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PIAZZOLLA_Johnstone – Concert Piece No.4 based on “Invierno Porteño” (‘Las Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas’) – FOUR CELLOS (or larger cello ensemble)

Other Identification:
The ‘Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas’, known in English as ‘The Four Seasons (of Buenos Aires)’, are a set of four complex tango compositions written by the famed Argentine composer Ástor Piazzolla, which were originally conceived and treated as different compositions rather than one suite. The pieces were first regularly performed in his quintet of violin (viola), piano, electric guitar, double bass and bandoneón. By giving the term porteño, referring to those natives born in Buenos Aires, the Argentine capital city, Piazzolla gives an impression of the four seasons in Buenos Aires.

Movements or sections: Piazzolla performed them regularly, but together only occasionally. The performance order Piazzolla used was:
Otoño (Autumn), Invierno (Winter), Primavera (Spring), Verano (Summer).
However, from the indications of the composer himself there is NO fixed order, and Piazzolla differed from Vivaldi’s universally known work, perhaps reflecting the different seasons experienced simultaneously in the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Curiously, between 1996 and 1998, the Russian composer Leonid Desyatnikov made new creative versions of the four pieces with a much more evident link between Vivaldi and Piazzolla, this because in each piece he included several quotations from Vivaldi. However, because the seasons are reversed between the northern and southern hemispheres, there might be confusion – such as, for example, in the summer “Verano Porteño” he added elements from Vivaldi’s “Winter”!

The order you will find here is personally agreeable to David Johnstone – but please choose your own order!

Instrumentation:
QUARTET OF FOUR CELLOS
Possible with a larger cello ensemble

Music by Astor Piazzolla
© Copyright 1975 By Edizioni Curci S.r.l , Milan / A. Pagani S.r.l, Fino Mornasco ( CO)/ Italy
“La condición de este permiso es que en caso de haber algún tipo de beneficio nos contactéis para solicitar los permisos pertinentes y llegar a un acuerdo sobre el reparto de lo recaudado”.
“The condition of this permit is that if there is any profit to be made, you must contact us to request the relevant permits and reach an agreement on the distribution of the proceeds”.
Adriana Pérez
Synch & Legal Department
EDICIONES MUSICALES CLIPPER’S, S.L.
Aulèstia i Pijoan, nº 21, local
08012 – Barcelona (Spain)

Johnstone-Music wishes to publicly acknowledge the interest of Adriana Pérez (Synch & Legal Department) of EDICIONES MUSICALES CLIPPER’S, S.L., Barcelona.
Johnstone-Music has not registered these recreations in public or private institutions, performing rights societies, or in any register of intellectual property – Johnstone-Music will receive no economic gain whatsoever for the display of this material, freely available to cellists; any royalties will rightfully belong with the family of the composer.

This music is in TWO PDFs:
1 – General Score
2 – All individual parts

Approximate difficulty:
Difficult – medium-to-advanced players or professionals

These pieces may be classed as ‘difficult’, suitable for professional performers, those in advanced courses in music conservatoires, and the very best of amateur orchestral players. Thumb position is regularly featured, and the typical melodic elements or cells of the composer will inevitably lead to some rapid position changing! However, all pieces are perfectly playable by experienced cellists.

Ideally, the music will be played by four solo cellists, forming a chamber music situation that will be nearer to Piazzolla’s original line-up. However, these pieces could also be attempted by much larger ensembles, even by full cello orchestras. In this case, there will be just a few short passages that might sound better employing just one soloist in the section, and this especially applies to Cello 1. This choice is left with each ensemble. Also, if they are played with larger forces, do take advantage of playing ‘divisi’ the many double-stoppings; indeed, it will sound more ‘symphonic’ like that!

Links (Audio – Visual), and known performances given by:
Invierno Porteño; Cellocyl 2016:

(very lightly changed/improved in December 2025!)

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Johnstone Music has been performed by orchestras and conservatories worldwide, earning international recognition in cello repertoire.

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