Alma brasileira, Ciclo brasileiro

Arguably the greatest composer born in all of Latin or South America, and certainly the region’s most prolific composer, Heitor Villa-Lobos came of age in early-20th-century Rio. It was a time of foment in world politics, and many South American countries looked to their arts to help express a newfound nationalist fervor. Villa-Lobos traveled widely in his youth, enough to absorb the major currents of European classical music. But the core of his craft, its brilliance and uniqueness, lay in his adherence to native Brazilian idioms. Initial cello lessons by his father enabled Villa-Lobos to participate in Rio’s vibrant popular music scene. That scene included the chorőes, a form of strolling serenade that Villa-Lobos was to incorporate years later into fourteen pieces for varying ensembles.
Chôro No. 5, subtitled Alma Brasileira (Brazilian Soul), is noteworthy for the languorous pathos and infectious, subtle syncopations of its main theme, which frames a contrasting march-like middle section. The piece was written in 1925 in Paris, where Villa-Lobos had established himself as both composer and conductor. Frenchman Darius Milhaud had recently achieved great success with Brazilian-inspired works, and the fortunate Villa-Lobos came onto the Parisian scene just as France renewed her fetish for all things exotic. (In fact, it was Villa-Lobos who personally introduced Milhaud to native Brazilian music when the latter traveled to South America in 1917.) Later works, such as the powerful Ciclo Brasileiro (Brazilian Cycle) of 1936, show Villa-Lobos’ increasing preoccupation with foreign, even antique influences. Of course, indigenous elements survive; witness the serpentine first theme of the Ciclo’s second movement or the tribal rhythms of the fourth. But now they are wedded to piano textures derived from French and, especially, Russian traditions. Debussy’s spirit hovers over the first movement, in which shimmering bell-like ostinatos ring out above a baritone melodic line. The massive chords of the middle movements reinforce Villa-Lobos’ reputation as a “Latin Rachmaninoff,” though the third movement quotes more directly from the Shrovetide Fair portion of Stravinsky’s Petrushka. In the finale, Indian dance rhythms compete with echoes of the medieval Dies Irae plainchant, brought to South America by Jesuit missionaries but which Villa-Lobos likely absorbed from Rachmaninoff (who treated the chant as a personal leitmotif).
At a time when the avant-garde held sway, Villa-Lobos did not shy away from traditionalism. Yet he delved more deeply into the Amazon’s folk music interior than any other musician of international stature. For bridging the gap between rainforest and concert stage, he will forever be a pivotal voice in modern music and a Brazilian national treasure.

(c) Jason Stell