Heitor Villa-Lobos

Heitor Villa-Lobos, also known as Hector Villa-Lobos, was born in Rio de Janeiro. Learning music from his father, who was a widely-read, highly-cultured amateur of music (and a librarian), Villa-Lobos by the turn of the century had turned himself into a professional musician. He earned his living as a cafe musician; his instrument was the cello.

In 1905 Villa-Lobos made the first of his trips to Brazil's north-eastern states, to collect folk music. Such trips would continue in the future, though Villa-Lobos spun a web of mystery around them; his own testimony of adventures with the cannibal tribes of the North-East is not always trustworthy. Afterwards, he studied at the National Institute of Music in Rio de Janeiro, though his compositional style never conformed to any academic norms. His music remained always personal and idiosyncratic. As Villa-Lobos himself said many years later: "My music is natural, like a waterfall." Also: "One foot in the academy and you are changed for the worst!"

After another ethno-musicological trip to the Amazonian interior in 1912, Villa-Lobos returned to Rio de Janeiro. There, on November 13, 1915, he turned the city on its ear with a concert of his new music. By 1923, he had attracted enough official favour to win a government grant to study in Paris. On his return in 1930, Villa-Lobos was made director of music education in Rio de Janeiro.

Thus began Villa-Lobos' glorious second career: pedagogue of music for his country. He designed a complete system of musical instruction for generations of Brazilians, based upon Brazil's rich musical culture, and rooted in a deep and always explicit patriotism. He composed choral music[?] for huge choirs of school children, often adaptations of folk material. His legacy in the Brazil of today, even amongst new generations brought up with the samba-schools or MTV, is a strong feeling of pride and love, intertwined with similar feelings for their country. This is surprising, considering that this is a "classical" composer dead now for more than 40 years; a North American parallel would be hard to find.

In 1944, Villa-Lobos made a trip to the United States to conduct his works, to critical and even some popular acclaim. Important new works were commissioned by American orchestras, and he even wrote a movie score for Hollywood, for the interesting 1945 film The Green Mansions. The 1940s were a period of triumph on an international scale. As a composer and conductor of his own music, Villa-Lobos was lionized from Los Angeles to New York to Paris. In spite of his world travels, his home was always in Rio de Janeiro. There he died.

Major Works Villa-Lobos was notoriously prolific, though he probably himself exaggerated the number of works he wrote. Many works are arrangements of earlier pieces. Especially in his final years, Villa-Lobos did a lot of re-composing.

The works below represent his musical legacy. Except for the lost works they are well represented on the world's recital and concert stages and on CD. Exceptions include the Nonetto and the operas. Even the Symphonies are now available in an integral recording on the cpo label - see http://www.rdpl.org/villa/stuttgart.

Villa-Lobos' most popular work is the 5th Bachianas Brasileiras, written for voice and a eight cellos, but performed in many other instrumental combinations. Close runner-ups would include the music for solo guitar, including the preludes, etudes and Choros 1. The greatest music is included in the Choros, Bachianas Brasileiras and String Quartet series, while a number of works for solo piano - Choros 5 and Bachianas Brasileiras 4, for example - are highly prized by pianists and audiences alike.

• Bachianas Brasileiras
  • No. 1 for 8 cellos (1932)
  • No. 2 for chamber orchestra (1933)
  • No. 3 for piano and orchestra (1934)
  • No. 4 for piano (1930-40); orchestrated in 1942)
  • No. 5 for voice and 8 cellos (1938)
  • No. 6 for flute and bassoon (1938)
  • No. 7 for orchestra (1942)
  • No. 8 for orchestra (1944)
  • No. 9 for chorus or string orchestra (1944)

• Choros
  • No. 1 for guitar (1920)
  • No. 2 for flute & clarinet (1921)
  • No. 3 for male chorus & wind instruments (1925)
  • No. 4 for 3 horns & trombone (1926)
  • No. 5 for piano (1926) "Alma Brasileira"
  • No. 6 for orchestra (1926)
  • No. 7 for winds, violin & cello (1924)
  • No. 8 for large orchestra & 2 pianos (1925)
  • No. 9 for orchestra (1929)
  • No. 10 for chorus & orchestra (1925) "Rasga o Coraçao"
  • No. 11 for piano & orchestra (1928)
  • No. 12 for orchestra (1929)
  • No. 13 for 2 orchestras & band (1929) - LOST
  • No. 14 for orchestra, band & chorus (1928) - LOST
  • Choros bis, for violin & cello (1928)

• Concertos
  • Suite for Piano and Orchestra (1913)
  • Momoprécoce, fantasy for piano and orchestra (1921)
  • Fantasia de Movimentos Mistos, for violin & orchestra (1921)
  • Choros no. 11 for piano & orchestra (1928)
  • Ciranda das Sete Notas for basson & string orchestra (1933)
  • Piano Concerto no. 1 (1945)
  • Piano Concerto no. 2 (1948)
  • Piano Concerto no. 3 (1952-57)
  • Piano Concerto no. 4 (1952)
  • Piano Concerto no. 5 (1954)
  • Concerto for Guitar (1951)
  • Harp Concerto (1953)
  • Cello Concerto no. 2 (1953)
  • Harmonica Concerto
  • Concerto Grosso for wind quartet & wind ensemble (1959)

• Symphonies
  • No. 1 O Imprevisto, The Unforseen (1920)
  • No. 2 Ascenção, The Ascension (1917)
  • No. 3 A Guerra, The War (1919)
  • No. 4 A Vitória, The Victory (1919)
  • No. 5 A Paz, The Peace (1920) - LOST
  • No. 6 Montanhas do Brasil, The Mountains of Brasil (1944)
  • No. 7 Odyssé d'une race, The Odyssey of a Race (1945)
  • No. 8 (1950)
  • No. 9 (1951)
  • No. 10 Sumé Pater Patrium, Amerindia (1952)
  • No. 11 (1955)
  • No. 12 (1957)

• Other Orchestral Works
  • Dancas Africanas (1916)
  • Amazonas, ballet (1917)
  • Uirapuru, symphonic poem (1917)
  • Danca Frenetica (1918)
  • Danca dos Mosquitos (1922)
  • O Papagaio do moleque, the Kite of the Guttersnipe, a symphonic episode (1932)
  • Caixinha de Boas Festas, symphonic poem & ballet (1932)
  • Mandú-Cárárá, Profane Cantata (1940)
  • Madona, symphonic poem (1945)
  • Erosão, Erosion, symphonic poem (1950)
  • Alvorada na Floresta Tropical, ouverture (1953)
  • Gênesis, symphonic poem & ballet (1954)
  • Emperor Jones, a ballet (1956)

• Chamber Music
  • Sonate-fantaisie no. 1 for violin and piano, Désespérance, Despair (1913)
  • Sonate-fantaisie no. 2 for violin and piano (1914)
  • Sonata for violin and piano no. 3 (1920)
  • Trio for piano and strings no. 1 (1911)
  • Trio for piano and strings no. 2 (1915)
  • Trio for piano and strings no. 3 (1918)
  • Trio for violin, viola and cello (1945)
  • Fantaisie concertante for piano, clarinet and bassoon (1953)
  • Sextuor Mystique, for flute, oboe, saxophone, harp, celesta and guitar (1917)
  • Quarteto Simbolico, for flute, alt saxophone, harp, celesta and female voices (1921)
  • Nonetto, Impressão rápida de todo o Brasil, A Rapid Impression of All Brazil (1923)
  • Quatuor, for flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon (1928)
  • Quinteto Instrumental, for flute, violin, viola, cello and harp (1957)
  • Choros no. 2,3,4 and 7 are scored for various instruments in chamber style

• String Quartets
  • No. 1 (1915)
  • No. 2 (1915)
  • No. 3 (1917)
  • No. 4 (1917)
  • No. 5 (1931)
  • No. 6 (1938)
  • No. 7 (1942)
  • No. 8 (1944)
  • No. 9 (1945)
  • No. 10 (1946)
  • No. 11 (1948)
  • No. 12 (1950)
  • No. 13 (1951)
  • No. 14 (1953)
  • No. 15 (1954)
  • No. 16 (1955)
  • No. 17 (1957)
  • Sketches are all that remain of the 18th Quartet.

• Operas
  • Izaht (1914)
  • Magdalena (1948)
  • Yerma (1955)
  • Daughter of the Clouds (1957)

• Ballets
  • Uirapuru (1917)
  • Caixinha de Boas Festas(1932)
  • Danca da terra (1939)
  • Ruda (1951)
  • Genesis (1954)
  • Emperor Jones (1956)

• Music for Films
  • Descobrimento do Brasil (1938)
  • Green Mansions (1959) - (adapted as the concert work Forest of the Amazon)

• Works for Guitar
  • Choros no. 1 (1920)
  • Suite populaire Bresilienne (1928)
  • Twelve Etudes (1929)
  • Five Preludes (1940)
  • Concerto for guitar and orchestra (1951)

• Music for Piano
  • Ibericarabe (1914)
  • Suite floral (1918)
  • A Lenda do Caboclo (1920)
  • Sul America (1925)
  • Bachianas Brasileiras no. 4 (1930-40)
  • Francette et Pià (1932)
  • Valsa da dor (1932)
  • Ciclo brasileiro (1936-37)
    • Plantio do caboclo, The Peasant's Sowing
    • Impressões seresteiras, The Impressions of a Serenade Musician
    • Festa no sertão, The Fete in the Desert
    • Dança do Indio Branco, The Dance of the White Indian
  • Rudêpoema (1921-26)
  • Prole do Bébé, first series (1920)
  • Prole do Bébé, second series (1921)
  • Prole do Bébé, third series (1926) - LOST

External Links

• Villa-Lobos Museum - http://www.museuvillalobos.org.br/index0.htm
• Heitor Villa-Lobos Website - http://www.rdpl.org/villa
• The Villa-Lobos Website - http://villa-lobos.blogspot.com
• The Villa-Lobos and Brazilian popular music reference page - http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/Opera/9223/