Villa-Lobos - Bachianas Brasileiras No.2 1/4

This is marvellous music by the most important composer to come from Latin America and specifically Brazil. Villa-Lobos was a very prolific composer in that he wrote over 2,000 works in every genre known to the Western musical world. He wrote 12 symphonies, 17 string quartets, 5 piano concertos, a virtual ton of solo piano music, 6 operas and many other delightful works. This music is from a great cycle of works named "Bachianas Brasileiras", a Brazilian homage to J.S. Bach. He also wrote another cycle of marvellous music called "Choros". In his music he shows his great pride of being Brazilian. While the Bachianas and Choros are quite nationalistic, the symphonies tend to be more formalistic. It is as if Villa-Lobos was trying to show the world that he could write symphonies that were not nationalistic. The string quartets are every bit as important a cycle as those written by Shostakovich(15 quartets) and Bartok(6 quartets). They are a blend of Brazilian and neo-classical elements. Villa-Lobos also wrote elegant and delightful music for the solo guitar.

After so many years of ignoring his music, my eyes and ears have been opened to this incredibly marvellous music. Recently I purchased the complete symphonies on the CPO label, the complete string quartets on the Dorian label and the best recordings ever of the complete Choros and Bachianas Brasileiras on the BIS label. Please note that in the case of the quartets, these recordings can also be purchased on the Brilliant label, albeit without the bonus DVD offered in the Dorian set. The DVD is a complete performance of the Quartet No.1 and interviews with the performers. The BIS set comes with a bonus CD of the composer's complete solo guitar music. This bonus CD is a total delight!! In every way all these performances along with the complete piano concertos on the DECCA label are all top notch and have received rave reviews from all over the world!

This is great music! PLEASE ENJOY!