About this Piece

A student of Alberto Ginastera and Nadia Boulanger and a prolific composer in a wide range of styles and media, Piazzolla is best known for his tangos. A master of the bandoneon, Piazzolla in his 20s played with the popular Aníbal Troilo Orchestra and the Carlos Gardel Cinema Orchestra. After his study with Boulanger, he formed the Octeto Buenos Aires and then the Quinteto Tango Nuevo, which became his primary medium of expression for three decades.

Asked once to define the “new tango,” Piazzolla offered this equation: “Nuevo tango = tango + tragedy + comedy + whorehouse.” His sophisticated tangos advanced the genre while remaining firmly rooted in—indeed, encompassing—its history, including related forms such as the milonga, the traditional song genre from which the Argentinean tango emerged.

—John Henken