Villa-Lobos Anyone?

[SonicMan46]

Dave, don't know if you saw my write-up of the Damocles CD, but I liked it, too--a lot..............

Hello Bruce - excellent review on the CD set above - thanks for the link - I completely agree w/ your comments and find your summary much more spirited and enjoyable than the one I attached from Fanfare - congrats and I hope others will be stimulated to purchase this offering - Dave 

[bhodges]

Thanks, Dave!  Not having heard much of Villa-Lobos's output (except for some of the better known works), this recording was a real eye-opener.  And of course, the three performers did a beautiful "sales job." 

--Bruce

[Mirror Image]

It's so good to see VL get some attention. I think too often he's just overlooked by many classical fans. If people could just hear his music outside the Bachianas Brasileiras, I think many would find so much more to enjoy.

[snyprrr]

I'm looking into Genesis and Erosion. Are they very Modernistic?

[Mirror Image]

I'm looking into Genesis and Erosion. Are they very Modernistic?

Yes, they're definitely Modern works. Genesis has kind of slow start but when it builds up to one of it's main climaxes it feels like the jungle just came alive and you're being hunted. It's quite a savage work. Erosao is a whole different animal altogether, but just as enjoyable. It's feelings are much more subtle and atmospheric. I think these are two of VL's finest orchestral works. As usual with VL, the orchestration is top-notch.

[The new erato]

I'm looking into Genesis and Erosion. Are they very Modernistic?

Erosion seems a little inappropriate now; given the current situation in Brazil.

[Mirror Image]

Erosion seems a little inappropriate now; given the current situation in Brazil.

Who cares? It's a great piece of music that's fun to listen to. Should we all stop listening to Bruckner just because Hitler liked his music?

[The new erato]

Who cares? It's a great piece of music that's fun to listen to. Should we all stop listening to Bruckner just because Hitler liked his music?

Not what I said. Inaproppriate doesn' mean stop. And anyway; the current landslides in Brazil won't last forever, then it will be appropriate again. But relax, it's only music.

[snyprrr]

But relax, it's only music.

Music Can Kill!!!!

[The new erato]

A new recording in the pipeline it seems.

[Mirror Image]

A new recording in the pipeline it seems.

I'm pretty skeptical of a German orchestra playing Latin American music. There's something about this that just sounds disingenuous to me, but who knows, this could very well be an excellent recording.

[Mirror Image]

I would be very interested in hearing what people here think about VL's Choros? What are your favorites?

Here is a list I pulled from Wikipedia:

Introduction to the Chôros, for guitar & orchestra (1929)
Choro No. 1 for guitar (1920)
Choro No. 2 for flute and clarinet (1924)
Choro No. 3 "Pica-páo" (Woodpecker) for clarinet, bassoon, saxophone, 3 horns, and trombone, or for male chorus, or for both together (1925)
Choro No. 4 for 3 horns and trombone (1926)
Choro No. 5 for piano (1925) "Alma brasileira" (Brazilian Soul)
Choro No. 6 for orchestra (1926)
Choro No. 7 "Settimino" ("Septet") for flute, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, bassoon, violin, and cello, with tam-tam ad lib. (1924)
Choro No. 8 for orchestra with 2 pianos (1925)
Choro No. 9 for orchestra (1929)
Choro No. 10 for chorus and orchestra (1926) "Rasga o coração" ("Tear Out My Heart")
Choro No. 11 for piano and orchestra (1928)
Choro No. 12 for orchestra (1929)
Choro No. 13 for 2 orchestras and band (1929) now lost
Choro No. 14 for orchestra, band and chorus (1928) now lost
Chôros Bis, for violin & cello (1928)
Quinteto em forma de chôros for flute, oboe, cor anglais, clarinet and bassoon (1929); arr. flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon (1951)

All of the Choros were composed in the 1920s, a decade before the famous Bachianas Brasileiras. What's interesting is Choros Nos. 13 & 14 are lost. What a shame! I wonder what these scores sounded like? I wonder how the manuscripts got lost? This seems like something that has happened with many of VL's compositions.

[Sid]

I have got the Naxos recording of Choros 8 & 9 & have heard the 10th on radio in a broadcast of the "last night of the proms" in 2009. Good to see that one of the world's top orchestras were putting Villa's music out there, in his anniversary year. The 10th was quite a savage work, the choral part reminded me a bit of Walton's Belshazzar's Feast. The 8th is also quite wild, I like the cross rhythms in it. The 9th is more refined, lyrical and tuneful, perhaps reflecting the influence of Paris where Villa lived during the '20's. I also like the use of traditional Brazilian percussion instruments in both. There will be a full Villa chamber recital at the Sydney Conservatorium later this year, I hope to go. One of the works will be the Quinteto em forma de chôros, which I have not heard as yet. I have the following Naxos chamber disc of his music, which I like a lot, because most of the music is quite relaxing and has a kind of breezy chill out feel. The most serious work on the disc is the Duo for Violin & Viola, which sounds more like Hindemith than Villa, a work which has many deja vu "Baroque" moments. I also like the song transcriptions on this disc. Overall, this music has an impressionistic, neo-Baroque/Classical and late Romantic vibe. It's clearly apparent that, like most composers of the time, his music was strongly rooted in ideas and styles explored by composers of the past...

[asin]B000FVQUSK[/asin]

[Mirror Image]

I have got the Naxos recording of Choros 8 & 9 & have heard the 10th on radio in a broadcast of the "last night of the proms" in 2009. Good to see that one of the world's top orchestras were putting Villa's music out there, in his anniversary year. The 10th was quite a savage work, the choral part reminded me a bit of Walton's Belshazzar's Feast. The 8th is also quite wild, I like the cross rhythms in it. The 9th is more refined, lyrical and tuneful, perhaps reflecting the influence of Paris where Villa lived during the '20's. I also like the use of traditional Brazilian percussion instruments in both. There will be a full Villa chamber recital at the Sydney Conservatorium later this year, I hope to go. One of the works will be the Quinteto em forma de chôros, which I have not heard as yet. I have the following Naxos chamber disc of his music, which I like a lot, because most of the music is quite relaxing and has a kind of breezy chill out feel. The most serious work on the disc is the Duo for Violin & Viola, which sounds more like Hindemith than Villa, a work which has many deja vu "Baroque" moments. I also like the song transcriptions on this disc. Overall, this music has an impressionistic, neo-Baroque/Classical and late Romantic vibe. It's clearly apparent that, like most composers of the time, his music was strongly rooted in ideas and styles explored by composers of the past...

I like to think of Villa-Lobos as an Impressionist with a firm understanding of Neoclassical ideas and how integrate his own native folk music into his own vision. You clearly can't pigeonhole VL so easily though. One minute he might have you thinking the music at hand will be melancholic, but then turn right around and cut you to pieces with those savage Brazilian rhythms. He wasn't afraid to experiment either. A lot of his music uses unorthodox methods in developing the work's structure. He wasn't a sonata form kind of composer in other words. He followed his own voice and that's one thing I admire about him. There's a famous Stravinsky quote where he said something to effect that whenever he hears a bad piece of music it always ends up being a piece by Villa-Lobos. In my estimation, I think Stravinsky didn't understand VL's art all that well anyway. I do think, however, that VL was a very humble musician and, quote me if I'm wrong, but I haven't read anything where VL cut down another composer's music. He constantly found new paths of inspiration and composed to the end of his life.

[The new erato]

I'm pretty skeptical of a German orchestra playing Latin American music. There's something about this that just sounds disingenuous to me, but who knows, this could very well be an excellent recording.

seing that this is a choral disc, sung by SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart  under Marcus Creed, I don't find that particularly illuminating.....

And isn't these discs; which you have praised, played by German orchestras?:

[snyprrr]

I listened to SQ No.11, one of my V-L favs. After the serial experiments of 8-10, V-L returns here to some really nice, lush Brazilian sonorities. Starting with No.12, the SQs begin to get more and more abstract, it seems, so, No.11 truly is a kind of summing up. Anyone care to comment on No.11?

[Grazioso]

Music Can Kill!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/v/HWiO5SFoh8g

[Mirror Image]

seing that this is a choral disc, sung by SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart  under Marcus Creed, I don't find that particularly illuminating.....

And isn't these discs; which you have praised, played by German orchestras?:

Yes and I'm not that convinced by most of the performances in the VL symphony box set on Cpo, but, alas, it's all we have until something more authentic comes along.

[Sid]

I'm in two minds here about "authenticity." I can understand where those who prefer Brazilian performers play Villa's music are coming from. I have Christina Ortiz playing some of his piano works on disc, and she is great. By the same token, I have some Naxos discs of V-L done by American ensembles and even the Hong Kong Philharmonic, and to my ears, they sound excellent & very idiomatic, as the critics would say. I look forward to going to some concerts here in Sydney where local musicians will have a crack at his stuff also, and I can't see why they won't be top notch also. Music is an international language, once musicians learn that language, they can play a wide variety of repertoire expertly...

[Mirror Image]

I'm in two minds here about "authenticity." I can understand where those who prefer Brazilian performers play Villa's music are coming from. I have Christina Ortiz playing some of his piano works on disc, and she is great. By the same token, I have some Naxos discs of V-L done by American ensembles and even the Hong Kong Philharmonic, and to my ears, they sound excellent & very idiomatic, as the critics would say. I look forward to going to some concerts here in Sydney where local musicians will have a crack at his stuff also, and I can't see why they won't be top notch also. Music is an international language, once musicians learn that language, they can play a wide variety of repertoire expertly...

I agree, Sid, music is an international language. Perhaps my opinion was a bit too specific and not realistic. The LSO are comfortable playing Nielsen one minute and Copland the next. Music can be performed in a myriad of different ways and this is the great thing about music.