The Classical Music Book

281

American soprano Lucy Shelton

performs Bachianas brasileiras No. 5,

which is scored for soprano and cellos,

at the Symphony Space in New York

City, in 2010.

See also: St. Matthew Passion 98–105 ■ The Art of Fugue 10 8 –111 ■ Bartók’s String Quartet No. 5 270–271

composer also introduces elements

of program music, using the

instruments of the orchestra to

portray scenes such as a small

steam train traveling through the

Brazilian landscape in Bachianas

brasileiras No. 2.

Structure and influences

The suites of Bachianas brasileiras

are very varied in instrumentation.

Some are for full orchestra, No. 1 is

for an orchestra of cellos, and No. 6

is for just two instruments, flute

and bassoon. The most famous of

the suites is No. 5, for eight cellos

and a soprano soloist whose part

combines wordless vocalization

with lines from Brazilian poetry.

Further Brazilian elements in

Bachianas brasileiras include music

heard by Villa-Lobos on his travels

and a street urchin’s song from Rio,

together with guitarlike pizzicatos

on the cello and soulful solos for

the saxophone and trombone. The

influence of Bach spans not only

his suites but also his Musical

Offering, a collection of canons

and fugues, and the Two-part

Inventions, short keyboard pieces.

Bachianas brasileiras was part

of a wider movement among Latin

American composers, combining

classical orchestration and forms

with certain elements, rhythms,

and themes drawn from the old

native music of Central and South

America. This movement spawned

a range of approaches, from the

music of composers such as

the Mexican Silvestre Revueltas,

with its rhythmic drive and vivid

orchestration, to the works of

Argentinian composer Astor

Piazzolla, where classical elements

are applied and adapted to the

tango. Villa-Lobos led the way

in showing how a blend of South

American and classical elements

could work and popularized

its results all over the world. ■

Heitor Villa-Lobos Heitor Villa-Lobos was born in^

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1887.

Resisting family pressure to

become a doctor and preferring

the company of musicians, he

left home to travel through Brazil,

supporting himself by playing

the cello and guitar.

Between 1923 and 1930, he

spent most of his time in Paris,

where he absorbed European

music and composed prolifically,

completing his series Chôros,

a collection of instrumental

and choral pieces in 1929. After

returning to Brazil the following

year, he produced patriotic pieces

for use in music education, as

well as the Bachianas brasileiras.

After 1945, he traveled widely

again, building a vast body of

work—more than 1,500 pieces,

including 12 symphonies and

17 string quartets. Long after

his death in 1959, at the age

of 72, he has remained Brazil’s

best-known composer.

Other key works

1919–1920 Carnaval das crianças

1920–1929 Chôros

1953 Harp Concerto in A minor

1959 Yerma

MODERN 1900 –1950

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