Heitor Villa-Lobos

Heitor Villa-Lobos, Brazil's best-known classical composer, left a prolific body of work, of which the Bachianas brasileiras and the typical Chôros stand out. Born in Rio de Janeiro on March 5, 1887, he was immersed in music from an early age, with his father, librarian and amateur cellist Raul Villa-Lobos, teaching him the rudiments of the instrument. When the latter died in 1899, his grandfather took over, and the young musician completed his training with the piano and clarinet. He was soon drawn to the chorões, popular music ensembles that encouraged him to take up the guitar and discover Brazil's musical heritage. So it was that he set off on frequent trips across the country to collect traditional local songs, particularly in the north-east. In between his travels, he married pianist Lucilia Guimarães in 1913 and earned a living playing in cafés and restaurants. Although he studied at the School of Music at the University of Rio de Janeiro, he did not conform to the academicism that prevailed there. On his return from an ethno-musical expedition to the Amazon, he gave a triumphant recital in front of Arthur Rubinstein on November 13, 1915, making a name for himself in the public eye. In February 1922, he took part in the Semaine de l'Art Moderne in São Paulo, where he performed his works for three days, before making his first trip to Europe, where he returned to settle in Paris from 1927 to 1930. On his return, he organized a crusade in favor of orphéonic singing and worked as a conductor, organizing concerts in underprivileged areas and composing educational works. In 1932, the musician was appointed to the directorship of the Superintendence of Musical and Artistic Education (SEMA), a position he took to heart to reform the organization of musical life through concerts and musical education from early childhood. This period also saw him leave his first wife to follow his relationship with Aminda Neves d'Almeida, who accompanied him to the end of his life and defended his memory, notably through the museum dedicated to him. As for the composer, he dedicated most of his future works to her. From 1937 and the promulgation of theEstado novo, instituted by the autocrat president Getúlio Vargas, Villa-Lobos maintained close ties with the ruling power. He composed a number of nationalist works and headed a commission to define the country's anthem. On September 7, 1937, he directed a choir of thirty thousand children singing the national anthem and some of its pieces. The operation was repeated in 1943. In 1942, Villa-Lobos founded the Conservatory of Orphéonic Singing and began publishing his eleven volumes of folk music, Guia prático, before opening the Brazilian Academy of Music in 1946. In 1944, at the invitation of Leopold Stokowski, he travelled to the United States, where he conducted his works to great acclaim during the "Villa-Lobos Week". For Hollywood, he composed the music for the film Green Mansions (1959). In 1957, Brazil declared a "Villa-Lobos Year" to mark his 70th birthday. The composer, who died of cancer on November 17, 1959 at the age of 72, left an immense body of work estimated at 1,300 scores, including twelve symphonies, seventeen string quartets, operas, ballets, concertos, vocal and choral works, piano pieces, religious music and a large body of orchestral music. Drawing his inspiration from Brazil's rich musical tradition, which is as kaleidoscopic as its people, he demonstrated his independence by following the principles without copying them, and by breaking away from classical or modern music to create his own language. The series of Choros composed between 1920 and 1929 are the best example of this, comprising a wide variety of pieces for instruments or orchestra, including No. 1 for guitar, No. 7 for septet or No. 10 for choir and orchestra based on the melody "Rasga o coração". The Bachianas brasileiras, produced between 1930 and 1945, are also famous, especially No. 5 for soprano and eight cellos, which has undergone numerous versions and adaptations. Rudepoêma for piano, completed in 1926, is also a major piece in his repertoire, dedicated to Rubinstein and orchestrated in 1932. Dated 1917, Uirapuru is a symphonic poem adapted as a ballet, using Amazonian themes, very frequent in Villa-Lobos' work. He also composed the operetta Magdalena (1947), first performed on Broadway in 1948, directed by Jules Dassin and conducted by the master.

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