Born: 5 March 1887, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Died: 17 November 1959, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Villa-Lobos, Heitor

Villa-Lobos is the composer who gave Brazil its place on the world map of music. His musical education was not academic. His father taught him to play the cello and the guitar virtuously. He studied Brazilian folk music and composed in its spirit, integrating popular traditional percussion instruments in the orchestra. He was highly appreciated by pianist Arthur Rubinstein, who recommended him to come to Paris, where composer Max Bruch said of him "He did not come to learn from us - he came to show us what he did...".

He also studied Bach's music, which in his opinion, is universal, representing what links cultures together, and dedicated to him his "Bachianas Brasileras" - a cycle of pieces combining Bach with Brazilian folk elements.

Like Kodaly in Hungary, Villa-Lobos developed Brazilian music and music education in his country, and even founded Brazil's national academy of music.

Sites

Audio

Video

Images

MIDI