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Astor Piazzolla

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Astor Piazzolla (March 11, 1921 – July 4, 1992) was an Argentine tango composer and bandoneón player. His oeuvre revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed nuevo tango, incorporating elements from jazz and classical music. An excellent bandoneonist, he regularly performed his own compositions with different ensembles. He is known in his native land as “El Gran Astor” (“The Great Astor”).

Born in Argentina in 1921 to immigrant Italian parents, Piazzolla spent most of his childhood with his family in New York City. While there, he acquired fluency in four languages: Spanish, English, French, and Italian. He also started playing the bandoneon, quickly rising to the status of child prodigy. While still quite young, he met Carlos Gardel, another great figure of Argentine tango. He returned to Argentina in 1937, where strictly traditional tango still reigned, and played in night clubs with a series of groups. The pianist Arthur Rubinstein (then living in Buenos Aires) advised him to study with the Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera. Delving into scores of Stravinsky, Bartók, Ravel, and others, he gave up tango temporarily and worked as a modernist classical composer.

At Ginastera’s urging, in 1953 Piazzolla entered his “Buenos Aires” Symphony in a composition contest, and won a grant from the French government to study in Paris with the French composer and conductor Nadia Boulanger. The insightful Boulanger turned his life around in a day, as Piazzolla tells beautifully in his own words:

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tango, jazz, argentina, tango nuevo, contemporary classical
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Piazzollissimo 1974-1975
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Top Tracks

1	Libertango	490
2	Adios Nonino	282
3	Milonga del Angel	223
4	Oblivion	149
5	Adiós Nonino full track	99
6	Meditango full track	96
7	Tanguedia III	93
8	Mumuki	89
9	Balada Para Un Loco full track	88
10	Undertango full track	85
11	Concierto Para Quinteto	79
12	Vuelvo Al Sur	72
12	Buenos Aires Hora Cero	72
14	Milonga Loca	68
14	Amelitango full track	68

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tonlima wrote:
Thursday morning

invierno porteño é fods pqp.

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Lisa_Westwood wrote:
10 days ago

Astor 4ever

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ca_milla wrote:
12 days ago

Ahhh, Astor!

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washingtonbraga wrote:
last month

Grande!!!!

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Kraller wrote:
last month

the best

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EchotheSun wrote:
last month

novitango. <3

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LorenaStrohner wrote:
last month

love love love

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hicazkalender wrote:
last month

legend

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MelynasJautis wrote:
October 2009

When I think tango, I think Piazzolla! :) [3]

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kaperzu wrote:
October 2009

Belesa

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Fviegas wrote:
October 2009

a genius! "tango: zero hour" was surely made in heaven

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FLCNr wrote:
October 2009

Amazing.

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Jozzsdorowsky wrote:
October 2009

Astor no se acentúa.. o si? bueno en ninguno de sus discos sale acentuado...

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ikarus999 wrote:
October 2009

genial!

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rinistiltskin wrote:
October 2009

Guys, please vote for Ástor Piazzolla, as that is the correct spelling of his name. I wish last.fm would merge these two pages.

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Jussweetmusic wrote:
September 2009

Delicious

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frecuencia_cero wrote:
September 2009

Almost all of the songs in Astor Piazzolla radio are different covers of Libertango by various artists. Libertango is a great song, but it is not only the great song of the Great Astor :)

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rafaelcarneiro wrote:
September 2009

completamente sem noção, verdadeiramente música contemporânea argentina

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LussyPips wrote:
August 2009

We like this music in outer space.

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tonlima wrote:
August 2009

When I think tango, I think Piazzolla! :) [2]

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Recent Activity

adecousandier, tresa3, Green_Hloyd and 3 other people added Astor Piazzolla to their libraries. yesterday evening
siya_vosh tagged Astor Piazzolla with tango nuevo and tango. yesterday afternoon
siya_vosh, GrahamWiffen, miguelbrojas and 4 other people added Astor Piazzolla to their libraries. yesterday afternoon
rosiq-e tagged Astor Piazzolla with argentina, tango, accordion and one other tag. Monday afternoon
Rmaj7, kozian, giggleshit and 2 other people added Astor Piazzolla to their libraries. Monday morning
Edomonteval tagged Astor Piazzolla with ‘tango’. Monday morning
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IanAR connected Astor Piazzolla to the group Nicola Conte. Sunday afternoon
leomael, alancow, jotaest and 15 other people added Astor Piazzolla to their libraries. Sunday afternoon
nshit tagged Astor Piazzolla with contemporary classical, tango nuevo, jazz and one other tag. Thursday afternoon