The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires: Primavera porteña

Primavera porteña was composed in 1970, alongside Invierno porteño, completing the group of four Buenos Aires seasons Piazzolla had begun in 1965. It opens with a fugal exposition — Piazzolla had studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris in 1954, and counterpoint stayed in his writing after he returned to the bandoneón. The central section slows to a cantabile before the opening material returns. Like its companions the piece was written for Piazzolla's quintet and reached the concert hall mainly through Leonid Desyatnikov's arrangement for violin and string orchestra.