University of Cincinnati

Home , Darius Milhaud, Francisco Mignone

UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI

Date:______

I, ______, hereby submit this work as part of the requirements for the degree of: in:

It is entitled:

This work and its defense approved by:

Chair: ______

The Three Wind/Choral Works Of Heitor Villa-Lobos: Quatuor, Nonetto, and Choros no. 3

A document submitted to the

Division of Graduate Studies and Research of the University of Cincinnati

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS

in the Division of Ensembles and Conducting of the College-Conservatory of Music

15 August 2006

Dwayne Corbin 220 Shasta View Dr. Redding, CA 96003

[email protected]

B.M.E., Wheaton College Conservatory, 1997

M.M., Central Washington University, 1999

Dr. Terence Milligan, advisor and committee chair

Abstract

The compositional style of Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887 – 1959) changed

significantly between 1921 and 1925, years that, not coincidentally, also included the

composer’s first international travel. This change can be summarized in general by saying that Villa-Lobos turned away from the strong influence of French impressionism and

European modernism in favor of creating a new style of music that reflected the character of Brazil. He named this style Choro, after the Brazilian folk music that he performed as a youth.

In this document these claims are systematically supported through a detailed

investigation of three works for winds and chorus: Quatuor, Nonetto, and Choros no. 3.

These pieces were selected because they are Villa-Lobos’ only works for chorus and

winds, were composed within four years of each other, and are historically significant

compositions within the larger body of works by Villa-Lobos. After a description of the

European, and specifically French, influences in Brazilian culture during the time of

Villa-Lobos’ youth, each composition is examined to find how various musical elements

point to either the French or Brazilian style. The composer’s use of rhythm, form, color,

and instrumentation are individually described, and connections are made between the

three choral/wind works to show that they exemplify, in miniature, the larger changes that Villa-Lobos made during these five years. iii

The music examples from the following compositions are reprinted with the permission of Èditions Max Eschig and Durand and their parent company BMG Music Publishing:

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my wife, Caryn, who has sacrificed so much over the past six years to allow us to pursue our dreams and most recently, given me the time to earn a doctorate degree. Her support, encouragement, and editing skills have been wonderful. She has accomplished much as a professional, though her greatest achievement was the carrying and birth of our son, Andrew, who has given us great joy in spite of the challenges that an infant creates while trying to complete a project such as this! I also extend many thanks to my advisor, Dr. Terence Milligan, who oversaw both this project and the lecture recital of the Nonetto that preceded it. Dr. Milligan has an incredible depth and diversity of knowledge and has been of particular assistance in elevating the writing style of this paper. My mentor at CCM, Rodney Winther, has been a wonderful teacher and friend over the past three years, and is a man whose vision and energy for wind music inspires me daily. I hope that in my career I will be able to have at least a portion of the skills and experiences of these two men. I would also like to thank the members of the CCM Chamber Players and my ad hoc choir who presented a concert of the Nonetto in January of 2006. Their labor on this difficult piece resulted in quite an enjoyable performance, and their insights taught me much about Villa-Lobos.

Table of Contents

List of music examples ………………………………………………………………………….. 2

Introduction: ……………………………………………………………………………………... 3

Chapter 1: The French and Brazilian Musical Influences of Villa-Lobos’ Youth ……………… 8

Chapter 2: Quatuor …………………………………………………………………………….. 18

Chapter 3: Nonetto……………………………………………………………………………… 34

Chapter 4: Chôros no. 3………………………………………………………………………… 63

Chapter 5: Synthesis and Conclusions …………………………………………………………. 72

Bibliography …………………………………………………………………………………… 76

Appendix A: Wind Ensemble Compositions by Heitor Villa-Lobos .…………………………. 79

Appendix B: Errata List for Nonetto, Based on the Published Scores and Parts.……….....…… 80

Appendix C: Issues Concerning the Choral Writing in the Nonetto Including Practical Suggestions to Facilitate Modern Performances……………...……...…………………. 81

Appendix D: Issues Concerning the Percussion in the Nonetto ....……………………..……… 84 Practical suggestions to facilitate modern performances; instrument definitions and appropriate substitutes; mystery of listed but unused instruments; part divisions for three players.

List of Music Examples

Chapter 2: Example 1: Debussy Nocturne measure 2 and Villa-Lobos Quatuor II measure 89 Example 2: Quatuor II m. 77, choir only Example 3: Quatuor III m. 107 – 111 Example 4: Quatuor II, measure 96 Example 5a and b: Quatuor I measures 69-71 and III measure 3, b theme, celesta Example 6: Quatuor II measure 56, celesta Example 7: Quatuor I measure 187, harp Example 8a: Quatuor I measures 38 – 41 Example 8b: Quatuor II measures 63-64 Example 9: Quatuor III measures 33, celesta, and 172 – 173, harp Example 10: Quatuor I measures 90 - 93 Example 11: Quatuor II measures 1 -2 and Nonetto measures 22 - 23 Example 12: Comparison of similar themes from Quatuor, Nonetto and Chôros no. 7 Example 13a-c: The main themes of the Quatuor, present in 43.5% of the total measures

Chapter 3: Example 1: Multiple-percussion set-ups for Stravinsky, Milhaud, and Villa-Lobos Example 2: Nonetto, rehearsal 49: Timpani and xylophone (1 player) Example 3: Nonetto, rehearsal 19 and 24: reco-reco Example 4: Nonetto, rehearsal 7, voices only Example 5: Nonetto, rehearsal 9, voices only Example 6: Nonetto, rehearsal 49, voices only Example 7: Nonetto, final seven measures Example 8: Nonetto, rehearsal 40 Example 9a and b: Nonetto, rehearsal 11, piano, and 16, harp Example 10a: Nonetto, rehearsal 2: score order altered to highlight rhythmic layers Example 10b: Nonetto, rehearsal 31 Example 11: Nonetto, measures 1 – 3, woodwinds Example 12a and b: Nonetto, rehearsal 1 and 17, clarinet Example 13: Nonetto, rehearsal 13

Chapter 4: Example 1: Choros no. 3, initial presentations of Nozani-ni and Enama kocê themes. Example 2: Choros no. 3, rehearsal 5, chorus Example 3: Choros no. 3, rehearsal 4, chorus Example 4: Choros no. 3, rehearsal 15 to 16, rhythmic reduction of choral parts

Introduction

The years from 1922 to 1925 proved to be a time of many new experiences, new

opportunities, and changes for Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887 – 1959). He traveled outside of Brazil

for the first time, lived in the vibrant musical culture of Paris for a year, and saw his music begin

to be recognized internationally. During this time he was also part of a community of modernist

Brazilian artist who began to turn their backs on the strong European influences that had for so long dominated Brazilian culture. These artists searched for ways to embrace their home country and infuse its rhythms, color, and language into their creations.

Prior to 1922, the music of Villa-Lobos reflected that of the European composers whose

works he had been studying on his own as well as performing regularly as a cellist in the Teatro

Municipal. This Rio de Janeiro company performed classical and modern European works,

including the Brazilian première of Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, and hosted

Sergey Diaghilev and his Ballet Russe in both 1913 and 1917. The French influence on Villa-

Lobos grew due to his study of d’Indy’s composition book Cours de composition musicale and

his friendship with Darius Milhaud when Milhaud lived in Brazil from 1918 to 1920. Villa-

Lobos used French titles, expression marks, and texts during the decade of the 1910s and often 4

imitated impressionistic style, using scales, harmonies, and instrumentation similar to those used

by Debussy and d’Indy. In a large part, Villa-Lobos was motivated by the desire to become accepted by the Brazilian elite and critics who mostly ignored Brazilian classical composers.

In 1922, Villa-Lobos presented his Quatuor and other works at the “Week of Modern

Art” in São Paulo, a festival organized by modernist artists to raise public awareness of the

achievements of Brazilian writers, composers, and visual artists. In the Quatuor Villa-Lobos

sought to give an impression of daily Brazilian life, though the work largely sounded like French

salon music and closely imitated the final movement of Debussy’s Nocturnes with its impressionistic colors, program, and use of textless choir.1 As in Debussy’s work, Villa-Lobos

considered the choir to be no more than an additional instrumental color, relegating it to a

subservient role to the instruments, even going so far as to place the choir off-stage in the

première.

Interestingly, this French influence began to wane when Villa-Lobos actually visited

Paris for the first time in 1923. He went to Paris stating “I do not go to France to study. I go to

show them what I have done.”2 Here he found great success in several concerts of his music,

some in partnership with the pianist Arthur Rubenstein, who championed Villa-Lobos’ works.

The Parisian public and critics received him well; in particular, the Nonetto: Impressâo rapida de

todo o Brasil received acclaim for its bold use of Brazilian instruments, character, moods, and exotic aboriginal syllables in the choral parts.3 These accolades further encouraged Villa-Lobos

1 Lisa M. Peppercorn, Villa-Lobos The Music: An Analysis of His Style, trans. Stefan de Hann (London: Kahn & Averill, 1991), 41.

2 Ibid., 62.

3 Revue musicale 5 année, no. 9 (July 1924), 69; quoted in Simon Wright, Villa-Lobos (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992): 41.

to throw off his earlier influences and to move in the direction that he had previously explored

but never embraced exclusively: that of writing in a distinctly Brazilian musical style. As

evidence, all but two of his post-Nonetto chamber works carry Brazilian themes.4 In these, he

more directly integrated folk tunes into the music, used Brazilian folk percussion instruments,

used aboriginal vocal syllables, moved away from traditional multi-movement form, and perhaps

most importantly, began to integrate into his works the street music that he grew up playing: the

choro.

Villa-Lobos’ mixing of the unique attributes of Brazilian music with the European

classical tradition produced his two most famous groups of compositions: his Choros and

Bachianas brasileiras series. The Choros no. 3 was composed within months after Villa-Lobos

returned from Paris to his homeland. It further developed ideas related to those explored in the

Nonetto, such as the use of vocal syllables that imitate the aboriginal tribes of Brazil. New in this

Choros was the composer’s use of an Amerindian folk song as the main theme, and the

placement of the choir in the musical foreground rather than hidden away as in the Quatuor and to a lesser extent, the Nonetto. Villa-Lobos also incorporated sounds of the Amazon jungle through the imitation of a woodpecker and invoked the general character of Brazil by using her distinctive syncopated rhythms. This bold new style, for which the Parisians gave him the nickname “le sauvage brésilien,”5 led to rising international popularity, and as a result, eventual

acceptance at home.

4 Peppercorn, The Music, 50.

5 David P. Appleby, Heitor Villa-Lobos: A Life (1887 – 1959) (Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2002), 73.

In January 2006 the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music Chamber

Players presented a performance of the Nonetto as part of the author’s lecture recital. The principle focus of this lecture was how the piece demonstrated a mix of French and Brazilian influences, explaining how Villa-Lobos would have encountered both styles in his formative years. For example, Villa-Lobos’ layering of typically impressionistic rhythms over those taken from Brazilian dances is notable, as well as his imitation of the Brazilian choro ensemble and improvisational style. The lecture-recital demonstrated these and other relevant aspects of this unusual piece through performance and written examples.

A close study of the Nonetto reveals an intimate connection to the choral/wind works that immediately preceded and followed it. In many ways the three works show a progression of style from imitation (the Quatuor), to experimentation (the Nonetto), to the implementation of a new approach (the Choros no. 3). The purpose of this document is to show how the compositional style of Villa-Lobos progressed through these three works: the twenty-minute Quarteto

Simbólico of 1921 (later renamed Quatuor) for flute, saxophone, harp, celeste, and female chorus; the fifteen-minute Nonetto: Impressâo rapida de todo o Brasil, of 1924 for five woodwinds, percussion, harp, celeste, piano, and mixed chorus; and the four-minute Choros no.

3 of 1925 for clarinet, bassoon, saxophone, three horns, trombone, and male chorus. These three compositions form an interesting set because they are the only works in Villa-Lobos’ repertoire that combine choir and chamber wind ensemble,6 a mixture that in itself is somewhat uncommon, and were composed in quick succession. These three works are further set apart and

6 One additional choral/wind work does exist in manuscript only, according the collected works list of Villa-Lobos. This was a 1937 composition entitled Primeira Missa no Brazil, used in a film called “The Discovery of Brazil.” The instrumentation is for clarinet without mouthpiece, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, contra-bassoon, shaker, gourd, and surdo. (Villa- Lobos, Sua obra, 2nd ed., Rio de Janeiro: Museu Villa-Lobos, 1972, 69.)

7 worthy of study because they, in a microcosm, clearly demonstrate the change in compositional style that Villa-Lobos went through during the four years they span.

In order to create context for the reader, the document will begin with a brief background of Villa-Lobos’ biography and the musical culture in Rio de Janeiro at the time of the composer’s youth. This discussion will be limited to information relevant to the topic of this document, namely how Villa-Lobos encountered European classical and Brazilian folk music while growing up. Following this introduction, the elements in the three scores that point to

European—predominantly French—and Brazilian influences will be discussed. Comparisons will be drawn between the three works, showing the changes that occurred between them and focusing on areas that demonstrate the greatest amount of foreign influence and stylistic change: orchestration, rhythm, formal structure, and the use of Brazilian themes.

Chapter 1

The French and Brazilian musical influences of Villa-Lobos’ youth

When examining how French style influenced Villa-Lobos it must first be stated that the composer himself would object to such comparisons. Throughout his career he denied that anything ever influenced him, stating that “as soon as I feel myself being influenced, I jump out of it.”1 However, this must be taken with a large grain of salt as it comes from a man who gave variations of his birth date of more than a decade to different interviewers and friends, and who was known for his exaggerations and outright lies. Many articles have been written describing these tall-tales, such as the story of Villa-Lobos playing his saxophone in order to sooth an angry jungle flower that had just eaten his friend.2 The composer used these stories to stir interest in himself and his music and by every account actually believed everything he said, even when contradicting his earlier tales. Perhaps the most humorous is the story of his mother who, after

1 Appleby, A Life, 41.

2 Ralph Gustafson, “Villa-Lobos and the Man-Eating Flower: A Memoir” The Musical Quarterly, 75 no. 1 (Spring, 1991) 5-6.

9 not hearing from her son while he extensively traveled the Brazilian countryside, eventually gave him up for dead. His dramatic return to civilization coincided with a funeral service being given for him.3

In order to solve the mystery that Villa-Lobos created by giving anything between 1881-

18914 as his birth-date, scholar Vasco Mariz searched baptismal records in Villa-Lobos’ home town and concluded that he was born on 5 March 1887 in Rio de Janeiro. At this time, Rio, and thus much of eastern Brazil, modeled itself after Europe’s music, fashion, architecture, literature and most other cultural events. This connection to Europe began in 1500 when the Portuguese arrived and began to settle coastal Brazil. Several decades later the Jesuits essentially supplanted the Amerindian culture with Roman styles, teaching western instruments and plainchant, and founded universities that offered Bachelor of Arts degrees as early as 1575.5 In contrast to this overshadowing of Amerindian culture the music and religion of the Africans remained strong when brought to Brazil with the slaves beginning in the mid-sixteenth century. This trio of cultures—European, African, and Native American—have mixed and coexisted for five centuries, creating the distinctive cultural backdrop of all things Brazilian, especially her music.

The most significant event that caused European culture to quickly flood upon Brazil occurred when the Portuguese royal family relocated to Rio de Janeiro in 1807 after Napoleon invaded Portugal. This created a unique situation in the history of colonialism, in that Portugal

3 Vasco Mariz, Villa-Lobos: Life and Work (Washington D.C.: Brazilian American Cultural Institute, Inc.,1970), 9.

4 Ibid., 2n.

5 David Appleby, The Music of Brazil (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1983), 4.

was the only mother-country that ruled from one of its colonies.6 This had powerful implications

for the future of the New World, signaling a new level of investment in these lands. The

monarchy quickly set out to recreate their European court in Rio de Janeiro and with it the

attributes of a modern city: paved roads, street lights, libraries, schools, theater, music, and a port

capable of processing international trade.7 At the same time, the royal court and wealthy

aristocrats supported the importation of European music. For example, in 1819, the first

performance of Mozart’s Requiem was given in Rio by José Mauricio, the mester de capela of the Royal Chapel.8

The entire royal family remained in Rio for thirteen years until João VI returned to

Lisbon in 1821. His son, Pedro I, was left to govern Brazil as its prince. However, only one year

later the young monarch declared independence from Portugal, and was named its emperor.

Remarkably, this transition was peaceful, unlike most of the independence movements in the

Americas, though the new emperor only ruled for nine years before political trouble prompted

him to leave for Europe. His son, Pedro II, who was born in Brazil, was named emperor despite

the fact that it was another nine years before he was old enough to take full authority.

Pedro II was the most successful monarch in Brazil. He ruled for forty-nine years,

bringing stability and unity to the vast country. He established an infrastructure of railroads, mail, telegrams, sewers, and a national bank.9 Pedro II also supported the arts by funding music

6 Cristina Magaldi, Music in Imperial Rio de Janeiro (Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2004), xvi.

7 Ibid.

8 Ibid.

9 Ibid., xix.

schools and scholarships for students who wished to study in Europe. He also highly encouraged

immigration, allowing thousands of skilled craftsmen, professionals, and their families into the

country causing the population of Rio to grow 500% between 1822 and 1889.10

In 1816 Rio de Janiero benefited from the misfortunes of the French elite caused by the

recent defeat of Napolean. A group of influential French artists and architects were wooed to Rio

in order to teach at the new School of Fine Arts, and their effect upon the city’s culture was

profound,11 beginning what Pedro II would continue in earnest: the transformation of Rio into a

“tropical Paris.”12

The “Frenchification” of imperial Rio de Janeiro could be easily seen in the local neoclassical architecture, the dress and hair styles of elite women, the paintings of artists trained in French ateliers, and in the sanctioning of music and literary fashions streaming from Paris.13

The generous support that music received from the government of Pedro II ended

abruptly in 1889 when, just two years after Villa-Lobos was born, the monarchy fell without

violence at the hands of citizens who wanted a republic. This political change was in a large part

due to economic problems that resulted from the abolition of slavery a year earlier. Public

concerts and private societies did exist and could take on some of the burden of financing music,

but not the entirety of the need.

It was in this political climate that Villa-Lobos was born in 1887. His parents were

Noêmia and Raul Villa-Lobos, of Portuguese and Spanish descent, respectively. His father

10 Ibid.

11 Appleby, Music of Brazil, 35.

12 Magaldi, xx.

13 Ibid.

played cello, clarinet, and piano and hosted chamber music rehearsals at his home. This exposed

the young Heitor to European chamber works and opera transcriptions from a very young age.

Salon music remained the most popular way for Cariocas (as residents of Rio are called)

to experience classical music, and European music was considered the only acceptable art music

in Brazil at the time. Fluency in the French language was seen as a status symbol, and it was the

language of the Brazilian upper class, educated people, and artists. Italian and French were the

preferred languages of vocal music, as in Europe. Portuguese was viewed as the language of the

people—functional and certainly a part of everyday life of all classes of people—but not suitable

for great music.

In his childhood Villa-Lobos learned several instruments, beginning with his father’s

clarinet and cello, and then later guitar, saxophone, and eventually piano. In the days before

quarter-sized Suzuki instruments, his father converted a viola into a cello by adding a peg to the

bottom. His father had begun Heitor on a rigid study of music, determined to give his child a

better life than he had. Heitor wrote his first composition when he was twelve and later stated that his father’s training in performance, composition, and literature was completely sufficient

and that he had no need for further training.14 As with any well-rounded music student of the

time, composition was an important part of his studies, a skill he began to develop in earnest

during his teen years.

Raul died when young Heitor was only twelve years old, forcing Heitor to work as a

musician in local theaters in order to bring extra income for the family.15 Unfortunately, Noêmia

did not approve of her son’s interest in music, as her own father was a musician whose failure

14 Appleby, A Life, 10.

15 Simon Wright, Villa-Lobos (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992), 2.

created great difficulty for her family during her childhood.16 From this point on mother and son

drifted apart, and Heitor gradually spent more and more time with his aunt, who encouraged his

musical talents and allowed him to move in with her when he was sixteen. This same year, the

author of the social column of Rio’s newspaper published a positive review of a concert he

organized for a private party.17

However, what captivated his interest more than composition or cello was the guitar and performing in the local choro ensembles. These were ensembles of instrumental serenaders roaming the streets of Rio de Janeiro. In earlier decades, these groups played European- influenced dance music, such as polkas, but styles gradually turned towards Brazilian dances such as the samba and the maxixe. In many ways, this ensemble was the Brazilian equivalent to an American jazz group from the early 1910s and ‘20s. In the choro, improvisation was seen as a musician’s most important skill, giving Villa-Lobos the opportunity to balance his strict classical studies with free expression.

As a teen, he performed popular Brazilian music in the choro ensembles as well as in

show theaters and small hotel bands. This gave Villa-Lobos experience playing tangos, polkas,

waltzes, mazurkas and other dance music that combined European roots with Brazilian style.

During this time he met some of the leading Brazilian composers as well, such as Ernesto

Nazareth.18

16 Appleby, A Life, 3.

17 Ibid., 14.

18 Gerard Béhague, Heitor Villa-Lobos: The Search for Brazil’s Music Soul (Austin: Institute of Latin American Studies at University of Texas at Austin, 1994), 4.

According to Villa-Lobos, he also traveled the countryside during this time, collecting

folk music and listening to the dances and songs of many different tribes across the Amazon,

though the extent of these trips is impossible to verify and was often exaggerated by the

composer.19 These songs, and more importantly the colors and character of the jungle, would

appear in early orchestral tone poems such as the 1917 works Uirapurú and Amazonas. The syllables and instruments of these tribes and the character of their exotic locations would later emerge in Nonetto and many of the compositions that followed. These trips fueled a tension that

Villa-Lobos felt throughout his early life—that of wishing that his music could convey a sense of

Brazilian life and the vastness of the country against his seeking to embrace the European musical style that so dominated his culture and upbringing. Biographer Simon Wright suggests

that this tension was not reconciled until the Bachianas brasileiras series of the 1930s.20

Before he resolved this question of how he would best represent Brazil in his music, his compositions largely followed French influences, and the remainder of this chapter will discuss how he encountered French music and compositional style while living in Rio de Janiero.

In his early 20s, his talent at the cello gained him many opportunities, most importantly a seat in the orchestra for Rio’s premiere opera, ballet, and symphonic orchestra, the Teatro

Nacional. It was here that Villa-Lobos had the opportunity to perform the standard and new

European masterworks. Diagalev and the Ballet Russes visited twice during his tenure, in 1913 and 1917, bringing their revolutionary French and Russian repertoire, including scores by

Stravinsky. They also gave the Brazilian premiere of Debussy’s Afternoon of a Faun in 1913.

19 For an elaboration of these trips and a discussion of what may be true and false, see Béhague Heitor Villa-Lobos, 5-6; Appleby A Life, 24; and Lisa Peppercorn “Villa-Lobos’s Brazilian Excursions.” The Musical Times 113, no. 1549 (1972): 263 – 65. See also note 18 in Chapter 3.

20 Write, Villa-Lobos, 7.

Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, and other Russians who were performed by the Ballet Russe

also made an impact upon the young Brazilian composer. These ballet performances stand out as

the most important concerts during the years when Villa-Lobos was introduced to the latest

twentieth-century French and Russian music.21 There is debate as to whether or not he heard

music by Stravinsky,22 but he certainly heard and performed pieces by Debussy, Ravel, and

Strauss’ Salome at this time.23

The style of these modern French works that he spent so much time performing began to

seep into his own compositions, and led to a time when he experimented with impressionism.

His piano work O Gato e o Rato [the Cat and the Rat] was an early example of this from 1914,

but according to Villa-Lobos scholar Lisa Peppercorn, it falls short because the work “lacked

personality and consisted of a series of impressionistic devices strung together; whole-tone

scales, clusters of seconds, and the occasional simultaneous use of two extreme registers.”24

Sensing a need to further refine his compositional technique, he began a self-study of French master Vincent D’Indy’s composition text Cours de composition musicale and Berlioz’s orchestration book Grand traité d’instrumentation et d’orchestration modernes.

Villa-Lobos also played cello in the orchestra for several Puccini operas where he noted

the use of non-Western musical qualities like he had also experienced in Debussy’s works,

though used in a different way. This created an interest in modernism and impressionism, but he

sought to replace the Europeans’ fixation with Far-East and Near-East influences with those of

21 Appleby, A Life, 40.

22 see Behague Heitor Villa-Lobos,10 for a discussion of this debate.

23 Behague Heitor Villa-Lobos,10.

24 Peppercorn, The Music, 4.

Brazil instead.25 He attempted this in his piece Characteristic African Dances and other works from 1914 to 1919. Practically speaking, these pieces had Portuguese titles but used an impressionistic musical vocabulary. He also began to imitate French style more thoroughly by writing his dynamics, tempos, and other score markings in both Portuguese and French, a trend that he continued in the Nonetto. This can, at times, cause confusion, especially when, like in the

Nonetto, the score has Portuguese terms and the parts have French terms.

That Villa-Lobos’ works were strongly influenced by Debussy can be seen in a review of his first two symphonies of 1916 and 1917. The following quote also demonstrates the dislike of modern music by the elitists who stated that the Brazilian’s works are “in Debussyan style, preoccupied with crazy enharmonic negotiations, in which one searches for an idea without ever finding it [revealing] the immoderate desire of musical scandal.”26

The year 1917 marked the beginning of a period of change and maturation that would eventually lead to the composer’s successful tour of Europe during 1923 and 1924. In addition to the above-mentioned concerts of the Ballet Russes, the year 1917 gave Villa-Lobos important personal connections to France. One was the arrival in February on 1917 of Darius Milhaud, who came as an assistant to Paul Claudel, the French diplomat to Brazil. Milhaud wrote the first review of Villa-Lobos’ music to appear in a European newspaper.27 The two composers had a warm friendship for the two years that Milhaud lived in Brazil, and Milhaud referred the pianist

Arthur Rubenstein to Villa-Lobos when the two Europeans met at a party in Rio. The

25 Ibid.

26 Vincenzo Cernicchiaro; quoted in Béhague, Heitor Villa-Lobos, 45.

27 This was published in the first issue of La Revue Musicale on 1 November 1920.

17 relationship between Villa-Lobos and Rubenstein, who was a great help in facilitating Villa-

Lobos’ first trip to Paris, will be further discussed in the chapter on the Nonetto.

Milhaud’s interest lay in the rising generation of Brazilian nationalistic composers, a trend he saw as promising, yet a bit understated for the modern trends of Europe. As such, while

Milhaud admired Villa-Lobos’ compositions, he suggested to the Brazilian that he attempt to express his nationalism in a “more vivid and original manner.”28 The next chapter will describe one of Villa-Lobos’ works that, while written from four years later, displays to what Milhaud was referring; the Quatuor for flute, saxophone, celesta, harp and women’s chorus is virtually indistinguishable from the contemporary French salon music, though it does contain some

Brazilian references. This will provide a point of reference for the discussion concerning Villa-

Lobos’ changes in compositional style that will be evident in the later two works, the Nonetto and Choros no. 3.

28 Appleby, A Life, 39.

Chapter 2

Quatuor

Darius Milhaud’s suggestion that Villa-Lobos should more boldly present his nationalistic ideas confirmed what the Brazilian already believed. He felt that his country contained a wealth of materials that could serve as inspiration for a new type of music, one that,

while rooted in European style, was fresh and original. In the first two decades of the twentieth

century, however, the culture of Rio de Janeiro frustrated his efforts, as the critics and public

wanted to hear music that reflected the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, in many ways due to

the aristocrats’ desire for the old imperial system of government.1 Though some classical

compositions and performances by Villa-Lobos had been positively reviewed by this time, local

artists and composers generally received little attention unless performing Brazilian folk music,.

Other than the large concert hall of the Teatro Nacional, the main venue for European

classical music was the salon. Like much of high-society life in Rio de Janeiro, the salons

purposefully and carefully imitated those found in Paris. Like their models, these salons ranged

in size from quite intimate to large enough for as many as two hundred people, and allowed their

owners to entertain privately or host ticketed concerts open to the public, or at least a select class

1 Appleby, A Life, 54. 19

of the public. However, unlike Paris, in the Brazilian salons there occurred a mixture of art and

folk music, where opera arias, European dances, and Brazilian folk music might alternate.2 Here

Villa-Lobos had quite a bit of success as a cellist, guitarist, and band-leader, roles that were

favorably critiqued in the first published review of his music, occurring when he was only

sixteen years of age.3

It would make sense that the chamber music Villa-Lobos composed in the 1910’s and

early 1920’s would reflect the surroundings for which it was composed. The Quatuor does just

that, containing a strong French influence, specifically from Debussy, with a healthy dash of

Brazilian rhythms added for flavor resulting in a pleasant and light chamber work. It stands as

the first of three pieces composed for chorus and chamber ensemble, and while mostly

reminiscent of his past, begins to look forward to the changes he would make during the next

four years.

In keeping with the style of French impressionist painters, poets, and composers, Villa-

Lobos sought to give “impressions of daily life”4 through a piece full of gestures and images—a

symbolic quartet, or Quarteto simbôlico as he originally named the piece. The manuscript score page includes an introductory note that makes reference to the composer’s desire to show through this piece “my own nature and its mystical moods…as well as the original genealogy of every race.”5 He wrote the work for Laurinda Santos Labo, a loyal supporter of his music, and it

2 Appleby, Music of Brazil, 42.

3 Appleby, A Life, 14.

4 This was the subtitle Villa-Lobos gave to the work which was printed on the “Week of Modern Art” program on February 17th, 1921. (Appleby, A Life, 57.)

5 From the original score, quoted in Peppercorn, The Music, 40.

received its première performance at a concert dedicated entirely to her on 21 October 1921. The

work is in three movements, lasting approximately twenty minutes.

The visibility that Villa-Lobos gave the Quatuor by programming it on important subsequent concerts reveals the high opinion that he had for this work. These performances included one of his first Parisian concerts, one of his first concerts upon returning from Paris to

Brazil in 1925, his first concert tour of the United States in 1940, and a historic 1945 performance given for the League of Composers in the New York City Museum of Modern Art.

However, the most famous performance of this work, and one sometimes mistaken for its première, occurred on 17 February 1922 at A Semana de Arte Moderna (The Week of Modern

Art) in São Paulo.

It was here that the “Brazilian modernists decided to strike a counterblow to defend their

cause against the conservatives.”6 These artists gathered behind music historian and philosopher

Mário de Andrade and presented concerts, art exhibits, and lectures featuring works by European and Brazilian modernists including Debussy, Satie, Poulenc, and Villa-Lobos. The festival took place in São Paulo because the city was generally more open to new ideas as it functioned as the

industrial center of Brazil, whereas Rio de Janeiro remained entrenched in its own history and

tradition as the cultural and political capital. However, even the people of São Paulo were not

ready for what they heard, and the public booed, screamed, and actually threw vegetables at the

stage. Still, the week was a success as “a turning point in the suffocating European influence on

Brazilian culture. It erased old prejudices and expedited a fair evaluation of Brazilian national

art.”7 Further, Villa-Lobos commented that it was here that he “obtained a perfect performance,

6 David Appleby, A Life 54.

7 Vasco Mariz, Villa-Lobos, xii.

with projection of lights and a stage scenery adequate for supplying a strange atmosphere, mystic woods, fantastic shadows, all symbolizing my work as I imagined it.”8

This chapter will investigate how the Quatuor reveals a strong influence of Debussy and

French musical style, but also contained seeds of what would quickly become Villa-Lobos’ new

style, one in which he fully embraced his home country in an obvious and original way. A clear

example of the philosophical change that occurred after this piece is the fact that when Villa-

Lobos published the Quarteto simbôlico in 1930 he renamed it Quatuor. Lisa Peppercorn notes

that the original title was probably chosen “in order to demonstrate his obvious affinity with the

ambiance in which Debussy had lived and worked.”9 Also, he gave the subtitle because he was

“uncertain whether the music really conveyed impressionism”10 and wanted the purpose to be

completely clear to his patron. However by 1930, Villa-Lobos had changed his philosophy and had become a symbol of Brazilian nationalism, and thus he wanted to minimize the appearance of foreign influences on his work. He changed the title of this piece to that of an abstract form, choosing the French language due to his French publisher, Éditions Max Eschig, and eliminated the introductory note.

The “mystical mood” that Villa-Lobos referred to in his original introductory note is created in part by assembling a new ensemble that transcends the normal boundaries of chamber music as it uses many more performers than the four implied by the title. The instrumentation shows a clear acknowledgement of the preferred colors of modern French repertoire. French

8 Luiz Guimarães et al. Villa-Lobos visito da platéia e na intimidade (Rio de Janeiro: Gráfica Arte Moderna, 1972), 73; quoted in Béhague, Heitor Villa-Lobos, 13.

9 Peppercorn, The Music, 40.

10 Lisa Peppercorn, Villa-Lobos: Collected Studies by L. M. Peppercorn, (Aldershot, England: Scolar Press, 1992), 61.

wind chamber music of this time and a half-century before tended to emphasize the flute as a

leading instrument, in part due to influential performers such as Paul Taffanel, professor at the

Paris conservatory and leader of the Société de Musique de Chambre pour Instruments á Vent.

Parisian composers and performers embraced the saxophone better than any other country of

Western Europe, and many musicians were beginning to consider it as an equal to the other

traditional orchestral wind instruments. The combination of the harp and the recently invented

celesta can be found in Debussy’s The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian and Images, Ravel’s

Daphnis et Chloé, Stravinsky’s Firebird and Petroushka, and many other contemporary works

by Frenchmen or other composers who were active and influential in Paris. To this pair of

instruments Villa-Lobos added a women’s choir, which originally performed off-stage. Villa-

Lobos treated the women’s voices as an additional instrument, not as a traditional choir. They are

only used in the second and third movement, have no text, and generally function to add splashes

of color to the musical fabric.

The element of Quatuor that most clearly reveals a French influence is the use of the

choir in the second movement. Here Villa-Lobos closely imitated the wordless choir of

Debussy’s Sirènes from Nocturne, a piece he performed in the Teatro Municipal one year

earlier.11 Example 1 compares both pieces, with Debussy on the left and Villa-Lobos on the

right. Both measures are repeated several times beyond what is shown here. The rhythm and

harmony are quite similar, especially if the sixteenth notes of the Quatuor are considered to be written-out grace notes.

11 Ibid., 62.

Example 1: Debussy Nocturne: Sirènes, measure 2 and Villa-Lobos Quatuor II, measure 89

Villa-Lobos created an interesting choral effect at rehearsal 8 of the second movement by presenting the following phrase three times:

Example 2: Quatuor II, measure 77, choir only

The chromatic line traveling in both parallel and contrary motion, combined with the use of the closed syllable “n” creates an effect that is both haunting and distant. The gesture is repeated in the flute, saxophone, and celesta nine measures later under the choral parts shown in example 1.

Perhaps the most unusual effect that the choir performs is found in the third movement at rehearsal 8. Here Villa-Lobos wrote that the singers should “strike the mouth gently with the tip of the fingers in order to mark well each note. One can also pronounce the syllable ‘Lou’ without the striking. Ex. Lou! Lou! Lou!” The celesta reinforces these triplets at times, as seen below in example 3.

Example 3: Quatuor III, measures 107 – 111

Aside from the above notable exceptions, Villa-Lobos usually wrote for the choir in a more

traditional one or two-part texture, though often behind active instrumental lines, as shown in

example 4. Incidentally, the melodic shapes of the vocal line and the flute gesture have a striking

resemblance to another work with wordless chorus, the Waltz of the Snowflakes from Peter

Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker. 12

12 While this comparison is the author’s opinion, Lisa Peppercorn makes many similar comparisons between the music of Villa-Lobos and Tchaikovsky, particularly several symphonies and one string quartet. According to Peppercorn, Villa-Lobos encountered and greatly enjoyed Tchaikovsky’s scores when he was developing his skills as a composer. (Peppercorn: The Music, 10, 14, 37-39, 68-69, 72, 89, 92-94.)

Example 4: Quatuor II, measure 96

The similarity between the Quatuor and Debussy’s style extends far beyond the use of a wordless women’s chorus. Villa-Lobos used a harmonic language common among impressionistic composers. Author Robert P. Morgan defines Debussy’s harmonic language in part as containing static harmonic fields, open fifths or fourths, parallel chords, pentatonic scales, whole tone scales, and the use of modes.13 The following examples will demonstrate that Villa-

Lobos used almost all of these techniques in the Quatuor.

Example 5a shows the use of a whole-tone scale, as seen in an accompaniment figure in

the celesta. Example 5b shows the theme that comprises the majority of the third movement, here

presented in a whole-tone scale, though elsewhere it is slightly altered to fit a major scale.

13 Robert P. Morgan, Twentieth-Century Music (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1991), 44.

Example 5a and b: Quatuor I, measures 69-71 and III, measure 3, celesta

Example 6 demonstrates the use of parallel chords, or planing, again in the celesta.

Example 6: Quatuor II, measure 56, celesta

Pentatonic scales comprise much of the thematic material that Villa-Lobos composed.

The motive shown below in example 13c is one of only three main themes for the entire piece, and is entirely pentatonic. It serves both as a melodic theme and as a background ostinato.

Several other themes, motives, and accompaniment figure are also built upon this scale, most in major, though some are presented in minor. Others, while not pentatonic in the absolute sense, are limited in range to a fifth or less. Example 5b (which is shown slightly altered in example

14b) is one of these.

While never moving clearly into a church mode, Villa-Lobos did use unusual scales with enough repetition to create the feeling of a new mode. Example 7 shows the end of the harp cadenza, where an E major scale with a flat sixth is heard repeatedly, creating the unusual sound of the harmonic major scale.

Example 7: Quatuor I, measure 187, harp

Impressionists often used rhythms that disguised the pulse and meter in order to give freedom to the music and “convey a sense of the intangible flux of time.”14 These blurred

textures could be created by layering triple and duple divisions of the beat over each other, a

technique that Villa-Lobos took one step further in example 8. Here he combined duple, triple, and quadruple layers simultaneously, two of which are performed by one musician, the celesta player.

Example 8: Quatuor I, measures 38 - 41

14 Jann Pasler: “Impressionism”, Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed June 21, 2006),

As shown in example 9, Villa-Lobos also used different meters simultaneously as well as an

implied 3:2 polymeter in the celesta part.

Example 9: Quatuor II, measures 63-64

Villa-Lobos further developed this technique in the Nonetto, stretching some of these polyrhythmic layers for longer periods of time and adding quintuple meters to ones used above.

It is in the rhythms used in Quatuor that the listener can detect not only a connection with impressionism, as we have seen above, but also a relationship with Brazilian music. Rhythmic ostinati make up the accompaniment in much of the three movements. Ostinati were also commonly used in impressionistic music, so those that are either constant triplets or sixteenth notes do not conclusively point to either style. However, example 10 shows two of the lively and syncopated ostinati from the third movement that are clearly related to Brazilian dance rhythms.

Example 10: Quatuor III, measure 33, celesta, and measures 172 – 173, harp

A reference to the tango appears in the middle of the first movement and lasts for ten

measures. The tango was a popular folk music form with Brazilian choro and classical musicians, and Villa-Lobos was well-acquainted with the tangos of Brazilian composer Ernesto

Nazareth.15

Example 11: Quatuor I, measures 90 - 93

Two other ideas are presented in the Quatuor that have connection with Brazilian culture or folk music that Villa-Lobos revisited in later works. One is the use of the flute in a bird-like manner, first used in Villa-Lobos’ 1917 work Amazonas and later in the Nonetto.16 In all of its settings, this simple grace note gesture is repeated several times, and functions to help create the sound and feel of daily Brazilian life referred to in the original notes of the Quatuor.

15 Béhague, Heitor Villa-Lobos, 61.

16 Peppercorn, The Music, 77.

Example 12: Quatuor II, measures 1 -2 and Nonetto, measures 22 – 23, flute

The second Brazilian seed planted in this work that would later fully bloom in other works was the use of a common melodic motive, shown here in example 13. Notice the similarity to main themes from the Nonetto and the Choros no. 7, a septet composed in 1925 just one year after the Nonetto and immediately prior to the Choros no. 3. All begin with three syncopated notes, have a similar gesture in the beginning of the second measure, then move away from this in a downward scalar motion.

Example 13: Comparison of similar themes from Quatuor, Nonetto, and Choros no. 7

The study of the themes in the Quatuor reveals not only connections with other pieces, as exemplified above, but also demonstrates a compositional problem that Villa-Lobos struggled to solve in the years preceding this time. At issue was how to create continuity in a multiple- movement work. Villa-Lobos disliked attempting to connect movements through any sort of cyclical form, as he felt that this created an artificial result. After the Quatuor, he avoided this

problem by writing almost all of his works for the next decade in single-movement form17 even though some works reached over one hour in length.

This issue was not the only struggle that Villa-Lobos faced in dealing with form. He did not develop themes in conventional ways, a source of much criticism throughout his entire career.18 He composed what came to mind at the moment and did not dwell on these themes;

thus he either revisited themes exactly, or quickly moves from one theme to another unrelated

theme. In the Quatuor he did both, moving between repeated and never-repeated themes in an

almost refrain-like fashion.

The struggle that Villa-Lobos felt with multi-movement form can be demonstrated by the

composer’s use of a single main theme as the basis for all three movements of the Quatuor,

shown in example 14a. This theme is initially presented and repeated as a twelve measure

phrase, but subsequent repetitions contain only the first four measures. This main theme along

with two other motives, examples 14b and 14c, are so frequently repeated that at least one of the

three sounds in almost fourty-four percent of the entire twenty-minute work. This number is all the more impressive when it is noted that these three themes are only one, two, and four measures long. Slight variations occur, though the themes never become unrecognizable. The most common methods Villa-Lobos used to achieve variety were subtle mode shifts or small rhythmic alterations. For example, the B theme changes from triplets into syncopations and shifts from major to whole-tone mode (the latter shown in example 5b), while the A and C themes return in augmentation.

17 Peppercorn, The Music, 41.

18 This is often mentioned in the writings of Peppercorn, for example The Music 41, 44, 48.

Example 14a-c: The main themes of the Quatuor, present in 43.5% of the total measures

Villa-Lobos alternated the repetition of these themes with new material, creating a loosely-knit form that at time feels improvisatory. This non-traditional form was further developed in the Nonetto, where the composer more closely imitated the rhapsodic style of the choros ensembles that he participated in while a teen-ager. Here in the Quatuor, however, the composer created interest in spite of the motivic repetition by giving each movement a different character that influenced each presentation of the A, B, and C themes. Each movement is further differentiated by the presence of unique contrasting sections that may be repeated in some way throughout the movement but are not found elsewhere in the piece. Because of this, these new themes tend to exaggerate the overall mood of the movement. In general, the first movement summons images of Brazilian scenery, the second presents the Debussy-like choral events shown in examples 1-4, and the third features dancing.

After the première of the Quatuor, Villa-Lobos realized that because of its connection to impressionism and Debussy it would make an important statement at the Week of Modern Art.

Modernism embraced the urbane—the ordinary—as the desired object of art, and thus a piece representing the average day of a Brazilian would be perfectly suitable. This is especially ironic given the original intent of the work as a musical gift for an aristocratic patron, a member of the elite social class that so despised modernism and all it stood for.

Yet after the public denouncement, though philosophical triumph, of this piece and others at the Week of Modern Art, Villa-Lobos set his eyes on the next goal that would advance his cause and his career. He knew that he must find an audience capable and willing to

33 understand his music, and that meant traveling to the place that gave birth to modernism and those composers whom he respected the most: Paris.

Chapter 3

Nonetto: Impressâo rapida de todo o Brasil

Music critics and musicologists are almost unanimous in their high opinions of Villa-

Lobos’ 19241 composition, Nonetto: Impressâo rapida de todo o Brasil. Simon Write states that it is “one of the most extraordinary pieces of chamber music ever written.”2 Lisa Peppercorn says that it “represents Villa-Lobos’ most accomplished chamber music work.”3 David Appleby writes that it “marks a coming of age for the thirty-six-year-old composer.”4 Finally, Vasco

Mariz comments that “it is indeed a musical synthesis of Brazil in miniature”5 A contemporary of Villa-Lobos, Brazilian composer Francisco Mignone, considered it the “best and most genuinely Brazilian of all the works of Villa-Lobos.”6

1 This is the date of the première (see note 8 below for further explanation of the problems of dating this work).

2 Wright, Villa-Lobos, 40.

3 Peppercorn, The Music, 43.

4Appleby, A Life, 67.

5 Mariz, 56.

6 in Presença de Villa-Lobos, vol. 3, 1969; quoted in Béhague Heitor Villa-Lobos, 69. 35

These accolades surely rouse the curiosity of even the most passive reader and force the question: what was so new and special about the Nonetto that it should earn this praise from such a variety of sources? This is the question that this chapter will seek to answer. The response, in short, is that what Villa-Lobos accomplished in this piece was to do exactly what his subtitle indicated: take the listener on a rapid tour of all of Brazil. Musically, this exotic journey is depicted through unusual sounds, including Brazilian percussion, choral chanting, and the brief use of extended techniques on the wind instruments. A clear connection to Brazil is seen in the

Nonetto through the inclusion of dance rhythms that permeate the themes and accompaniments, but French style reveals its influence on the work through orchestration and rhythms. In the larger scope of Villa-Lobos’ body of compositions, the Nonetto stands as significant because here Villa-Lobos “first synthesized the many landscapes, themes and musical elements of the composer’s work to date, and provided a basis for his music to come.”7

Villa-Lobos began composing the Nonetto in Rio de Janeiro in 1923 and completed it in

Paris in 1924.8 This year-long trip to Paris marked the first time that the thirty-six-year-old composer had traveled beyond the borders of his home country of Brazil, and the Parisian music critics and public enthusiastically welcomed him and his foreign sounding music. This stood in contrast to how his countrymen had been receiving him at home, marking him as a talented man wasting his skill on modern musical styles. Some Brazilian critics of Villa-Lobos attacked his

7 Wright, Villa-Lobos, 39.

8 Appleby, A Life, 67. As with most works by Villa-Lobos, there is debate over the date of completion for the Nonetto. In contrast to Appleby’s conclusion of the work being finished in 1924, Béhague says that Villa-Lobos completed the work in Rio before he left for Paris (Béhague, Heitor Villa-Lobos, 17), whereas Peppercorn asserts that it was begun in Rio and completed in Paris in September of 1923 (Peppercorn The Music, 43). The published score carries the date 1923, but Villa-Lobos dated his works by the year that he began them, not when he completed them.

use of “modern effects,” such as modernist rhythm, post-tonal harmony, odd and changing

meters, and non-traditional forms. This debate did not focus on Villa-Lobos alone as he was lumped into a larger group of young Brazilian composers as well as their European role-models of Stravinsky, Milhaud, and Varèse, all of whose modernist tendencies were derided. However,

the larger obstacle that had prevented Villa-Lobos from being generally accepted was that the

artistic climate of Brazil was at this time so focused on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century

European music that native composers were overlooked or their accomplishments minimized.

A year prior to Villa-Lobos’ first trip to Paris, this barrier began to soften with the arrival

of the famous pianist Arthur Rubinstein, who met Villa-Lobos while on a tour of Brazil in 1918

and later championed his works in Europe and Brazil. Rubinstein’s favorite Villa-Lobos solo to

perform throughout his career was the 1918 piece A Prole do Bebê no. 1, and this was the first

work to gain positive notice by Brazilian critics9 and European audiences. However, to demonstrate the mixed reception that Villa-Lobos faced in his home country, Rubinstein’s performance of this same piece on a recital in Brazil in 1922 elicited boos from the audience.10

Villa-Lobos knew that his music would always be held hostage to this debate and that the only way to overcome the war between the traditionalists and modernists would be to take his music to a more progressive audience. In 1922 he began to pursue ways to fund a trip to Paris. A friend introduced a bill into the Brazilian congress to finance this musical exchange under the auspice of promoting the country and Brazilian music abroad. The idea of such a journey had

9 Peppercorn, The Music, 6-7.

10 Appleby, A Life, 59.

sufficient support, but many influential professors from the Instituto Nacional de Música11 and politicians opposed Villa-Lobos, stating that a conservative composer would better represent the country. Meanwhile, Arthur Rubinstein performed selected works of Villa-Lobos across Europe in an attempt to find additional support for his friend’s trip. After a year of additional private fund-raising among former patrons and the eventual approval of the Brazilian congress, the trip was secured. The government gave Villa-Lobos the task of performing not only his own works, but those of his fellow citizens as well. He left on 30 June 1923, saying “I do not go to France to study. I go to show them what I have done.”12

And this is precisely what he did. He presented several concerts of his music, some in

collaboration with Rubenstein. The Nonetto figured prominently into this year-long stay because

this work was one of the most talked about pieces from perhaps the most important concert of

Villa-Lobos’ career: the concert on 30 May 1924, where the composer attracted critical acclaim

for a concert entirely of his own works, sowing the seed of recognition that would soon grow

into international fame. The Parisians found this “tour of all of Brazil” to be exotic and exciting,

providing new sounds to a public that often heard music from around the world.

Before a second performance of the Nonetto three years later, a sensational article was

published that stated that the savage sounds of the chorus in the Nonetto were the sounds that

Villa-Lobos had gathered while waiting to be roasted by a tribe of Amazon cannibals. The music

critic who wrote this story published it in order to further establish the composer’s reputation as an exotic—and therefore in his eyes—popular, person. It is possible that this perception was

11 Villa-Lobos did not pass the entrance exam of this conservatory in Rio when he was twenty years old, and professors at the school often publicly criticized Villa-Lobos’ style and compositions.

12 Appleby, A Life, 61.

38 partially due to the recent success of the Brazilian choro ensemble Batutas, led by a black

Brazilian named Pixinguinha, that performed in Paris from 1921 to 1923.13 In any case, the sensation caused by this article, both from the French, who loved it, and the Brazilians, who were resentful of this backwards description of their great civilized country, had long repercussions.

Though obviously false, the publicity stunt helped fill the performance hall and contributed to the composer’s earning of the nick-name “The Savage Brazilian.”14 From this point his fame began to spread globally, assisted by a favorable review written by Florent Schmitt in the Le

Revue de France.15

As seen in the Quatuor, prior to his Paris trip Villa-Lobos embraced nationalistic ideas in a limited way, occasionally incorporating dance rhythms, using evocative Portuguese titles, or composing with exotic percussion and orchestral timbres in works such as Amazonas and

Uirapurú. These elements often remained secondary in importance to French characteristics that he employed in an attempt to gain the approval of the Brazilian aristocrats. However, the fact that the Parisian audiences loved the Brazilian element of his music encouraged Villa-Lobos to further develop ideas that he explored in the Nonetto, that of using nationalistic concepts as the foundation of his music. Lisa Peppercorn, who has written extensively on Villa-Lobos, said that

“all chamber music works written after the Nonetto, apart from [two pieces], are deliberately connected with a Brazilian idea.”16 In this work Villa-Lobos explored weaving the character of

13 The story of this band, though not in relation to Villa-Lobos, is described in Tamara Livingston-Isenhour and Thomas George Caracas Garcia, Choro: A Social History of a Brazilian Popular Music (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005) 91-92.

14 Appleby, A Life, 73.

15 Ibid., 75.

16 Peppercorn, The Music, 50.

folk tunes into his music, using Brazilian percussion instruments, and perhaps most importantly,

integrating into his work the street music that he grew up playing: the choro. The Nonetto stands

as a point of division between the young and mature composer, a figurative road connecting the

experiments of a passionate young composer to those of a man with a clear musical direction.

The following sections of this chapter will examine how Brazilian and French influences

reveal themselves in the Nonetto, noting how the composer’s style changed from the Quatuor.

Color and rhythm dominate this work and eclipse harmony, form, and melody in importance.

Thus what will be first examined is how Villa-Lobos created interesting colors through instrumentation and orchestration, followed by a discussion of his approach to rhythm and form.

In the Nonetto, Villa-Lobos augmented the core of winds, harp, celesta, and voice that

was used in the Quatuor. The work calls for five winds consisting of a traditional woodwind

quintet with the alto saxophone replacing the horn, a piano alongside the harp and celesta, a large

percussion section, and a twelve-part mixed chorus. The sum of all these forces might lead the

reader to find the title of the work to be a bit of a computational error, but the math works out if

one considers the percussion to be a single instrument and ignores the fact that it takes three

players to perform it correctly. One also needs to recognize that this chorus, like in the Quatuor,

functions as an accompaniment to the instruments and thus, as with the Quatuor, Villa-Lobos did

not count them as a numeric part of the ensemble.

Even so, the most charming and unusual characteristic of this piece is his writing for the

choir. He chose to use the choir to create the sounds of remote and exotic locations of the countryside. Lisa Peppercorn described his choice of syllables, saying that “He has used

fragments of the original Indian idiom, or formed syllables based on African sources to produce

ingenuous onomatopoeic effects.”17

One device used several times is shown in example 1, which is the first choral entrance

shown in its entirety. This gesture possibly represents the dramatic cry of tribal men. Typical of the first half of the piece, it is a very short passage used as the climax of several long instrumental sections.

Example 1: Nonetto, rehearsal 7, voices only

Example 2 shows the first tutti choral entrance with a low nonsense chant in the altos and basses

and dramatic flourishes in the upper voices that are related to the material of example 1.

17 Peppercorn, Collected Studies, 20.

Example 2: Nonetto, rehearsal 9, voices only

Example 3 is the beginning of the final section of the work where the composer has strung together nonsense syllables, though reminiscent of aboriginal Brazilian, to create an energetic chant that builds in tension, volume, density, and excitement to the conclusion of the work. The following two measures are repeated eight times before variation occurs.

Example 3: Nonetto, rehearsal 49, voices only

In the final minutes of the Nonetto the energy and volume slowly build as the choir splits

into four unrelated melodies and, for the first time, becomes the primary element of the music for

a sustained length of time. The concluding five measures dissolve into a cacophony of sound with clusters of all twelve pitches on the piano and the celesta while the harp performs dramatic glissandi. In the final measure the disparate parts of the choir are rejoined to an open fourth while over this the winds blare out their half-step dissonance at quadruple forte. The work terminates with a slow and dramatic glissando in most instruments. The final seven measures of the work are shown in example 4. Notice the variety and complexity of the vocal text, and how the instruments support the voices with ostinato figures in the percussion, piano clusters, and bold woodwind cries.

Example 4: Nonetto, final seven measures

The choral syllables that Villa-Lobos used in the Nonetto imitate the native Indian cultures that he supposedly visited from 1905 to 1907, a trip that he often mentioned though it

has been impossible for scholars to verify.18 The entirety of the syllables that Villa-Lobos used

in this work include the following: the “la,” “ah,” and humming vocalizations common in a

textless choir; the nonsense syllables “Gourou, Ouáhy!, Ouèh!,” used primarily in isolation; the

two strings of text “Zango! Zizambango! Dango-zango-rango-tango!” and “Panêpêpê!

Toupanêpê!” that are used as ostinati in the last section; and the final shouts of “Viôh!.” The

genius of this text is that while these words are not taken from any aboriginal language, they do

create the effect of it—perhaps a skill he learned from the impressionists who often showed a

representation of something, not the object itself.

The choir holds a more important role in the overall piece than it did in the Quatuor. In

the Nonetto they sing in roughly twenty-five percent of the work, compared to just fourteen

percent in the earlier composition. Even so, for the most part they still remain an accessory to the

nine primary instruments because of the short length of most of their passages and the density of

the instrumental counterpoint when they are singing.

When considering the instrumentation that Villa-Lobos chose it is notable to discuss the performers who premièred the work: the Société Moderne de Instruments á Vent. Georges

Barrére, who was a flautist in Paris, founded this ensemble in 1895 two years after his teacher’s wind ensemble disbanded—this being Paul Taffanel’s Société de Musique de Chambre pour

Instruments á Vent. Taffanel’s ensemble was famous for its legendary performances and commissioning of such works as Gounoud’s Petite Symphony, the Reinecke Octet, and Emile

Bernard’s Divertissment. When Barrére moved to New York in 1905 Louis Fleury, yet another

18 Lisa Peppercorn, in Collected Studies, 249, as well as many other scholars elsewhere, raises serious questions as to whether these actually occurred. Most difficult to reconcile is the complete lack of any folk tunes that Villa-Lobos himself transcribed. All folk materials that he used in his works were taken from researchers, such as E. Roquette Pinto. David Appleby discusses some of the varying opinions of this in A Life, 24. See also note 26 in Chapter 1.

46 flautist, took over leadership of the ensemble. Fleury and the society were active in performing new works and during its sixteen year existence premièred over one hundred new works by approximately fifty composers19 including the Nonetto. The fact that his music was performed by the absolute best wind players of Paris must have been a wonderful experience for Villa-

Lobos. Perhaps it encouraged the selection of instruments for his Chôros No. 7, composed just a couple of months later and featuring the same five winds as in the Nonetto, though now grouped with a violin and cello.

The Brazilian percussion instruments that Villa-Lobos used in the Nonetto brought sounds to Paris that had rarely been heard there before, and most likely never in the context of classical chamber music. However, his writing for percussion also provides interesting connections to France when compared to the music of his contemporaries. Villa-Lobos specifically wrote for one of the percussionists to play what we now call a multiple-percussion set-up; that is, snares, toms, bass drum, woodblocks, triangle, and other instruments set up so that one person plays it like a single instrument. While not revolutionary to us twenty-first-century citizens who have seen drum sets all of our lives, this was a very new idea in Western art music in the early 1920s. Two other famous masterworks blazed this trail before Villa-Lobos:

L’Histoire du Soldat by Igor Stravinsky in 1918 and La Création du monde by Darius Milhaud in

1923. Villa-Lobos was in Paris during the première of Milhaud’s work, and given the close association of the two men it seems likely that the Brazilian would have attended, or at least been aware of, this new ballet. Villa-Lobos was also in Paris during the initial Paris production of

19 Frank Battisti, Winds of Change (Galesville, Maryland, Meredith Music Publications, 2002), 11.

L’Histoire,20 and it is not inconceivable, though also not possible to prove at this time, that Villa-

Lobos would have seen the score or heard performances of L’Histoire before he completed the

Nonetto. Example 5 lists the instruments that are required for these three multi-percussion parts,

noting the similarities and differences between them.

Example 5: Multiple-percussion set-ups for Stravinsky, Milhaud, and Villa-Lobos

Stravinsky (1918) Milhaud (1923) Villa-Lobos (1924)

Triangle on stand Triangle on stand Tambourine on stand Tambourine Pandeiro (Brazilian tambourine) Snare drum, small Snare drum Snare drum Snare drum, large Tambourin (large snare drum) Large drum* Field drum Tenor drum (tambour provençal) Tenor drum** (tambour provençal) Bass drum, lying flat Bass drum with pedal Bass drum, lying flat. Optional second bass drum with pedal. Cymbal mounted to bass drum Cymbals (suspended) Suspended cymbal (though this is best performed by a second player, see appendix D) Woodblock Coconut shells, or woodblocks (large and small) Metal block (cowebell) No other percussionist needed Timpanist needed Two additional players needed, plus the celesta player must play shaker at the end. * A “tambour grand,” or large double-headed drum without snares is called for in the instrumentation list, but Villa-Lobos never wrote for the instrument. This drum gives Villa-Lobos the same four-drum setup as Stravinsky’s and Milhaud’s works.

** Tambourin provence, a deep snare drum with no, or just one or two snares, is listed in the French, but the Portuguese would best be translated “drum with jingles,” as in the tambourine. However, when the part is examined, it is clearly idiomatic for a drum played with sticks, hence the use of the large tenor drum. Villa-Lobos’ collected works lists the instrumentation of the Nonetto as including a tamborim, a small hand- held Brazilian drum, instead of a tenor drum. (Villa-Lobos, sua obra, 2nd ed., Rio de Janeiro: Museu Villa- Lobos, 1972, 83.) See Appendix D for further discussion of this issue.

20 According to Eric White, three performances of L’Histoire du Soldat were given in Paris in late April 1924. See Eric Walter White, Stravinsky (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979), 274.

In addition to this multiple percussion setup Villa-Lobos called for a second player to perform on the common orchestral instruments of timpani and xylophone. These are used fairly traditionally until the end, where the performer plays a sixteenth-note “B” ostinato on both instruments simultaneously as shown in example 6. The rhythm that the xylophone plays is commonly found in Brazilian dances, a rhythm that in the mid-twentieth-century became the basis of the Brazilian/American jazz innovation named the bossa nova. However, it is in the third percussion part that he writes for instruments that would have been fresh and new to the French ear, the pandeiro, reco-reco, coconut shells, caxambu, quica, xucalhos and a china plate.

Example 6: Nonetto, rehearsal 49, timpani and xylophone (1 player)

The pandeiro is essentially the same as the tambourine, with a circular wood frame holding jingles and covered with a skin head. However, the jingles are shaped very differently than those of a tambourine. They are flatter, without the upturned or scalloped edges of a tambourine jingle. They are also larger, are often mounted in sets of three rather than in pairs, and do not have space above and below the jingle for vertical movement. These differences combine to give the instrument a darker and drier timbre, allowing more complicated rhythms to be performed without the wash of sound that would result if the same patterns were played on a tambourine. In traditional samba or other Brazilian folk music the pandeiro is a virtuosic instrument capable of a wide variety of timbres, and in the hands of a skilled player, it can

produce as many sounds as a full drum set. In the Nonetto, Villa-Lobos wrote for a pandeiro with

jingles and one without jingles, which is essentially a frame drum or tom-tom.

Another unusual instrument is the quica, called a puita in this score. The quica is a small

friction drum whose sound is produced by rubbing a leather covered stick that is attached to the

underside of the head. As with the pandeiro, multiple pitches can be obtained, though Villa-

Lobos does not call for this. In the Nonetto the quica is used in combination with a caxambu,

what English-speakers might know as an “Indian drum:” a hollowed log with a skin on one end.

In Brazil this is traditionally used to accompany a dance of the same name. Villa-Lobos used this

instrument for just eight notes that are all doubled with the timpani and quica, covering the

unique tone of the instrument.

A fourth folk instrument that Villa-Lobos used, this one much more extensively than the previous three, is the plata de louça, or literally, a dinner plate. It is either struck with a thin metal rod, or scraped with a knife to achieve a brittle and articulate sound. Another instrument is the xucalhos, which are rattles or shakers.21 He wrote for metal and wood varieties, giving them

specific syncopated rhythms, not just the sixteenth-note grooves that are most often associated

with shakers. Both large and small côcos, or coconut shells, are also called for in this score,

though Villa-Lobos states that wood blocks are an acceptable substitution. Like the caxambu, the

côco is both the name of a dance and the instrument that accompanies the dance.

The final Brazilian instrument is the reco-reco, or what is often called a gourd or a guiro

in the United States and Europe. This is simply a gourd with grooves cut into it that is scraped

with a thin stick. Villa-Lobos called for large and small reco-recos in this piece, and was very

21 Most sources list this instrument as a shaker, though David Appleby defines it as a rattle in Music of Brazil, 196.

specific regarding the desired sounds, such as tapping and scraping, as exemplified in example 7.

At other times both reco-recos are to be played in unison.

Example 7: Nonetto, rehearsal 19 and 24: reco-reco

While the composer’s choice of percussion instruments creates the atmosphere of rural

Brazil, his use of Western instruments in unusual ways further adds to the sonic palate. In the final chord, the flautist is required to completely surround the embouchure hole with the mouth and to blow hard, creating an airy overtone-laden effect. At rehearsal 33, he asked the clarinet to

“remove the mouthpiece and blow into the clarinet as if it were a horn. If not, sing the notes at a very exact pitch, into the removed mouthpiece, as if it were a kazoo.”22 This word for kazoo

(mirliton) could also imply penny whistles or reed pipes, but more likely it is used to imitate the

crude horns of tribal Brazil.23 Villa-Lobos revisited this effect in a 1937 composition entitled

Primeira Missa no Brazil, used in a film called “The Discovery of Brazil.”24 The instrumentation

is for clarinet without mouthpiece, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, contra-bassoon, shaker, gourd, and surdo.25

22 Translation by Peppercorn, The Music, 49.

23 Wright, Villa-Lobos, 40.

24 Peppercorn, Collected Studies, 20.

25 Villa-Lobos, Sua obra, 2nd ed. (Rio di Janeiro: Museu Villa-Lobos, 1972), 69.

While these two special effects are interesting, they each occur only once and represent a

small percentage of the music, thus functioning more as a footnote to all the other fascinating devices that Villa-Lobos employed to create an exotic tropical effect.

Instrumentation was not the only tool that Villa-Lobos used to create color. Indeed, his

harmonic language served this purpose, not the traditional functional relationships of most

European music. Impressionistic chords such as quartal harmony abound, as do chord planing

and dense polychordal textures. Example 8 shows this: C, D, and F triads are simultaneously

presented, as well as a bass line centered around G. In other places, clusters are used, most often

in the piano, such as at the end of the work; see again example 4, noting the twelve-note clusters

three measures from the end and also at rehearsal 52 where the piano plays eleven-note chords.

The final measure of the work combines an F tonal center in the winds and timpani, a G tonal

center in the choir, and clusters and glissandi in the piano, celesta, and harp. The final dramatic

fall that finishes the work could perhaps be seen as the composer’s way of preventing any sense

of tonal center from staying in the listener’s ear, a fitting end for such a harmonically dense

work.26

26 Wright, Villa-Lobos, 41.

Example 8: Nonetto, rehearsal 40

At first glance or hearing it may appear that the Brazilian nature of this piece is found in the composer’s use of percussion and the unusual choral text and effects. However, what most frequently invokes Brazilian character is rhythm. This both propels the work from section to section and provides the most unifying musical element of all, especially considering the lack of thematic development or recapitulation, as will be discuss later in this chapter.

Syncopated Brazilian dance rhythms sound throughout the entire work. These are not necessarily direct quotes of specific folk dances, though some are, as much as they simply imitate the syncopated character of them. Most often it is the piano or percussion that performs these, but all instruments, including harp, oboe, and even the voice, are asked to do so at other times. Example 9a demonstrates two of the most common rhythms, one in each hand, and 9b shows one of the same patterns as performed in the harp later in the piece. One rhythm, shown in

the left hand of example 9a, is essentially a tied Habañera rhythm, and is related to the maxixe (a

Brazilian polka), tango, samba, and choro—all Brazilian dance forms.27

Example 9a and b: Nonetto, rehearsal 11, piano, and rehearsal 16, harp

The clarinet, oboe, and harp perform a variation of this rhythm below in example 10.

Villa-Lobos created additional rhythmic interest through his use of polymetric layers. As in the Quatuor, he often wrote quarter-note triplets over duple meter to give the music a very free sound. Here, Villa-Lobos took this technique to another level. For one, he created long passages that remain in this polymeter, such as a twenty-eight-measure section between rehearsals 43 and

46. New, however, was the writing of five-over-four polymeter. This occurs in two ways: the first is by stacking quintuplets over sixteenth notes, as seen in the harp and celesta part example

10; the second is by layering 5/8 and 2/4 time signatures, with the ensemble divided in half. This is found in example 11, where the winds are in 2/4 and the percussion, harp, and keyboards are in 5/8.

27 Béhague, Heitor Villa-Lobos, 71.

Example 10: Nonetto, rehearsal 2; score order altered to highlight rhythmic layers

Example 11: Nonetto, rehearsal 31

The dense and often chaotic sounds that result from these polyrhythms serve to further remove

the listener from familiar conventions, and thus create the exoticism that supposedly represents

the tour of remote locations of Brazil.

Perhaps the most important innovation that Villa-Lobos used in the Nonetto was the imitation and inclusion of choro sounds and musical style. This characteristic was really the

turning point for the composer and set the stage for the entire Choros series that would follow, standing as the first piece where the diverse strains of Brazilian music were truly synthesized.28

In the choro style rhythmic ability, expressiveness, and virtuosic technique were held in the highest regard and skills in improvisation were essential.29 This improvisation would more often be a highly ornamented familiar tune rather than freer improvisation that most Americans associate with jazz. Harmony remained rooted in traditional European progressions and remained of lesser importance.

The incorporation of improvisation-like rhythms gives moments of the Nonetto a choro feel, different from Villa-Lobos’ earlier works. For example, the work opens with the alto

saxophone dramatically chanting a recitative to which the rest of the woodwinds respond, each in

a different way, as seen in example 12.

28 Wright, Heitor Villa-Lobos, 40.

29 Tamara Livingston-Isenhour and Thomas George Caracas Garcia, Choro: A Social History of a Brazilian Popular Music (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005), 11.

Example 12: Nonetto, measures 1 – 3, woodwinds

In several places the clarinet performs improvisational-like cadenzas over the ensemble. Two are shown in examples 13a and b, while example 12, above, shows similar ideas in the oboe and clarinet parts.

Example 13a and b: Nonetto, rehearsals 1 and 17, clarinet

At one point Villa-Lobos actually imitated the choro ensemble quite closely, shown in example 14. In the traditional ensemble there would be a flute, a guitar (usually playing a bass- line), a cavaquinho (a small four-stringed guitar), a pandeiro, and occasionally other winds. In the 1920s, saxophones and trumpets became more common in the ensemble. Here in the Nonetto,

Villa-Lobos gave the role of the cavaquinho to the harpist, asking them to perform rapid glissandi with the finger in a strum-like motion. The piano takes the roles of the guitar and a melodic instrument, and the pandeiro with jingles makes its only appearance of the entire piece.

Several phrases later the roles of the piano and winds are reversed from those found in example

14, with the winds playing the melodic and chordal lines and the piano performing the hits every two measures. Above the full ensemble, now including the plata de louça, the piccolo enters with the same melody as seen in the right-hand of the piano in example 14. The piccolo quickly builds into a virtuosic flurry that leads into the clarinet “improvisation” shown in example 13b.

Villa-Lobos returned to this idea a year later in his Chôros 7. This time the violin strums like a cavaquinho, the cello plays a syncopated guitar-like pattern, and the flute reprises its improvisational-like role.

Example 14: Nonetto, rehearsal 13

So far the emphasis of this study has been to investigate why the Nonetto stands as a significant piece in Villa-Lobos’ output and the ways that the composer was exposed to French influences while growing up. The reader has been shown the specific ways that the work demonstrates both French and Brazilian characteristics and how this piece relates to his chamber works and similar works by other composers of the time. There remains one additional area of

Villa-Lobos’ general style to consider, one that does not have a particular affinity to either Brazil

or France, but nevertheless is important to understanding the Nonetto and the works that would follow—that of form.

Though he found success in traditional forms to a certain extent, as we saw in the

Quatuor, Villa-Lobos eventually rejected them, finding them “neither satisfying nor

successful.”30 One scholar stated that “while he used classical forms, like that of the sonata, for

his chamber music and orchestral works, these proved to be rather more of an obstacle to the

growth of his musical ideas than a freer framework would have done.”31 As he sought ways to

create a new style of classical music, one that could integrate the national feelings and music of

Brazil with the history and tradition of Western Europe, he increasingly turned to a more

rhapsodic, continuous form. This would allow him to present ideas without worrying about how

to thematically tie multiple movements together.32 In the Nonetto no theme is repeated unless in close proximity to the original presentation. The piece moves through as many as twenty-five brief scenes in about eight large sections, numbers that are a bit arbitrary given the composition’s lack of traditional harmony or thematic structure. The repetition of rhythms and colors gives the only sense of connection and continuity.

This lack of development has been a source of criticism of Villa-Lobos throughout his

career, with many saying that his music lacks a finished quality or a logical cohesion. The fact

that he openly said that he often composed while playing billiards, or with the radio on, or while

in conversation with others on the telephone probably didn’t help this image either.33 But

30 Peppercorn, The Music, 34.

31 Ibid.

32 Ibid., 41.

33 Appleby, A Life, 156-58.

61 perhaps it is best to let Villa-Lobos describe his compositional process himself. He said that “I do not compose, I improvise in the dark,”34 a fitting philosophy for a man who was raised in the improvisatory art of the choro.

The result of the year-long improvisation that he named Nonetto is important primarily because it is one of Villa-Lobos’ first works where Brazilian characteristics informed every aspect of the piece. The acceptance he found in Paris encouraged him to champion his Brazilian influences rather than mask them by imitating French models. At this point his music, and the

Nonetto specifically, still contained many elements that he borrowed from his French teachers and could still be said to fit within the model of modernismo: a blending of national elements with modern compositional techniques.35 The result is a piece that, while fascinating and original, can be confusing and overwhelming to both performer and listener. Perhaps this is why a work that is so highly acclaimed by historians and scholars is so infrequently performed or recorded.

Upon returning to Brazil one month after the premiere of the Nonetto, Villa-Lobos began a new series of pieces with his Choros 2 and 7, in essence finding what he had been searching for his whole life: “a national style of music with a pronounced Brazilian character”36 as well as his own musical voice that he would now faithfully follow for decades to come.37 The next piece to be examined, the Choros no. 3, will show this new style as Villa-Lobos replaces the great

34 Gustofson, 2.

35 Béhague, Heitor Villa-Lobos, 72.

36 Peppercorn, The Music, 43.

37 Peppercorn, Collected Studies, xi.

complexity of the Nonetto with focus and brevity to create a work that both the musician and lay person can understand, appreciate, and enjoy.

Chapter 4

Choros (No 3)

Strengthened by the public and critical support of works such as the Nonetto, Villa-Lobos

began work on a lengthy series of compositions in which he sought to capture the distinctive

elements of Brazilian music. Villa-Lobos said that these works “represented a new form of

musical composition” and that they contained the character of Brazil’s popular and Amerindian

music as well as her principle elements of rhythm and melody, though these were all

“transformed by the personality of the composer.”1

This new series eventually grew to include eighteen works, though two were never

performed and are now lost. In deciding on a title for the series Villa-Lobos looked to an earlier

work that, in retrospect, described the character of this new music. This was Choros, later renamed Choros no. 1, for solo guitar, composed in 1920. The title Choros perfectly described the innovative style in which Villa-Lobos wished to write, as it connected his music to an established genre that the composer knew intimately. These works were not meant to directly emulate the four to six choro musicians who would serenade friends in the streets of Rio de

1 From the introductory note of the score of Choros No. 3. 64

Janeiro, nor did Villa-Lobos wish that the works would mimic Brazilian folk or popular musics.

Instead he sought for these pieces to communicate some of the essence of the choro musical style

in a manner, as mentioned above, “transformed by the personality of the composer.”

It is fortunate that Villa-Lobos chose this more representational approach to the choro

that, much like a metaphor or parable, does not state specific images but rather communicates in

a much more subtle and refined way. Vasco Mariz suggests that, to be effective, nationalistic music “must represent more than momentary artistic amusement,” and should “inspire and arouse sublime esthetic emotion and not just impress the audience with this or that typical, colorful picture.”2 In many ways this was the central issue that Villa-Lobos had to solve before

he could write the music he sought to create, that of putting enough obvious Brazilian references

in the music as to make it associated with his nation while not crossing the line into a sort of

symphonic dance music by using sambas or recognizable popular songs. This balance, along with his fierce advocacy for his home country, earned Villa-Lobos the honor of being called the

first nationalistic Brazilian composer.3

The entire Choros series includes Choros 1-14 and four related works: Choros Bis,

Introduction to the Choros, Quintet in the form of a Choros, and a work for large wind ensemble,

Fantasy in Three Movements in Form of a Choros. “The series embodies completely Villa-

Lobos’ vision of Brazil as a vast, teeming landscape, immense in its inclusivity, variety, and

proportions.”4 All but the final composition were composed between 1920 and 1929, though they were not written in the numeric order of the titles. Villa-Lobos gave titles and dates based

2 Mariz Villa-Lobos, xi.

3 Ibid., x.

4 Wright, Villa-Lobos, 61.

on when he began writing or thinking about his works, not when he completed them. The chronological order of the eighteen choros is: Choros 1 in 1920; 2 and 7 in 1924; 3, 5, and 8 in

1925; 4, 6, and 10 in 1926; 11, 14, and Choros bis in 1928; and 9, 12, 13, Introduction to the

Choros, and Quintet in the form of a Choros in 1929.

The work that will be discussed in this chapter, Choros no. 3, was the fourth to be

completed. Numbers 2, 3, and 7 were all composed within six months of the return of Villa-

Lobos to Brazil after his first Paris trip, and all three works share many characteristics, and even themes, between themselves and the Nonetto. Some of the connections between the Nonetto and

Choros no. 7, such as the imitation of a choro band, were mentioned in Chapter Three. The most significant relationship between the Nonetto and Choros no. 3 lies in the approach to the choral writing, especially in the clear imitation of Amerindian tribal chanting, as will be shown below.

In many ways there is a clear progression between these two pieces and the later choral/orchestral work Choros no. 10, by far the best known work of the three, which revisits these ideas and develops them further.

Choros no. 3 is subtitled “Pica-pao,” the woodpecker, and is scored for clarinet, alto

saxophone, bassoon, three horns, trombone, and a four-part men’s chorus. Overall Choros no. 3

stands as a more simple and straight-forward composition when compared to the Nonetto. In part

this is because only two main themes are used, a focus absent in the meandering Nonetto. The

Choros also feels more direct and clear because Villa-Lobos was now content to explore his new

fully-Brazilian style rather than attempting to mix two national styles as he was in the Nonetto.

Further differentiating the earlier two choral/wind works from the Choros no. 3 is the relative lengths of the pieces: the latter lasts roughly a quarter of the length of the Nonetto; in fact half of

the Choros works last less than ten minutes. However later pieces, such as Choros 11, stretch as

long as one hour.

The Choros series has been the subject of many books and articles, much more so than

the Quatuor or the Nonetto. A complete analysis of Choros no. 3 in this document would be an

unnecessary repetition of these excellent articles and books; the reader is encouraged to

investigate Béhague, Wright, Livingston-Isenhour and Garcia, and others listed in the

bibliography for meaningful insights on this work and its context. The remainder of this chapter

will be concerned with connecting the Choros 3 with the previous two choral/wind work by

exploring the elements of the composition that exemplify the style change that Villa-Lobos

underwent in the first half of the 1920s.

The short four-minute piece begins with a direct quotation of the folk song Nozani-ná

Orékuá. This song was collected by E. Roquette-Pinto, a Brazilian folk-music collector of the early twentieth century who transcribed several folk songs by the Paricis Indians. A second one,

Enama kocê, was used by Villa-Lobos as a counter melody in the opening. This song was

obviously a favorite of Villa-Lobos as he used it in several other pieces, including the Choros no.

7. Apparently Villa-Lobos listened to the wax cylinder of Nozani-ná so many times that the Pinto

family felt concerned that it would be ruined before it could be put in safe keeping at a museum.5

Example 1: Choros no. 3, initial presentations of Nozani-ni and Enama kocê themes.

5 Appleby, A Life, 82.

The use of a folk song was unusual for Villa-Lobos. He generally avoided direct quotation of folk songs in order to give himself more freedom, since a folk song is already completely determined in melody and form.6 For Villa-Lobos, this would interfere with two of his preferred musical elements, that of free rhapsodic form and melody-driven texture that often resulted in dense counterpoint. In the Choros series, Villa-Lobos often imitated the character of folk songs in order to achieve the ethos of Brazil without forcing him to obey the rigid structure of a preexisting song.

The text of the chorus provides the main point of interest. Three elements are used: the

Nozani-na folk song made up of actual Amerindian words, the “woodpecker” sounds that are nonsense syllables such as “pica pau, pi-pau-pi-po pi-po pipau,” and vocal effects such as glissandi, shouts of “êh!,” and buzzes, as shown in example 2.

Example 2: Choros no. 3, rehearsal 4, chorus

6 Peppercorn, The Music, 56.

Like in the Nonetto, the text is “without sense or meaning imitating the Indian language.”7 These

words and sounds mix and build until the final and only recognizable word of the work, one that

makes the momentum of the piece perfectly clear: “Brazil!” This declaration stands to bring

together all the images invoked earlier in the work, creating a “stylization of Brazil’s Amerindian

music.”8

A second clear Brazilian influence on Choros no. 3 is found in the rhythmic intensity and

complexity of the work. Gone are the impressionistic polyrhythms and disguised downbeats of

the earlier pieces, here replaced with clear pulse and driving rhythms. However, the rhythmic

layers created by the polyphony is quite complex at times, creating interesting composite

rhythms between the four independent voice parts. The “woodpecker” rhythms are reflected in

phrases such as those shown in example 3. This pattern is repeated several times, soon becoming a background ostinato to an augmented and lyrical presentation of the Nozani-ná theme.

Example 3: Choros no. 3, rehearsal 5, chorus

Later this rhythm returns with small variations or is reinterpreted in 3/2 meter.

7 Ibid., 57.

8 Wright, Villa-Lobos, 64.

The role of the chorus in the Quatuor, Nonetto, and Choros no. 3 becomes increasingly

important in each subsequent piece. Here in Choros no. 3 the eight-part men’s choir and the

seven winds are of equal importance, so much so that according to the composer the work can be

performed with chorus alone, winds alone, or with both groups.9 The winds double every note of

the choir, creating a texture similar to early Western choral music where voices were doubled

with an organ or trombone choir. Apart from text, there are only three subtle differences between

the winds and chorus: from rehearsal 6-10, the clarinet doubles the first tenor up an octave; at

rehearsal 11 there are three half notes in the alto saxophone that are not found in the choir; on the

held chord seven measures from the end, the winds fade while the choir intensifies its sound.

Throughout, Villa-Lobos wrote articulations that, while looking different on the page, allow the voices and winds to sound the same.

With such a strong focus on the chorus, the winds fade into an accompanying role. The

earlier style of writing for independent winds is non-existent here, and Villa-Lobos avoided

using the favorite wind instruments of the French: the oboe or flute. The saxophone remains, but

has no unique voice in this piece. Only the clarinet is briefly liberated to soar above the tenors;

elsewhere it remains in a limited range of the lower half of the treble clef, approximately written

B-flat3 to throat-tone B-flat4. This creates an uneven timbre between winds and chorus—for instance the upper range of this octave is sung by tenors and falls in a high and clear tessitura, whereas it is muted and fairly colorless in the clarinet.

The three horns and trombone provide a contrasting timbre to the two earlier choral/wind works, and the same instruments are featured in the next piece of the choros series, Choros 4 for

9 Wright notes that without voices the composition is “a deflation of the Indian stylizations” that are the main intent of the piece. (Wright, Villa-Lobos, 64.)

this brass quartet alone. However, in Choros no. 3, the brass blend with the male voices,

occasionally providing additional impact to sforzandi and accented passages.

While the Quatuor and Nonetto both featured dense harmonies that at times leaned

towards either impressionism or clusters, the harmony of Choros no. 3 follows the general

simplicity of choro harmony. This is not to imply that the harmonies are traditional or even tonal,

but triads are more common with seconds and fourths rarer than in the earlier works. Some

quartal harmonies do exist, as does a moment of planing as seen in the first five chords of

example 4, but neither technique inspires the sort of connection with impressionism like they did when Villa-Lobos used them in the Quatuor. Example 4 shows a rhythmic reduction of the penultimate phrase of Choros no. 3. The final chord is predominately quartal, though the top interval is a major third, and if found in an earlier work might be considered as having a French influence. However, one musicologist notes that the pitches simply reflects the tuning of the lowest five strings of the guitar, though dropped a half-step: Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Bb.10 If so, this

gives an obvious connection to the most important choro instrument of all and the preferred

instrument of Villa-Lobos himself.

Example 4: Choros no. 3, rehearsal 15 to 16; rhythmic reduction of choral parts

10 Adhemar Nóbrega Os choros de Villa-Lobos (Rio de Janeiro: Museu Villa-Lobos, 1975) 41; quoted in Béhague Villa-Lobos, 166. (However, Béhague disagrees with Nóbrega’s conclusion.)

The predominant textures are either counterpoint, as with the initial canonic presentation of Nozani-na, or long melodies with rhythmic accompaniment. Most harmonies are a result of these techniques and not of specific vertical structures. The presentation of the main two themes does imply an ABA form, but this is not ternary form in the tradition sense. In fact, themes and harmony remain of secondary importance, as the work “deals primarily with color, sonority, and sound effects without developing any of the musical ideas.”11

Choros no. 3 is neither modernist nor impressionist, and collectively with Choros 2 and 7 they mark the arrival of a new philosophy of composition. These three Choro works were the result of the musical struggle that was so evident in the Nonetto, and thus covey a much more focused and clearer musical goal. Instead of the twenty-five sections of the Nonetto, Choros no.

3 contains only two: a folk song and a woodpecker. Thus the work concludes in a brief four minutes of time, yet displays a new style that was beginning to be called Brazilian Nationalism.

This original style brought Villa-Lobos international recognition, and upon completion of the Choros series in 1929, gave him the clout to move into a decade where he focused on the revitalization of music within Brazilian schools and civic organizations, even going so far as to establish an authoritative version of the national anthem and to set-up choral schools across the country.

11 Peppercorn, The Music, 58.

Chapter 5

Synthesis

The fact that a Brazilian composer wrote so much music for winds in the 1920s is quite

remarkable. Wind instruments were not very common at the time in Brazil, often existing only in

the hands of professional players,1 though there are accounts of civic bands, such as firemen

bands, existing at the time.2 Fourteen original works for an ensemble consisting exclusively or

primarily of winds exist,3 some including keyboard instruments, choir, or in the case of Choros

no. 7, two stringed instruments (see appendix A). The three works for choir and winds stand out

for many reasons: the unusual instrumentation, the prominence that they have had on concerts produced by Villa-Lobos, and the proximity of the three to each other as part of a list of works

numbering over 1,000.

The amount of change that occurred in the compositional style of Villa-Lobos between

1921 and 1925 is dramatic as we have seen by examining the Quatuor, Nonetto, and Choros no.

3. This change can be summarized in general by saying that Villa-Lobos gradually turned away

from the strong influence of French impressionists and modernists in favor of creating a new

1 Appleby, A Life, 82.

2 Ibid., 105.

3 See Appendix A for a complete list of the wind works of Villa-Lobos. 73

style of music that reflected the character of Brazil. This resulted in the creation of a new style of

music, one that he named Choro, though its connection to that genre was more philosophical

than imitative. These claims were systematically supported through the investigation of the

elements of musical style and how each element pointed to either a French or Brazilian approach.

A key musical element in all of these works is rhythm. Impressionistic rhythms such as duple over triple meters, disguised downbeats, and triplets that are so abundant in the Quatuor have been replaced with Brazilian dance rhythms and syncopations. Free rhythms that invoke the character of choro instrumental improvisation are more common in the Nonetto, though they did not appear in Choros no. 3, likely due to the work’s vocal emphasis.

The use of the chorus provides another link to both France and Brazil. Quatuor has a

clear connection to Debussy, whereas the chorus in Choros no. 3 imitates a tribe of Brazilian

Indians. The Nonetto bridges the gap by using nonsense syllables that reproduce the sounds of

Amerindian chanting, though it also includes humming and singing much in the style of Debussy

and the Quatuor. The choir gradually increases in its importance, from singing behind a curtain

in the Quatuor to becoming the main focus of the Choros no. 3, so much so that the winds are

considered optional in the latter piece.

The instrumentation of the three works provides additional clues to the composers who

influenced Villa-Lobos. The French fascination with the flute, alto saxophone, harp, and celesta

was transferred to both the Quatuor and Nonetto, and the removal of these in the Choros

signaled a change of taste. The piano and percussion add Brazilian flavor to the Nonetto, as does

the brief use of extended techniques in the flute and clarinet parts. The instrumental ensembles

also imitate choro style by either creating a literal impersonation, or more commonly, by

incorporation improvisational phrases into the larger texture.

Harmonies and form, often closely related in common practice music, were not used by

Villa-Lobos in a traditional way in any of these three works. However, the three pieces do reveal

several things about the composer’s approach to form. First, form is most often conceived as a

series of scenes rather than a movement through sections containing thematic development and

recapitulation. Themes are often repeated, though usually verbatim, or with minute alterations.

Development is largely non-existent; nonetheless the variety of new material presented in a work

creates interest. The Nonetto has the least amount of thematic repetition and the Quatuor has the

most, with only three themes filling over two-fifths of the twenty-minute work. The Quatuor is

also significant as Villa-Lobos’ last multiple-movement composition for a long period of time.

Harmonically, the earlier pieces display clear imitation of impressionistic techniques through the use of whole-tone scales, parallel motion (or “planing”), quartal/quintal harmonies,

and the occasional use of modes. Clusters and polychordal textures are also common in the

Nonetto. All of these traits were greatly tempered in Choros no. 3, reflecting the work’s folk- song inspiration. Some techniques associated with impressionism are found in this work, but their use in such a way seems simply to be a sonic coincidence, devoid of any real connection to

Debussy or French style.

Aside from the comparisons to other works and cultures, many direct similarities between

the three works have also emerged from this study. Connections such as instrumentation and use

of specific rhythms have already been mentioned, but other subtle similarities exist. One is the

use of Amerindian syllables in the Nonetto and Choros 3. Villa-Lobos most often used the

African and European folk music forms of Brazil, but these are two of the few works where he

chose to imitate the aboriginal cultures. Another connection is the sense of reckless abandon that

appears at the ends all three works, as all end with a strong dissonance and extreme dynamic.

The Nonetto ends with a fierce twelve-note chord and glissando, while the Choros concludes with a declamatory chord released by a gruff syllable marked “vuzfzfzf” in the choir. The

Quatuor is not as dissonant as the other two on this final chord, but in context of the generally consonant harmonies found in this work, the dissonance appears just as pronounced. A final connection is that all three contain subtle bird motives, found in the flute parts in the earliest two works and the woodpecker motive in the Choros.

Perhaps what is so fascinating about this trio of pieces is the wonderful variety that

together they demonstrate. The tranquility and colors of the Quatuor, the wildness and rawness of the Nonetto, and the simplicity and vibrancy of the Choros no. 3 show the flexibility and

genius of this composer as well as the unique timbre and flexibility of an ensemble of voices and

winds. Finally, as a group, the three show in a concise fashion the larger style change through

which Villa-Lobos moved, a composer transitioning from experimentation to maturity that

resulted in both national and international fame as well as the creation of a new voice for

Brazilian music.

Bibliography

Books: Appleby, David P. Heitor Villa-Lobos: A Bio-Bibliography. NY: Greenwood Press, 1988.

______. Heitor Villa-Lobos: A Life (1887 – 1959). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2002.

______. The Music of Brazil. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1983.

Battisti, Frank L. The Winds of Change. Galesville, Maryland: Meredith Music Publications, 2002.

Béhague, Gerard. Beginnings of Musical Nationalism in Brazil. Detroit Monographs in Musicology No. 1. Detroit: Information Coordinators, Inc., 1971.

______. Heitor Villa-Lobos: The Search for Brazil’s Music Soul. Austin: Institute of Latin American Studies at University of Texas at Austin, 1994.

Livingston-Isenhour, Tamara and Thomas George Caracas Garcia. Choro: A Social History of a Brazilian Popular Music. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005.

Magaldi, Cristina. Music in Imperial Rio de Janeiro. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2004.

Mariz, Vasco. Villa-Lobos: Life and Work. Washington D.C.: Brazilian American Cultural Institute, Inc., 1970.

Peppercorn, Lisa M. Villa-Lobos: Collected Studies by L. M. Peppercorn. Aldershot, England: Scolar Press, 1992.

______. Villa-Lobos The Music: An Analysis of His Style. Translated by Stefan de Hann. London: Kahn & Averill, 1991.

Storni, Eduardo. Villa-Lobos. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, S. A., 1988.

Villa-Lobos, Heitor. The Villa-Lobos Letters, edited, translated and annotated by Lisa M. Peppercorn. London: Toccata Press, 1994.

Villa-Lobos, sua obra, 2nd ed. Rio de Janeiro: Museu Villa-Lobos, 1972.

White, Eric Walter White. Stravinsky: The Composer and his Works. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979.

Wright, Simon. Villa-Lobos. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992.

Articles: Copland, Aaron. “Festival of Contemporary Latin American Music.” Tempo no. 35 (1955): 4.

Correa de Azevedo, Luiz Heitor. “Portuguese Elements in Brazilian Music.” Bulletin of the American Musicological Society, no. 7 (Oct., 1943): 13 – 14.

Dasliva, Fabio B. “Misleading Discourse and the Message of Silence: An Adornian Introduction to Villa-Lobos’ Music.” International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music 10, no. 2: 167 – 80.

Gates, Eunice Joiner. “Brazilian Music.” Hispania 22, no. 2 (1939): 129 – 34.

Goldman, Richard F. “Review: Villa-Lobos Nonetto for Flute, Clarinet, Oboe, Saxophone, Bassoon, Harp, Celeste, Piano, Battery, and Mixed Choir: Quatuor for Flute, Harp, Celeste, Alto Saxophone and Women’s Voices.” The Musical Quarterly 40, no. 1 (1954): 157 – 58.

Gustafson, Ralph. “Villa-Lobos and the Man-Eating Flower: A Memoir.” The Musical Quarterly, 75 no. 1 (Spring, 1991): 5-6.

Jacobs, Charles. “Villa-Lobos in His Centennial: A Preliminary Research Report.” Latin American Music Review 8, no. 2 (1987): 254 – 61.

Oliveira, Jamary. “Black Key versus White Key: A Villa-Lobos Device.” Latin American Music Review 5, no. 1 (1984): 33 – 47.

Peppercorn, Lisa. “H. Villa-Lobos in Paris.” Latin American Music Review, 6, no. 2 (1985): 235 – 48.

Peppercorn, Lisa. “Villa-Lobos’s Brazilian Excursions.” The Musical Times, 113, no. 1549 (1972): 263 – 65.

Wright, Simon. “Villa-Lobos: Modernism in the Tropics.” The Musical Times 128, no. 1729 (1987): 132.

Dissertations: Butler, James Dale. “Heitor Villa-Lobos: The Composers Use of Saxophone in Orchestral, Solo, and Chamber Repertoire.” D.M.A. thesis, University of Texas at Austin, 1995.

Druesedow, John. “The Chamber Works for Wind Ensemble by Heitor Villa-Lobos.” MM Thesis, Indiana University, 1963.

Enyart, John William. “The Symphonies of Heitor Villa-Lobos.” Ph.D. diss., University of Cincinnati, 1984.

Fleitas-Gonzalez, Patricia. “A Study of Selected Choral Works of Heitor Villa-Lobos.” D.M.A. diss., The University of Texas at Austin, 1996.

Lee, Sun Joo. “A Study of Nationalistic Expression of the Choro in Heitor Villa-Lobos’s Chamber Works with Bassoon.” D.M.A. diss., University of Cincinnati, 2004.

Munger-MacKay, Ailene Annette. “Certain Oboe Techniques and Ensemble Pedagogy in Selected Woodwind Chamber Music of Heitor Villa-Lobos.” D.M.A. thesis, Ohio State, 1993.

Nogueira, Maria de Lourdes do Amaral. “Folk Elements in the Music of Heitor Villa-Lobos.” D.M.A. diss., Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1976.

Pereira, Hoffmann Urquiza. “A Conductor’s Study of Villa-Lobos’s Magnificat-Alleluia and Bendita Sabedoria.” D.M.A. document, Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, 2005.

Smith, Kristen Lia. “The Influence of Folk and Pop Music on 20th Century Flute Music of Brazil.” D.M.A. diss., University of Cincinnati, 2000.

Scores: Debussy, Claude. Nocturnes. Paris: Durand, 2000.

Holst, Gustav. The Planets. London: Boosey & Hawkes, 1979.

Milhaud, Darius. La Création du monde. Paris: Éditions Max Eschig, 1929.

Villa-Lobos, Heitor. Chôros No. 3: Pica-Pao. Paris: Éditions Max Eschig, 1925.

______. Chôros (No. 4). Paris: Éditions Max Eschig, 1928.

______. Chôros No. 7: Septour. Paris: Éditions Max Eschig, 1924.

______. Concerto Grosso. NY: C. F. Peters, 1993.

______. Fantasy in Three Movements in the Form of a Chôros. NY: C. F. Peters, 1959.

______. Nonetto. Paris: Éditions Max Eschig, 1954.

______. Quatuor. Paris: Éditions Max Eschig, 1930.

______. Quintette en forme de chôros. Paris: Éditions Max Eschig, 1971.

______. Sextuor Mystique. Paris: Éditions Max Eschig, 1957.

Appendix A: Wind Ensemble Compositions by Heitor Villa-Lobos

(does not include several transcriptions of his and others’ works for wind ensemble or band)

Duets: Choros No. 2 (1924) for flute and clarinet Bachianas brazileiras no. 6 (1938) for flute and bassoon Duo for Oboe and Bassoon (1958)

Trios: Trio (1921) for oboe, english horn, and bassoon

Quartets: Choros no. 4 (1926) for three horns and trombone Quartet (1928) for flute, oboe, clarinet, and alto saxophone

Quintets: Quintet in the Form of a Choro (1928) for flute, oboe, english horn, clarinet, and bassoon

Sextets: Sextuor mistico (1917 or mid 1950’s?1) for flute, oboe, alto saxophone, celesta, harp, and guitar.

Septets: Choros no. 7 (1924) for flute, oboe, clarinet, alto saxophone, bassoon, violin, cello, off-stage tam-tam

Works with choir: Quatuor (1921) for flute, alto saxophone, celesta, harp, and women’s chorus (optionally positioned off-stage) Nonetto: Impressâo rapida de todo o Brasil (1924) for flute, oboe, clarinet, alto saxophone, bassoon, celesta, harp, piano, percussion, and mixed chorus Choros no. 3 (1925) for clarinet, alto saxophone, bassoon, three horns, trombone, and men’s chorus

Works for large band: Concerto Grosso: for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon and Wind Orchestra (1958) Fantasy in Three Movements in Form of a Choros: for Wind Orchestra (1957) (both commissioned by Robert Boudreau for the American Wind Symphony)

1 Lisa Peppercorn makes a compelling argument that only the title page of this work was composed in 1917 and that the remainder was likely composed not long before the work’s 1957 publication. (Peppercorn, Collected Studies, 248.)

Appendix B: Errata lists for the Nonetto, based on the published scores and parts

Errata: 1 Alto saxophone part: beat 5 written triplet should be sixteenth-eight-sixteenth. 4 Score: text that piccolo has changed to flute missing. 9 Score: tie in flute part between measures 9 and 10 missing. 83 Percussion part: this measure of rest is missing from the percussion score. 135 Choral score: “Ah” is missing (to denote the end of the humming). 222 Score and choral score: Choir should be soprano, alto, tenor not soprano soli, soprano tutti, tenor. 249 Score: last note of the alto saxophone has an unnecessary tie. 299 Score: top percussion staff should be labeled “puita” not “cax.” 299 Score: bass drum (bombo) rhythm should be an eighth-note followed by a quarter rest, followed by the existing final quarter-note. 307 Score shows triangle as before the beat, tamtam on the beat. Part shows them both as grace-notes and primary notes, a possible but unlikely instruction. Score is most likely correct. 313 Score: text in the percussion part is in the wrong measure. “sur le cercle de Tambourin” (play on the rim/hoop of the tenor drum) should be in the previous measure, under the tamb. part, as to prevent confusion with the other instruction. Both text notes are entirely missing in the part.

Edits suggested by the author: 41 Bassoon beat 2 should be the same rhythm as the flute and oboe. 55 Flute, oboe, and clarinet may prefer to have this rhythm rewritten in 3/8 meter to align with the rest of the ensemble. 91 Score: tempo change should occur one measure later, bar after 11. 182 Score and part: Reco-reco is missing accents in score and parts from 182-185. Make this the same as the later presentations for consistency. 216 Flute is written in 2/8 while the rest of the ensemble is in 3/8. Difficult to play as written, and difficult to re-write into 3/8. 432-end All sixteenth-note ostinati: Stem down notes should be accented.

Appendix C: Issues Concerning the Choral Writing in the Nonetto Including Practical Suggestions to Facilitate Modern Performances

The difficulty and unusual style of the choral parts to the Nonetto undoubtedly contribute

to the rarity of the work’s performance. This need not be, and the author would encourage conductors and singers to not allow the special effects and extensive divisi of the chorus as a

reason to dismiss the piece. The purpose of this appendix is to make some suggestions for how to

make this work more accessible to a large number of choirs. While an ideal performance would consist of the piece being presented exactly as Villa-Lobos wrote it, it is the belief of this author

that it is better to have the work performed in slightly altered way than to never have it performed at all.

It is essential for the conductor and ensemble to approach the work as Villa-Lobos

intended it: an instrumental work that has a choral element. The chorus sings for approximately four of the fifteen minutes of the piece and is most active in the final two minutes. The entire

second half of the twenty-two page choral score is dedicated to these ending minutes.

The first problem to solve is pronunciation. Many other dissertations have dealt directly with this issue, and the conductor is recommended to read Hoffmann Pereira and Patricia Fleitas-

Gonzalez for interpretive suggestions on these and other works of Villa-Lobos. A case can be made for using either Portuguese or French vowel sounds, and the solution may come down to an individual’s person conviction. While it may seem obvious that the nationality of the composer would dictate the pronunciation, the Nonetto was produced by a French music publisher for a world-wide audience that, on average, had a better understanding of French than

Portuguese. As proof, Villa-Lobos translated all of his terms into French in the parts. On the other hand, Max Eschig was publishing Villa-Lobos’ choral works that clearly used Portuguese

at this time as well. In the Nonetto, Villa-Lobos used syllables without any direct text that would point to a specific language. On the practical side, however, French syllables allow for a cleaner and simpler execution of the passages found from rehearsal 49 to the end.

A second issue to resolve is that of the numerous divisi. To perform as Villa-Lobos

indicated, the choir must be able to split four-ways in all five voice parts, with enough sound

from each of these sections for the individual lines written at the end of the piece to be heard

well. This large choir would also produce enough sound so that the chamber orchestra would not

have to cover its sound in order to properly balance the choir.

The work can be done with a smaller choir, however, if the conductor is comfortable with

the idea of removing the doublings. Throughout, Villa-Lobos doubled the male and female

voices in octaves, creating a redundancy that, while sonically fascinating, could be omitted in

order to simplify the music. In this circumstance, the score can be reduced to the following

voices: soprano 1 and 2, alto 1 and 2, tenor 1 and 2, baritone, and bass. This reduces twenty parts

to eight-parts and, given the fact that the majority of the work is actually only four to six voice

parts, does not significantly alter the character of the work. Not only does this allow for a smaller

choir to perform the work, but it may allow a less skilled, but still large, choir to perform the

Nonetto.

Alternatively, the work could possibly be presented using just a men’s or women’s choir

by eliminating the doublings and reassigning some of the short gender-specific passages. This

would allow for a single-gender choir to program the Nonetto along-side either the Choros 3 or

the Quatuor, depending on the sex of the choir. Obviously these changes would alter the overall effect of the piece, but in the interest of creating more performances of the work, the benefits

out-weigh the negatives.

Edits to simplify the choral parts (page numbers are choral score page numbers):

6 m.3 eliminate the alto and upper tenor parts. Altos sing the lower soprano parts, tenors sing the lower tenor parts only. 12 m.4 baritones stay on top part—no divisi 16-end eliminate alto II and baritone I and II: altos sing divisi of alto 1, baritones sing upper part of bass divisi. Alternatively, if there are enough men, keep the baritone I divisi and divide the basses. 22 The only cause of the divisi is the grace-notes: assign as appropriate.

Appendix D: Issues Concerning the Percussion in the Nonetto

In order to prepare a performance of the Nonetto, two general issues need to be addressed concerning the percussion:

1. Instrumentation:

a. What instruments does Villa-Lobos actually intend to be used here?

b. Why are there different terms on the parts than in the scores?

c. What would appropriate substitutions be for instruments that are not found in the

inventory of most American percussionists?

2. Performers:

a. How many players are actually needed to perform the piece, and how are the

instruments best divided among players?

b. Why are there percussion parts in the celesta part?

Instrumentation

The most frustrating problem of the percussion part is the fact that between the first page of the score, the title page of the score, and the percussion part, four lists of instruments exist.

Three are in French and one is in Portuguese; three are written on the 1954 printing of the score while the other is found in the 1929 printing of the parts. The second page of the score contains a

Portuguese and French list of instruments, some of which are not equivalents. The chart below graphs out these discrepancies: notice also the subtle spelling mistakes, reprinted below exactly as found in the original sources.

Example 1: Percussion instrument listings in score and parts

Score preface Score preface Score page Actual References to Best English (Portuguese) (French) one listing of references instruments within equivalent instruments within score the part (Portuguese) (abbreviations) 2 Tympanos Timbales 2 Tympanos Tymp. timb. Timpani Xylophone Xylophone Xylophone Xyloph. Xylo Xylophone Bombo (pedale ou Grosse caisse Bombo de Bombo Gr. c. Bass drum, sans pedale) pedal ou sem (Bombo de mounted pedal Ped.) regular and with pedal Tambourin de Tambourin de Tambourin de Tambourin/ Tambourin/ Tenor drum campagne Provence campagne Tamb. Tamb.in provencal/ (no snares) Tamb./ Tamb.in/ T.in Tambor grande Tambour grand Tambor grande - Large drum (tenor drum or tom tom) Pandero grande Tambour de Pandero grande Pand. Gr. Grd. Tamb de Frame drum or basque grand et basque single-headed sans grelots tom tom Pandero paqueno Tambour de Pandero Pandero menor/ Tamb. basque Pandeiro (ordinario) basque avec pequeno Pand. (ord.)/ grelots T.d.B Caixa Caisse Claire Caixa Caixa rull/ C. Cl. Snare drum C. Rull/ Rull Tam-Tam Tam-Tam Tamtam Tamtam tamtam Tam-tam Plato de bronze Cymbales Prato Prato cy./ cymb. Suspended (misspelling?) cymbal Tryangulo Triangle Triangulo Trg. Trg. triangle Caxambo On peut Caxambu Caxambù Caxambù Caxambu remplacer par un tambour voile Puita - Puita Puita Puita Quica Reco-Reco - Réco-récos Réco-Récos Réco-réco Gourd/guiro (grande et (large and pequenos) small) Xucalhos (de Xucalhos Xucalhos Xucalho (shaker) Shaker (metal Madera e de and wood) metal) 2 Cocos (de Wood-Blok (on 2 Côcôs de Côcô petit Côcô pequeno (W. Coconut tamanhos peut remplacer tamanhos Côcô Gr. Bl. petit) shells, small differentes) par deux petites différentes Côcô grande and large or caisses de bois wood blocks de différentes grandeurs) Plata de lonca Assiette épaisse Prato de louça Pr. de L. Plata China plate grossa en faïence Assovios Sifflet - - tassevio (sifflet) To whistle

While the changes in spelling and slight variations used for most instruments may be interesting,

they don’t necessarily affect the final choice of instruments. This is not the case for two

instruments, however, which warrant further discussion.

The fourth instrument listed in the above chart is used more than any other percussion

instrument, yet the terms are in conflict. The Portuguese words imply a drum with “bells”

(jingles), as in a European-style tambourine. This would differentiate the instrument from the

Brazilian pandeiro, described in detail in Chapter 3. However, other Villa-Lobos scores, and

even this one, equate a pandeiro to a tambourine, so it is unclear if Villa-Lobos would have

actually considered the Brazilian and European tambourines to be two distinct timbres with

separate parts. The equivalent French term given by Villa-Lobos for the Tambourin de campagne

is Tambourin de Provence, which is a long double-headed drum that may have zero, one, or a

pair of snares underneath.

Fortunately the score gives additional clues as to the correct instrument choice. It is clear

in passages such as before rehearsal 9 and rehearsals 20, 34, and 49 that Villa-Lobos conceived

of this drum as part of a larger set-up, where one player plays multiple instruments

simultaneously. This would be difficult to execute using a tambourine, though the instrument

could be mounted in such a way to make it possible. However, this action results in the

performer having to play the tambourine with drum sticks, resulting in a rather disagreeable tone.

However, this argument is not completely convincing on its own, given that Stravinsky uses a

mounted tambourine in L’Histoire du Soldat.

A second important clue contained within the score is the notation to play the triangle

“avec bag. de tamb.,” or with a drum stick. Here the abbreviation “tamb.” is identical to the

abbreviation used for the instrument in question and, since there is no such thing as a

“tambourine stick,” leads the performer to the conclusion that this instrument must be a drum of

some sort. The player and conductor must then decide if the drum should have the pair of snares

or not.

While the author is satisfied with the above solution, the issue is complicated further by

the entry for the Nonetto in the works catalog, Sua Obra, which lists “tamborim (pequeno e

grande)” in place of the tambourin and tambour grand. The tamborim is a small hand-held drum,

usually six or eight inches in diameter. Incidentally, this list also omits the caxambu.

While this entire issue could appear insignificant to the reader it must be noted that of the

two recordings of the Nonetto, opposite solutions were employed. The performer in the 1940

Hugo Ross recording used a tenor drum. Lisa Peppercorn states that Hugo Ross was “an old

friend of Villa-Lobos and an experienced interpreter” of his music.1 Ross conducted the United

States première of the work, and given his close relationship to the composer, his choices of percussion are compelling. The percussionist in the early 1950’s recording of the Nonetto by

Roger Wagner used a tambourine instead. This recording is much more accurate in terms of notes and rhythms and is of much better audio fidelity, but according to one reviewer lacks the spirit of the Ross recording.2 In any case, a conductor and/or percussionist can listen to both recordings to get a feel for how the two possible solutions sound in context.

A second curiosity with the percussion instrumentation list is the “tambour grand,” an instrument in all of the listings, but never used in the actual music. The inclusion of this drum, a large double-headed drum without snares, creates a four-drum SATB voicing in the percussion

1 Peppercorn, Collected Studies, 90.

2 Richard F. Richard “Review: Villa-Lobos Nonetto for Flute, Clarinet, Oboe, Saxophone, Bassoon, Harp, Celeste, Piano, Battery, and Mixed Choir: Quatuor for Flute, Harp, Celeste, Alto Saxophone and Women’s Voices,” The Musical Quarterly 40, no. 1 (1954): 158.

set-up—that of a snare drum, high tenor drum, low tenor drum, and bass drum. This exactly

matches the drums used by Stravinsky and Milhaud in their famous multiple percussion setups

from L’Histoire du soldat and La Création du monde, respectively, further substantiating the

notion suggested in Chapter 3 that Villa-Lobos was aware of one or both of these works and

imitated their percussion set-up. Incidentally, this is also the core of the trap set that became

popular in the early twentieth century, upon which Milhaud based his work. The mystery of the

Nonetto is simply, why did Villa-Lobos not remove the tenor drum from the instrumentation list once he completed the work, having never found it to be a useful sound? Perhaps the answer is that, since the part does not have a complete instrumentation list like the score, the percussionists would have not known that the instrument was called for on the initial page of the score: they would have just brought the instruments found in the part. Thus Villa-Lobos or the conductors who presented this work may have not even noticed the omission at all, given the complexity of the percussion and the work as a whole. Or, if he was made aware of it he may not have felt compelled to alter the part once it was published as it is well known that Villa-Lobos rarely edited his works

A final oddity is the notation assevio (sifflet), which is translated “whistle” in Portuguese

and French. The only place this appears is over the glissando in final measure of the timpani part.

It is unclear if Villa-Lobos intended for the timpanist to actually whistle a glissando while also performing one on the timpani and xylophone, or if this is simply a description of the sound characteristic that he wants the percussionist to create on the xylophone.

Appropriate instruments and acceptable substitutions

Today it is quite easy to obtain authentic Brazilian instruments, so there is no reason,

other than lack of budget, money, or initiative, for performers to not use the exact instruments

that Villa-Lobos required. While obtaining these instruments may be an inconvenience to many

performers they are essential in order to capture the true spirit of the work. For example, the only

time the pandeiro is used is the moment where the entire ensemble imitates a choro band.

The different timbral character of the modern Western tambourine noticeably diminishes this

effect.

The thin tone of coconut shells may inspire performers to use woodblocks instead, a

choice that is even suggested by Villa-Lobos. This substitution helps balance the sounds of the

percussion instruments as woodblocks can better match the volume of the drums, though coconut shells could balance acceptably and they give the multiple-percussion set up a more unusual

sound. Shakers and guiros are easy to acquire, thought the performer is urged to find guiros that

are actual gourds, not wood or plastic, and sized very small and medium. Villa-Lobos often

wrote for both guiros to be used simultaneously, which can easily cover the sound of the rest of the orchestra. A china plate is easily obtained from any thrift store, and a long threaded screw works well as a safer alternative to a steak knife, as is traditionally used.

The caxambu is more difficult to find, or even to define, as this instrument is described in very different ways in different sources. John Beck, in his Encyclopedia of Percussion, describes it as being “A large one-headed drum…a closed barrel with the head attached by stakes hammered into the shell.”3 This is similar to African drums such as the ewe drums and others

from Ghana. Appleby describes the term caxambu as “a popular dance; also the name of a large

3 John Beck, Encyclopedia of Percussion, (New York: Garland Publishing, Inc, 1995) 155.

90 drum used to accompany the dance.”4 Unfortunately, Villa-Lobos doubles this unique tone with timpani and quica, which can mask the sound, so he gives the performer the option of using a small tom tom instead.

Performers required and part assignment considerations

Max Eschig did not engrave the parts in a manner that makes clear either the number of players required nor what each person should play. There are two parts, a “Percussion” and

“Timbales Xylophone” part. One problem is that the timpani passages are printed in both the percussion and timpani parts, and are sometimes redundant, but often not. This means that it is easy for some timpani passages to be accidentally omitted. The best solution would be to completely rewrite the parts, but admittedly few performers have the time and engraving skill to do so.

Three players are required, and the celesta player must play either shaker or gourd at the end, as indicated in their part. Villa-Lobos actually states that “le Célesta prend le Xucalho et le

Réco-Réco en meme temps” (the celesta player plays the shaker and gourd at the same time), a rather difficult feat for even a highly trained percussionist. At this moment in the piece, however, the third percussionist is not playing anything, so they can play one of the two “celesta” parts

(which are cued in the percussion part).

The division of parts works well as below, though performers will certainly find other solutions:

4 Appleby, Music of Brazil, 193.

• Player 1: Multiple-percussion set: snare drum, tenor drum, bass drum (flat) when

obviously part of the multiple set-up (usually notated “with drum stick”), 2 woodblocks,

triangle, shaker, pandeiro, quica, and caxambu.

• Player 2: Reco-reco, bass drum (optionally shared w/ player 1) when not part of multi-

setup (to allow the use of a proper bass drum mallet as opposed to a drum stick), frame

drum, plata de louça, suspended cymbal, tam-tam, shaker.

• Player 3: All timpani and xylophone; tenor drum and wood block from rehearsal 19-21,

and reco-reco or gourd from rehearsal 49 to 52.

• Celesta player: shaker or gourd from rehearsal 49 to 52.

Editing

Many of the mistakes in the part deal with instrumentation. The parts must be clearly marked to note the proper instrument choices for such terms as “grande tambourin de basque,” which most percussionists would interpret to mean “tambourine,” though Villa-Lobos intends a frame drum or tambourine without jingles. Also, terms such as “plata” are misleading (plata means plate, or cymbal, in most compositions, whereas here it means china plate) and instruments such as “tamb. basque” need to be changed to their Brazilian counterparts, in this case pandeiro.