Borges Music – Piazzolla “A intrusa”
- At August 07, 2024
- By Great Quail
- In Borges
0
A intrusa (1979)
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A intrusa
LP: Thémes originaux. Jonathan ATO 40-28003 (1982)
CD: ANS Records 12013-2 (1992)
Compilation CD: Trova CD 5058 (2003)
Purchase: 1992 CD [Amazon]
Online: Garden of Forking Paths [Dropbox MP3s]
Track Listing
- A intrusa Part 1
- Milonga tres
- Celos, Part 1
- Malambo
- Armanecer y final
- A intrusa, Part 2
- Eduardo y Juliana Part 1
- Eduardo y Juliana Part 2
- Pensamientos
- Espejo
- Eduaardo y Juliana Part 3
- Luna Luna
- Duelo facón
- A intrusa Part 3
- Celos, Part 2
In 1979 the Argentine-Brazilian filmmaker Carlos Hugo Christensen adapted Borges’ “The Intruder” as an erotic western, shocking Latin American audiences with frank portrayals of lust, homosexuality, and incest. (See A intrusa in “Borges and Film” for details.) The movie was scored by Astor Piazzolla, whose experience adapting Borges had been well-established with El tango.
The Soundtrack That Dare Not Speak Its Name
Perhaps because the film was banned in Argentina, the soundtrack was not issued on vinyl until 1982, when the French disco label Jonathan released it as Astor Piazzolla: Thèmes originaux on LP and cassette. The album sported a fabulous disco cover, suggesting listeners were buying a dance record rather than the moody score to a banned homoerotic western—more Village People cowboy than incestuous gaucho! Nowhere on the packaging does it explain that Piazzolla’s “original themes” were actually a coherent soundtrack. A few stray tracks from A intrusa eventually appeared on an Argentine Piazzolla compilation LP in 1987, but it wasn’t until 1992 that the complete soundtrack was released under its correct name by ANS Records, a Miami-based label that specialized in Latin music. Volume III in their “Astor Piazzolla Original Sound Tracks” series, A intrusa was a budget CD fronted by a random photograph of Piazzolla and lacking liner notes or any supporting material. In 2005 the prodigal soundtrack finally came home to Argentina, and Trova released A intrusa on CD. It was fittingly bundled with Piazzolla’s score to El infierno tan temido, a 1980 erotic thriller directed by Raúl de la Torre and starring Graciela Borges. (So in a way, the disc contains two Piazzolla/Borges soundtracks!) It should be noted that no incarnation of the A intrusa soundtrack has ever depicted an image from the actual film. I wonder why?
The two men are brothers. You remember this scene from Borges, right?
The Music
Those hoping for an overlooked Piazzolla masterpiece may be disappointed by A intrusa—it’s very much a traditional soundtrack, filled with obvious cues and repetitive motifs. The main “Intruder theme” is suitably dramatic, especially its initial statement, and “Eduardo y Juliana” is built on a lovely violin melody; but both wear thin after numerous repetitions and restatements. The most exciting track is “Malambo,” a tense piano vamp that picks up a scurrying electric guitar and sawing bandoneón along the way. Unfortunately it fades out before it can develop into anything more interesting than a 2-minute “chase cue.” (It returns in a more stabby, stripped-down form in “Duelo facón.”)
The most interesting tracks on the album are those where Piazzolla sets aside tradition and indulges in sonic experimentation, such as “Pensamientos,” a jazzy piece that cat-paws directly into “Espejo.” A chiming sequence of notes drenched in reverb, it sounds like something from a giallo film—one can almost picture the killer donning his black leather gloves! There’s also “Luna Luna,” an atonal interlude where the bandoneón breathes with glassy slowness under bursts of echoing pizzicato. As the piece gathers momentum, it acquires the hallucinatory air of a nightmare carnival. These unexpected moments reveal a side of Piazzolla less explored in his other “Borgesian” projects. Here’s the late-70s composer who had recently formed the Conjunto Electrónico, and had been spending much of his time recording in Italy. While these tracks can’t elevate A intrusa to “essential Piazzolla,” they certainly make it worth hearing.
Because this soundtrack has been bootlegged a dozen times and is currently deleted, the Garden of Forking Paths has placed the MP3s in a convenient Dropbox for visitors to enjoy.
Additional Information
Additional InformationA intrusa
You can watch the entire film on YouTube. [Portuguese]
Borges and Film: A intrusa
You can read about A intrusa in the “Borges and Film” pages.
Astor Piazzolla’s Borges-Related Works
Astor Piazzolla Main Page
Return to the Garden of Forking Path’s Astor Piazzolla profile.
El tango (1965)
Piazzolla set some of Borges’ poems and milongas to music on the album El tango.
María de Buenos Aires (1968)
Piazzolla’s great tango operita, this surreal work was a collaboration with poet Horacio Ferrer. Although not directly related to Borges, its themes are often reminiscent of Borges’ early work.
The Rough Dancer and the Cyclical Night (1987)
A cycle of fourteen pieces inspired by Borges’ poetry, this work was commissioned for the Hispanic American Arts Center’s production of Tango Apasionado.
Borges & Piazzolla (1996)
A modern remake of El tango, this exuberant album brings Borges’ mythical Buenos Aires to life through music, song, and narration.
Author: Allen B. Ruch
Last Modified: 7 August 2024
Borges Music Page: Borges and Music
Main Borges Page: The Garden of Forking Paths
Contact: quail(at)shipwrecklibrary(dot)com