Heitor Villa-Lobos, born in Rio de Janeiro during a monarchy, learned cello at home and played guitar with recently freed black musicians in bars, absorbing their improvisational flexibility and rhythms.
Compositional Technique
The piece Ibericarabê, composed in 1914, is a blend of 'Iberian' and 'Arabian' influences, reminiscent of the orientalisms found in Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Villa-Lobos had an intuitive desire to reconcile the traditional chamber music he learned at home with the improvisational flexibility and rhythms of black musicians he encountered in bars.
Composer Biography
Between 1906 and 1912, Villa-Lobos traveled extensively through Brazil, from the South to the Amazon, often taking small jobs to earn a living.
Composition History
The 3 Danças Caracteristicas Africanas, one of Villa-Lobos's major 'hits', were claimed by the composer to be conceived in Barbados and based on chants of the Caripuna Indians.
Critical Reception
The 3 Danças Caracteristicas Africanas, with their non-conformist music, were amusingly thought to have outraged the sophisticated public in Rio.
Composition History
Villa-Lobos's wife, the pianist Lucilia Guimarães, made him aware that he needed to write substantial piano music to be taken seriously as a composer.
