Peter von Wienhardt – pianist, composer, arranger and conductor
I have been wondering about this for many years. An obvious factor would be exceptional academic success with the particularly elegant handling of technical compositional challenges, as for example Bach or Stravinsky. Innovative approaches could also play a role, as would be the case for Biber, Berlioz, or Ornstein, to name but a few. And not to mention numerous truly exciting innovators such as Hába, Schoenberg, or Cage.
However, as music adheres to a set temporal framework, some of the complex relationships that composers originally wished to highlight may not end up being identified. Even following two simultaneous lines is extremely difficult for 97% of listeners. So where does that leave us?
Ultimately, assuming that classical music is made accessible to the general public, virtually the only factor left in play is the melody and its harmonization in the broadest sense.
There is no need to cite the other classical music heavyweights (Schubert, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Verdi, Puccini) to demonstrate that a melody’s clarity, and sometimes also its simplicity, is the most significant feature affecting whether what is performed will be remembered.
In this respect, Astor Piazzolla has become indisputably immortal.
His tunes directly penetrate the emotional human soul, and his music leaves no-one untouched except those who renounce rhythm and melody. His fame came at a time when this renouncement was widespread in contemporary music. The forced attempt to declare his music merely ‘popular music’ has since failed, as the general public are implacable and want to listen to what they want to listen to. Composers only have a very limited impact on this, even if that is not something they would wish to hear.
Given this, in my arrangements I therefore limit myself to faithfully reproducing the notes that Piazzolla wrote (if I have any notes) or the music that he played with his various ensembles (if I have to listen to a recording of it). I have no interest in contributing elements of myself. This applies to all the arrangements I produce, whether for Dvořák, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Schubert or others. There is no distortion, no unnecessary addition of notes, and even chord expansions are something I approach with caution. Providing instrumentation for a variety of ensembles is the real task of an arranger, and I strive to achieve a good balance of sound that always reflects the composer’s intentions.
An arranger should either arrange or recompose. If the latter, this must be made clear, otherwise people will be misled. And that is not what you want. Piazzolla’s infinitely beautiful melodies and their rooting in their typical harmonic structures are strong enough to endure for centuries alongside all of the other eternal melody creators.
Peter von Wienhardt, October 2020
Martín Palmeri – pianist, composer, arranger and conductor
Popular music
Argentine popular music has a great wealth and variety of genres. What we call folklore includes chacareras, zambas, escondidos, vidalas, gatos and many others.
It is an oral tradition of music, especially at its origins, but that does not make it simple. Polyrhythms and syncopations of great complexity abound in its rhythmic structures. Orchestral formations vary by province, with each one using different instruments.
Its wealth has inspired composers with academic training, thus creating various national movements in the form of Americanists and indigenists.
Academic music
These musicians formed a significant movement within the academic or "high-brow" world, with numerous creators who trained in Europe and brought the experience and wisdom of the old continent back to their home country.
These composers produced works of great breath based on the aforementioned folk rhythms, although using an approach that in many cases and from my point of view is somewhat foreign and not always authentic.
Hybrid music
It was musicians such as Carlos Guastavino, Eduardo Rovira, Horacio Salgán (many more) and Astor Piazzolla himself – whom we remember here on his centenary – who made popular music grow and develop, in my view, taking it in an authentic and natural direction and allowing it to grow from itself, from "within".
Piazzolla's monumental work has further expanded the domain that we always call tango into a realm without limits. Fugue, counterpoint, polytonality, and dynamic formal structures were some of the elements he incorporated, but what stands out the most is the power and sincerity of his music, a reflection of his own temperament with an indisputably Argentine hallmark.
Piazzolla was asked many times whether or not his music was tango, so to end this controversy he called it "contemporary popular music from Buenos Aires." Whenever I heard this, I always thought to myself: "Hopefully it's Tango!”
Astor's words:
The more village is painted,
the more the world is painted.
My music is very Buenos Aires,
very porteña, very ours.
That is why it is played all over the world.
Martín Palmeri, March 2021
Julian Rachlin - violinist, violist and conductor
To me, Astor Piazzolla is not only one of the giants and revolutionaries of Argentinian tango, but also one of the greatest classical composers of all. Piazzolla could be mentioned in the same breath as Mozart, Brahms, Bach or Beethoven. He has an utterly unique musical language: on the one hand, his music has an incredible depth of sensitivity and sensuality, yet on the other it also incorporates a constant metamorphosis into rhythms drawn from Argentinian tango. The ongoing interplay between sentimentality, longing, eroticism and romanticism within his works is driven by a rhythm that jazz musicians would describe as ‘groove’. When in Argentina, I always visit the ‘milongas’, or tango teaching clubs, where both beginners and professionals can be found. I always try to learn from the great tango bands when I am over there, so that I as a European can better understand and internalise this very special Argentinian tango style. For Argentinians, this rhythm is truly in their blood, and Piazzolla is revered as a god. Piazzolla is now an important phenomenon all over the world and will absolutely remain so for many centuries. It is a great honour for me to be able to conduct and play his music with the best orchestras that the world has to offer. My very best wishes for these hundredth birthday celebrations.
Julian Rachlin, March 2021