Martin Palmeri is an Argentine composer and conductor, born on July 19^th ,  1965 in Buenos Aires. His Misa a Buenos Aires is perhaps his best-known and most successful work, which has now been performed in over 16 countries around the world, often with himself as piano soloist (including in 2013, at a concert in honour of  Pope Francis in Rome, where Palmeri appeared with the choir of Cologne Cathedral and the Roma Sinfonietta). Misa a Buenos Aires is a daring combination of sacred music and tango that immerses us in a world of intense emotion, passion and syncopated rhythms. It was composed in 1996 as a Catholic mass for soloists, choir, bandoneon and orchestra in the style of  “Tango Nuevo”. The world premiere was on August 17^th,  1996 performed by the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba conducted by Fernando Alvarez. In June 1997 the tango-mass was recorded in Lielaja, Latvia. Three years later, in December 2000, at the request of Maestro Mario Benzekri, a new version of the Misatango – for symphony orchestra – was presented in concert at the Auditorium of the UBA School of Law – Buenos Aires. The concert was broadcast nationwide on 7 television channels and the Messa was subsequently presented in Cordoba, Mendoza, New York, Freiburg, St. Petersburg, Barcelona, Tenerife, Vienna and many other cities under the baton of distinguished musicians.

Martin Palmeri was inspired by the music of the Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla when creating his Misatango a Buenos Aires. He combines the traditional six-part Catholic Mass in Latin with the stylistic characteristics of tango. The same melody, harmony and rhythmic structures correspond to the particularities of the musical culture of South America. A characteristic feature of the work is the use of the bandoneon, the instrument loved and favoured by Piazzolla.  The bandoneon part acts either as the main melodic line or as a rhythmic foundation, allowing the “soul of the tango” to be preserved. The melodic and emotional expressive variety achieved by combining ancient Latin liturgical texts and the everyday music of Palmeri’s homeland is preserved in all the movements of the Misatango. The composer himself notes that he has tried to unite the typical stylistic elements of the tango and the expressiveness of the chorale, to enliven the sacred text with the timbral variety and insightfulness of the bandoneon. The sonority of this instrument very vividly recreates the characteristic elements of the tango, which gives emotional fullness to the work and expresses the melancholy and joy of life, as well as its constant “pulsating” tension. The peculiarities of the bandoneon – loud noises and yet joyful or melancholic sounds – allow the emotions of the liturgical text to be conveyed: the pain and sorrow of Jesus’ crucifixion, the joy of his resurrection, the fear of torture in hell and the prayer for peace. The atmosphere is complemented by the accompaniment of the strings, the piano, the rich vocal parts of the mezzo-soprano and the florid sonorities of the choir, which reveal a huge palette of potential. In Palmeri’s own words, in this work he has used his two most important skills – as a choirmaster and as a tango arranger – with the intention of uniting the musical elements and stylistic features of the typical Argentine tango with the intimate choral expressions of the tradition, without, however, distorting the characteristic of the genre. Thus, although he sees the rich range of technical and stylistic expressive possibilities of the chorus, he manages to keep a certain distance from the typical sounds of tango. On the other hand, tango, which is characterized by the contrasts between soft melody and incendiary rhythm, has long been considered “evil” and “wicked” and was banned by the church. Palmeri has therefore taken care to ensure that the blend of robust Catholic liturgy and rhythmic Latin American dance is not at first glance intrusive. In his work, he has managed to completely free the chorus from responsibility for the characteristics of the tango, allowing it to express itself entirely through the text of the mass.