Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) is a singular figure in Latin American music, perhaps because he occupies a niche all of his own, with a distinctive quality that, although it has no label of its own, boldly straddles both classical and popular music. Piazzollla made the tango and the accordion his own, changing them forever, a faithful interpreter of an urban form previously unknown in the classical context of our continent. This unprecedented approach was never easy for the Argentine composer; quite the contrary, his obsession was accompanied by the drama of the hypersensitivity of an innovator who is aware that he is exploring forbidden paths. The flexibility that, on the one hand, equates his music with jazz insofar as thematic treatment is concerned, and, on the other, endows it with a lack of formal rigor that holds it apart from classic academic spirit, has meant that his work is permanently being reviewed, reinterpreted, rethought, rearranged, again and again, depending on inspiration, on the fashion of the time. Eduardo Marturet had the unique opportunity, when he was just 16 years old, to meet Astor Piazzolla in Caracas while he was performing on the Onda Nueva Festival invited by the great Venezuelan composer Aldemaro Romero. This without any doubt strongly influenced and inspired Marturet to write various arrangements on the music of Piazzolla and two of them, Oblivion and Adios Nonino, later recorded with the Berliner Symphoniker for the album ENCANTAMENTO which won a Latin Grammy nomination in 2006, have been widely performed worldwide under the Tempo Primo publishing label.
OBLIVION (1984), one of Piazzolla’s last works, was written especially for the movie Henry IV and earned the composer a posthumous nomination for the Grammy Awards in 1993. Based on the composer’s own original score for strings and accordion, the first recording of this unpublished version, in a special arrangement for the Berliner Symphoniker, took full advantage of the timbre of instruments such as the oboe and solo flute, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, percussion, and the characteristic “glissandi” of the kettledrums, using a faster tempo for the express purpose of achieving a less desolate, more classical and elegant rendition of a melody that captivates the listener with its opening measures. Marturet composed his arrangement of Oblivion for the Berliner Latin Tour in October 2001.
ADIOS NONINO (1959), undoubtedly the work that is played most often —in one or another of its close to 200 versions—speaks of the composer’s life. It was written after the death of Nonino, his father. Marturet arrangement for orchestra from 2002, also completely new, is based on a version for string quintet and piano by the Argentine cellist and composer José Bragato, one of the best known interpreters of Piazzolla’s music. It may be too early for an objective analysis of the works of a composer who has achieved the same popularity as The Beatles. Obviously, universal fame is not something that comes automatically with a diploma from the conservatory. In 1954, recognizing his great talent, the eminent composition professor Nadia Boulanger gave him some advice: “Astor, your classical works are well written, but the true Piazzolla is in the tango; don’t ever abandon it.”
LIST OF ARRANGEMENTS:
- Piazzolla (arr. Marturet): Oblivion for Orchestra*
- Piazzolla (arr. Marturet): Oblivion for Solo Violoncello and Orchestra*
- Piazzolla (arr. Marturet): Adios Nonino for Orchestra*
- Piazzolla (arr. Marturet): Adios Nonino for Solo Violoncello and Orchestra*
- Piazzolla (arr. Marturet): Melodía en La*
* Please email vwallis@tempoprimo.com