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
Preludio para el año 3001
Astor Piazzolla Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Con estas ganas tremendas de querer y de vivir
Renaceré fatalmente, será el año 3001
Y habrá un domingo de otoño por la plaza San Martín
Le ladrarán a mi sombra los perritos vagabundos
Con mi modesto equipaje llegaré del más allá
Y arrodillada en mi Río de la Plata lindo y sucio
Y vendrán tres lustrabotas, tres payasos y tres brujos
Mis inmortales compinches gritándome: "¡fuerza, che!
Nacé, nacé, dale, piba
Metéle, hermana, que es duro
Pero muy bueno el oficio de morir y renacer"
Renaceré, renaceré, renaceré
Y una gran voz extraterrestre me dará
La fuerza antigua y dolorosa de la Fe
Para volver, para creer, para luchar
Tendré un clavel de otro planeta en el ojal
Porque si nadie ha renacido, ¡yo podré!
Mi Buenos Aires siglo treinta, ya verás
Renaceré, renaceré, renaceré
Renaceré de las cosas que he querido mucho, mucho
Cuando los dioses digan bajito: "volvió"
Yo besaré la memoria de tus ojos taciturnos
Para seguirte el poema que, a medio hacer, me quedó
Renaceré de las frutas de un mercado con laburo
Y de la mugre serena de un romántico café
De un sideral subterráneo Plaza de Mayo a Saturno
Y de una bronca de obreros por el sur renaceré
Pero verás que renazco en el año 3001
Y con muchachos y chicas que no han sido y que serán
Bendeciremos la tierra, tierra nuestra, y te lo juro
Que a Buenos Aires de nuevo nos pondremos a fundar
Renaceré, renaceré, renaceré
Y una gran voz extraterrestre me dará
La fuerza antigua y dolorosa de la Fe
Para volver, para creer, para luchar
Tendré un clavel de otro planeta en el ojal
Porque si nadie ha renacido, ¡yo podré!
Mi Buenos Aires siglo treinta, ya verás
Renaceré, renaceré, renaceré
The lyrics of Astor Piazzolla's song "Preludio para el año 3001" convey a sense of hope, longing, and renewal. The singer envisions being reborn in Buenos Aires, specifically on a June afternoon, with immense desires to love and live. They anticipate this rebirth to occur in the year 3001, specifically on an autumn Sunday in San Martín Plaza.
The imagery of stray dogs barking at their shadow indicates a sense of familiarity and belonging to the city. Despite arriving from beyond (presumably the afterlife), they feel a deep connection to their beloved Rio de la Plata, depicted as both beautiful and dirty. The line "Me amasaré otro incansable corazón de barro y sal" suggests that the singer will create a new resilient and passionate heart from the clay and salt of Buenos Aires.
The lyrics also mention the arrival of three shoeshine boys, three clowns, and three witches as the singer's immortal companions, urging them to have strength. They encourage the singer to be born, to keep going, and to embrace the difficult but rewarding process of dying and being reborn. The song emphasizes the cyclical nature of life and the resilience of the human spirit.
Overall, "Preludio para el año 3001" speaks of rebirth, love for Buenos Aires, and the determination to overcome challenges. It reflects Piazzolla's unique fusion of traditional tango with elements of jazz and classical music.
Line by Line Meaning
Renaceré en Buenos Aires, en otra tarde de Junio
I will be reborn in Buenos Aires, on another June afternoon
Con estas ganas tremendas de querer y de vivir
With these tremendous desires to love and live
Renaceré fatalmente, será el año 3001
I will be reborn inevitably, it will be the year 3001
Y habrá un domingo de otoño por la plaza San Martín
And there will be an autumn Sunday in Plaza San Martín
Le ladrarán a mi sombra los perritos vagabundos
The stray dogs will bark at my shadow
Con mi modesto equipaje llegaré del más allá
With my modest luggage, I will arrive from beyond
Y arrodillada en mi Río de la Plata lindo y sucio
And kneeling in my beautiful yet dirty Río de la Plata
Me amasaré otro incansable corazón de barro y sal
I will mold myself another tireless heart of clay and salt
Y vendrán tres lustrabotas, tres payasos y tres brujos
And there will come three shoe shiners, three clowns, and three sorcerers
Mis inmortales compinches gritándome: '¡fuerza, che!
My immortal companions shouting at me: 'Strength, mate!
Nacé, nacé, dale, piba
Be born, be born, come on, girl
Metéle, hermana, que es duro
Push through, sister, because it's tough
Pero muy bueno el oficio de morir y renacer
But the craft of dying and being reborn is very good
Renaceré, renaceré, renaceré
I will be reborn, I will be reborn, I will be reborn
Y una gran voz extraterrestre me dará
And a great extraterrestrial voice will give me
La fuerza antigua y dolorosa de la Fe
The ancient and painful strength of Faith
Para volver, para creer, para luchar
To return, to believe, to fight
Tendré un clavel de otro planeta en el ojal
I will have a carnation from another planet in my lapel
Porque si nadie ha renacido, ¡yo podré!
Because if no one has been reborn, I can!
Mi Buenos Aires siglo treinta, ya verás
My Buenos Aires of the thirtieth century, you will see
Renaceré, renaceré, renaceré
I will be reborn, I will be reborn, I will be reborn
Renaceré de las cosas que he querido mucho, mucho
I will be reborn from the things I have loved so much, so much
Cuando los dioses digan bajito: 'volvió'
When the gods whisper softly: 'He returned'
Yo besaré la memoria de tus ojos taciturnos
I will kiss the memory of your melancholy eyes
Para seguirte el poema que, a medio hacer, me quedó
To continue the poem that, halfway done, remained with me
Renaceré de las frutas de un mercado con laburo
I will be reborn from the fruits of a hard-working market
Y de la mugre serena de un romántico café
And from the serene grime of a romantic café
De un sideral subterráneo Plaza de Mayo a Saturno
From an underground sidereal Plaza de Mayo to Saturn
Y de una bronca de obreros por el sur renaceré
And from the anger of workers in the south, I will be reborn
Pero verás que renazco en el año 3001
But you will see that I am reborn in the year 3001
Y con muchachos y chicas que no han sido y que serán
And with boys and girls who have not been and will be
Bendeciremos la tierra, tierra nuestra, y te lo juro
We will bless the earth, our earth, and I swear to you
Que a Buenos Aires de nuevo nos pondremos a fundar
That we will set out to found Buenos Aires again
Writer(s): Astor Piazzolla
Contributed by Cole R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.