Villa-Lobos: Works

Heitor Villa-Lobos' Bachianas Brasileiras Number 4, W264 and W424, is the fourth piece in his set Bachianas Brasileiras of nine suites for various combinations of instruments and voices composed between 1930 and 1945. In these pieces he adapted a number of baroque harmonic and contrapuntal procedures to Brazilian music. Most of the movements in each suite have two titles, one in the baroque tradition and the other in Brazilian style. Bachianas Brasileiras Number 4 was written for piano between 1930 and 1941, and was orchestrated in 1942; its four movements are: Prelúdio (Introdução), Coral (Canto do sertão), Ária (Cantiga), and Danza (Mindinho).

O polichinelo (The Punch) is the seventh of Villa-Lobos' eight piece set A prole do bebê (The baby’s family) No.1, W140, which was composed in 1918 and portrays the different personalities and attributes of dolls. The work was recorded by Arthur Rubinstein who often used it as an encore.

Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) was a Brazilian composer, and perhaps the best-known and most significant Latin American composer to date. He wrote more than 2,000 works including numerous orchestral, chamber, instrumental, and vocal pieces. His music was influenced by both Brazilian folk music and by stylistic elements from the European classical tradition, as exemplified by his Bachianas Brasileiras. His preludes for guitar, written in 1940, are important works in the guitar repertory, and were inspired by Andrés Segovia.

Tutorials

A Lenda do Caboclo Slow

Bachianas Brasileiras

No. 4 1st movement Prelude or Preludio

A prole do bebê

1. Branquinha - The Porcelain Doll (Requested from Brazil)

5. Negrinha - The Wooden Doll (Requested from Australia)

6. A Pobrezinha - The Rag Doll (Requested from Brazil)

7. O Polichinelo - Punch

Tristorosa Slow

Sheetmusic at imslp.org