A STUDY OF COMPOSITIONAL ELEMENTS IN CICLO BRASILEIRO BY HEITOR VILLA- LOBOS Maria Eduarda Lucena Vieira A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF MUSIC August 2017 Committee: Gene Trantham, Advisor Yu-Lien The ii ABSTRACT Gene Trantham, Advisor Heitor Villa-Lobos, a well-known Brazilian composer, was born in the city of Rio de Janeiro, in 1887, the same place where he died, in 1959. He was influenced by many composers not only from Brazil, but also from around the world, such as Debussy, Igor Stravinsky and Darius Milhaud. Even though Villa-Lobos spent most of his life traveling to Europe and the United States, his works always had a Brazilian musical flavor. This thesis will focus on the Ciclo Brasileiro (Brazilian Cycle) written for piano in 1936. The premiere of this set was initially presented in 1938 as individual pieces including “Impressões Seresteiras” (The Impressions of a Serenade) and “Dança do Indio Branco” (Dance of the White Indian). The other pieces of the set, “Plantio do Caboclo” (The Peasant’s Sowing) and “Festa no Sertão” (The Fete in the Desert) were premiered in 1939. Both performances occurred in Rio de Janeiro. Also in 1936 he wrote two other pieces, “Bazzum”, for men’s voices and Modinhas e canções (Folk Songs and Songs), album 1. My thesis will explore Heitor Villa-Lobos’ Ciclo Brasileiro and hopefully will find direct or indirect elements of the Brazilian culture. In chapter 1, I will present an introduction including Villa-Lobos’ background about his life and music, and how classical and folk influences affected his compositional process in the Ciclo Brasileiro. Chapter 2 will be an analysis on each piece within this set with a special emphasis on Brazilian characteristics. Hereby, the focus will be on rhythm and melody. This exploration should reveal a direct or indirect connection to Brazilian folklore. iii The goal of this thesis is to present Villa-Lobos’ pieces with the hope that they would become more known and performed outside of Brazil. Even though some English-speaking scholars have examined Heitor Villa-Lobos’ piano music, more studies are needed of these specific pieces to help us to understand Villa-lobos’ creative process and to bring attention to important Brazilian characteristics in these pieces. iv For Dr. Trantham and Dr. The for helping me with this journey. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Dr. Trantham, thank you for all the patience, time, and ignoring all the phone calls when I was talking in your office. Dr. The, thank you for believe in me every time I was frustrated, your kind words made me a better person. To all my professors during my two years at Bowling Green State University that helped me pursue my Masters. Finally, to my family and friends back in Brazil, without you I could have not written a single page of this thesis! vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER II. ANALYSIS OF BRAZILIAN CYCLE 1936-1937...................................... 6 Plantio do Caboclo .................................................................................................... 6 Melodic and Structure Features ..................................................................... 7 Harmonic and Rhythmic Features ................................................................. 8 Impressões Seresteiras .............................................................................................. 9 Melodic and Structure Features ..................................................................... 11 Harmonic and Rhythmic Features ................................................................. 13 Festa no Sertão ........................................................................................................... 16 Melodic and Structure Features ..................................................................... 18 Harmonic and Rhythmic Features ................................................................. 21 Dansa do Índio Branco.............................................................................................. 22 Melodic and Structure Features……………………………………………. 24 Harmonic and Rhythmic Features…………………………………………. 26 CHAPTER III. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS ...................................................................... 27 Relating Rhythm Pattern to Brazilian Elements ........................................................ 27 General Observations of Identified Brazilian Characteristics ................................... 30 Final Thoughts ........................................................................................................... 33 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................. 34 APPENDIX A. FORM CHARTS .............................................................................................. 36 vii LIST OF EXAMPLES Example Page 2.1 Descending chordal pattern in the B section mm.30-31……………………………. 8 2.2. First 31 measures of the Impressões Seresteiras………………………………………….. 12 2.3 Example of the same rhythm pattern in the B section of Impressões Seresteiras ................................................................... 13 2.4 Syncopation in the left hand and technical difficulty in the C section of Impressões Seresteiras ................................................................................... 15 2.5 Last four measures of the Impressões Seresteiras ........................................................... 16 2.6 Melody and descending four note pattern in Festa no Sertão ......................................... 19 2.7 B section with the chromatic left hand in Festa no Sertão .............................................. 20 2.8 4th interval in the right hand in Festa no Sertão .............................................................. 21 2.9 Last few measures of the piece with the 4th interval in the right hand ............................ 22 2.10 “Dies Irae” ..................................................................................................................... 25 2.11 Example of the ascending/descending melody of the Dansa do Indio Branco............. 25 2.12 G major chord with F pedal in the Dansa do Indio Branco ........................................... 25 2.13 First few measures of the B section in Dansa do Indio Branco .................................... 26 2.14 Last 7 measures of the piece with the black/white pattern of Dansa do Indio Branco . 26 3.1 Samba syncope ................................................................................................................. 28 3.2 Samba rhythm – exactly same rhythm in the C Section of Impressões Seresteiras …..... 28 3.3 Samba rhythm…………………………………………………………………………… 28 3.4 Maracatú rhythm ………………………………………………………………………... 29 3.5 Baião rhythm ……………………………………………………………………………. 29 viii 3.6 Plantio do Caboclo, B section, left hand………………………………………………. .... 29 3.7 Impressões Seresteiras, C section…………………………………………………………. 30 ix LIST OF TABLES Table Page 2.1 Form chart of Plantio do Cabloco .................................................................................. 6 2.2 Form chart of Impressões Seresteiras ............................................................................. 9 2.3 Form chart of Festa no Sertão ........................................................................................ 16 2.4 Form chart of Dansa do Indio Branco ............................................................................ 22 1 CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION Heitor Villa-Lobos is no doubt Brazil's most known composer. Born in Rio de Janeiro on March 5th, 1887, Villa-Lobos was the son of Raul Villa-Lobos and Noêmia Umbelina Monteiro. Raul Villa-Lobos was a teacher in schools from Rio de Janeiro, a librarian and an active civilian in the politics world from his time, Raul Villa-Lobos was also an amateur musician who promoted regular musical evenings at his house. After Heitor Villa-Lobos was born, Raul introduced his six years old son to the cello followed by the clarinet. Around the time when Tuhú – Heitor Villa-Lobos’ nickname given to him by his mother, was born, Brazil experienced a great change in its history. In 1888, Brazil abolished slavery, and in 1889 it became a republic. Raul had a big influence in Tuhú’s life for 12 years, when he died from a fast and devastating disease in 1899. At that point, Tuhú had already composed his first composition, “Os Sedutores” (the Seducers), for piano and voice, and started to write for guitar as well.1 Around this time, popular music wasn’t as welcome as classical music by the society, and when Heitor Villa-Lobos showed his interested in popular music, more specifically the “chorões,” his mother was totally against it. The “chorões” is a group of musicians, mainly instrumentalists, who improvise on popular songs. The name comes from the popular music called “Choro.” After a while, Tuhú took harmony and counterpoint lessons at the Conservatório de Música and became part of a group playing the guitar and directed by Quincas Laranjeiras.2 After finishing high school, Heitor Villa-Lobos tried to please his mother by entering a preparatory course to became a medical doctor, but he gave up in 1903 after a few months of trying. When he was 16, he needed to leave his mother’s home because of her 1 Appleby, David P. “Heitor Villa-Lobos A life (1887-1959)