Heitor Villa-Lobos
Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887–1959) was a Brazilian composer whose vast output fused native folk and popular music with European classical craft. His Bachianas Brasileiras remain among the most recognised works of twentieth-century South American art music.
A prolific writer for orchestra, chamber groups, voice and solo instruments, he absorbed Portuguese, African and Indigenous Brazilian elements alongside the Baroque and Romantic traditions. The nine Bachianas Brasileiras freely adapt Bachian counterpoint and form to Brazilian melody and rhythm; No. 5, with its celebrated aria, is among his most performed pieces.
More intimate scores such as Distribuição de Flores and the song Modinha show the same lyrical national voice in chamber and vocal settings. His guitar works, including the Études and Preludes, also secured a lasting place in the classical repertory.
Compositions by Heitor Villa-Lobos appear on
A Classic Case of Love
Soprano Helen Noonan and guitarist Peter Constant present an intimate programme of love songs spanning centuries, from folk and early music to Schubert, Satie, Villa-Lobos and the twentieth-century stage and songbook.