"Noted Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos holds a distinctive position as an international artist, and in Gerard Béhague's comprehensive study a truly critical assessment of his creative output is available for the first time. Villa-Lobos was a representative of the most natural and direct expressions of Brazil's popular culture, constantly 'in search of the Brazilian soul.' Indeed 'Alma Brasileira' was the subtitle he gave to the piano piece Choros No. 5, and the musical manifestations of that soul preoccupied him throughout his life. Expanded from a prize-winning essay, the present study provides a critical appraisal of the significant aspects of his life as well as an in-depth analysis of his musical language. With over fifty musical examples, a bibliography, and a discography, this book presents a thorough analysis of Villa-Lobos's composition, craftsmanship, and ideology that should appeal to musicologists, students, and all who have an interest in Latin American cultural and historical studies. Villa-Lobos once stated, 'I consider my works as letters that I wrote to Posterity, without expecting any answer.' This book provides readings of a selected number of such 'letters' and in the process attempts to give some answers regarding the uniqueness of the music of one of the most creative composers of the twentieth century." --Back cover.

Heitor Villa-Lobos’s Bachianas Brasileiras demonstrates how the composer achieved his own Brazilian neoclassical style in a group of works, nine suites in total, that is arguably one of the best examples of homage to J.S. Bach’s music in the twentieth century. In this book, the corpus of Bachianas Brasileiras is contextualized and critically examined according to its structure and intertextual aspects, as well as its relationship to Bach’s music, Brazilian popular music, and other works by contemporaries of Villa Lobos. A range of musical examples illustrate instances of the selected topics in the works, encompassing urban Brazilian popular music such as the choro, Brazilian northeast and afro rhythms, and citation of folkloric melodies. Dudeque’s comprehensive examination of the Bachianas Brasileiras will be invaluable for scholars and researchers of music theory and analysis.

"Tristorosa", a title derived by combining the Portuguese words for "sad" and "rose", was written by Heitor Villa-Lobos in 1910 when he was 23 years of age under the name of Epaminondas Villaba Filho. This pseudonym had also been previously used by his father, Raúl, a writer and amateur cellist. It is one of Heitor's earliest compositions and the style of the waltz is typical of those of the period.

Presents for the first time the complete surviving correspondence of the outstanding Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos [1887-1959], one of the most colourful figures in twentieth-century music. This complete edition of the letters of the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, collected for the first time in any language, details his stay in the Paris of the 1920s, his work in Brazil and the 1930s and `40s and his international travels as conductor of his own music. The letters also discuss commissions for ballets, concertos and other works. Lisa M. Peppercorn, who knew Villa-Lobos, is the acknowledged expert on the life and music of this colourful figure, and she gives a detailed commentary on the events giving rise to the letters. A chronology gives a detailed account of Villa-Lobos' life, which is thoroughly illustrated with photographs of the persons and places associated with Villa-Lobos, facsimiles of works and concert programmes, and so on. The letters thus form a guide to the most productive years of his life.

Appleby is a scholar and musician specializing in the music of his native Brazil, and in particular the work of Villa-Lobos. He augments the many biographies and musical analyses of the country's best known composer with insights from his own five decades of performing his music and interviews with his family and friends. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

This suite of eight pieces portrays the ethnic or folk character of a child's dolls, drawing freely on national folk tunes. The set is edited by the Villa-Lobos scholar David P. Appleby, who was honored by the Brazilian government with the Villa-Lobos Centennial Medal for his outstanding research into the life and music of the composer. Each piece has its own unique, sharply drawn character and is sure to appeal with an abundant degree of rhythmic sophistication.