Piazzolla's Orquesta Típica
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Piazzolla's Orquesta Típica, also known as the 1946 Orchestra, was a
tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries from a combination of Arge ...
orchestra formed in 1946 in
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
by the
Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...
bandoneon The bandoneon () or bandonion is a type of concertina particularly popular in Argentina and Uruguay. It is a typical instrument in most tango ensembles. As with other members of the concertina family, it is held between the hands, and played ...
player
Astor Piazzolla Astor Pantaleón Piazzolla (, ; March 11, 1921 – July 4, 1992) was an Argentine tango composer, bandoneon player, and arranger. His works revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed '' nuevo tango'', incorporating elements fr ...
. This was Piazzolla's first orchestra of his own and from this spring board he would later go on to pioneer a new approach to the genre with his
Octeto Buenos Aires The Octeto Buenos Aires was a legendary tango music, tango group formed in 1955 by the Argentina, Argentine bandoneon player Astor Piazzolla. In 1958 the Octeto was disbanded and Piazzolla returned to New York City with his family where he struggl ...
.


History

Early in his career Piazzolla played in a number of
orquesta típica Orquesta típica, or simply a típica, is a Latin American term for a band which plays popular music. The details vary from country to country. The term tends to be used for groups of medium size (about 8 to 12 musicians) in some well-defined in ...
s, including that of the renowned bandoneonist
Aníbal Troilo Aníbal Carmelo Troilo (11 July 1914 – 18 May 1975), also known as Pichuco, was an Argentine tango musician. Troilo was a bandoneon player, composer, arranger, and bandleader in Argentina. His orquesta típica was among the most popular wit ...
from 1939. During this period he began to study classical orchestration with
Alberto Ginastera Alberto Evaristo Ginastera (; April 11, 1916June 25, 1983) was an Argentine composer of classical music. He is considered to be one of the most important 20th-century classical music, 20th-century classical composers of the Americas. Biography G ...
, the eminent Argentine composer, and took piano lessons with the Argentine classical pianist Raúl Spivak. Piazzolla combined this with a gruelling performing schedule in the tango clubs at night and between 1944 and 1946 he went on to lead the orchestra of the tango singer and bandoneonist Francisco Fiorentino. Feeling restricted by the limitations of traditional tango, Piazzolla formed his ''Orquesta Típica'' in 1946 and began to experiment with a new approach to the orchestration and musical content of tango. A number of formations for the orchestra were tried including: Astor Piazzolla, Roberto Di Filippo, Angel Genta, and Fernando Tell (bandoneon); Hugo Baralis, Cacho Gianni, Juan Bibiloni, and F. Lucero (violin); Atilio Stampone (piano), Angel Molo (cello) and Pepe Diaz (double bass). Over the next two years, Piazzolla recorded 30 pieces with this orchestra, mostly new arrangements of traditional tangos such as ''Taconeando'', ''Inspiración'', ''Tierra querida'', ''La rayuela'' and ''El recodo'', but also a number of his own compositions, including ''El Disbande'' (his first formal composition), ''Pigmalion'', ''Villeguita'', and ''Se Armo''. His works would quickly become classics in the repertoire of some of the most popular tango orchestras of the day, including those of Anibal Troilo,
Osvaldo Fresedo Osvaldo Fresedo (May 5, 1897 - November 18, 1984), nicknamed ''El pibe de La Paternal'' ("the kid from La Paternal") was an Argentine songwriter and director of a tango orchestra. He had one of the longest recording careers in tango history, from ...
and Jose Basso. The young Piazzolla's music established itself as a distinct and contemporary sound which began to provoke comment amongst traditional '' tanguero''s . By 1950 he felt the need to disband the orchestra and to try something different, not even convinced at this stage in his life that he should make his career in tango. He concentrated now on the study of classical music, including a year in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
with the French classical composition teacher
Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher, conductor and composer. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organis ...
, before returning to Buenos Aires where he would finally commit himself to tango with the founding of his next ensemble,
Octeto Buenos Aires The Octeto Buenos Aires was a legendary tango music, tango group formed in 1955 by the Argentina, Argentine bandoneon player Astor Piazzolla. In 1958 the Octeto was disbanded and Piazzolla returned to New York City with his family where he struggl ...
, in 1955. This would put him in the vanguard of tango and lead him into a head-on collision with the tango music establishment.


References

*Piazzolla, Ástor. A Memoir, Natalio Gorin, Amadaeus, 2001 *Azzi and Collier, Le Grand Tango: The Life and Music of Ástor Piazzolla, Oxford University Press, 2000. {{DEFAULTSORT:Piazzolla's Orquesta Tipica Tango music groups Musical groups established in 1946 Astor Piazzolla Musical groups from Buenos Aires