Villa-Lobos
- Author: Wright, Simon
Simon Wright's succinct and well-written guide will serve well ... this little book is more than a collection of program notes. In the end the reader comes away having learned something about...
Villa-Lobos
- Author: Wright, Simon
Purchase product
Simon Wright's succinct and well-written guide will serve well ... this little book is more than a collection of program notes. In the end the reader comes away having learned something about...
About
The music of the prolific Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) typifies Brazil, in its diversity, spirit of racial amalgam, and awesome beauty. Through the sheer quantity of his output, his original use of folkloric material, and the striking accessibility of his scores, Villa-Lobos has become the best-known and most significant Latin American composer of all time. This book provides an introduction to his music, and by focusing attention on important or unusual works from his large oeuvre, charts Villa-Lobos's own often anguished musical journey through the Brazilian landscape. Jungle, grasslands, river, city, and ocean all find a legitimate place in his aural mosaic of Brazil, but as he approached death his music assumed a deep spiritual quality of peace and resignation. His personal journey of discovery and fulfilment is clearly explained, set against the pervasive backdrop of social and political upheaval which characterized Brazil during Villa-Lobos's lifetime. Simon Wright has lectured, broadcast, and written on all aspects of Latin American music, and was awarded the Rocha Miranda Award of the Anglo-Brazilian Society for research in Brazil.
Contents
- Villa-Lobos
Awards and reviews
Simon Wright's succinct and well-written guide will serve well ... this little book is more than a collection of program notes. In the end the reader comes away having learned something about the fascinating musical world of this composer ... Wright's illuminating expose arouses compelling interest in his subject, and he leaves us eager to investigate the unfortunately meagre discography available and to probe deeper into the bibliographic references he provides ... To this end, the author has achieved an admirable goal
a very welcome addition to the excellent Oxford Studies of Composers series ... The musical examples are well considered and printed with the clarity and care we have come to expect from OUP at its best ... wholly readable and always stimulating
