At a time when pop music in the US was overshadowing Tango music in the 1950s, Argentina-born Astor Piazolla (1921 – 1992) burst into the scene and revolutionized traditional tango by inventing Nuevo Tango or “New Tango” that incorporated elements of jazz and classical music, especially Baroque melodies. Initially this new vision was denounced by many of his fellow Argentinians, and Piazolla was even threatened with death. But persistence paid off for the composer and virtuoso bandoneonist. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Piazolla travelled widely, performing his own compositions with various ensembles in Argentina, New York, Paris and elsewhere to critical acclaim. The popular audience also warmed to his new genre of jazzy Tango.

Piazolla remained musically active right until his death in 1992, leaving a legacy of over 700 compositions including film soundtracks, operas, and pieces for orchestra, big band, bandoneón, and cello. At the time of his death, American music critic Stephen Holden described Piazolla as “the world’s foremost composer of tango music.” Modern Argentinians also hold Piazolla’s music in high esteem, referring him affectionately as “El Gran Astor” (“The Great Astor”).

Here are representative works of Piazolla arranged in chronological order:

Adiós Nonino (1959) – a signature early work, written in October 1959 in memory of his father, Vicente “Nonino” Piazzolla, a few days after his father’s death

Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas (The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires) – a set of four tango compositions which Piazolla performed as a single suite from time to time. The pieces were scored for his quintet of violin (viola), piano, electric guitar, double bass and bandoneón. The four compositions are:

Verano Porteño (Buenos Aires Summer), composed in 1965.
Invierno Porteño (Buenos Aires Winter), 1969.
Primavera Porteña (Buenos Aires Spring), 1970.
Otoño Porteño (Buenos Aires Autumn), 1970.

Libertango (1974) – Spicy rhythms and a fiendish melody have kept this sultry piece as a signature piece of modern Tango.

Oblivion (1982) – another timeless Piazolla composition.

La Camorra (1989) – a classically structured work. The serene first movement (Soledad) is intoxicating in its meditative quality.

If I have to choose two works from the above, it would be Oblivion (1982). My personal favorite for this work is the orchestra-backed version led by the Croatian cellist, Stjepan Hauser

The other piece would be Invierno Porteño (Buenos Aires Winter) composed in 1969. It is a beautiful “classical tango”, rendered with great sensitivity by the famed Latvian violinist, Gidon Kremer.