Villa lobos works. Biography - Vila Lobos E., Golden Guitar Studio, Dmitry Teslov project, classical guitar, pieces for guitar, works for guitar, compositions for guitar, music archive, audio mp3 of guitar music

The Nine Brazilian Bahianas are a series of works inspired by Bach, which Vila Lobos saw as a universal source of folklore and musical beginning that unites all nations. Although Bahnan's compositions are somewhat of a digression into the work of the one who wrote the Shoro, they represent a valuable and sometimes very successful experience due to Bach's contrapuntal combination of different harmonic spheres and melodies of some regions of Brazil.
The Brazilian Bahiana No. 1 (1930) for cello ensemble begins with the "Introduction of Embolades" (folk melodies in very fast pace). The very first measures reveal a combination of the Brazilian beginning with classical harmony. In the seventh measure, a drawn-out and harsh melody in the spirit of Bach appears, but the initial rhythm is preserved. The second movement of this Bachiana, the prelude or modinha (melody), begins with a slow and languid main theme, modeled on Bach's arias with a wide and mournful melody: followed by piu mosso, which is a march built on marcato chords interrupted by sharp rhythmic figures. This part ends with a repeat main theme performed by the pianissimo cello solo to a great effect. Fugue (“Conversation”), according to the author, was written in the manner of Satiro Billar, an old seresteiro from Rio, a friend of Wil Lobos. The composer wanted to depict a conversation between four shoro musicians, whose instruments challenge each other for thematic primacy, sequentially asking and answering questions in a dynamic creschendo.

Bahian No. 2 for chamber orchestra was composed in 1930 and first performed with success in Venice eight years later. In the Prelude, from the very beginning, we have a very successful portrait of a capadocio (a resident of the common quarters of Rio at the end of the last century), as if he moves, swaying slightly, in the winding lines of Adagio. Aria ("Song of our land"), from which emanates candomble and poppy<мбами — ритуальными сценами в негритянском духе, — и Танец («Воспоминание о Сертане») с его речитативной мелодией, порученной тромбону, довольно сильно отдаляются от Баха, несмотря на модулирующее секвентное движение басов в этой последней части. Финальная Токката, более известная под названием «Prenqiuio Caipira» («Глубинная кукушка» — так назывались поезда узкоколейки) — очаровательная пьеса, описывающая впечатления путешественника в глубинных районах Бразилии. Вила Лобос в этой музыкальной жемчужине не ограничился изображением движущегося паровоза, но сумел создать чисто бразильское произведение с нежной мелодией. За пределами Бразилии эта пьеса, пожалуй, наиболее часто исполняемое оркестровое произведение композитора.

The Brazilian Bahiana No. 3 for piano and orchestra begins with a wide phrase adagio, a recitative character, performed by the piano. At the same time, a melodious melody looms in the basses of the orchestra, counterpointing the piano, which creates an atmosphere, perhaps too close to Bach. The second movement, “Fantasy,” although presented in the character of reverie (musical meditation), has the features of an aria, interrupted by dry chords up to the piu mosso section, from which the second episode begins, lively and cheerful, with a brilliantly virtuoso piano solo. "Aria" is written on a beautiful Brazilian theme in simple counterpoint, while "Toccata" recreates the atmosphere of the folk dances of the northern states of Brazil, while not deviating too much from Bach's developmental techniques and style.
The next work in this series was composed from 1930 to 1036 and exists in two versions: for solo piano and for large orchestra. In this Bahian, attention should be paid to the second part - a calm and concentrated chorale, as well as the ever-successful Miudinho. The dance character is expressed in the melodic pattern in sixteenths with an asymmetrical rhythm. In the number 1, a piercing and pathetic melody appears in a purely folk Brazilian spirit, entrusted to the trombone. A sustained pedal in the bass is reminiscent of the sound of a large organ in the manner of Bach.
The Brazilian Bahiana No. 5 for soprano and cello ensemble consists of only two parts: the Aria (“Cantilena”), composed in 1938 to a text by Ruth Valla-dares Correa, and the Dance (“Hammer”), written in 1945. The first is undoubtedly one of the masterpieces of Villa Lobos. The two measures of the introduction (fifths pizzicato) immediately convey the atmosphere of the guitar accompaniment of the serenades. Then a languid lyrical melody emerges, hovering above the pizzicato counterpoint, whose interweaving of voices is based on a slow measured movement in the spirit of Bach. From the number 7, at a more lively pace, a new melody in the style of old songs appears, which leads to the return of the thematic of the beginning in the form of a new exposition and ends with a repetition of the main theme. This piece, which has been recorded by all the outstanding sopranos, is a true marvel of orchestration. What a variety of sounds the composer managed to extract from the cello ensemble! The second movement, "The Hammer", is also the success of Vila Lobos, who, through the characteristic ostinato rhythm, creates an idea of ​​a curious type of song from the Northeast of Brazil. The main melody of this part is built on a musical version of the whistles and chirps of some birds of this area.

The only Bakhiana that does not go beyond the framework of chamber music, the Sixth, is written for flute and bassoon. The piece begins with a melancholic flute melody, which is joined in the second measure by a bassoon expounding a Brazilian theme, thus realizing an amazing fusion of shoro with Bach's style. Further, a large duet full of inspired ingenuity unfolds; the first part ends with a beautiful flute phrase with a bassoon counterpointing it. The second part - "Fantasy" - is richer both in form and in thought. It begins with a calm expressive theme, further developing to the tempo of agitato technically diverse and multicolored. Allegro should also be noted, achieving great power within the duo's sonic possibilities. A wonderful modulation brilliantly completes the work, once again revealing the richness of the composer's imagination.

Brazilian Bahiana No. 7 for orchestra, composed in 1942, consists of four movements: Prelude, Gigue ("Quadrille from the depths of Brazil"), Toccata ("Musical competition") and Fugue ("Conversation"). The last two parts are especially interesting. In Toccata, the main theme appears surrounded by funny sounds, light rhythms, sharp dissonant harmonies, as a challenge thrown by the sertana singer to his rival. This motive, performed by a mute cornet-a-piston, is also answered by a mute trombone. The musical writing of this movement is truly magnificent, both in its composing technique and in its figurativeness. This work ends with a four-voice fugue on a Brazilian theme, somewhat deviating from school rules; musically, it is one of the most striking pieces in the Bahian series.
In Bahian No. 8 for orchestra, the third movement, Toccata, should be noted. In it, from the second bar, the oboes outline the main theme of a scherzoenic character, reminiscent of batida katida, a singing dance from Central Brazil. The first exposition of the theme, more rhythmic than melodic, continues from number 1 to number 4. This movement somewhat unexpectedly ends with a coda of four measures of prestissimo.

At last we have reached the Ninth Bahian, written for an "orchestra of voices", the last piece in the series. This Bahian, extremely difficult to sing, represents the pinnacle of Wil Lobos's vocal skill. Very original effects, first tried in the Fifth Symphony, perfected in Nonet, in "Shoro No. 10" and in "Mand(2 Sarara), reach here an amazing virtuosity. The prelude, languid and mystical, is written for a b-voice mixed choir. Starting from number 91, polytonal harmonic writing is used up to the fermata that ends this part. The six-voice fugue develops until the appearance of a solemn powerful melody in the form of a chorale, continuing until number 14. New episodes appear with other rhythmic, harmonic and contrapuntal combinations. However, the thematic unity is maintained until the new exposition In the final cadence, all the performers sing to the vowel “o.” With this Bahiana, amazingly rich in variety of sounds, achieved by the amazing use of exclamations with onomatopoeic syllables and vowels, Vila Lobos ends a series of works that are universally recognized and loved.

Writing music is a necessity for me... I write because I can't stop writing.

E. Villa-Lobos

The first compositions of Villa-Lobos - songs and dance pieces by a twelve-year-old self-taught musician - are marked in 1899. In the next 60 years of creative activity (Villa-Lobos died on November 17, 1959 at the age of 73), the composer created more than researchers count up to 1500!) works in a wide variety of genres. He wrote 9 operas, 15 ballets, 12 symphonies, 10 instrumental concertos, more than 60 large chamber compositions (sonatas, trios, quartets); songs, romances, choirs, pieces for individual instruments in the heritage of Villa-Lobos number in the hundreds, as well as folk melodies collected and processed by the composer; his music for children, written for educational purposes for music and general education schools, for amateur choirs, includes more than 500 titles.

Villa-Lobos combined in one person a composer, conductor, teacher, collector and researcher of folklore, music critic and writer, administrator, who for many years headed the country's leading musical institutions (including many created on his initiative and with his personal participation), a member government on public education, a delegate of the Brazilian National Committee of UNESCO, an active figure in the International Music Council. Full member of the Academies of Fine Arts of Paris and New York, honorary member of the Roman Academy "Santa Cecilia", corresponding member of the National Academy of Fine Arts of Buenos Aires, member of the Salzburg International Music Festival, Commander of the Order of the Legion of Honor of France, doctor honoris causa of many foreign institutions - signs of international recognition of the outstanding merits of the Brazilian composer. For three, four full-fledged, respectable human lives, what Villa-Lobos did would be more than enough for one - amazing, full of supernatural energy, purposeful, selfless - life of an artist who, according to Pablo Casals, has become "the greatest pride of a country that gave birth to him."

The colossal heritage of Villa Lobos is difficult to see with a “single look”. It is huge and diverse, like Brazil itself. It has a virgin selva and sun-scorched sertans, the majestic course of mighty rivers and cascading waterfalls; in it you can hear the sound of the ocean surf, the restless bustle of Rio, the soft speech of the Creoles and the guttural dialect of the Indians. Like Brazil, it is different and one at the same time, and you need to listen to it in order to feel in this polyphonic element the features of a single appearance - something that bears the same characteristic, unique stamp of the general (Brazilian) and individual (the personality of the artist).

Most researchers who have written about Villa-Lobos note a certain evolution of his artistic style. “Villa-Lobos began as a post-romantic,” says Carlton Smith, “then he moved to impressionism and folklore, later turned to classicism in the style of Bach, and today synthesizes all these styles.

Oscar Lourenço Fernandis, composer, compatriot and friend of Villa Lobos, especially emphasizes the influence of Debussy and the French school on the formation of the musical language of the Brazilian master. “At first, Villa Lobos was strongly influenced by Debussy,” he writes, “like so many composers of the early 20th century, and not so much by Debussy himself, as by the musical atmosphere of his era. It would be more correct to speak of the influence of the French school, which dominated those years.”

Arnaldo Estrela does not solve this issue so unconditionally. In one of the articles of the 40s, he wrote the following: “In his youth, Villa-Lobos was a bold “modernist”. He fought for a long time for recognition in his homeland and beyond. Today we can already say that he did not join any current. He did not follow fashion, but only his fashion. In his early writings, influences are noticeable that no genius artist can escape. Some traces of romanticism, later - features of impressionism. Nevertheless, there are few composers in the history of music with such an individual personality as Villa-Lobos.

The modern composer and music critic Aurelio de la Vega considers it impossible to single out any permanent stylistic features in the work of Villa-Lobos. “The style of Villa-Lobos,” he says, “is eclectic in the material used and individual in the way that material is used; his style is abundantly luxurious and economically prudent at the same time, it is primitive in some cases and cunningly sophisticated in others. The composer appears to us now as a refined impressionist, now as a primitive barbarian of the rhythmic element; a neoclassicist in the Brazilian Bahian and a fierce nationalist in Shoros; the creator of melodies of enduring historical significance and the author of unbearable platitudes; a musician incapable of critically selecting his own musical ideas, and an artist with amazing creative intuition."

In each of the above statements there is, in our opinion, a large share of truth. It is true that in many of Villa-Lobos's writings we can easily detect post-Romantic, Impressionist or Neoclassical features. It is true that Villa-Lobos did not escape the influence of the French school. Aurelio de la Vega is right (to soften some extremes of expression) when he notes the outward stylistic diversity of the Brazilian composer's heritage, the well-known eclecticism of his style. The closest to the truth, it seems to us, is Arnaldo Estrela, who claims that Villa-Lobos did not join any European trend, that he followed only "his own fashion." However, this statement is too categorical, and therefore one-sided.

Indeed, the vast legacy of Villa-Lobos does not fit into the framework of any direction, and his style has not been uniform for more than half a century of his career. The composer wrote extremely easily all his life, in a wide variety of genres, for a wide variety of audiences, for certain performers and performing groups. In his youth, he composed continuously, not thinking about "style", but obeying only a compelling creative impulse. In his mature years, he had to constantly fulfill a huge number of orders for any kind and style of music that came to him from all sides, from numerous Brazilian and foreign societies, institutions, publishing houses, from the North American film industry, from various orchestras and individuals. (“A new quartet has already matured in my head for a long time, which was transferred to paper only because orders are taking up all the time,” people close to him heard such complaints more than once from the composer.) “Target setting”, naturally, played in important role in each case. It is not surprising, therefore, that far from everything in the legacy of Villa-Lobos is artistically equivalent, not everything equally bears the stamp of his artistic individuality, the signs of his characteristic composer's style. Villa-Lobos often has works written at the same time side by side, which differ not only in their artistic level, but also in the formal features of style. This kind of "eclecticism" has nothing in common with, say, Stravinsky's extremely intellectual "stylistic eclecticism" as a consciously chosen method. The “eclecticism” of the Brazilian master is spontaneous, spontaneous, arising not from poverty, but from creative abundance and generosity.

At the beginning of his career, Villa-Lobos, under the influence of Italian opera, which reigned supreme in Brazil until the beginning of the 20th century, was fascinated, though not for long, by the ideals of verismo. The features of melodrama, affectation, melodic lines with obvious traces of Puccini's melos, characteristic of verists, are easy to detect in the composer's early operas. His period of “Wagnerianism” was just as short, expressed more in a passion for the Wagnerian orchestra and harmonies than in following the aesthetic principles of the author of “Tristan”. (Villa-Lobos himself spoke more than once about such hobbies: “As soon as I feel that I have fallen under someone’s influence, I shake myself up and free myself from it”? 0;.) At one time, Villa-Lobos paid tribute to modernist hobbies , which found expression in such works as, for example, Trio No. 3 for violin, cello and piano (1918) or Trio for oboe, clarinet and bassoon (1921) - pieces of a grotesque nature, replete with sharp polytonal effects. (Later, Villa-Lobos took a very clear position of rejection of modernism, but in the late 10s and early 20s, the composer was not averse to making a sensation with his “extreme” aspirations on occasion.) On the whole, if we start from the predominant figurative sphere , the dominant circle of moods, in his early compositions Villa-Lobos appears as a composer who continues the romantic tradition of his teachers Braga and Oswald and at the same time adheres to the national orientation of Nepomusenu and Nazaré.

Incomparably stronger was the influence of Impressionism on Villa-Lobos, whose characteristic stylistic features were reflected in many of the composer's works: lush multi-colored harmony with abundant use of chromatism and altered consonances; typically "impressionistic" piano texture, extremely detailed, sometimes refined; subtle coloring of the orchestration, often with unexpected, but always artistically justified comparisons of timbres that are distant in their acoustic nature and preference for small instrumental compositions. (It is worth giving some examples of typical instrumental compositions at Villa-Lobos: flute, oboe, saxophone, harp, celesta and guitar - "Mystic Sextet", 1917; flute, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, bassoon, celesta, harp, percussion and choir - Nonet, 1923; flute, guitar, female choir - ballet "Greek Motifs", 1937; saxophone, two horns and string group - "Fantasy", 1948.) Impressionism attracted Villa-Lobos, undoubtedly, and the fact that was closely connected in the work of such, for example, highly valued composers as Maurice Ravel or Manuel de Falla, with national folklore traditions. This side of impressionism, inherited from late romanticism (although not typical of European musical impressionism in practice), was especially close to the artistic principles of Villa-Lobos himself. It is characteristic that the work of the expressionists of the New Viennese school, and in particular the representatives of atonal and serial music, which had a noticeable resonance in Latin America, on the contrary, was (except for certain purely technical methods) alien to the Brazilian composer precisely in his national facelessness. Music is non-national, "cosmopolitan" Villa-Lobos did not recognize. He himself always - both in a small piece for the guitar and in a large symphonic canvas - remained a truly Brazilian artist.

The features of impressionist writing were most fully reflected in such works by Villa-Lobos as the now universally known and performed by the world's largest pianists (starting with Arthur Rubinstein) the piano suite "The World of a Child" (1918-1926), rightly considered one of the pinnacles of the composer's piano art, in which colorful harmony, vivid sonic representation, grace of form, filigree finishing of details and brilliant pianistic technique are combined with melody and rhythm typical of Brazilian music; as no less famous, also the piano cycle "Siranda" - 16 musical genre sketches on popular folk themes, aptly called by the pianist Juan Soza Lima "Brazilian" Pictures at an Exhibition "; as, further, "Little Stories" for voice and piano (1920), Quartet with women's choir (1921), Nonet (1923), "Dedication to Chopin" (1949); Fragments that are impressionistic in style are found in the ballets of Villa-Lobos, in some Shoros and a number of other compositions.

The work of Villa-Lobos of a later period (30s-40s) is characterized by the tendencies of neoclassicism, which found expression in his peculiar “neo-Bachianism”, in his appeal to the style of classical polyphony of the 18th century, which invariably attracted the composer. The neoclassicism of Villa-Lobos was most clearly and consistently manifested in his famous "Bachianas brasileiras of Brazil" (Bachianas brasileiras, 1930--1945) - a cycle of nine suites written for different compositions. The "Brazilian Bahian" is not an outward pastiche of Bach's music. Villa-Lobos does not copy Bach's devices ("Bachisms with falsehoods," as Prokofiev aptly remarked about Stravinsky's one-sided stylized "Bachianism") and, again using Prokofiev's expression, "does not accept Bach's language as his own." Bach's beginning is manifested here in more general aspects: in the very principle of unfolding the thematic material of big breathing melodies, expressive cantilenas, "sprouting" from the initial intonation core (an excellent example of such "sprouting" is the cello "Prelude" from "Bakhiana" No. 1); in the richness of the polyphonic fabric, which combines the natural and independent movement of voices with a clear harmonic vertical (even in such Bahian as No. 6, written for flute and bassoon - the composer's favorite and often used form of instrumental duet); in the interpretation of the fugue not as an abstract constructive scheme, but as a kind of “musical genre” capable of embodying any modern images (the fugue from “Bakhiana” No. 1, entitled “Conversation” - “Conversa” can serve as an excellent example: it has all the attributes academic fugue and at the same time quite modern in language and national in style); finally, in the use of instrumental and vocal forms typical of the art of Bach and his time, such as fugue, prelude, chorale I, toccata, aria, gigue.

However, it is necessary to emphasize the following: despite everything that has been said about the impressionism and neoclassicism of Villa-Lobos, the composer has never - neither in the listed works, nor in any other periods of creativity - was either an impressionist or a neoclassicist in the European sense of these concepts. . The aesthetics of impressionism, with its cold intellectualism, refinement, contemplation, admiration for the self-sufficing beauty of color, with its excursions into the exotic and stylized archaism, the desire to dematerialize the real world (“echoes and reflections of delightful incorporeal visions”, as defined by V. Karatygin), was organically alien to the powerful, temperamental, "earthly" nature of the Brazilian composer. In Impressionism, Villa-Lobos was attracted by the novelty of artistic expressive means, free from academic conventions, and he really made extensive use of these means. However, all impressionistic means and devices mean nothing if they express something non-impressionistic in the way they are used. Only the genre nature of "The World of a Child" or "Sirand", not to mention the full-blooded, "tangible" materiality of their images, their emphatically bright national color, makes these works the antipodes of "Prints" or "Nocturnes" by the founder and classic of European musical impressionism .

No less far was Villa-Lobos from the aesthetic ideal of neoclassicism - a movement artificial in nature and rationalistic in method, elitist and closed, openly declaring its indifference to the demands of real life and modern man. Anyone who has heard Villa-Lobos' "Brazilian Bahianas" cannot but feel in them a completely different, lively, quivering world shimmering with all colors than in the perfect in form, but soullessly cold, "dehumanized" neoclassical constructions. The neoclassicism of the Brazilian Bahian was not for Villa-Lobos a preselected method, much less an end in itself; it naturally arose from the composer's artistic intention to translate some typical aspects of Brazilian musical folklore into strict forms of Bach's polyphony (this conscious attitude to the national already in itself decisively separates the Bahianas from the aesthetics of neoclassicism, which, on the contrary, was characterized by no less conscious disregard for the national topics). Seeing the universal musical principle in Bach's art, Villa-Lobos argued that the forms and laws of this art are applicable to any national music?? (it should be clarified: to any national music of the European tradition or genetically related to it, like Brazilian). The experience of the Brazilian Bahian has brilliantly confirmed this thesis. Villa-Lobos finds unexpected yet artistically compelling correspondences between classical constructions and Brazilian music forms. So, "Preludes" from "Bahiana" No. 1, he gives the characteristic features of the most popular Brazilian lyric song modinha; the "Arias" from the 3rd and 8th "Bahian" are also sustained in the modigny style. The composer writes the impetuous "Introduction" from "Bahiana" No. 1 in the form of an embolade - a comic patter song of the northeastern states, and puts the subtitle "Rural Quadrille" to "Gige" from "Bahiana" No. 7. Other subtitles are no less characteristic: “Dezafiu” (competition of two musicians-singers) - to “Toccata” from “Bahiana” No. 7, “Song of the Peasant” (“Prelude” from “Bahiana” No. 2), “Song of Sertana” ("Choral" from Bahiana No. 4), "Country Engine" ("Toccata" from Bahiana No. 2) is a charming, superbly orchestrated piece depicting the movement of a small narrow-gauge train in the interior of the country. This pronounced national flavor of the Brazilian Bakhian, combined with the principle of the classical forms of European music consistently carried through the entire series, constitutes their main distinguishing feature and makes the Bakhian a kind of work unique not only in Brazilian but also in world musical literature. The neoclassicism of the "Bahian Brazilians", therefore, is not a departure from the present: to the past, which is so characteristic of the representatives of this movement. On the contrary, it is the national that serves in this case as the bridge that connects the past with the present. All this makes the Brazilian Bahiana a work equally national and international, and it is no coincidence that the Brazilian Bahian remains the most popular composition of Villa-Lobos both in Brazil and abroad.

If the influence of the verists and Wagner on the young Villa-Lobos was superficial, and his modernist hobbies were transient, if impressionism and neoclassicism as stylistic trends in the composer's work can only be spoken of conditionally enough, then with much more reason one can define the art of Villa-Lobos as romantic. The national-original character of his music, "local color", appeal to national history and folklore; chanting of nature; legends, fairy tales, legends as plots; the absolute predominance of program music over “pure” music (even in the symphonies, Villa-Lobos strives for plot-genre specificity, in particular, placing characteristic program headings on the scores; for example, his First Symphony is called “Suddenness”, Second - “Ascension”, Third , the Fourth and Fifth make up something like a trilogy and are called, respectively, "War", "Victory", "Peace", the Sixth Symphony is entitled "Mountains of Brazil", the Seventh, composed in 1945, is called the Odyssey of Peace by the composer, and the Tenth; with soloists and choir, written in a literary text); a penchant for one-part "free" forms, combining the features of sonata allegro and variation (symphonic poems, fantasies, orchestral and chamber miniatures); tendency to cyclic associations (an abundance of suites); in harmony - a noticeable increase in the role of harmonic colorfulness; in melodics - the desire for continuity of development, for the "openness" of melodic lines (a classic example is "Aria" from "Bakhiana" No. 5); in the orchestra - the brightness of color, individualization and dramatic expressiveness of pure timbres - all these most characteristic features of the art of Villa-Lobos are at the same time the cornerstone of musical romanticism.

But not only these features make the music of the Brazilian master romantic. There is something in it that lies deeper than the external, formal signs of a romantic style. Romanticism as a trend in Western European art belonged to history already at the time of the birth of Villa-Lobos, but there is an eternal romanticism of art, romanticism as a special “form of feeling”, as a “way of experiencing life”, in the words of A. Blok. This is an exaltation of spirit, full of a greedy desire for life, an exhilaration of tone, a poetic sublimity of speech, a penetrating lyricism of expression, a special ability to communicate with one's art, to be sociable with listeners - a skill inherent in romantic artists who appeal not to reason, but to feeling. - all these are properties of the romantic perception of the world, and all this is not only present in the music of Villa-Lobos, but constitutes its very soul. Such romanticism is inherent in young nations and young cultures, and it is not at all identical with the romanticism of the "old" peoples of Western Europe, who have already reached the thousand-year mark of their cultural history - romanticism turned to the past, with its "world sorrow" and nostalgia, discord with reality. and a retreat into the world of fairy-tale fantasy, with its already unrealizable idea of ​​a “return to nature” a la Rousseau, to simple life and folk customs. On the contrary, the romanticism of a young, only beginning to recognize itself and seeking its own expression of culture, such as the culture of Latin America, is characterized not by “discord with reality”, but by its affirmation; not “world sorrow”, but optimism calling for vigorous activity; not admiring the distant past, but looking to the future. This romanticism is full of that “joyful redundancy” that Alejo Carpentier sees in the very reality of Latin American life, with its redundancy, colorfulness, a bizarre mixture of different historical eras, different cultural styles, an abundance of impressions, each time new for the artist experiencing them. Art, designed to reflect this "wonderful reality" of Latin America, Carpentier calls the art of "baroque", and if we accept the concept of the Cuban writer, then we have the right to attribute the term "baroque" to the art of Villa-Lobos. Indeed, is it really his fourteen “Shoros”, this gigantic sound panorama of Brazil, a panorama in which, as bizarrely as in the most “wonderful reality” of the continent, the Stone Age is mixed with the twentieth, primordial chaos with the orderliness of modern civilization, refined the art of troubadours with primitive "barbaric" rhythms, where Europe, Africa and America sing the same song to the accompaniment of Indian maracas, African tambors and Creole guitars - is this not the most abundantly luxurious, "excessive" baroque that Carpentier speaks of?

In the last ten or twelve years of his life, Villa-Lobos created a lot of symphonic and chamber-instrumental music - symphonies, concertos, string quartets. Some researchers (Vasku Mariz is one of them) consider this period to be a creative decline caused by the composer's illness and the lack of normal working conditions due to continuous foreign tours. Although talking about the decline of creative energy in the face of the fact that unprecedented for the XX century. The productivity that has always distinguished Villa-Lobos is hardly appropriate, but it is true that, with the exception of some quartets, his compositions of recent years have not had that unconditional success that accompanied the previous creations of the composer. This can be explained by the well-known stylistic unevenness of the works of Villa-Lobos in the second half of the 40s - 50s. In some of them, there is a tendency to excessive verbosity, heaviness (as, for example, in the Eleventh Symphony, the thematic material of which, according to one critic, would be enough for three or four symphonies) or, on the contrary, to equally extreme conciseness, lapidarity of the statement. These compositions are more academic in form, more subordinate to the solution of formal and constructive tasks, their texture is sometimes unnecessarily complicated, and the national flavor is far from being revealed as clearly as in Shoros or Brazilian Bahiani. If, on the whole, the musical language of the works of Villa-Lobos of the last period of creativity is more consistent, in the words of Vasco Mariz, with the urbanized Brazil of the 40s and 50s than with the backward Brazil of the composer’s youth, then, on the other hand, one cannot but admit that the former freshness , immediacy, emotionality of musical speech to some extent was lost. The desire for universalism, especially manifested in the chamber compositions of Villa Lobos (Trio No. 5, 1945; Duet for Violin and Viola, 1946; String Quartets No. 9 - 17, 1945 - 1957), the desire to keep up with the latest aesthetic installations of modern music, which did not always coincide with the aesthetic position of the composer himself, inevitably required certain sacrifices. A younger contemporary of Villa-Lobos, who outlived him by 20 years, another of America's greatest composers, Mexican Carlos Chavez, embarking on the path of modernist conformism, sacrificed his national image in the name of a certain universal artistic concept, and ultimately the high social significance of his art (about which Chavez's late period works, his numerous statements about music and art, and the biography of the composer himself, who almost completely withdrew from the musical and social life of his country, after he led and led it for a quarter of a century, speak). Villa Lobos did not believe in the possibility of "pure universal art", rightly arguing that on any truly high work of art there will always be a more or less noticeable stamp of the artist's personality, his nationality, his time, the artistic atmosphere surrounding him, and that a work devoid of these qualities , is not universal, but cosmopolitan. The composer himself never mixed these categories. Just as in the writings of the early period of his work he did not confine himself to narrow, provincial nationalism, so in the works of his later years he did not completely break away from the national soil and invariably remained himself. Evidence of this is his last quartets (which Villa-Lobos himself considered his highest creative achievement), and in particular the adagio and scherzo of most of them, belonging, according to Arnaldo Estrela, “among the most peculiar, sometimes lively and sharp, sometimes performed sadness or fascinating and passionate, the creations of our great composer. In the same place, Estrela rightly points out that it is impossible to see the national flavor only in those works of Villa-Lobos, where folk melodies and rhythms are directly used.

I would like to summarize the work of the great composer Villa-Lobos in the words of Arnaldo Estrela: “The deeply national, truly folk character of the music of Villa-Lobos,” he writes, “is manifested in its deepest essence, in the transfer of the attitude and national aesthetics of the Brazilian people.”

Thus, it should be noted that only having undergone the influence of various cultures and eras, the culture of Brazil acquired its originality and originality, its colorfulness and richness. And all this extravaganza of feelings and colors, emotions and visions is fully embodied in the famous Brazilian carnivals, which give us the brightest palette of shades of Brazilian musical art in the best possible way.

BIOGRAPHIES OF GUITARS - COMPOSERS (classics)

VILA-LOBOS HEITOR

IN ila-Lobos E itor (Heitor Villa-Lobos), March 5, 1887 - November 17, 1959, Rio de Janeiro, - an outstanding Brazilian composer, connoisseur of musical folklore, conductor, teacher. Took lessons from F. Braga. In 1905-1912 he traveled around the country, studied folk life, musical folklore (recorded over 1000 folk melodies). From 1915 he performed with author's concerts.

In 1923-30. lived mainly in Paris, communicated with French composers. In the 1930s, he did a great job of organizing a unified system of musical education in Brazil, founded a number of music schools and choirs. Heitor Vila-Lobos is the author of special teaching aids ("Practical Guide", "Choral Singing", "Solfeggio", etc.), the theoretical work "Musical Education". He also acted as a conductor, promoted Brazilian music in his homeland and in other countries. He received his musical education in Paris, where he met A. Segovia and to whom he later devoted all his compositions for the guitar. The compositions of Vila-Lobos for guitar have a pronounced national character, modern rhythms and harmonies in them are closely intertwined with original songs and dances of Brazilian Indians and blacks. Head of the National Composer School. Initiator of the creation of the Brazilian Academy of Music (1945, its president). Developed a system of musical education for children. 9 operas, 15 ballets, 20 symphonies, 18 symphonic poems, 9 concertos, 17 string quartets; 14 "Shoros" (1920-29), "Brazilian Bahian" (1944) for instrumental ensembles, an innumerable number of choirs, songs, music for children, arrangements of folklore samples, etc. - in total over a thousand of the most diverse compositions.
Creativity Vila-Lobos - one of the pinnacles of Latin American music. In 1986, the Vila Lobos Museum was opened in Rio de Janeiro.

The initial acquaintance with music took place under the guidance of his father, a widely educated person. He taught his son to play the cello and clarinet. Heitor briefly attended music classes at St. Peter in Rio de Janeiro, later - courses at the National Music Institute. However, Vila-Lobos never received a systematic education - his relatives did not have enough money, and the young man had to think about earning money.
The future of the composer was determined by his innate musicality. From his youth, Vila-Lobos played in shoro - small street ensembles, communicated with folk musicians. In order to collect and study musical folklore, folk rituals, fairy tales, legends, Vila-Lobos took part in the folklore expedition of 1904-1905; the following trips around the country took place in 1910-1912. Influenced by Brazilian folk music, Vila-Lobos creates his first major cycle for chamber orchestra, Songs of Sertana (1909).

Significant for the musician was the acquaintance with the composer D. Millau and pianist Arthur Rubinstein.
In 1923, Vila-Lobos received a government scholarship, which enabled him to live for several years in Paris. There he meets with many outstanding musicians, including M. Ravel, M. De Falla, V. d "Andy, S. Prokofiev. By this time, Vila-Lobos was fully formed as an artist, his works are widely known not only in Brazil , but also in Europe.Away from his homeland, feeling especially keenly his connection with Brazilian art, among other works, he completes a huge cycle of "Shoro" - a kind of creative refraction of Brazilian folklore.

In 1931, Vila Lobos returned to Brazil and immediately became actively involved in the musical life of the country. He gave concerts in sixty-six cities in almost all of its provinces. On behalf of the government, organizing a unified system of music education in the country. Heitor Vila-Lobos creates the National Conservatory, dozens of music schools and choirs, introduces music into school curricula, believing that choral singing is the basis of music education. In the same years, his textbook “A Practical Guide for the Study of Folklore” appeared - an anthology of small choral songs for two or three voices a cappella or accompanied by piano, which is considered a genuine encyclopedia of Brazilian musical and poetic folklore. On the initiative of Vila-Lobos, in 1945, the Brazilian Academy of Music was opened in Rio de Janeiro, of which he remained president until the end of his life.
The composer also carried out extensive concert activities, promoting Brazilian music - he performed as a conductor in his homeland, in the countries of South and North America, and in Europe. Recognition came to him during his lifetime. In 1943, Vila-Lobos was awarded an honorary doctorate from New York University, and in 1944 he was elected a corresponding member of the Argentine Academy of Fine Arts. In 1958, he received the "Grand Prix" for the disc with the suites "Discovery of Brazil".
The range of Vila-Lobos' creativity is very wide - from monumental symphonic paintings to small vocal and instrumental miniatures. His works (more than a thousand of them) have a pronounced national character. Vila-Lobos believed fervently in the transformative power of music; that is why he devoted so much energy to his musical education, to his musical and social activities, and to the popularization of the achievements of world musical culture. His best creation is the Brazilian Bahian cycle. Nowhere before has the composer achieved such an organic combination of national origins and classical forms, such heights of inspiration.
With the guitar, which Vila-Lobos played beautifully and could even be considered a virtuoso on this instrument, bright pages of his work are connected. The first works for the guitar were transcriptions of pieces by classical and romantic composers. Among the original compositions of Vila-Lobos created subsequently are the Concerto for guitar and orchestra, the cycle of miniatures "Twelve Etudes", "Popular Brazilian Suite", 5 preludes, transcriptions for two guitars, etc. Many of these works are inspired by the art of the outstanding contemporary guitarist A. Segovia and dedicated to him.

Heitor Villa Lobos (1887 - 1959)

Villa Lobos remains one of the great figures of his contemporary music and the greatest pride of the country that gave birth to him.
P. Casals

The Brazilian composer, conductor, folklorist, teacher and musical public figure Villa Lobos is one of the largest and most original composers of the 20th century.

"Villa Lobos created Brazilian national music, he awakened a passionate interest in folklore among his contemporaries and laid a solid foundation on which young Brazilian composers were to erect a majestic Temple"

W. Maryse.

The future composer received his first musical impressions from his father, a passionate music lover and a good amateur cellist. He taught young Heitor how to read music and how to play the cello. Then the future composer independently mastered several orchestral instruments. At the age of 16, Vila Lobos began the life of an itinerant musician. Alone or with a group of itinerant artists, with a constant companion - a guitar, he traveled around the country, played in restaurants and cinema, studied folk life, customs, collected and recorded folk songs and melodies. That is why, among the great variety of the composer's works, a significant place is occupied by folk songs and dances arranged by him.

Not being able to get an education in a musical educational institution, not meeting the support of his musical aspirations in the family, Villa Lobos mastered the basics of professional composer skills mainly due to his great talent, perseverance, determination, and even short-term studies with F. Braga and E. Oswald.

Paris played an important role in the life and work of Villa Lobos. Here, from 1923, he improved as a composer. Meetings with Ravel, M. de Falla, Prokofiev and other prominent musicians had a certain influence on the formation of the composer's creative personality. In the 1920s, he composed a lot, gave concerts, performing every season in his homeland as a conductor, performing his own compositions and works by contemporary European composers.

Villa Lobos was the largest musical and public figure in Brazil, he contributed in every possible way to the development of its musical culture. Since 1931, the composer became the government commissioner for music education. In many cities of the country, he founded music schools and choirs, developed a well-thought-out system of musical education for children, in which a large place was given to choral singing. Later, Villa Lobos organized the National Conservatory of Choral Singing (1942). On his own initiative, in 1945, the Brazilian Academy of Music was opened in Rio de Janeiro, which the composer headed until the end of his days. Villa Lobos made a significant contribution to the study of the musical and poetic folklore of Brazil, creating a six-volume "Practical Guide for the Study of Folklore", which has an encyclopedic value.

The composer worked in almost all musical genres - from opera to music for children. The huge heritage of Villa Lobos, numbering over 1000 works, includes symphonies (12), symphonic poems and suites, operas, ballets, instrumental concerts, quartets (17), piano pieces, romances. In his work, he went through a number of hobbies and influences, among which the influence of impressionism was especially strong. However, the best works of the composer have a pronounced national character. They summarize the typical features of Brazilian folk art: modal, harmonic, genre; often the basis of the works are folk songs and dances.

Among the many compositions of Villa Lobos, 14 Shoro (1920-29) and the Brazilian Bahian cycle (1930-44) deserve special attention.

"Shoro", according to the composer, "is a new form of musical composition, synthesizing various types of Brazilian, Negro and Indian music, reflecting the rhythmic and genre originality of folk art." Villa Lobos embodied here not only a form of folk music making, but also a cast of performers. In essence, "14 Shoro" is a kind of musical picture of Brazil, in which the types of folk songs and dances, the sound of folk instruments are recreated.

The Brazilian Bahian cycle is one of the most popular works by Villa Lobos. The originality of the idea of ​​all 9 suites of this cycle, inspired by the feeling of admiration for the genius of J.S. Bach, lies in the fact that there is no stylization of the music of the great German composer in it. This is typical Brazilian music, one of the brightest manifestations of the national style.

The works of the composer during his lifetime gained wide popularity in Brazil and abroad. Nowadays, in the homeland of the composer, a competition bearing his name is systematically held. This musical event, becoming a true national holiday, attracts musicians from many countries.

Original entry and comments on

In 1923-30. lived mainly in Paris, communicated with French composers. In the 1930s, he did a great job of organizing a unified system of musical education in Brazil, founded a number of music schools and choirs. Heitor Vila-Lobos is the author of special teaching aids ("Practical Guide", "Choral Singing", "Solfeggio", etc.), the theoretical work "Musical Education". He also acted as a conductor, promoted Brazilian music in his homeland and in other countries. He received his musical education in Paris, where he met A. Segovia and to whom he later devoted all his compositions for the guitar. The compositions of Vila-Lobos for guitar have a pronounced national character, modern rhythms and harmonies in them are closely intertwined with original songs and dances of Brazilian Indians and blacks. Head of the National Composer School. Initiator of the creation of the Brazilian Academy of Music (1945, its president). Developed a system of musical education for children. 9 operas, 15 ballets, 20 symphonies, 18 symphonic poems, 9 concertos, 17 string quartets; 14 "Shoros" (1920-29), "Brazilian Bahian" (1944) for instrumental ensembles, innumerable choirs, songs, music for children, arrangements of folklore samples, etc. - in total over a thousand of the most diverse compositions.

The initial acquaintance with music took place under the guidance of his father, a widely educated person. He taught his son to play the cello and clarinet. Heitor briefly attended music classes at St. Peter in Rio de Janeiro, later - courses at the National Music Institute. However, Vila-Lobos never received a systematic education - his relatives did not have enough money, and the young man had to think about earning money.

The future of the composer was determined by his innate musicality. From his youth, Vila-Lobos played in shoro - small street ensembles, communicated with folk musicians. In order to collect and study musical folklore, folk rituals, fairy tales, legends, Vila-Lobos took part in the folklore expedition of 1904-1905; the following trips around the country took place in 1910-1912. Influenced by Brazilian folk music, Vila-Lobos creates his first major cycle for chamber orchestra, Songs of Sertana (1909).

Significant for the musician was the acquaintance with the composer D. Millau and pianist Arthur Rubinstein.

In 1923, Vila-Lobos received a government scholarship, which enabled him to live for several years in Paris. There he meets with many outstanding musicians, including M. Ravel, M. De Falla, V. d "Andy, S. Prokofiev. By this time, Vila-Lobos was fully formed as an artist, his works are widely known not only in Brazil , but also in Europe.Away from his homeland, feeling especially keenly his connection with Brazilian art, among other works, he completes a huge cycle of "Shoro" - a kind of creative refraction of Brazilian folklore.

In 1931, Vila Lobos returned to Brazil and immediately became actively involved in the musical life of the country. He gave concerts in sixty-six cities in almost all of its provinces. On behalf of the government, organizing a unified system of music education in the country. Heitor Vila-Lobos creates the National Conservatory, dozens of music schools and choirs, introduces music into school programs, believing that choral singing is the basis of music education. In the same years, his textbook “A Practical Guide for the Study of Folklore” appeared - an anthology of small choral songs for two or three voices a cappella or accompanied by piano, which is considered a genuine encyclopedia of Brazilian musical and poetic folklore. On the initiative of Vila-Lobos, in 1945, the Brazilian Academy of Music was opened in Rio de Janeiro, of which he remained president until the end of his life.

The composer also conducted extensive concert activities, promoting Brazilian music - he performed as a conductor in his homeland, in the countries of South and North America, in Europe. Recognition came to him during his lifetime. In 1943, Vila-Lobos was awarded an honorary doctorate from New York University, and in 1944 he was elected a corresponding member of the Argentine Academy of Fine Arts. In 1958, he received the "Grand Prix" for the disc with the suites "Discovery of Brazil".

The range of creativity of Vila-Lobos is very wide - from monumental symphonic paintings to small vocal and instrumental miniatures. His works (more than a thousand of them) have a pronounced national character. Vila-Lobos believed fervently in the transformative power of music; that is why he devoted so much energy to his musical education, to his musical and social activities, and to the popularization of the achievements of world musical culture. His best creation is the cycle "Brazilian Bahian". Nowhere before has the composer achieved such an organic combination of national origins and classical forms, such heights of inspiration.

With the guitar, which Vila-Lobos played beautifully and could even be considered a virtuoso on this instrument, bright pages of his work are connected. The first works for the guitar were transcriptions of pieces by classical and romantic composers. Among the original compositions of Vila-Lobos subsequently created are the Concerto for guitar and orchestra, the cycle of miniatures "Twelve Etudes", "Popular Brazilian Suite", 5 preludes, transcriptions for two guitars, etc. Many of these works are inspired by the art of the outstanding contemporary guitarist A. Segovia and dedicated to him.