Piazzolla: "Milonga del Angel" (Transcription by Mortensen), Analysis, performance and commentary

[@thomasnorelli8763]

Thank you for people like you that love music as much as I do. What an interesting and informative discussion

[@etcetc5592]

Please never stop with this content, u are amazing. Greetings from Argentina, the house of tango (and piazzolla of course)

[@TheIndependentPianist]

Thank you!

[@VINGC]

congrats on your analysis, very clear! appreciated. just IMHO (Im Argentine): Milonga del Angel is, I think, first, a milonga. although, a milonga by Piazzolla. which means, much like a moonlight sky in a Van Gogh painting. something clearly what is named, but, impossible to be properly duplicated or enhanced whithout oneself being the author. Although milonga has a wide range of different meanings for us, said in terms of rhythm or musical timing, it could be more easily explained out on its basic idea that milonga is supposed always to be a musical curtain for the development of a sung speech, a litany in form of enchained verses, revealing whatever type of deep messages about everyday matters of life. Tango, on the other hand and more so the modern tango, is keen to modern orchestrated milongas, which are more like danceable melodies and are quite despised by Piazzolla (he had harsh polemics with authors of those milongas like Varela in 1979). He is not referring to those here. He points to the other. The first milonga that was probably a set of binary guitar cadences used by 19th-century gauchos and soldiers to sing their quartets or verses of tenths, all them improvised on the spot. This slow two-beat cadence is part of the leitmotif of the Milonga del Angel. However there is nothing closed in the jazzy aspect of his music, the beat is not necessarily there to frame anything, but simply to cast some of Piazzolla's unique and personal spell over a, I would say, a rather more introspective melody than more milongas are, which suggest a more intimate two-parts conversation (violin/bandoneon), which automatically re-directs all back to tango and converts the piece in true made in Rio de la Plata stuff, sure. Thanks!

[@grahamtwist]

What a fabulous upload to your channel, Cole. I love the tango as music and as a dance - and Piazzolla’s tangos in particular. Your extensive introduction leaves me with little to add (!), so I hope you don’t mind me saying something about the dance itself! The Tango is seen as Argentina's contribution to the world of dance and the history behind it is really quite fascinating. During the last two decades of the nineteenth century, the desperate poverty of a disintegrating Europe caused a great migration - "to make America" - was the saying and large numbers of eastern Europeans settled in Buenos Aires (generally the men first to build a home, and then later to send for their wives and children). This eclectic mix of cultures - the European émigrés, the peasants from the Argentine hinterland, and the disadvantaged ‘porteños’ of Buenos Aires, became a new social class. They began to create their own cultural expressions known as 'Tango culture' - the particular slang, usages and customs of the group (which is earlier than the Tango dance as an artistic expression). But it was not long before the Tango dance came from the brothels and low cafes of Buenos Aires, though at its very beginning, Tango was a ballet-like dance movement, almost symbolic of a mortal combat, between two men. However, it quickly evolved into a somewhat obscene dance where both men and women had the opportunity to enjoy the intimacy of a dance that called for close body contact. Today, it is generally accepted that the Tango is borrowed from many nations. It took the relentless African slave rhythms - the 'Candombe' and the beat of their drums (known as tan-go), and added the popular dance music of the Pampas (Argentina's prairie land) called the 'Milonga'. (The Milonga, was an early rural dance-form that mutated into the Tango around 1880.) It combined Indian rhythms with the music of early Spanish colonists. The ‘Candombe’, was a typical Uruguayan rhythmic form, well known in the nearby port city of Buenos Aires. The salon dances (mainly the Waltz) - those involving men and women embracing - were the precedent for the dance, which was refined until it became what we now know as Tango and its variations. These early immigrants and societal outcasts, seeking escape from their own emotions and feelings, had developed a music and a dance that epitomized their loneliness and desires. The wail of their Tango spoke of more than just frustrated love. It spoke of fatality and of destinies engulfed in pain. It was a dance of sorrow. "El Tango no est en los pies. Est en el coraz¢n" - "Tango is not in the feet. It is in the heart". (I like the fact that Piazzolla once stated: “For me, tango was always for the ear rather than the feet”. Though I’m sure he meant to include his heart along with his ears!) During this period of development, Tango music largely consisted of the melancholy wailing of a bandoneon, an accordion-like instrument imported to Argentina from Germany in 1886 - and Piazzolla, as you remark, Cole, was a virtuoso player of that most expressive instrument. By 1912, the Tango was becoming absorbed into the larger Argentine society and soon afterwards, it developed into a worldwide phenomenon. Between 1920 - 1940, the instrumental Tango became prominent with one group of composers, while composers such as Astor Piazzolla were interested in taking the Tango to a newer, more evolved form. Indeed, Piazzolla's influence has been so very strong that many devotees now divide Tango into ‘before’ and ‘after’ Piazzolla. Although Piazzolla didn’t make the Tango more respectable (necessarily!), he did elevate it to the level of art-music (somewhere in between jazz and classical music - and to the chagrin and anger of some of his countrymen who preferred the status quo!). As you remark, Cole, when he studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger, she urged him to develop his language as a composer on a foundation of distinctly Argentine sound. He later recalled: “Up to then I had composed symphonies, chamber music, string quartets; but when Nadia Boulanger analyzed my music, she said she could find nowhere any Piazzolla. She could find Ravel and Stravinsky, also Béla Bartók and Hindemith - but never Piazzolla. … Nadia made me play a tango to her and then she said, “You idiot! That is the real Piazzolla!” So I threw away all the other music and, in 1954, started working on my New Tango.” Although many attempts have been made to trace the history of Tango, nobody has ever found the exact root of its origins. It is a fabulous "rags to riches" story that began in the late 1800s, when poor immigrants danced in Argentine brothels, and continued on to the glittering evening Galas where the Tango has become an elegant and stylish dance evoking a picture of high society, with women in sleek glittering evening gowns and men in tuxedos and tails. The tango is still sexy and elegant, danced with passion not only in Buenos Aires, but around the world - and it is a dance I really enjoyed learning and still love now, even in my sixties! And after all that, I must say how your playing of Piazzolla’s "Milonga del Angel" (with a quite stunning transcription by Dr John Mortensen) certainly brings lyricism and fire to this amazing music. Cole - you just are the very best: BRAVO!

[@nsk5282]

Graham, you are such a treasure to this channel, you and Cole make a perfect tandem! I enjoy reading your thoughtful, educating, and always interesting comments following Cole's amazing uploads - thank you so much for your input and dedication!

[@grahamtwist]

@@nsk5282 That is very kind of you, Nella. I have always loved tango music and Cole's brilliant performance of Piazzolla's "Milonga del Angel" stimulated me into finding out a bit more about the dance, which I have shared in my comment.

[@TheIndependentPianist]

Thank you Graham! And great summary of the the history of the tango as well. :-)

[@alisongray6786]

Thank you for your stunning performance and analysis of this beautiful piece along with the very useful contextual information. I discovered Dr John Mortensen's youtube recording a few years ago and instantly fell in love with it but could not find the transcription anywhere. But as they say 'never give up ' and I've managed to find the pdf online so now, with your wonderful tutorial, am all set🙏🎶

[@nsk5282]

I loved it, beautiful performance and analyses! The first time I heard Piazzolla I fell in love with his music. Thank you, Cole, so much for this treat and the inspiration for my attempt to learn it. I found the pdf on line - thanks to Dr. John Mortensen's for the wonderful transcription. Sisters Boulanger makes another interesting subject to analyze.

[@TheIndependentPianist]

So glad you are going to give it a try! It's tricky to learn, but very enjoyable to play. In my opinion one shouldn't hesitate to make alterations to make it more comfortable and suit one's own style. That is very much in the spirit of the original after all!

[@Phyllisnguyen67]

Beautiful - Thank you! 💫

[@WaltzTime]

A worthy subject! And that piece is gorgeous! It’s hard to separate the piece from the instrumental colors but that arrangement does a good job even so. What did Piazzola write for piano? Ginastera is no slouch either. Thank you Nadia Boulanger.

[@ikidearitashi1030]

！9:00〜

[@laurentmartin5567]

Such a beautiful transcription and superb rendition! Thanks for sharing this amazing piece and your thoughts. Do you know where I can buy the score? I kept searching on the internet but to no avail... Thanks!

[@TheIndependentPianist]

I don't think it is for sale. The arranger had made it freely available through a link in the description of his video, but he may have taken that down. I'd be happy to share the PDF with you if you would like. Just email me at [e-mail] and I will forward it along. Thank you for watching and for your comment!

[@eltonwild5648]

Why don't you play the octaves at measure 30 and 32?

[@einberteinbert]

❣️

[@dario8220]

based

[@zewensenpai]

first

[@TheIndependentPianist]

Nice!