The son of Italian immigrants, Astor Piazzolla (1921–1992) was born in Argentina, in a small fishing port 400 km south of the capital, Buenos Aires. Nothing suggested that he would become one of the 20 th century's most important composers and the inventor of an entirely new musical genre: tango nuevo!
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Nadia Boulanger, a brilliant teacher
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Young Astor becomes acquainted with tango at an early age, though it arouses not the slightest enthusiasm in him. He plays the bandoneon (an instrument related to the concertina and accordion) in several dance orchestras. But neither the music he writes nor the music he performs fulfills him. In 1954, he finally receives a scholarship enabling him to study string-quartet writing at the Fontainebleau Conservatoire (Seine-et-Marne) with the brilliant teacher and pianist Nadia Boulanger (1887–1979). Piazzolla is an ardent and unconditional admirer of Johann Sebastian Bach, Igor Stravinsky and Béla Bartók. Yet he remains dissatisfied with what he is composing. Nadia Boulanger, moreover, criticizes his lack of individuality…
She has the inspired idea of asking him what kind of music he used to play in Argentina before coming to Paris. Piazzolla then reveals his past as a bandoneonist and plays her one of his earliest compositions, the tango Triumfal. On hearing this youthful work, Nadia Boulanger senses all her student's creative verve, as well as all the frustration of a composer who is both drawn to the most sophisticated music and deeply steeped in traditional Argentine music. Her advice proves sound: he must marry the popular music he has always played and mastered with the boldness of contemporary musical language. This marks the beginning of an international career and a succession of original works that will win over the greatest performers.
