while also learning the bandoneon - the classic tango instrument, a member of the accordion family. On his return to Argentina at age 16, he quickly found his place in the flourishing tango world, then at its peak in Argentina, joining the most legendary dance band of the period, and in 1946 forming his own band. He studied with Alberto Ginastera and tried for a while to establish himself as a classical composer. In 1954-1955 he studied with the great Nadia Boulanger in Paris. She firmly told him to develop his own modern tango style, which he did in an extraordinary sequence of works, played by his notable groups - the Octet (1955), the first Quintet (1960), and the Nonet (1971). Piazzolla's revolutionary experiments with tango music brought him fierce hostility from traditional tango fans. He remained a highly controversial figure in Argentina for the rest of his life. In the mid-1970s, partly in frustration, he based himself in Europe, memorably collaborating with Gerry Mulligan and gradually becoming more widely known. He was briefly drawn into an unsuccessful 'electronic' phase (1975-1977) before reverting to his true strengths with the formation of the second Quintet (1978), noted over the next decade for its performances with the Italian singer Milva and the jazz genius Gary Burton. With the new Quintet and its brilliant 'contemporary chamber music', Piazzolla won genuine international renown, which has grown still greater since his death in 1992. In September 1997 Billboard Magazine called him 'the hottest composer around'.

What people are saying

LE GRAND TANGO: A Biography of Astor Piazzolla

User Review  - Kirkus

A composer and musician who went from pariah to legend in his own lifetime gets his first Englishlanguage biography from an oddly matched but somehow appropriate duo. Azzi is an expert on Argentine ...

Le grand tango: the life and music of Astor Piazzolla

User Review  - Not Available - Book Verdict

Argentine composer and performer Piazzolla (1921-92) updated tango music and brought it to the international concert stage, attracting a large following while angering tango traditionalists. Born in ...

Contents

• V: 3
• VI: 18
• VII: 36
• VIII: 57
• IX: 78
• X: 102
• XI: 119
• XII: 131
• XIII: 133
• XIV: 148
• XV: 165
• XVI: 167
• XVII: 185
• XVIII: 200
• XIX: 222
• XX: 242
• XXI: 263
• XXII: 285
• XXIII: 291
• XXIV: 293
• XXV: 307
• XXVI: 311
• XXVII: 318

About the author

Marķa Susana Azzi is a board member of the Astor Piazzolla Foundation and the National Academy of Tango in Buenos Aires. This is her fourth book on the tango. She lives in Buenos Aires. Simon Collier is the author or co-author of seven books about Latin America, and is chairman of the Department of History at Vanderbilt University. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Le Grand Tango: The Life and Music of Astor Piazzolla
• Authors: Marķa Susana Azzi, Simon Collier, Professor of History Simon Collier
• Contributor: Yo-Yo Ma
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2000
• ISBN: 0195127773, 9780195127775
• Length: 326 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Music; Music / Genres & Styles / Dance