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Piazzolla's Music
Author(s): GABRIELA MAURIÑO
Source: The Galpin Society Journal , April 2009, Vol. 62 (April 2009), pp. 263-271
Published by: Galpin Society
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The bandoneon is the signature instrument during his early years, including Jazz and Art music.
of the Tango, a genre that originated more As a result, his music incorporated richer tonal
than a century ago and is still danced and harmonies, more rhythmic variety and improv
performed around the world in different styles isation techniques, compared with Traditional
and varieties. Since its origin, Tango has been Tango. For its instrumentation, he incorporated the
transformed choreographically and musically electric guitar and created a quintet (bandoneon,
by different artists who submitted it to different violin, piano, double bass and electric guitar) which
processes of hybridisation and fusion with different came to be the standard instrumentation for New
genres. One of the most important musicians who Tango groups. His innovations also included a change
contributed to the transformation of Tango was in the performance practice of his instrument, the
bandoneon player Astor Piazzolla, who is credited bandoneon, which is the focus of this article.
with creating the New Tango.
The term 'New Tango' presupposes the existence BANDONEON CHARACTERISTICS
of an 'Old (or Traditional) Tango' but the boundary The bandoneon belongs to the category of
intermittent aerophones, specified as free reed
the terms suggested is sometimes artificial and does
not represent the fact that both styles nurtured instruments with hand-operated bellows (Dunkel
and influenced each other. However, that should be 1993:19). The development of free reed technology in
discussed on another occasion and this article will the early 1800s created possibilities for the invention
use both terms in order to differentiate between of new musical instruments. In 1835 Carl Friedrich
some of the performance practices it describes. The Uhlig invented a bi-sonorous square headed bellow
term Traditional Tango has been widely used by instrument he named Konzertinal, which did not use
scholars (Taylor 1976; Asian 1990; Archetti 1999; predefined chords like Demian's accordion (Vienna,
Collier 2000; Kutnovsky 2002; Azzi 2002; Cannata 1829) but single notes. It was eventually called
2005) to describe the Tango developed in the Rio de bandoneon, a name that derives from the Akkordion
la Plata area (Buenos Aires and Montevideo) from of Heinrich Band, a promoter of the instrument
its origin around the 1880s until 1955 when Astor who modified and extended the original keyboard
Piazzolla created the term New Tango (Nuevo Tango layout (Mensing 2004). The instrument was created
in Spanish) to describe his music and to differentiate to replace the organ in religious celebrations in
it from Traditional Tango.1 the open air or in small churches but because of
Born in Argentina but brought up in New York, its technical difficulties it did not became popular
Piazzolla was exposed to different music styles until it was taken to Buenos Aires around the 1890s.
1 The Spanish adjective nuevo (or nueva, in feminine) is also found in other Latin American genres that label the
renovation of traditional genres, such as nueva trova or nueva canci?n. However, there is no connection between
Nuevo Tango and these genres or the political contexts with which they are associated.
263
Eventually it became the signature timbre of Tango.2 tones) also called Rheinische Tonlage (see Figure 1),
The design was gradually modified and the number with zonal distribution of buttons and bi-sonoric
of tones increased to 142 (some models have 152), operation. The most sought bandoneons are those
with 5 button rows for the left hand and 6 rows for
made by the Alfred Arnold factory, manufactured
the right (Mensing 2004). before World War II under two brand names: Dohle
A ('Double A, meaning Alfred Arnold) and Premier.
Throughout his career, Astor Piazzolla played Doble
Regarding the layout of the buttons in each box, the
bandoneons can be: A models. The reeds of these bandoneons are made of
a) Piano fingered: the disposition of the buttons zinc which provides them with a great sound quality.
During the war, the manufacture of bandoneons
follow that of the piano, normally 44 buttons for
each hand, distributed in 4 rows. stopped but it resumed after the war until the end
b) Zonal: the distribution of the buttons does notof the 1940s when Hohner bought the licence. The
conform to a scalar sequence of notes, though other important brands are ELA (made by Ernest
some adjacent buttons form chords. Louis Arnold, father of Alfred before leaving the
company to his son) and Germania (made by
On the basis of their bellows operation, there are two Hohner). Both these brands were usually made with
types of bandoneons: aluminium reeds. In addition, some German models
a) Unisonoric: the same pitch sounds when opening were imported to Argentina and renamed with the
and closing the bellows. importer brands like Casa America or Mariani.
b) Bi-sonoric (also erroneously called diatonic): in The bandoneons used in Tango can be of various
colours: black, brown or dark red. The mother of
most voices (buttons) the pitch is different when
played opening or closing the bellows. pearl that decorates the body of the instrument also
varies: nacarado (mother of pearl decorations in
all the bandoneon), medio-nacarado (more than 3
Most of the bandoneons that are used in Tango came
to Argentina from Germany between the 1920s designs in mother of pearl but not in the full body),
and the 1950s in quantities estimated at between ?4 nac?r (only 3 decorations) and liso (plain with no
30-40,000.3 The models of bandoneons that are decorations).
played there are called Teclado Argentino 142-144 The bandoneon register extends almost to five
(Argentine keyboard with 142 or 144 number of octaves. The right hand plays the high register
2 Exactly when and how the bandoneon reached Argentina is not documented. Some Tango historians such as
Horacio Ferrer believe that it was introduced by immigrants who arrived in Argentina in great numbers at that time.
Tango scholars also believe that the bandoneon's darker sound (compared to the accordion used in the first Tango
ensembles) made it the perfect instrument to express the melancholy of the immigrants, a theme that permeated the
original Tango music.
3 Julian Hasse, personal communication (July 2008).
(notated in treble clef) and the left hand the low There are three basic body positions for Tango
register (notated in bass clef). Two notes are linked bandoneon performance. The first two have been the
to each button, one sounding when the bellows are standard practice of bandoneonists since the 1940s;
compressed and the other sounding when they are Astor Piazzolla introduced the third in the 1960s.
extended. (Dunkel 1993:14) This bi-sonor function
demands a complicated technique: the performer a) Classical position: the player is seated with the
has to learn four sets of fingerings, two for each instrument resting on the thighs and parallel to
hand, one for closing and the other for opening the the floor. This allows good instrument control,
bellows. favouring a legato sound.
The use of the bandoneon for polyphonic music
rather than as a melodic instrument produced a
complex distribution of the buttons following a zonal
rather than linear structure in order to facilitate
the building of chords (Mensing 2004). However,
the small distances between the buttons make it
possible to play the highest notes simultaneously
with low ones (Dunkel 1993:33) allowing the
production of chords of widely separated notes
which recalls the sound of an organ. Piazzolla used
this feature frequently as it is evident in Example 1
from Bandoneon, the first movement of his Suite
Troileana (1975). The music is for the left hand; the
versatility of the bandoneon is used to build chords
of widely separated pitches.
ERGONOMICS OF PERFORMANCE
Each instrument affects the body shape of its
performer through the physical demands that emerge
from the interface between body and instrument,
which Clarke & Davidson call the ergonomics
of performance (1998:89). The nature of the
bandoneon and its technical and sonority demands
generate particular bodily responses. Its weight is
approximately 5.4 kg, necessitating some degree
of physical strength from the performer because
the weight is distributed unevenly at the extremes.
The greater the volume of air in the bellows, the
greater the force to open or close it (when closed,
the bellows measure approximately 13 cm and when
fully extended about 65 cm. which means a five-fold
increase in their air volume).4 Figure 2. Position (a) - Classical.
4 This information has been extracted from Dunkel (1993:21) and is based on an Alfred Arnold bandoneon
manufactured in Carsfeld, Germany c.1930s. Astor Piazzolla himself played Alfred Arnold models and wrote a piece
called Tristezas de un Doble A (Sadness of a Double A).
5 An additional spelling of the word is also found in Lunfardo (portenos' slang): fueye.
6 'Astor soh'a decir que al tocar parado el sonido parece salir de las tripas, el bandoneonista est? m?s cerca de la
fuente de emisi?n del sonido y parece que el instrumento tuviera un timbre diferente, como si se expandiera el rango
arm?nico del bandone?n.' (author's translation). Personal communication (July 2008).
7 'El fueye es mi otra mitad.' (author's translation).
8 'Durante muchos anos toque sentado, como la gran mayoria de mis colegas, hasta que me convert! en solista.
Ahl senti la necesidad de buscar otra posici?n que se adecuara m?s a mi personalidad. Sentado me daba la sensaci?n
de estar atado. Me pare, clave la pierna izquierda en el piso y acomode el instrumento sobre la derecha/ (author's
translation).
13 V 1 vl?
teg
17 V [
Example 2. Piazzolla, Astor (1969) Otoho porteno (bandoneon part). Buenos Aires: Editorial Lagos, bars 13-16.
Tango rhythm is constantly engaged in a kind of Marconi, eventually incorporated this technique
unstable rhythmic equilibrium. In Traditional when playing seated.9
Tango, where rhythmic variety is not as pervasive Additionally, the technique called balanceo
as in New Tango, the patterns of movement when (balancing) was incorporated to facilitate the closing
seated are compatible with a music tailor-made for of the bellows. It consists in changing the orientation
dancing whereas in Piazzolla's music the upright of the manuals from vertical to inclined (keyboard
position, freeing the initiation of movement to more facing up) while balancing the centre of the bellows'
body parts, adjusts perfectly to the new musical folds on the supporting knee in order to be able to
concept. This is evident from the way that Piazzolla close the bellows more easily (see Figure 8).
used to play seated at the beginning of his career. From the 1960s until his last performance in 1990,
At that time he was still performing Traditional Piazzolla used the upright position with protean
Tango as bandoneon performer in Troilo's orchestra operation of the bellows in both his chamber groups
and in his own first orchestras (1940s and 1950s) (such as the quintet) and with big orchestras; this
during the period of the Traditional Tango. He only is the obvious way to operate the bellows because
changed his posture in the 1960s, when his music when standing, only one leg is available to support
started to change. the instrument. The upright position emphasised the
At this point, it is clear that Piazzolla's position idea of a bandoneon soloist in a context of chamber
increases the technical difficulty of bandoneon Tango music (compared to the seated position of
performance, as it is more comfortable to play the usually four bandoneons in a Traditional Tango
supporting the instrument on the lap while seated. In dance orchestra) and the fact that Piazzolla seemed
addition, the weight of the bandoneon is distributed to enjoy?in his role of musical director ?a better
unevenly to the extremes such that it needs extra view of his musicians while playing.
strength to keep it straight while playing in upright In his memoirs, Piazzolla described the way he
position (Gorin 1998:237). There are two techniques liked to perform on the bandoneon: 'My fingers are
that try to solve these difficulties. When using the a machine gun ... I play with violence; my bandoneon
protean position (see Figure 7) and playing with has to sing and shout' (Gorin 1998:152).10 In addition,
one hand, Piazzolla placed the manual (keyboard in this position it is easier to play when opening rather
box) corresponding to the hand he was playing than closing the bellows. Piazzolla very rarely played
on his thigh and open the bellows from the hand closing: his performance of the musical phrases had
he was not playing on. This was quite frequent in a limited extension (as much as he could or wanted
Piazzolla's technique, but does not rule out the fact to expand the bellows).11 Most of the time he did not
that he could play with both hands while in protean expand the bellows to its limit of approximately 65
position. Other bandoneonists, such as Nestor cm. and used the bellows' valve (the mechanism that
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