Symphony No. 6, 'On the Outline of the Mountains of Brazil,' uses themes derived from photographs of Brazilian mountains like the Serra dos Órgãos, Corcovado, and Sugar Loaf.
Compositional Technique
Villa-Lobos invented a process called "Millimeterization" to derive melodies from images, superimposing transparent graph paper onto photographs to determine melodic contours.
Instruments
Symphony No. 7 is scored for a huge orchestra, including a vast percussion section and an unusual array of piano, two harps, and a Hammond Novachord, possibly the first electronic synthesizer.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Villa-Lobos believed a symphony should be "superior music, intellectual music, not a tune to be whistled," and that using exotic or folkloric effects would make it incorrect to call it a symphony.
Composer Biography
Heitor Villa-Lobos is widely considered the most important nationalist composer from Latin America, though his symphonies are less known than his other works.
Composition History
Villa-Lobos composed his first four symphonies before 1920, but then had a 24-year break before writing Symphonies Nos. 6 to 12 after 1944.
Recording & Production
This recording is part of a larger project, launched in 2011 by the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra's publishing branch, to release a complete cycle of Villa-Lobos's 11 symphonies with revised scores.
