Ástor Pantaleón Piazzolla was born in Mar del Plata, Argentina in 1921 to immigrant Italian parents, Piazzolla spent most of his childhood with his family in New York City. While there, he acquired fluency in four languages: Spanish, English, French, and Italian. He also started playing the bandoneon, quickly rising to the status of child prodigy. While still quite young, he met Carlos Gardel, another great figure of Argentine tango. He returned to Argentina in 1937, where strictly traditional tango still reigned, and played in night clubs with a series of groups. The pianist Arthur Rubinstein (then living in Buenos Aires) advised him to study with the Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera. Delving into scores of Stravinsky, Bartók, Ravel, and others, he gave up tango temporarily and worked as a modernist classical composer.
At Ginastera's urging, in 1953 Piazzolla entered his "Buenos Aires" Symphony in a composition contest, and won a grant from the French government to study in Paris with the French composer and conductor Nadia Boulanger. The insightful Boulanger turned his life around in a day, as Piazzolla tells beautifully in his own words:
"When I met her, I showed her my kilos of symphonies and sonatas. She started to read them and suddenly came out with a horrible sentence: ‘It's very well written.’ And stopped, with a big period, round like a soccer ball. After a long while, she said: “Here you are like Stravinsky, like Bartók, like Ravel, but you know what happens? I can't find Piazzolla in this.” And she began to investigate my private life: what I did, what I did and did not play, if I was single, married, or living with someone, she was like an FBI agent! And I was very ashamed to tell her that I was a tango musician. Finally I said, “I play in a ‘night club.’” I didn't want to say “cabaret.” And she answered, “Night club, mais oui, but that is a cabaret, isn't it?” “Yes,” I answered, and thought, “I'll hit this woman in the head with a radio....” It wasn't easy to lie to her.
She kept asking: “You say that you are not pianist. What instrument do you play, then?” And I didn't want to tell her that I was a bandoneon player, because I thought, “Then she will throw me from the fourth floor.” Finally, I confessed and she asked me to play some bars of a tango of my own. She suddenly opened her eyes, took my hand and told me: “You idiot, that's Piazzolla!” And I took all the music I composed, ten years of my life, and sent it to hell in two seconds."
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 changes in parallel to his musical revolution.
During the period of Argentine military dictatorship from 1976 to 1983, Piazzolla lived in France, but returned many times to Argentina, recorded there, and on at least one occasion had lunch with the dictator Jorge Rafael Videla. However, his relationship with the dictator might have been less than friendly, as recounted in Astor Piazzolla, A manera de Memorias (a comprehensive collection of interviews, constituting a memoir):
In 1990 he suffered a thrombosis in Paris and he passed away 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 ventures into extended compositional forms. Piazzolla also introduced new instruments that were not used in the traditional tango, including the flute, saxophone, electric guitar, electronic instruments, and a full jazz/rock drum kit.
Piazzolla played with numerous ensembles beginning with the 1946 Orchestra, the 1955 "Octeto Buenos Aires", the 1960 "First Quintet", the 1971 "Noneto", the 1978 "Second Quintet" and the 1989 "Sextet". As well as providing original compositions and arrangements, he was the director and Bandoneon player in all of them. He also recorded an album with jazz sax player Gerry Mulligan. His numerous compositions include orchestral work such as the "Concierto para Bandoneón, Orquesta, Cuerdas y Percusión", "Doble-Concierto para Bandoneón y Guitarra", "Tres Tangos Sinfónicos" and "Concierto de Nácar para 9 Tanguistas y Orquesta", as well as song-form compositions that still today are well known by the general public in his country, like "Balada para un loco" (Ballad for a madman) and "Adiós Nonino" (dedicated to his father) which he recorded many times with different musicians and ensembles. Biographers estimate that Piazzolla wrote around 3,000 pieces and recorded around 500.
He suffered a cerebral haemorrhage in Paris on 4 August 1990, which left him in a coma, and died in Buenos Aires, just under two years later on 4 July 1992, without regaining consciousness.
other albums not listed here
~ The Birth of Tango Nuevo, Vol. 1 - Sinfonia de Tango
~ Mis 30 Mejores Tangos
~ Piazzolla Interpreta A. Piazzolla (Original Album - Remastered)
~ Ensayos
~ Tiempo Nuevo
~ Se Armó
~ El Milrago - The Early Recordings, Vol. 2 (Astor Piazzolla With His First Own Orchestra, So Called 1946 Band.)
~ Tango Moderno
El gordo triste
Astor Piazzolla Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
por su voz que es un gato sobre ocultos platillos,
los enigmas del vino le acarician los ojos
y un dolor le perfuma la solapa y los astros.
Grita el �guila taura que se posa en sus dedos
convocando a los hijos en la cresta del sue�o:
�a llorar como el viento, con las l�grimas altas!,
Del brazo de un arc�ngel y un malandra
se van con sus anteojos de dos charcos,
a ver por qui�n se afligen las glicinas,
Pichuco de los puentes en silencio.
Por gracia de morir todas las noches
jam�s le viene justa muerte alguna,
jam�s le quedan flojas las estrellas,
Pichuco de la misa en los mercados.
�De qu� Shakespeare lunfardo se ha escapado este hombre
que un f�sforo ha visto la tormenta crecida,
que camina derecho por atriles torcidos,
que organiza glorietas para perros sin luna?
No habr� nunca un porte�o tan baqueano del alba,
con sus �rboles tristes que se caen de parado.
�Qui�n repite esta raza, esta raza de uno,
pero, qui�n la repite con trabajos y todo?
Por una aristocracia arrabalera,
tan s�lo ha sido flaco con �l mismo.
Tambi�n el tiempo es gordo, y no parece,
Pichuco de las manos como patios.
Y ahora que las aguas van m�s calmas
y adentro de su fueye cantan pibes,
recuerde y sue�e y viva, gordo lindo,
amado por nosotros. Por nosotros.
The song "El gordo triste" by Astor Piazzolla is a tribute to Osvaldo Pugliese, an Argentinian tango pianist and composer. The song talks about the emotional depths of Pugliese's personality, describing him as a poet in appearance and possessing a unique voice that is like a cat over hidden cymbals. The lyrics suggest that Pugliese is a very deep and complex man whose eyes are caressed by the mysteries of wine and his lapel and the stars are perfumed with pain.
The song goes on to describe how Pugliese summons his followers in their dreams to cry like the wind and sing like the people, with a beat that is both milonga and plaintive. Delving deeper into Pugliese's life and personality, the lyrics describe how he walks with an archangel and a thug, with glasses that reflect two pools, going to see who is aggrieved by the wisteria. Pugliese is portrayed as someone who dies every night but never experiences a fitting death or finds the stars too loose; he is always attached to his music and spirituality, represented as a fat man with hands like a courtyard.
Fact #1: Osvaldo Pugliese was a highly regarded pianist, composer, and bandleader, who was involved in the tango scene in Buenos Aires from the 1920s to the 1990s.
Fact #2: "El gordo triste" was recorded in 1969.
Fact #3: The song's title translates to "The Sad Fat Man".
Fact #4: Astor Piazzolla was a prominent tango composer and musician who revolutionized the genre in the 1950s and 1960s by incorporating jazz and classical music elements into his compositions.
Fact #5: Piazzolla and Pugliese were rivals in the tango scene, with Piazzolla seeing himself as a modernizer of the genre while Pugliese believed in preserving the traditional sound.
Fact #6: The lyrics of "El gordo triste" were written by Horacio Ferrer, who was a poet and frequent collaborator of Piazzolla.
Fact #7: The song has been covered by various artists, including Rubén Juárez, Pedro Aznar, and Adriana Varela.
Fact #8: The song has been used in various films, including "El aura" and "Tango Fatal".
Fact #9: "El gordo triste" is often considered one of Piazzolla's most profound compositions, with its complex lyrics and musical arrangement.
Fact #10: The song has been interpreted to represent the struggle between tradition and innovation in the Argentine tango scene.
Chords:
The exact chords for "El gordo triste" are not available, as it is a complex composition. However, the song is typically played in a moderate tempo in the key of D minor, with the accompaniment of a bandoneón and piano.
Line by Line Meaning
Por su pinta poeta de gorrión con gomina,
With a poet's look, styled like a sparrow with greased hair,
por su voz que es un gato sobre ocultos platillos,
His voice is like a cat on hidden cymbals,
los enigmas del vino le acarician los ojos
The mysteries of wine caress his eyes,
y un dolor le perfuma la solapa y los astros.
And an ache perfumes his lapel and the stars.
Grita el águila taura que se posa en sus dedos
The brave eagle perched on his fingers, cries out,
convocando a los hijos en la cresta del sueño:
Calling out to the children on the crest of the dream,
¡a llorar como el viento, con las lágrimas altas!,
To weep like the wind, with tears up high!,
¡a cantar como el pueblo, por milonga y por llanto!
To sing like the people, for milonga and for weeping!
Del brazo de un arcángel y un malandra
Arm in arm with an archangel and a rogue,
se van con sus anteojos de dos charcos,
They leave with their two-puddle spectacles,
a ver por quién se afligen las glicinas,
To see for whom the wisterias are mourning,
Pichuco de los puentes en silencio.
Pichuco of the bridges, in silence.
Por gracia de morir todas las noches
By the grace of dying every night,
jamás le viene justa muerte alguna,
He never receives a rightful death,
jamás le quedan flojas las estrellas,
The stars never leave him loose,
Pichuco de la misa en los mercados.
Pichuco of the mass in the markets.
¿De qué Shakespeare lunfardo se ha escapado este hombre
What lunfardo Shakespeare has this man escaped from,
que un fósforo ha visto la tormenta crecida,
So much that he's seen a storm grown from a matchstick,
que camina derecho por atriles torcidos,
That he walks straight on twisted music stands,
que organiza glorietas para perros sin luna?
That he arranges walkways for dogs without a moon?
No habrá nunca un porteño tan baqueano del alba,
There'll never be a Buenos Aires native so experienced with the dawn,
con sus árboles tristes que se caen de parado.
With its sad trees that fall straight down.
¿Quién repite esta raza, esta raza de uno,
Who continues this race, this lone race?
pero, quién la repite con trabajos y todo?
But who repeats it with all the struggle?
Por una aristocracia arrabalera,
For an arrabalera aristocracy,
tan sólo ha sido flaco con él mismo.
He's only been skinny with himself.
También el tiempo es gordo, y no parece,
Time is also fat, and yet it doesn't seem so,
Pichuco de las manos como patios.
Pichuco of the hands like patios.
Y ahora que las aguas van más calmas
And now that the waters are calmer,
y adentro de su fueye cantan pibes,
And inside his accordion, the kids sing,
recuerde y sueñe y viva, gordo lindo,
Remember and dream and live, lovely fat man,
amado por nosotros. Por nosotros.
Loved by us. By us.
Contributed by Anthony N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@hugo888888888
Por su pinta poeta de gorrión con gomina,
Por su voz que es un gato sobre ocultos platillos,
Los enigmas del vino le acarician los ojos
Y un dolor le perfuma la solapa y los astros.
Grita el águila taura que se posa en sus dedos
Convocando a los hijos en la cresta del sueño,
A llorar como el viento, con las lágrimas altas
A cantar como el pueblo, por milonga y por llanto.
Del brazo de un arcángel y un malandra,
Se va con sus anteojos de dos charcos
A ver por quién se nublan las glicinas.
Pichuco de los puentes en silencio.
Por gracia de morir todas las noches,
Jamás le viene justa muerte alguna.
Jamás le quedan flojas las estrellas...
Pichuco de la misa en los mercados.
De qué Shakespeare lunfardo se ha escapado este hombre,
Que en un fósforo ha visto la tormenta crecida,
Que camina derecho por atriles torcidos,
Que organiza glorietas para perros sin luna
No habrá nunca porteño tan baqueano del alba,
Con sus árboles tristes que se caen de parado.
Quién repite esta raza, esta raza de uno...
Pero quién la repite con trabajos y todo
Por una aristocracia arrabalera,
Tan sólo ha sido flaco con él mismo,
También el tiempo es gordo, y no parece...
Pichuco de las manos como patios.
Y ahora que las aguas van más calmas
Y dentro de su jaula cantan pibes,*
Recuerde, sueñe y viva, Gordo lindo,
Amado por nosotros, por nosotros
@Robertomagnofull
Si eso no es poesía, la poesía donde está...? Lloro, inevitablemente lloro con esa letra indescriptible, esa ejecución magnética y la interpretación del Polaco, que sale de las tripas de Buenos Aires misma: "...Nunca habrá un porteño tan baqueano del alba...". Insuperable.
@Eduardo-ox3cq
Ya se fueron los cuatro,Troilo, el polaco,astor y hace dos días Horacio Ferrer...gracias a los cuatro
@decimeelbubba7211
Eduardo feliz navidad lo bueno de internet es esto de volver a a escucharlos
@teorema45
te
@fuscofabio9868
Dicen que el tango te espera. Yo acabo de llegar,
y aquí me quedo.
..."Pichuco, de las manos como patios "...
@alexisleonel183
+Fusco Fabio Que buena definición,si me permitis,la tomo prestada,un abrazo!!!
@sombratensadelbar
Sinceramente de las bellezas que uno no puede dejar de apreciar en esta vida, eternamente Gracias Polaquito!!!! , Graciasss Pichuco!!!
@MrEcayetano
Ese gordo era el dios del tango, cuantas noches de fiesta. Te quiero Pichuco gracias por todo.
@pedroruizdiaz3960
Gracias por hacer llorar a carcajadas mi alma....
@rodrigoraulsuarez
Hoy me emociona demasiado oír esto.