PIAZZOLLA, ASTOR

born March 11, 1921, Mar del Plata, Arg. died July 5, 1992, Buenos Aires Argentine musician, a virtuoso on the bandonion (a square-built button accordion), who left traditional Latin-American tango bands in 1955 to create a new tango that blended elements of jazz and classical music. In the 1950s Piazzolla studied in Paris under Nadia Boulanger, who urged him to experiment with the tango. After returning to Argentina, he formed the influential Quinteto Nuevo Tango (1960), featuring a violin, guitar, piano, bass, and bandonion. Though many of his 750 compositions were written for that quintet, he also composed pieces for orchestra, big band, bandonion, and cello. His innovations, including counterpoint and new rhythms and harmonies, were initially not well received in his country, but were greatly admired in the United States and Europe. In Argentina Piazzolla's new tango gradually gained acceptance, and his music influenced a new generation of tango composers and was featured during the 1970s and '80s in film scores, television programs, and commercials.