Synopsis
On today’s date in 1992, lovers of the tango had good reason to be sad. Argentinean composer and bandoneón virtuoso Astor Piazzolla had died in Buenos Aires at the age of 71.
The bandoneón is a close relation of the accordion, and for it Piazzolla composed new music inspired by the tango, an Argentinian dance form that originated in working-class dancehalls. While still a teenager, he had played bandoneón in the orchestra of Carlos Gardél, the most famous tango singer of the 1930s. Eventually, he formed his own band, which became famous throughout South America.
But Piazzolla had a burning desire to write concert music, and won a scholarship to study composition in Paris with Nadia Boulanger. She encouraged him to explore the possibilities inherent in the music he knew best, so he set about reinventing the tango. The result was dubbed “nuevo tango,” as vital as the old ones, but often dark and brooding.
When asked why these new tangos were so melancholy, he replied, “Not because I’m sad. Not at all. I’m a happy guy … no, my music is sad because the tango is sad — sad and dramatic, but not pessimistic.”
Music Played in Today's Program
Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992): Tres Minutos con la Realidad; Nestor Marconi, bandoneon; Yo Yo Ma, cello; ensemble; Sony Classical 63122
On This Day
Births
1878 - English composer and pianist Josef Holbrooke, in Croydon
1895 - English composer Gordon Jacob, in London
1897 - German-born Israeli composer Paul Ben-Haim (originally Frankenburger), in Munich
1918 - American composer George Rochberg, in Paterson, New Jersey
1926 - American composer and teacher Kenneth Gaburo, in Somerville, New Jersey
Deaths
1992 - Argentinian composer and bandoneón virtuoso Astor Piazolla, age 71, in Buenos Aires
Premieres
1931 - R. Vaughan Williams: ballet, Job (A Masque for Dancing), in London
1990 - Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Clarinet Quintet, at a Chamber Music Northwest concert in Portland, Oregon featuring clarinetist David Shifrin
1996 - Stephen Paulus: Partita Appassionata, for violin and piano, by William Preucil and Arthur Rowe, at the Seattle Chamber Music Festival
2000 - Leslie Bassett: Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra, during a World Saxophone Congress at Pierre Mercure Hall, Montreal, with soloist Clifford Leaman, and the Orchestre Symphonique de Laval, Louis Lavigueur, conducting
Others
1877 - Polish harpsichordist Wanda Landowska is born in Warsaw
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About Composers Datebook®
Host John Birge presents a daily snapshot of composers past and present, with timely information, intriguing musical events and appropriate, accessible music related to each.
He has been hosting, producing and performing classical music for more than 25 years. Since 1997, he has been hosting on Minnesota Public Radio's Classical Music Service. He played French horn for the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestra and performed with them on their centennial tour of Europe in 1995. He was trained at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Eastman School of Music and Interlochen Arts Academy.