A MUSICIAN OF THE STREETS Chesstew! Ge x VIEW OF HEITOR VILLA-LOBOS (1887-1959) Fed 83 HEITOR VILLA-LOBOS was a musician ofthe streets’ seittaught, in love with his country and inspired by the folkloric heritage of Brazil, with its uniquely rich blend of African, Indian and Portuguese influences. From his earliest days he displayed a great interest in mmusc. At the age of six years, he began to study the viol atten, the piano, the clarinet and, last ofall, the cello and the guitar. He played melodies that he heard played by the street musicians, After the death in 1899 of his father, an amateur musician, he was forbidden to play the piano by his mother, who had decided that he must become a respectable doctor (or something similar). ‘This fact did tothing to make make him less interested in the popular musicians of Rio and the “choros’, with whom he loved to make music, to dance and to sing. The Bohemian life pleased him and. at 16 years of age, he decided that music ‘would be his profession. Atthe age of 18 he sold the precious books that he had inherited from his father, in order to travel first ofall in the north, then in the south, and lastly in the centre of Brazil. During this period he came into contact with the amacingly rich and colourful folk music of the various repons. He also composed his first songs. played the cello and made music with popular groups. He returned to Rio in 1912, with a great number of compositions (The opera taht, Sonatas etc.), and above all with a vast and profound knowledge of Afro-Brazilian music Itwas between 1908 and 1912 that he composed the Suite Populaire Brésilienne for guitar. It is in four movements: Mazurka-chéro, Schottisch-chéro, Valsa chiro, Gavotta-choro. A fifth movement, Chorinho. composed in Paris in 1923, was added later as an ending to the suite. At the heginning of the century, Furopeun waltzes, polkas, mazurkas and schottisches were in vogue in the salons of Brazil, but the influence of Brazil in this fuiteisulso obvious. The composer himself used the word ‘ehOro’ in his titles in order to recall the music which was played by the treet orchest In other respects, he took an interest in the great elasical composers, showing a passion for Bach, Wagner Pucciniand, latterly, Debussy and French Impressionism. Its this influence that characterises the sonorities of the Sexico mistico, which he wrote in 1917 for guitar. flute darinet, saxophone, harp and celesta, During the years that followed, he composed and ‘aperimented with quartets, symphonies. two sonatas for telloandasymphonic poem, (Amuzonas). He wasinvited todirect, as conductor, many orchestral concerts at Sab Paulo. But his own music was much criticised. In 1923 he went to Europe for the first time and lived {inParis, Bur it was not until he returned there in 1929 that he began to be well known and to see his music published a-Lobos loved the guitar. played well, and took pleasure init. During the preceding years, he had been impressed by the ‘sweet and round” sound of Miguel Ubbet when he had performed in Brazil. But above all it twas his friendship with Andrés Segovia, whom he fonsdered “an extraordinary artist’ that led him to write bis 12 Studies for guitar (Paris 1929} In the 12 Studies, which he dedicated to Andrés Segovia, Villa-Lobos’s contribution to the guitar is BY ELEFTHERIA KOTZIA Vil Lobos unique. He traces a new direction for the instrument, the ‘modern’ guitar. by discovering new horizons both technically and musically. We are able to separate the 12 studies into two groups, the first (1 to 6) dealing with a precise technical problem ~ arpeggios, chords, slurs ete = and the second (7 to 12) with the music itself as the prime consideration Villa-Lobos was not only a composer and an orchestral conductor, but also a teacher. On his return to Brazil, he dedicated more and more of his time and energy to music education in his country. He created choirs in the school and composed or transcribed works for large choi (12,000 voices!). For the use of the schools, he published his book Guia Pratico. based on the use of folkloric themes. He created the Villa-Lobos Prize for school choirs, held conferences on music education in Brazil, and, represented his country in congresses on pedagogic themes, He also travelled abroad in order to conduct (The Teatro Colén in Buenos Aires, the Venice Festival etc.) Villa-Lobos wrote Chéros No. for solo guitar in 1920, a ch6ro in really popular style, full of syncopations and caprice, Distribuigao de Flores, for guitar, flute and women’s choir, was first performed in 1937. But after a lengthy pause, he thought afresh about the guitar composing in 1940 the six Preludes, which are dedi PAULINO BERNABEto his wife, These are truly ballades’ or songs of love. The sixth Prelude (which its composer considered to be the best is lost Villa-Lobos had a special affection for the Preludes, Which are full of lyricism and Brazilian spirit, and gave them subtitles: No.1. ‘Lyrical Melody No.2. Capodscia Melody No.3. “Homage to Bach No.4. ‘Homage to the Brazilian Indians No.5. “Homage to Social Life In 1942 Villa-Lobos established the Conservatory of Music ‘Canto Orfeonico’. Towards the end of his life. the teaching of music occupied him above all else but he found the time to accept invitations to direct his works in many concerts in the USA. Paris. and London (the BBC exc.) In 1951 he wrote his last composition for guitar. the Fantasia Concertante for guitar and orchestra. After he added the cadenza, it became the well-known concerto, dedicated to Andrés Sego Quite apart from the r by Villa-Lobos are very important, for they css 10a profound knowledge of the instrument together with a completely new and universal sonority in an epoch where the repertoire was influenced by the Iberian origins and interpreters of the instrument. A musician of the streets’, an_auto-didact. a prolific and highly individual creator of 2,000 works. Villa-Lobos is the most important Brazilian composer of the century, as as being the best-known Latin American composer clarinet, Chéros: popular street ensembles (flute, trombone, guitars, cavaquinhos etc). Later, this name given to acertain type of musical improvisation (music that was graceful, happy with a harmony capriciously veering from major to minor. etc). sentimental, Sources, Grove's Dictionary, Larousse, Heitor Villa-Lobos and the Guitar (Santos, trans. Forde & Wade). articles by Nelson, Coelho, Gladstone, Pieters, Vidal, Azevedo. Savijoki, Duarte. Fuller, Ribouillaut. Publications: Guitar Review. Guitar International, Cahiers de la Guitare, ete.) WHEN REPLYING TO ADVERTISEMENTS SAY YOU SAW IT IN eve 1 (QonStarce Classical Guitar A New Record from Bedivere Records | RICHARD GORRARA plays TARREGA, H. VILLA LOBOS, TURINA, RODRIGO, ! 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