5004 – 3 Chôros

Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)

Arranged by Roger Harvey

Difficulty: Medium

Price: £25.00

Programme notes:

1. Mazurka- Chôros
2. Schottish- Chôros
3. Gavotta- Chôros

These three pieces are taken from ‘Suite Populaire Brazilienne’ originally written for guitar in 1912. The Philip Jones Brass Ensemble made the arrangements for a visit to Brazil in 1984.

When Villa-Lobos was 16 his father died and his mother forbad him to continue his musical studies. He ran away and travelled throughout Brazil listening to folk music. This influence, along with his love for Baroque style pervades most of his huge output of compositions. The suite Populaire Brazilienne is typical in its combination of classical dance forms and the Brazilian flavour of the Chôro.

Chôro is a term with various meanings in Brazilian popular music. It generally refers to urban serenade music for instrumental combinations that developed in Rio de Janeiro in the late 19th Century. The music they played was often of European origin and titles such as polka-chôro and valsa-chôro indicate the incorporation of the dance forms into a Brazilian national style.

Performance notes:

The Mazurka should be played in a steady lifting style, with a very expressive melody and rather melancholy, floated accompaniment.

The Schottish needs to be jaunty and rhythmic but should retain an elegant manner.

The Gavotta should flow and have a rhythmic bounce.