Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)
Piano Music Volume 1

Heitor Villa-Lobos is universally recognized as the greatest and most influential Brazilian composer. He was extremely prolific and his enormous output includes works composed in every genre, ranging from educational pieces for the piano to large dramatic works and film-scores. Villa-Lobos's style resulted from an eclectic training and from the assimilation of apparently conflicting influences, which he managed to absorb on a self-taught basis rather than subjecting himself to any formal academic instruction. These influences derive from three sources: the folk traditions of Brazil, with their combination of African, Amerindian, and Portuguese elements, the urban popular music of Rio de Janeiro and other cities, and the European avant-garde at the beginning of the twentieth century. The ease and spontaneity with which he mingled such diverse elements in his music have created some difficulty for schol