Alvorada na floresta tropical W513 was commissioned by the Louisville Orchestra and written in 1953. In form it is an overture whose performances take eight to eleven minutes.Its form is predictable, though the music itself is anything but. Hushed...

In 1955, Heitor Villa-Lobos was commissioned by John Sebastian to write a harmonica concerto, and the piece was premiered in in Jerusalem on October 27, 1959, a month before Villa's death. Villa-Lobos was one of a number of eminent composers...

Villa-Lobos composed his Ninth Symphony in Rio de Janeiro in 1952. It was first performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Eugene Ormandy. The score is dedicated to Mindinha (Arminda Neves d'Almeida), the composer's companion for the last 23...

REPRINT SERIES Composed in 1913, this Suite for Strings is divided in 3 movements: 1. Tímida: Poco andante2. Misteriosa: Andantino3. Inquieta (Air de ballet): Poco allegretto

REPRINT SERIES Chôros No. 10 ("Rasga o Coração") is a work for chorus and orchestra written in 1926 by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. It is part of a series of fourteen numbered compositions collectively titled...

REPRINT SERIES The concerto was composed in 1954 in Rio de Janeiro. It was commissioned by Felicja Blumental, to whom the score is dedicated, and who gave the first performance at the Royal Festival Hall in London on 8 May 1955, with the London...

REPRINT SERIES Chôros No. 8 was composed in Rio de Janeiro in 1925, and the score is dedicated to the pianist Tomás Terán. It was premiered in Paris on 24 October 1927, at the Salle Gaveau, with the composer conducting the Orchestra...

REPRINT SERIES This Bachiana was dedicated to Villa-Lobos' superior, Minister of Education Gustavo Capanema. It is the one that comes closest to the exuberant contrapuntal density of the Choros series. At over 25 minutes, it is the longest Bachiana, and...

REPRINT SERIES The full title of this late piece by Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) is Fantasia Concertante for Orchestra of Violoncellos. Composed in 1958, it was recorded in the same year in NYC on November 30, 1958. Villa-Lobos conducted the Violoncello...

The tone poem/ballet Amazonas, composed originally for orchestra and published in 1917, was transcribed for piano by Villa-Lobos himself and published in a new version in 1932. Like Uirapuru, Amazonas subtitled “Brazilian Indian ballet” first...

REPRINT SERIES Chôros No. 6 is an orchestral work written between 1925 and 1942 by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. It is part of a series of fourteen numbered compositions collectively titled Chôros, ranging from solos for guitar...

Uirapuru is an orchestral piece with an elaborate program about the mythical Uirapuru bird in the Amazon jungle.  It's dedicated to ballet choreographer Serge Lifar. It is characteristic of the composer in blending Brazilian national inspiration...

It is the only Bachiana written in the form of an instrumental concerto. It is in fact a fully-fledged piano concerto about 30 minutes in length, and in four movements. As usual the four movements have a formal "Bachian" title in Portuguese, followed by...

EDITION ZEZA REPRINT SERIES Villa-Lobos wrote a total of 17 string quartets and was working on an eighteenth at the time of his death in 1959. None of the quartets appear as mere compositional exercises but rather as displays of Villa-Lobos's ability to...

Bachianas Brasileiras No. 2 is the second of a set of nine suites (1930–45) for various combinations of voices and instruments, in which contrapuntal and harmonic techniques in the manner of J.S. Bach are applied to themes of Brazilian origin. It...

As is the usual case with Bachianas Brasileiras, Villa-Lobos stressed the conjunction of Bach and Brazil by giving dual titles in Portuguese to each movement, one reflecting a Bach form, the other suggesting the Brazilian nature of the music. Originally...

Score and Set of Parts (5.5.4.4.3) Bachianas Brasileiras No. 9 is the only one that does not have double titles (one title based on classical music forms and the other relating to Brazil in some manner). This 10 minute work is in quintessentially Bachian...