“An Analysis of the Connections Between

the Style of Indigenous Brazilian Folk

Music and European Classical Music in
The Compositions of H. Villa-Lobos"

Taylor Deas
Mentor: Dr. Deborah Nemko
 • Villa-Lobos is perhaps the most notable Brazilian composer of
the 20th century
• He spent his life working to fuse the world of Traditional
Brazilian Folk music and European Classical music in his
Introduction compositions
• The goal of my project was to analyze three of his solo guitar
compositions for their distinct elements and characteristics
• These three pieces outline different points in time of Villa-
Lobos's compositional style
 Heitor Villa-
Lobos
• Villa-Lobos was born in Rio De Janeiro
in 1887
• He began his musical training young,
as his father would ask him to call out
the pitch of a sound at any given
moment
• As a young man, he would sneak out
to hear and eventually join in playing
with Chôros in the streets of Brazil
• He began to play guitar with Chôros,
and Cello with local theatre orchestras
• Villa-Lobos was known by the
other Chôro members as the
"Classical Guitarist" 
 • Villa-Lobos took 3 separate sojourns to Paris
• The first was on a government grant which allowed
him to say in Paris for 1 year in 1923
• The second was financed by the brothers Arnaldo
Villa-Lobos in Paris and Carlos Guinle for 3 and a half years in 1927
• The third comes while after due to the conflict of
WWII, in 1952
• In his third visit he would make Paris his European
Headquarters
Brazil's Background
and Music
• Brazil, is home to not just 'her' native
Aboriginals
• There are a diverse population of
Native Brazilian, European
Portuguese, Africans, and even later
Asians among others
• These diverse cultures have taken root
in Brazil and add to the rich history of
music 
• They have brought along with them a
variety of instruments and musical
styles
• This resulted in the creation of new
style and the expansion on ones
already created
 The Chôro
• One such style that came about as a result of
cultures mixing and sharing music was the
Chôro 
• The Chôro is a Traditional Brazilian ensemble
that consists of one or more solo instruments
and an accompanying section of instruments
• The instruments that came from Europe are
usually what make up the harmonic and
melodic aspects
• The African and Brazilian instruments make up
the rhythmic aspect
• Rhythmic complexity is an ever-important
aspect to Brazilian music, and is the most
important element in defining a Chôro
Guitar Rep piece 1
• Chôro no. 2 “Scottish- Chôro”
• The “Scottish- Chôro” composed originally in
1907 in Rio
• Based on Villa-Lobos’s time spent as a Chorão in
his youth
• Strong bassline melodies that work
in counterpoint with the upper voices
• Very colorful and chromatic, but also moves
diatonically through keys
• Interpretation of a “Schottische” dance
Guitar Rep piece 2
• Étude no. 8
• Composed during second sojourn to Paris in 1928
• A strictly modern set of guitar pieces
• Dedicated them to the popular guitarist
Andrés Segovia
• Tonality is much more complex; in that it is not
as easy to understand
• Impressionistic tools and conventions.
The disassembly of tonality and tools of
Western Classical Harmony
Guitar Rep piece 3
• Prelude no. 4   
• Composed in 1940
• Dedicated to his wife Arminda Neves d’Almeida
a.k.a “Mindinha”
• “Homenagem ao índio brasileiro”
• Descending melodies that lead into echoing chords
• Intense “Bachian” arpeggios section using
the technique of planning
• Is an exemplary piece that reflects the
different worlds of music that Villa-Lobos was trying
to display
Results/ Findings
• Brazil is a melting pot, whose origins are spread out
across a vast array of cultures coming in and adding to
“her” history
• Some of the European influences on this country
had taken place long before Villa-Lobos had gone to
Paris to show what he could do
• Villa-Lobos was a very nationalistic composer who
strove to combine the two worlds of music that he
loved so much
• With an understanding of this culture, I can reflect
more accurately the love that Villa-Lobos had for this
music and for this country
• My job as a successful musician depends on my ability
to translate to you the listener, everything that Villa-
Lobos wants you to get out of a piece of music
H. Villa-Lobos
“I am satisfied. As I approach
the end of my life, I am
perfectly certain that Brazil
has found its path. Never
mind political problems, social
problems, economic problems.
Brazil is finding itself. I did it
through music. If, by any
chance, I can be an example
to my compatriots, do the
same. Remember that only art
can go from one heart to
another, from one soul to
another.”