String Quartet No. 6 ("Brazilian") is one of seventeen works in the genre by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, and was written in 1938, in between his early and late periods. Villa-Lobos considered naming it "Quartet Popular No. 2" as opposed to "Brazilian," and while the work is indeed one of his more nationalist pieces, it also bears direct connections to the Viennese tradition of string quartet composition. [1] A performance lasts approximately 24 minutes.
Villa-Lobos composed his Sixth Quartet in 1938 in Rio de Janeiro, and it was first performed in the same city by the Quarteto Haydn on 30 November 1943, on the same programme as the premiere of the Seventh Quartet. The published score bears no dedication, but the manuscript is dedicated to the violist Orlando Frederico, [2] who many years earlier had participated in the premieres of both the Second and Third Quartets.
The composition of this quartet came relatively soon after time spent living in Paris (1923-1930). [3] It is with this quartet that the references to the quartets of Haydn, which continue throughout the composer's later quartets, become clear for the first time. [4] While in Paris, Villa-Lobos was immersed in the Parisian and broader European musical traditions of the day. However, while there are Haydnesque and also Beethovenian influences that appear in this quartet, [1] it is an oversimplification to conclude that his time living in Paris and closer connection with the music of these composers brought changes to his compositional style. Villa-Lobos himself remained adamant that his works were entirely his own; he believed firmly in the superiority of his work and took pride in his independence from the European tradition. [5] Indeed, the Sixth Quartet is regarded as the most nationalistic of all Villa-Lobos's string quartets. [6] This work - along with the Fifth Quartet - is marked by a deliberate move toward a more "popular" style, incorporating elements of Brazilian popular music. Villa-Lobos originally planned to designate this work as the second "popular quartet" (the Fifth Quartet is subtitled "Quarteto popular no. 1"), but in the end abandoned the idea of such a series. [7]
This composition, like all of Villa-Lobos's quartets except the first, consists of four movements:
Instead of the usual sonata-allegro form, the first movement presents a sectional structure. Four contrasting sections (with transitions between the first and second, and between the third and fourth) are followed by a recapitulation of the first section, and an extended coda. There is no development section. [8] In keeping with the references to Brazilian popular music, Villa-Lobos begins with a shorter motive that he then expands in length and by increasing the variety in the rhythmic syncopations, which alludes to the Brazilian popular music after which Villa-Lobos titles the quartet.
The second movement is in a three-part, ABA song form in the character of the Brazilian improvised serenade known as the choro. [9] The A section is homophonic, while the central B section features imitative textures and a xangô-like theme in common time held by the cello, set against a syncopated accompaniment of continuous pizzicato quarter-note triplets in the upper three voices. [10] [11]
The third movement is also in ternary form, but with a variation. The A section falls into two parts, which are reversed in order when A is recapitulated after the central B section. [10] The tonal language and textural features (such as rhythmic combination, doubling, portamento, and open fifths) of the outer sections resemble those of the Bachianas Brasileiras , especially parts of the first movement of Bachianas No. 5. The middle section features a fugato on a subject related to the cantilena (xangô) motive from the second movement. This passage is the first occurrence of the atonal, chromatic, legato style found often in Villa-Lobos's subsequent quartets [12]
The finale is similar in structure to the first movement, consisting of three successive, contrasting sections and a recapitulation of the first, concluding with a short coda. [13] Unlike the first movement, however (and unlike all of the composer's earlier quartets), there is a certain thematic kinship amongst the sections, with a recurrence of a falling-third figure and the use of pseudo-Indian motifs influenced by Antonín Dvořák's "American" Quartet [12]
Chronological by date of recording.
Henrique José Pedro Maria Carlos Luis Oswald was a Brazilian composer and pianist.
Bernardo Bessler is a Brazilian violinist, conductor, teacher, and producer.
String Quartet No. 1 is the first of seventeen works in the genre by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, originally written in Nova Friburgo in 1915 and extensively revised in 1946. A performance lasts approximately eighteen minutes.
String Quartet No. 2 is the one of a series of seventeen works in the genre by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, and was written in 1915. A performance lasts approximately twenty minutes.
String Quartet No. 3 is the third of seventeen works in the medium by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, and was written in 1916. A performance lasts approximately twenty-three minutes.
String Quartet No. 4 is the fourth of seventeen works in the genre by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, written in 1917 and revised in 1949. A performance lasts approximately 23 minutes.
String Quartet No. 5 is the fifth of seventeen works in the genre by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, written in 1931. A performance lasts approximately 17 minutes.
String Quartet No. 7 is the seventh of seventeen works in the genre by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, written in 1942. With a performance lasting approximately 37 minutes, it is the longest of Villa-Lobos's string quartets
String Quartet No. 8 is one of seventeen works in the genre by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, written in 1944. A performance lasts approximately twenty-five minutes.
String Quartet No. 9 is part of a series of seventeen works in the medium by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, and was written in 1945. A performance lasts approximately 25 minutes.
String Quartet No. 10 is one of a series of seventeen works in the genre by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, and was written in 1946. A performance lasts approximately 23 minutes.
String Quartet No. 11 is a 1947 string quartet, part of a 17-work series in the medium by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. A performance lasts approximately 27 minutes.
String Quartet No. 12 is the part of a series of seventeen works in the genre by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, and was written in 1950. A performance lasts approximately twenty-two minutes.
String Quartet No. 13 is one of a series of seventeen works in the medium by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, and was written in 1951. A performance of it lasts approximately twenty minutes.
String Quartet No. 14 is the one of a series of seventeen works in the medium by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, and was written in 1953. A performance lasts approximately seventeen minutes.
String Quartet No. 15 is one of a series of seventeen works in the medium by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, and was written in 1954. A performance lasts approximately nineteen minutes.
String Quartet No. 16 is the penultimate of seventeen quartets by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, and was written in 1955. A performance lasts approximately twenty minutes.
String Quartet No. 17 is the last of seventeen quartets by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, and was written in 1957. A performance lasts approximately twenty minutes.
Chôros No. 12 is an orchestral work written between 1925 and 1945 by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. It is part of a series of fourteen numbered compositions collectively titled Chôros, ranging from solos for guitar and for piano up to works scored for soloist or chorus with orchestra or multiple orchestras, and in duration up to over an hour. Chôros No. 12 is one of the longest compositions in the series, a performance lasting about 35 minutes.
The String Quartet No. 2 in E minor, Op. 17, by Henrique Oswald belongs to the most prolific years of his Italian period (1890s). It used to be known under the title Quarteto Brasileiro.