Composer & Bandoneon Virtuoso Ástor Piazzolla Died in 1992

Piazzolla is remembered in history as the inventor of the revolutionary new genre "Tango Nuevo," an infusion of jazz rhythms, classical music, and tango

Argentine tango composer and bandoneón player Ástor Piazzolla died on this day in 1992 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, aged 71.

Piazzolla who was born in Mar del Plata, grew up in New York, after moving there with his parents in 1925, and received his first bandoneón at age eight.

After winning composing contest with his symphonic piece Buenos Aires (1951), he went to study in Paris with Nadia Boulanger.

When he returned again to Argentina in 1960, he formed the Quinteto Nuevo Tango that featured a violin, electric guitar, piano, double bass, and bandoneón — for which 750 of his compositions were written.

He also composed for orchestra, big band, bandoneón, cello, and violin, and his compositions became very popular in the United States and Europe.

Dying in 1992, aged 70, his music was influential to many and featured during the 1970s and ’80s in film scores, television programs, and commercials.

Although Piazzolla's new tango was initially criticized by Argentine traditionalists, it gradually gained acceptance through the 1970s and 1980s.

ASTOR PIAZZOLLA | LE GRAND TANGO (ARR. GUBAIDULINA) | PHILLIPE QUINT & JUN CHO