Astor Pantaleón Piazzolla

Astor Pantaleón Piazolla was born in Mar del Plata, Argentina, in 1921 and died in Buenos Aires in 1992. He was a famous and controversial Argentine tango composer and bandoneón player, and is considered one of the most important tango musicians of the second half of the 20th Century. When some other tango musicians said that he was a “tango assassin” and that his music wasn’t tango, he replied describing his work as “contemporary music of Buenos Aires”. Later, his tango style, which incorporated elements from jazz and classical music, was called “nuevo tango”. He knew Carlos Gardel, helped him with the English language in Manhattan and acted with him on the film “El día que me quieras”, in which Galan starred. Some of his songs narrated poetry of Jorge Luis Borges. He composed melodies for over forty films. It is believed that Piazzolla wrote around 3,000 pieces and recorded around 500. “Balada para un loco” (Ballad for a madman) and “Adiós Nonino”, a dedication to his father, were two of his most famous and beautiful compositions.