HEITOR VILLA-LOBOS

8urn - Kio de Janeiro. Urazil

5 Murch 1887
Died - Rio de Janeiro. 17 N'Ol'cmber 1959

Lobos in hi, dcchion to go 10 Pari in IY:!. It v.a<;

preumed that he wa.:; going thert: to stud Furopcan
music. but he made it known th.1I he was gomg there
10 show European mukhlll what he had done. I lis
lIlusic cau.:;ed excitement in Puris. lll1d 311ractcd \\orld
wide allenlion 10 him.
ViLia-Lobos lived in Puri until 1929. It was luting thl.,
period that he met Andrs Segovia. Thl! result of their
meeting WU Ihilt Villa-lobos would compos!! some of
the moS! beautiful m usic in the modern gui t ar
rcpcrtory.
U pon his return to Br:uil. V iIlu-Lobos played an
important part i n the nati o n al camp:li gn to pro\ ide
ge neral education. In 1932 he w a s a p p o i n te d
Supcf\risor and Director o r Musical Education i n
Brazil. and became a n I!duc;lIor and iIIuslrator. He
invellled revolutionary idea for musical instruction
and was especially interested in the de,relopmcnt of
communit), singing. In recognition of his achievemcnb
lind i n s t ruction i n cho rul singing. the Federal
Government or Brazil in 1943 made him Director of
the newl ... founded Conservatorio Nacional de Canlo
Orfeonico.
Villa-Lobos rcceived an i m pre s sive number of
honours, In addition 10 u citll tion presenteJ 10 him
by Ihe Mllyor of New York ror d istinguished and
exce pti onal service. he was a w ar d e d h o nora r
degrees from se"eral universities. was lin Officer of
the Legion of Honour in France. and an ho n orary
member of the French Institute. He wa" an honorary
member of the American Academy of Arts and
letters. and of the AccaJelllia de Santa eeili :! in
Rome. He was itbo President or t he Orazilian
Academy.

Hcilor V illaLobos began his musical studies at the

age of \;i): with hh falher. a w riter and amateur
musician. E n couraged by hi s father. he learnt to
play cello. guitar. clario.;! and piano. Aher h i s
father'S death. whcn he "it) cleven years old. Villa
Lobos bccflmc almo 1 ent irely self-taught in all
aspects of muic. AI II vcry earl)' age he hcgan \0
im provizc 011 popular Bralilian melodies. bUI his
first original composi tion was a piece for t he guillir.
Pa n qucca. lie began 10 play Ihe guitar in one of Ihe
small music groups kno" " as 'choro:;, itnd ilt the
nge o f seventeen played the cello in t h e a t res.
c i nClTlll:'. c"barets and ol h e r small a n d l a rge
orchestras in Rio. About this time he enrolled in
thc Na t i onal Institute of Music. He had intended to
slUd)' compositio n but soon found that he did not
like form:ll study. and lert the institute. For five
years he tra\elled in Brnil. studying the music of
the people and aborbing the varied landscape and
p ic t urc .:;q ue s tyle or lik. and recogn izing it as
so mething of hi own which he would incorporate
into hi) cumpoitions.
In 1928 Villa-Lobus met the piani':;l Anur Rubinstein

.tnd th!! compos!!r DlIrius r-.Iilhaud. This meeting. and

hh lo\!! uf th!! mu.:;ic of Dcbuss}. innuenccd Vi lla-

Villa-Lobo.:; compocd ilround 2.000 \\orks. The best

known of h i s guitilf works arc Suite Populaire
Brcsiliennc (writlcn in IYI2. publishcli in IY55):
Twelve Studies (written in 192Y. puh lished in 1952):
Five Preludes (written in 1940, puhlished in 1954): and
Concer1o for Guitar and Small Orchestra (wrillcn in
1951).

S[U:t.'EO i\IUSIC
CMros No.1.
Fin Irclud.
SUlle Populair Brcilicnne.

ESC 7418

ES('(lnl-):;
ESC 6737. ('7.1R.679;\.679-1.

Twchc Studies.

r-.l tic Sextet (1917).

Concerto for Guitar and Sm:lll Orchestra.

6S17
ESC fr679

rSC6671)

I:SC 79tH

SElEcn:n RECORDINGS
Concerto for Guitar and
Sm:llI OrchCSlfa: t-'turindo Almeida. (Capl lol) /I.latcr S6
VillalOhus Music for the p:lIll\h Guitar
t-1urindo Almeida.
(Capllol) Ma\Ir 'U9Manuel HafTUeco: Etudes..
Suite Populalrc.
Turnabout TV .\.Jbi6
VOX FSM S3.().J3
Barrueco plays The MUSIC of Br3lil.
Guitar MUSIC of VilIaL.obos and Torroba: Julinn Bream
HMV Cl P 176)
Scxtcto MIMico. Bachianas Brasllclras No.5: Bcrptrdm.
"roptlus PRCD 9011
Juhan Brca m pla)'S Villa Lobo,:
RCA S8 6..51
Concerto. Irdudc. SUIte Popul:uro!).
217

T\\chc Elude & SUlle Pnpulairc:

RCA RL 12 .199

Julian Bream.

Eduardo Fermindcz:.5 Preludc. 12 Smdic,. Decca 4\ol 111/11

E;l.II IJ...67571
Elim FisJ. play.. VillaLobus elc.
Saga SolS3

Guil3r luic of VillaLotxb: Eric Hill.

Phili 65O.l 131

Lilgoya pla VillaLobos & Sor.

Thoma MUllerPenng: 5 r'rdudc ... 12 Etudc.

Firehlrd K32Y 20lM
Konrad Rag)nig: Prdudc.

Supraphon 111J(l.ltJ

FJorill:ge de la Guiulre: 20: Bnllilian Iuic:

Turibio Santos.
Twelvc Stu dic): TurihlO Sant.

Erato STU 70913

Erato STU 1007.
Erato STU 7(}.l96

Conccrto/Se"tuor ;l.1liqueJ
Preludc: TurihlO $anlos.
Maria Lhiil 530 Marcos: 12 Studic).

Erato STU 70566

Frmata 3051039

Michael Troster: 5 Prdudcs. 12 Studies. Suile r'opul:tire. CIC.

John William,; Concerto
Narciso Yepc.s: 5 "reludes.

2U

("upclla (TH 2052 CD

CBS 7(361)
DGG 2530 lolO

SEu:cnm READING
VillaLotx>-..
GUJlar Re\'1c:IOo. No.21. 1957
I \lel VitlaLoho<;: Scgo\'ia.
GUIlilr Rc\'iew No.22. 1959
GUiUH Re\iew No.29. 1966
VillaLobus.
VillaLoN: hlrcel Beaufib (French edition).
"tW. 1%7
VilJaLohos.
Guitllr & lute. October 19S0
Voiccleading: To\\ards II betlcr undeNtanding: Scharrer.
S()undbo..'1rd. Novcmher 1980
Guit:tr Player. July 1981
Vil1aLobQ).

Heitor VillaLobo!;; and the GUitar:

Turibio Santos (trans, Forde & Wade).
wisc Owl Muic. 11)85
Grosse Fuue VillnLahos: Brian I l odel.
Guitar Re"iew. Fan 1987
ViIlaLnOos and Ihe Guilar: Rrian I lodei.
Guitar Review. Winter Il)l-IS
The Guitar WorJ. of IldlOr VillaLobo!.: Jukka Sa\ ijoki.
(juit;lr Intern:llion..1. -1a)'. June, July.
Auust. Seplem1x:r II)S7. and M:Hch. April llJAA,
Omnihuli 1'ress. Il)tW
VillaLubos: Li 1'ppcR"Orn.
\/jllaLoNK Riogr.lphy: Simon Wrighl,
Oxrord University Press. 1992

HWUf Ilfla-Lobos

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