Download INFORMATION FOR TEACHERS ABOUT THE PIECE THE

“Spring” from The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires (1970)
Astor Pantaleon Piazzolla
(March 11, 1921 – July 4, 1992)
Lesson Plan Prepared By Allegra Penington
INFORMATION FOR TEACHERS ABOUT THE PIECE
The Cuatro Estaciones Portenas, also known as the Estaciones Portenas, The Four
Seasons Of Buenos Aires are a set of four tango compositions written by Astor Piazzolla,
which were originally conceived and treated as different compositions rather than one
suite, although Piazzolla performed them together from time to time. The pieces were
scored for his quintet of violin (viola), piano, electric guitar, double bass and bandoneon.
By using the adjective porteno, referring to those born in Buenos Aires, the capitol of
Argentina, Piazzolla gives an impression of the four seasons in Buenos Aires.
THE SEASONS
1. Verano Porteno (Buenos Aires Summer)
written in 1964
2. Otono Porteno (Buenos Aires Autumn)
written in 1969
3. Primavera Portena (Buenos Aires Spring)
written in 1970; contains counterpoint
4. Invierno Porteno (Buenos Aires Winter)
written in 1970
When music lovers hear the phrase “The Four Seasons” they immediately
associate it with Vivaldi’s memorable work. Vivaldi uses a colorful programmatic
musical language to weave natural topics into a tapestry of sound that infuses the
listener with the sense that they are actually experiencing each season in turn.
Composers ever since have referenced Vivaldi’s masterpiece, and Astor Piazzolla was to
join their ranks when he composed his own Cuatro Estaciones Portenas.
The Four Seasons Of Buenos Aires is an extraordinarily interesting work. In its
final shape it takes a tango-inspired work by Piazzolla and combines it with elements
readily recognizable from Vivaldi’s model. Not only does it share with Vivaldi the
general concept of depicting four seasons in music, it also presents a solo violin featured
in highly virtuosic style within an orchestral texture. Originally this work was written for
a folk ensemble, not at all for virtuoso violin. The first to perform it was the
composer’s own folk/chamber ensemble, who were specialists in nuevo tango. In the
late 1990s Leonid Desyatnikov arranged the classical chamber music version for full
string orchestra with solo violin, and included obvious allusions to Vivaldi’s Four
Seasons.
Piazzolla was an experimenter. Expressive dissonances and abrupt shifts in
tempo and meter are elements of this style that demand concentration and yet
continually delight the imagination. Various special effects on the instruments required
to perform this work continually entertain and amaze. The extraordinarily difficult solo
violin part is sometimes played arco, sometimes pizzicato. In all four movements the
string instruments turn into an extended percussion section, then revert to a more
traditional style.
In Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, each season includes three short movements.
Piazzolla’s variation gives each season only one movement, but each of Piazzolla’s
seasons contains several sections that depict different moods within the single
movement. Spring from The Four Seasons Of Buenos Aires is filled with excitement and
rhythmic electricity that propels the work to its brilliant conclusion.
THE COMPOSER: ASTOR PIAZZOLLA
Astor Piazzolla was an Argentine tango composer and bandoneon player. His
oevre revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style called nuevo tango, which
incorporated elements from both and jazz and classical music. He was a virtuoso
bandoneonist, and regularly performed his own compositions with many different
ensembles.
Astor Piazzolla was born in Mar del Plata, Argentina, in 1921 to Italian parents,
Vicente Nonino Piazzolla and Asunta Manette. His grandfather, a sailor and fisherman,
had immigrated to Mar del Plata from Trani, a seaport town in southeastern Italy. Astor
spent most of his childhood in New York City, where he was exposed at an early age to
both jazz and the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. Growing up in New York, Astor
became fluent in four languages: Spanish, English, French and Italian. He began to play
the bandoneon after his father, homesick for his homeland, spotted the instrument in a
New York pawn shop and brought it home. At the age of thirteen he met Carlos Gardel,
another great figure of the tango, who invited the young prodigy to join him on his
current tour. Much to Astor’s dismay his father deemed that he was too young to go
along. This early disappointment proved to be a blessing in disguise, as it was on this
tour that Gardell and his entire band perished in a plane crash.
Piazzolla returned to Argentina in 1937, where traditional tango still reigned, and
performed in night clubs with a series of groups while studying with Alberto Ginastera.
At Ginastera’s urging Piazzolla won a grant to study with Nadia Boulanger, whom
Piazzolla said turned his life around. Piazzolla returned to Argentina in 1955, formed the
Octeto Buenos Aires to play tangos, and never looked back.
Upon introducing his new approach to the tango (nuevo tango), he became a
controversial figure among Argentines both musically and politically. The Argentine
saying “. . . in Argentina everything may change—except the tango” suggests some of
the resistance he found in his native land. However his music gained acceptance in
Europe and North America, and his reworking of the tango was embraced by some
liberal segments of Argentine society, who were pushing for political change parallel to
his musical revolution.
During the period of Argentine military dictatorship from 1976 to 1983 Piazzolla
lived in Italy, but returned many times to Argentina. In 1990 he suffered an
incapacitating stroke in Paris while on his way to mass at the cathedral of Notre Dame,
and died two years later in Buenos Aires.
Piazzolla’s nuevo tango was distinct from the traditional tango in its
incorporation of elements of jazz, its use of extended harmonies and dissonance, its use
of counterpoint and its fusion of tango with a wide range of other Western musical
elements. The use of the passacaglia technique of a circulating bass line and harmonic
sequence, invented and ubiquitous in seventeenth and eighteenth century Baroque
music but also central to the idea of jazz “changes” (in chords), predominates in most of
Piazolla’s later compositions.
THE BANDONEON
The bandoneon is a type of concertina particularly popular in Argentina and
Uruguay. It plays an essential role in the orquesta tipica (tango orchestra). The
bandoneon was originally intended as an instrument for religious music and the popular
music of the day, in contrast to its predecessor, the German concertina, considered to
be a folk instrument by some modern authors. German sailors and emigrants to
Argentina brought the instrument with them in the late nineteenth century, where it
was incorporated into the local music.
As with concertinas, the bandoneon is played by holding the instrument
between both hands and either pushing in or pulling out the instrument while
simultaneously pressing one or more buttons with the fingers. It is considered part of
the concertina family of instruments rather than the accordion family, although both are
free reed instruments. Unlike the piano accordion, the bandoneon does not have keys
as per a piano, but has buttons on both sides. The bandoneon is a challenging
instrument to learn, as both keyboards have two layouts: one for the opening notes,
and one for the closing notes. The right and left hand layouts are also different.
MUSICAL TERMS AND VOCABULARY
Bandoneon
Nuevo tango
Harmony
Dissonance
Counterpoint
Jazz
Improvisation
Argentina
Arco
Pizzicato
PIAZZOLLA’S LIFE
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Born March 11, 1921 in Mar del Plata, Argentina
Spends most of his childhood in New York City
Learns to play and becomes a virtuoso on the bandoneon
At age thirteen, invited to tour internationally
Returns to Argentina in 1937
Plays bandoneon in nightclubs, studies with Alberto Ginastera
Composes first film soundtrack in 1950
In 1954 leaves Argentina for Paris and studies with Nadia Boulanger
Upon returning to Argentina in 1955 introduces a new form of tango
(nuevo tango)
Recorded the album Summit with jazz legend Gerry Mulligan
Composes 3000 pieces of music, 500 albums
12 Monkeys is a contemporary movie whose soundtrack is derived and
excerpted from Piazzolla’s Suite Punta del Este
In 1990 suffers a stroke in Paris on his way to mass at Notre Dame
Dies in Argentina on July 4th, 1992
PRINTABLE ITEMS
Doing a Google search of “bandoneon photos” will allow you to access many
excellent sites of pictures of bandoneons.
RELATED MATERIALS
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Viva Jujuy, Grade 5, page 228, CD 11-11; Silver Burdett
Making Music
Danza del trigo from Estancia by Alberto Ginastera, Grade
5, page 229, CD 11-15; Silver Burdett Making Music
Argentina. . .in Pictures
Visual Geography Series , Lerner Publishing