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Chôros No. 8

April 07, 2024

Chôros No. 8 is a work for orchestra and two pianos, written in 1925 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. A recording of Chôros No. 8 conducted by the composer lasts 22 minutes.

Chôros No. 8
Chôros by Heitor Villa-Lobos
Heitor Villa-Lobos
CatalogueW208
Composed1925 (1925): Rio de Janeiro
DedicationTomás Terán
Published1928 (1928): Paris
PublisherMax Eschig
RecordedFebruary 1945 (1945-02) Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York; Heitor Villa-Lobos, cond. (2 sound discs: analog, 33⅓ rpm, monaural, 16 in. Américas Unidas: matrix CH413 and CH416. Distributed electrical transcription recordings, with labels and announcements for Spanish-speaking audiences. Also includes Chôros No. 9.)
Duration22 mins.
Scoring
  • orchestra
  • two pianos
Premiere
Date24 October 1927 (1927-10-24):
LocationSalle Gaveau, Paris
ConductorHeitor Villa-Lobos
PerformersOrchestre des Concerts Colonne, Aline van Barentzen and Tomás Terán, pianos

History edit

 
The Salle Gaveau, where Chôros No. 8 was premiered in 1927

Chôros No. 8 was composed in Rio de Janeiro in 1925, and the score is dedicated to the pianist Tomás Terán. It was premiered in Paris on 24 October 1927, at the Salle Gaveau, with the composer conducting the Orchestra of the Concerts Colonne and Aline van Barentzen and Tomás Terán, pianos. The first American performance took place on 12 April 1929 in Philadelphia, again with Barentzen and Terán playing the pianos, and the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski.[1] Despite these documented performances, the year of composition has been called into question by one scholar, who asserts that the work was conceived in Paris in 1925, but completed only after the composer's return to Rio de Janeiro in 1930.[2]

The work was never performed in Latin America in the composer's lifetime. The first performance in Brazil took place in the context of a Villa-Lobos Festival at the Theatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro on 23 November 1963, with Luiz Carlos de Moura Castro and Luiz Medalha, pianos, and the Orquestra Sinfônica Nacional, conducted by Isaac Karabtchevsky.[1]

Instrumentation edit

Chôros No. 8 is scored for two pianos and an orchestra consisting of piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, alto saxophone, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 4 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (bass drum, tam-tam, tambourine, tamborim, snare drum, triangle, cymbals, 2 metal chocalhos (small and large), reco-reco, caracaxá, caraxá, puíta, ratchet, xylophone), celesta, 2 harps, and strings.

Analysis edit

At the time of its Paris premiere, this Chôros was called "Le fou huitième" (The Mad Eighth), for its extravagant scoring and unconventional performing techniques, as well as for its superimposition of multiple opposing rhythms and tonalities.[3] It has been described as Villa-Lobos's most fauvist and "modern" composition from the 1920s, formally the most irregular, most violent, and "tropical" of all Villa-Lobos's works, whose leading feature is its almost complete atonality and dissonance.[4] It has been claimed there is virtually nothing in this work that could be called a "theme", and the work "is not about thematic groups and their symphonic development". Instead, its material consists of motifs, phrases, and thematic fragments, mostly consisting of between three and five diatonic or chromatic notes and note repetitions.[5]

Both of these positions have been challenged. While it is conceded to be Villa-Lobos's most dissonant work, analysis shows this is a case of polytonality, rather than atonality, and while the use of short repeated motifs with variations and rhythmic transformations are the essence of primitivist rhythmic animation, these procedures are also the very definition of symphonic thematic development.[6]

The composer characterised the work as the "Dance Chôros", and construed the fragmented and contrapuntally intertwined opening themes as "sensually complex and atonal in order to deliberately give the feeling of nervousness of a crowd that is gathering to dance".[7] The work appears to be conceived as an exploration of the possibilities of concatenation of sound blocks assembled from ostinato figurations. In fact, there are something like thirty-six different ostinatos, which are used to coordinate a complex stream of sounds.[8]

References edit

  • Béhague, Gerard. 1994. Villa-Lobos: The Search for Brazil's Musical Soul. Austin: Institute of Latin American Studies, University of Texas at Austin. ISBN 0-292-70823-8.
  • Béhague, Gerard. 2001. "Villa-Lobos, Heitor". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan.

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b Villa-Lobos, sua obra. 2009. Version 1.0. MinC / IBRAM, and the Museu Villa-Lobos. Based on the third edition, 1989. p. 24.
  2. ^ Mellers, Wilfrid. 2001. Singing in the Wilderness: Music and Ecology in the Twentieth Century. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press. p. 88. ISBN 0-252-02529-6.
  3. ^ Appleby, David. 2002. Heitor Villa-Lobos: A Life (1887–1959). Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. pp. 85-6. ISBN 978-0-8108-4149-9.
  4. ^ Tarasti, Eero. 1995. Heitor Villa-Lobos: The Life and Works, 1887–1959, translated from the Finnish by the author. Jefferson, NC, and London: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 118. ISBN 0-7864-0013-7.
  5. ^ Peppercorn, Lisa M. 1991. Villa-Lobos: The Music: An Analysis of His Style, translated by Stefan de Haan. London: Kahn & Averill; White Plains, NY: Pro/Am Music Resources. pp. 95-6. ISBN 1-871082-15-3 (Kahn & Averill); ISBN 0-912483-36-9.
  6. ^ Seixas, Guilherme Bernstein. 2007. “Procedimentos Composicionais nos Choros Orquestrais de Heitor Villa-Lobos”. PhD diss. Rio de Janeiro: Universidade Federal do Estado de Rio de Janeiro. pp. 104–5.
  7. ^ Villa-Lobos, Heitor. 1972. "Choros: Estudo técnico, estético e psicológico", edited in 1950 by Adhemar Nóbrega. In Villa-Lobos, sua obra, second edition, 198–210. Rio de Janeiro: MEC/DAC/Museu Villa-Lobos. p. 201.
  8. ^ Salles, Paulo de Tarso. 2009. Villa-Lobos: processos composicionais. Campinas, SP: Editora da Unicamp. p. 216. ISBN 978-85-268-0853-9.

Further reading edit

  • Demarquez, Suzanne. 1929a. "Les Choros de Villa-Lobos". Musique: Revue mensuelle de critique, d'histoire, d'esthétique et d'information musicales, No. 4 (15 January): 707–13.
  • Demarquez, Suzanne. 1929b. "Villa-Lobos". Revue Musicale 10, no. 10 (November): 1–22.
  • Moreira, Gabriel Ferrão. 2014. "A construção da sonoridade modernista de Heitor Villa-Lobos por meio de processos harmônicos: um estudo sobre os Choros". PhD diss. São Paulo: Universidade do Estado de São Paulo.
  • Negwer, Manuel. 2008. Villa-Lobos: Der Aufbruch der brasilianischen Musik. Mainz: Schott Music. ISBN 3-7957-0168-6. Portuguese version as Villa Lobos e o florescimento da música brasileira. São Paulo: Martins Fontes, 2009. ISBN 978-85-61635-40-4.
  • Neves, José Maria. 1977. Villa-Lobos, o choro e os choros. São Paulo: Musicália S.A.
  • Nóbrega, Adhemar Alves da. 1975. Os chôros de Villa-Lobos. Rio de Janeiro: Museu Villa-Lobos.
  • Peppercorn, Lisa M. 1980. "A Villa-Lobos Autograph Letter at the Bibliothèque Nationale (Paris)". Latin American Music Review / Revista de Música Latinoamericana 1, no. 2 (Autumn–Winter): 253–64.

External links edit

  • Villa-Lobos site at Indiana University: Maintained by the

April 07, 2024
chôros, work, orchestra, pianos, written, 1925, brazilian, composer, heitor, villa, lobos, part, series, fourteen, numbered, compositions, collectively, titled, chôros, ranging, from, solos, guitar, piano, works, scored, soloist, chorus, with, orchestra, multi. Choros No 8 is a work for orchestra and two pianos written in 1925 by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa Lobos It is part of a series of fourteen numbered compositions collectively titled Choros 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 A recording of Choros No 8 conducted by the composer lasts 22 minutes Choros No 8Choros by Heitor Villa LobosHeitor Villa LobosCatalogueW208Composed1925 1925 Rio de JaneiroDedicationTomas TeranPublished1928 1928 ParisPublisherMax EschigRecordedFebruary 1945 1945 02 Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of New York Heitor Villa Lobos cond 2 sound discs analog 33 rpm monaural 16 in Americas Unidas matrix CH413 and CH416 Distributed electrical transcription recordings with labels and announcements for Spanish speaking audiences Also includes Choros No 9 Duration22 mins Scoringorchestratwo pianosPremiereDate24 October 1927 1927 10 24 LocationSalle Gaveau ParisConductorHeitor Villa LobosPerformersOrchestre des Concerts Colonne Aline van Barentzen and Tomas Teran pianos Contents 1 History 2 Instrumentation 3 Analysis 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External linksHistory edit nbsp The Salle Gaveau where Choros No 8 was premiered in 1927Choros No 8 was composed in Rio de Janeiro in 1925 and the score is dedicated to the pianist Tomas Teran It was premiered in Paris on 24 October 1927 at the Salle Gaveau with the composer conducting the Orchestra of the Concerts Colonne and Aline van Barentzen and Tomas Teran pianos The first American performance took place on 12 April 1929 in Philadelphia again with Barentzen and Teran playing the pianos and the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski 1 Despite these documented performances the year of composition has been called into question by one scholar who asserts that the work was conceived in Paris in 1925 but completed only after the composer s return to Rio de Janeiro in 1930 2 The work was never performed in Latin America in the composer s lifetime The first performance in Brazil took place in the context of a Villa Lobos Festival at the Theatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro on 23 November 1963 with Luiz Carlos de Moura Castro and Luiz Medalha pianos and the Orquestra Sinfonica Nacional conducted by Isaac Karabtchevsky 1 Instrumentation editChoros No 8 is scored for two pianos and an orchestra consisting of piccolo 2 flutes 2 oboes cor anglais 2 clarinets bass clarinet alto saxophone 2 bassoons contrabassoon 4 horns 3 trumpets 4 trombones tuba timpani percussion bass drum tam tam tambourine tamborim snare drum triangle cymbals 2 metal chocalhos small and large reco reco caracaxa caraxa puita ratchet xylophone celesta 2 harps and strings Analysis editAt the time of its Paris premiere this Choros was called Le fou huitieme The Mad Eighth for its extravagant scoring and unconventional performing techniques as well as for its superimposition of multiple opposing rhythms and tonalities 3 It has been described as Villa Lobos s most fauvist and modern composition from the 1920s formally the most irregular most violent and tropical of all Villa Lobos s works whose leading feature is its almost complete atonality and dissonance 4 It has been claimed there is virtually nothing in this work that could be called a theme and the work is not about thematic groups and their symphonic development Instead its material consists of motifs phrases and thematic fragments mostly consisting of between three and five diatonic or chromatic notes and note repetitions 5 Both of these positions have been challenged While it is conceded to be Villa Lobos s most dissonant work analysis shows this is a case of polytonality rather than atonality and while the use of short repeated motifs with variations and rhythmic transformations are the essence of primitivist rhythmic animation these procedures are also the very definition of symphonic thematic development 6 The composer characterised the work as the Dance Choros and construed the fragmented and contrapuntally intertwined opening themes as sensually complex and atonal in order to deliberately give the feeling of nervousness of a crowd that is gathering to dance 7 The work appears to be conceived as an exploration of the possibilities of concatenation of sound blocks assembled from ostinato figurations In fact there are something like thirty six different ostinatos which are used to coordinate a complex stream of sounds 8 References editBehague Gerard 1994 Villa Lobos The Search for Brazil s Musical Soul Austin Institute of Latin American Studies University of Texas at Austin ISBN 0 292 70823 8 Behague Gerard 2001 Villa Lobos Heitor The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell London Macmillan Footnotes a b Villa Lobos sua obra 2009 Version 1 0 MinC IBRAM and the Museu Villa Lobos Based on the third edition 1989 p 24 Mellers Wilfrid 2001 Singing in the Wilderness Music and Ecology in the Twentieth Century Urbana and Chicago University of Illinois Press p 88 ISBN 0 252 02529 6 Appleby David 2002 Heitor Villa Lobos A Life 1887 1959 Lanham MD Scarecrow Press pp 85 6 ISBN 978 0 8108 4149 9 Tarasti Eero 1995 Heitor Villa Lobos The Life and Works 1887 1959 translated from the Finnish by the author Jefferson NC and London McFarland amp Company Inc Publishers p 118 ISBN 0 7864 0013 7 Peppercorn Lisa M 1991 Villa Lobos The Music An Analysis of His Style translated by Stefan de Haan London Kahn amp Averill White Plains NY Pro Am Music Resources pp 95 6 ISBN 1 871082 15 3 Kahn amp Averill ISBN 0 912483 36 9 Seixas Guilherme Bernstein 2007 Procedimentos Composicionais nos Choros Orquestrais de Heitor Villa Lobos PhD diss Rio de Janeiro Universidade Federal do Estado de Rio de Janeiro pp 104 5 Villa Lobos Heitor 1972 Choros Estudo tecnico estetico e psicologico edited in 1950 by Adhemar Nobrega In Villa Lobos sua obra second edition 198 210 Rio de Janeiro MEC DAC Museu Villa Lobos p 201 Salles Paulo de Tarso 2009 Villa Lobos processos composicionais Campinas SP Editora da Unicamp p 216 ISBN 978 85 268 0853 9 Further reading editDemarquez Suzanne 1929a Les Choros de Villa Lobos Musique Revue mensuelle de critique d histoire d esthetique et d information musicales No 4 15 January 707 13 Demarquez Suzanne 1929b Villa Lobos Revue Musicale 10 no 10 November 1 22 Moreira Gabriel Ferrao 2014 A construcao da sonoridade modernista de Heitor Villa Lobos por meio de processos harmonicos um estudo sobre os Choros PhD diss Sao Paulo Universidade do Estado de Sao Paulo Negwer Manuel 2008 Villa Lobos Der Aufbruch der brasilianischen Musik Mainz Schott Music ISBN 3 7957 0168 6 Portuguese version as Villa Lobos e o florescimento da musica brasileira Sao Paulo Martins Fontes 2009 ISBN 978 85 61635 40 4 Neves Jose Maria 1977 Villa Lobos o choro e os choros Sao Paulo Musicalia S A Nobrega Adhemar Alves da 1975 Os choros de Villa Lobos Rio de Janeiro Museu Villa Lobos Peppercorn Lisa M 1980 A Villa Lobos Autograph Letter at the Bibliotheque Nationale Paris Latin American Music Review Revista de Musica Latinoamericana 1 no 2 Autumn Winter 253 64 External links editvillalobos iu edu Villa Lobos site at Indiana University Maintained by the Latin American Music Center Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Choros No 8 amp oldid 1211043643, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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