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Andrea BissoliThe Italian guitarist AndreaBissoli had his first lessonswith his brothers, laterstudying with GiuseppeMaderni. When he wasthirteen he gave his firstrecital in his hometown,performing Villa-Lobos CinqPrludes, later adding to hisrepertoire works by Turina,Albniz and several of Villa-Lobos tudes, performancesof which won him prizes atcompetitions for youngmusicians. At fourteen heretired from competitions tostudy with Stefano Grondonaat the Conservatorio ArrigoPedrollo in Vicenza. Aftergraduating with full marksfrom high school, he turnedto musical studies, graduating

and then completing a postgraduate course at the Vicenza Conservatory, once again with honours. He studied with LauraMondiello, Paul Galbraith, Oscar Ghiglia and Alirio Daz, and has won awards at several guitar competitions in hisnative Italy, including the Premio Citt di Parma, Premio Nazionale delle Arti, Citt di Voghera, Citt di Arezzo,A.GI.MUS. and Rocco Peruggini. He has played as a soloist in Italy and Brazil. In 2006 he started the guitar duo PhdreAdroit with Federica Artuso. They have studied baroque music with Monica Huggett and Sigiswald Kuijken, and alsoplay nineteenth-century music on two period instruments labelled Petitjean. Their repertoire also includes an all-Villa-Lobos programme of unpublished transcriptions for two guitars made by Andrea Bissoli. He has studied the works ofVilla-Lobos for some seven years, and has written articles for Il Fronimo. He plays a J. Vincenti guitar, currently strungwith New Nylgut strings by Aquila.

www.andreabissoli.com

To Mario and Giovanna, my parents.With thanks to Marcelo Rodolfo, Jacques Vincenti, don Agostino Zenere,

Stefano Grondona, Marco Di Pasquale and Umberto DArpa.

Photo: Marcio Monteiro

VILLA-LOBOSThe GuitarManuscripts 1Guitar ConcertoValse-ChoroFloresta do Amazonas

Andrea Bissoli, GuitarSerafini Artuso BraitSchola San Rocco ChorusFrancesco ErleMinas GeraisPhilharmonic OrchestraFabio Mechetti

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Minas Gerais Philharmonic OrchestraThe Minas Gerais Philharmonic Orchestra was created in 2008 forthe promotion of orchestral music in the State of Minas Gerais andelsewhere, nationally and internationally. Artistic excellence anddynamic programming are at the heart of the orchestras work.With ninety musicians from all over Brazil, Europe, Asia and theAmericas, the orchestra has won recognition, particularly throughthe 2012 Carlos Gomes Award for best Brazilian orchestra, andits selection in 2010 as the best classical music ensemble of theyear by the So Paulo Art Critics Association (APCA). In 2009 itsmusic director and principal conductor, Fabio Mechetti, washonoured with the Carlos Gomes Award for best Brazilianconductor. The Minas Gerais Philharmonic currently performs atthe Palace of Fine Arts, a concert hall in the city of Belo Horizonte,

capital of the state of Minas Gerais. It tours around the state as well as other states in Brazil, and abroad. It promotesaudience development projects such as educational concerts and open concerts in the parks and squares of BeloHorizonte. It participates in festivals and fosters innovative initiatives, including the promotion of Brazilian contemporarycomposers and young Brazilian conductors.

Fabio MechettiFabio Mechetti was born in So Paulo and has been Artistic Director andPrincipal Conductor of the Minas Gerais Philharmonic Orchestra since itsformation in 2008. For his work with the orchestra he received the 2009 XIICarlos Gomes Award for Best Brazilian Conductor. Mechetti has also beenMusic Director and Principal Conductor of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra(USA) since 1999. He was formerly the Conductor of the Syracuse SymphonyOrchestra and the Spokane Symphony Orchestra, where he is now itsConductor Emeritus. He made his dbut conducting the New Jersey SymphonyOrchestra at Carnegie Hall in New York. Since then he has led several NorthAmerican orchestras and is often a guest of summer festivals in the UnitedStates. He worked as Associate Conductor for Mstislav Rostropovich with theNational Symphony Orchestra in Washington, and has conducted in Mexico,Spain, and Venezuela, as well as in Japan. Other engagements have includedappearances with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the AucklandPhilharmonia Orchestra, and theOrchestre Symphonique de Qubec. Winner of

the Nikolai Malko International Conducting Competition in Denmark, Mechetti conducts regularly in Scandinavia,particularly the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra and, in Sweden, the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra. Heholds a Masters degree in Conducting and in Composition from the prestigious Juilliard School in New York.

Photo: Eugenio Savio

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HeitorVILLA-LOBOS

(1887-1959)Guitar Concerto (1951/c. 1955) 19:20

1 I. Allegro preciso 5:382 II. Andantino e Andante Cadncia 9:013 III. Allegro non troppo Vivo 4:414 Simples (1911) 2:545 Valse-Choro (1920s) 5:12

Cirandas (arr. Emilio Pujol for 2 guitars) (excerpts) (1926/c. 1957) 4:576 No. 1. Terezinha de Jesus (Little Thrse of Jesus) 2:327 No. 14. A canoa virou (The Canoe Turned Round) 2:258 Floresta do Amazonas: Cano do Amor (Song of Love)

(version for voice and guitar) (c. 1958) 4:519 Floresta do Amazonas: Veleiros (Sailing Ships)

(version for voice and 2 guitars) (c. 1958) 2:500 Cano do poeta do sculo XVIII (Song of an Eighteenth-Century Poet)

(version for voice and guitar) (1948/53) 3:39! Serestas: No. 5. Modinha (Little Tune) (version for voice and guitar) (1926) 2:20@ Valsa (1936?) 0:52# Motivos Gregos (Greek Motifs)

(arr. A. Bissoli for flute, guitar and female chorus) (1937/2010) 4:11$ Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5: I. ria (Cantilena)

(version for voice and guitar) (1938/c. 1947) 5:47Recorded at Teatro do Centro Educacional, Ibirit, Minas Gerais, Brazil,

on 5th October, 2012 (tracks 1-3); at Chiesa di Santa Maria dei Carmini, Vicenza, Italy, from 11th to 14th December, 2009 (tracks 4, 5), from 10th to 16th August, 2012 (tracks 6-11, 14),

and on 17th March, 2010 (track 12); and at Chiesa di San Rocco, Vicenza, Italy, on 25th November, 2012 (track 13)

Producer: Alessandro PanettoEngineers: Uli Schneider (tracks 1-3), Federico Pelle (tracks 4, 5, 12),

Andrea Dandolo (tracks 6-11, 14), Matteo Costa (track 13)Publishers: Max Eschig (tracks 1-3, 5-7, 11); Unpublished (Museu Villa-Lobos) (tracks 4, 8, 9, 12);

Unpublished (tracks 10, 13); Associated Music Publishers (track 14)

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Stefano BraitStefano Brait began studying the flute with Gaetano Martella and later graduatedat the Conservatorio di Musica Benedetto Marcello in Venice under Enzo Caroli.He perfected his technique and his knowledge of the flute repertoire underCaroli, Conrad Klemm, John Wion, Raffaele Trevisani, Felix Renggli, StefanoParrino and Maurizio Simeoli. He has won awards at various chamber music andsolo competitions, and performs regularly as a flautist and piccoloist in severalorchestras and chamber music ensembles in Italy as well as abroad.

Schola San Rocco ChorusFrancesco Erle, Director

Renowned for its concertsand recordings featuringdistinguished artists such asEnnio Morricone and AndrsSchiff, the Schola San RoccoChorus of Vicenza is led bythe singer Giovanna Damianand director Francesco Erle.The choir has won widepublic and critical acclaim, aswell as the praise of leadingmusicians with whom it hascollaborated.

Photo: Rafael Motta Francesco Erle

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Heitor Villa-Lobos was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1887. Hisfather, an employee of the National Library, was also anamateur musician, enthusiastic enough to teach his sonthe cello, using to begin with a viola, more suited to thechilds size. Villa-Lobos was later to acquire a knowledgeof the guitar and, in adolescence, close acquaintance withthe popular music of Rio, where thechoro had become apopular urban form for street serenaders. After his fathersdeath he soon deserted the medical studies proposed forhim by his mother in favour of music, an aim he pursuedby travelling throughout Brazil, learning at first various folktraditions of the country and writing music of his own thataccorded fully with what he heard. After some years ofthis irregular existence, Villa-Lobos attempted a moreformal study of music in Rio, but soon gave this up,preferring freedom and the personal development of hisimpatient genius, which won more general acceptancewith a series of concerts devoted to his works. Largelythrough the advocacy of Arthur Rubinstein, who had beenimpressed by the earlier piano music, Villa-Lobos won thesupport of rich sponsors, which enabled him to move in1923 to Paris, where he based his activities for thefollowing years. His return to Brazil in 1930 provedpermanent, although he had had every intention ofreturning to Paris, a place congenial to his talent, as soonas he could. It was during these Paris years, interruptedby a tr ip home from 1925-27, that he wrote hisfourteen Choros , a series of works for variouscombinations of voices and instruments, derived ininspiration from the popular music of the streets of Rio deJaneiro. The change of government in Brazil in 1930brought a change in the future of Villa-Lobos, who foundhimself increasingly responsible for the organization ofnational musical education, a task that he continued withinspired enthusiasm. His reputation abroad grew rapidly,while at home he occupied an unassailable position asthe musical leader of his generation. As a composer Villa-Lobos was thoroughly imbued with the very variedtraditions of his country, Amerindian, African and

Portuguese. These he was able to translate into termsacceptable in concert halls and theatres. His music before1930 has strong traces of French influence, or rather ofthe influences current in Paris in the 1920s, while his laterwork in Brazil was to include that fascinating synthesis ofBrazil and Bach,Bachianas Brasileiras and a series ofcompositions in which a demand for instrumentalvirtuosity made itself known.

Keith Anderson

This is just a study I by no means consider it to beserious music. Such was Villa-Lobos own view ofSimples (Simple), a little mazurka he wrote in 1911. Suchpithy self-deprecation might have something to do withthe rigorous standards set by the education he hadreceived from his father, Raul, but it is also worth notingthat by this point Villa-Lobos had already moved on fromthe street musicians of his native Rio, the rodas de choro,and was working on broadening his artistic scope. Writinga folk-style mazurka might therefore have seemed to himto be a backward step, which is why he played down itsworth when he gave the manuscript to his pupil EduardoLuiz Gomes.

The original, unpublished version of the Suite popularbrasileira dates from the 1920s and included a piececalled Valse-Choro. Left out of the final version of theSuite, the Valse lay undiscovered for eighty years, untilFrdric Zigante came across it in the archives ofpublishing house Max Eschig at the beginning of thiscentury. Its manuscript reveals a piece of bold andinnovative writing, featuring wild glissandos and a numberof irresistible rallentandos, laden with saudade(melancholic nostalgia). This waltz was probably omittedbecause of its originality while the pieces that did makeit into the Suite are certainly inspired, they do not share itsastonishing flights of fancy.

During the 1920s, Villa-Lobos made two extendedvisits to Paris. One of the works he wrote in the period

Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)The Guitar Manuscripts: Masterpieces and Lost Works 1

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between these trips was Cirandas (1926), for solo piano(the ciranda being a traditional childrens round dance).The old folk tune of Terezinha de Jesus (Little Thrse ofJesus), into which Villa-Lobos infuses a touch of samba,giving it added charm, is introduced by a lively preludeinspired by a song without words from Frederico Jos deSanta-Anna Nerys book Folk-Lore brsilien (1889).Terezinha de Jesus was transcribed for two guitars byEmilioPujol, who also arranged A canoa virou (TheCanoe Turned Round), this time in collaboration with hisfirst wife, the guitarist Matilde Cuervas.

Modinha (Little Tune), which is part of the Serestas(Serenades) collection, also dates from 1926 in its originalversion for voice and piano. The transcription for voiceand guitar was realized later by Villa-Lobos himself, at therequest of Brazilian singer and guitarist Olga PraguerCoelho.

In the early 1930s the composer became head ofSEMA, the Superintendency of Musical and ArtisticEducation for Rio, as part of which rle he wasresponsible for writing a large number of choral works.Nonetheless, during the same period he also found timeto compose the Bachianas Brasileiras, put together thefour suites from his film score to O Descobrimento doBrasil (The Discovery of Brazil), and even returned to aformer passion the guitar. In 1936 he wrote anundedicated Valsa sentimental, a minute long, of which,sadly, all trace has been lost. I like the idea that thesentimental little Valsa on this album, taken from anundated autograph manuscript score found in the mid-1990s, may be that same piece. The score came from thehome of Villa-Lobos first wife, Luclia Guimares, so musthave been written in 1936 or earlier, because that was theyear they separated.

As part of his work with SEMA, on 15thDecember1937 Villa-Lobos conducted a choral concert at Rio deJaneiros Theatro Municipal. On the programme was apiece he had written for guitar, flute and female chorus, onthat occasion performed with dancers as well: MotivosGregos (Greek Motifs). The 1937 score has since beenlost. A few years earlier, in 1932, Villa-Lobos hadcomposed a duet for guitar and flute entitled Distribuio

de flores (Dana de motivos gregos) Distribution ofFlowers (Dance Based on Greek Motifs). It seems unlikelythat the similarity between the two titles is coincidental.There is also a brief vocal exercise for female chorus withthe title Melodia sobre motivos Gregos, published as partof the second volume of Solfejos. The Museu Villa-Lobosin Rio de Janeiro has a copy which belonged to ArmindaVilla-Lobos, the composers second wife (and hisassistant at SEMA in the early 1930s). Next to the title arethe words Distribuio de Flores , in Armindashandwriting. The flute part, in which the main motifappears three times, clearly echoes the vocal line, whichhas three entries based on the same melisma, itself animitation of the flute motif. My hypothesis, therefore, isthat Villa-Lobos, as was his wont, went back to an earlierwork (Distribuio de flores, for guitar and flute) anddeveloped it into a piece for a specific occasion (MotivosGregos, for guitar, flute and female chorus), by adding asimple choral part. Based as they are on the same Greekmode, the three flute motifs and the three choral entriesare interchangeable. Arminda also added the figure 25to the score of Melodia sobre motivos Gregos, whichmight be explained by the fact that the chorus, taking theplace of the flute, comes in after a 25-beat introductionfrom the guitar.

In 1938 Villa-Lobos composed the first movement ofhis Bachianas Brasileiras No.5, ria: it features apizzicato introduction from the cellos, a melody steeped insaudade and an old modinha, which is sung in semi-declamatory style (Tarde, uma nuvem rsea lenta etransparente As night falls, a rose-coloured clouddrifts transparently by.). Once again, the guitartranscription was realised by the composer at the requestof Olga Praguer Coelho.

Cano do poeta do sculo XVIII (Song of anEighteenth-Century Poet), another piece originally forvoice and piano, was written in 1948. Five years later, in1953, Villa-Lobos adapted the piano part for the guitar.The work was premiered in 1962, after the composersdeath, by its dedicatee, Cristina Maristany, and guitaristJodacil Damaceno. The transcription was never publishedand the score disappeared. My curiosity was aroused

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Lia SerafiniThe soprano Lia Serafini started singing in 1986, after graduating withdistinction as a pianist. During her long career she has worked with artists whohave pioneered the rediscovery of early music. She has a strong interest inchamber music and Lieder repertoire, and collaborates with distinguishedensembles and colleagues, including Jordi Savall, Rinaldo Alessandrini andPaola Erdas.

Federica ArtusoFederica Artuso graduated as a guitar pupil of Stefano Grondona and completeda postgraduate course summa cum laude. She attended masterclasses withSigiswald Kuijken, Paul Galbraith, Laura Mondiello and Oscar Ghiglia(Accademia Chigiana), and won awards at several international competitions.She has given concerts in Italy and Spain. She graduated with full marks inphilosophy with a thesis on Vladimir Janklvitchs conception of music.

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basati sul medesimo modo greco, le tre apparizioni delmotivo del f lauto e i tre interventi del coro sonointercambiabili. Sarebbe cos spiegato il numero 25,unica altra annotazione riportata da Arminda nellapartitura di Melodia sobre motivos Gregos: il coro,entrando al posto del flauto, dovrebbe aspettare i 25/4 diintroduzione chitarristica.

Nel 38 Villa-Lobos compose il primo movimento dellasua quinta Bachianas, ria: unintroduzione dei violoncelli inpizzicato; una cantilena intrisa di saudade; quasi declamata,unantica modinha ( sera, una nube rosea, lenta etrasparente...). Anche in questo caso dobbiamo la versioneper chitarra alla persuasione della Praguer Coelho.

Cano do poeta do sculo XVIII, anchessa originaleper piano e voce, fu scritta nel 1948; cinque anni pi tardi,nel 1953, Villa-Lobos ne redasse una versione cheprevedeva la chitarra in sostituzione del pianoforte. Lapremire fu data postuma, nel 62; la voce era di C.Maristany, dedicataria del brano, accompagnata allachitarra da J. Damaceno. La trascrizione rimasta ineditae i l manoscritto andato perduto. Incuriositodallesistenza di vecchi LP che riportavano in tracklist iltitolo di questa cano, ne feci incetta. Incappai in unvinile del 67, dalle credenziali pi uniche che rare:conteneva unincisione di Cano do poeta do sculoXVIII che vedeva alla chitarra niente meno che lo stessoJ. Damaceno, il chitarrista che ne aveva dato la primaesecuzione! Quando ricevetti il disco appresi dalle note,curate da H. Bello de Carvalho, che la versione qui incisa del 1953. Editai la parte chitarristica dal prezioso LP,ma mi risolsi a portarla in sala dincisione soltanto quando

ebbi una gradita conferma. Humberto Amorim, nel suoimprescindibile lavoro Heitor Villa-Lobos e o Violo,riporta unindiscrezione dello stesso Damaceno: nel 67,anno dellincisione, Damaceno era ancora in possessodella copia del manoscritto di cui si era avvalso per lapremire nel 62.

Segovia chiese a lungo un concerto per chitarra eorchestra; generalmente invocava lintercessione diArminda, che il compositore teneramente chiamavaMindinha... Il giorno arriv e Villa-Lobos le chiese lachitarra, dicendo di avvertire uno strano prurito alle dita edi avere certe idee per tradurlo in musica; ne nacque unaFantasia concertante, purtroppo priva di cadenza solistica.Segovia non si arrese e, ottenuta lagognata Cadncia, il 6febbraio del 56 diede a Houston la premire di quello cheera cos divenuto il Concerto pour guitare et petitorchestre; a dirigere lorchestra fu lo stesso compositore.

Nel 1958 Villa-Lobos scrisse le musiche per ilcolossal Green Mansions. La colonna sonora, per,risult da un disinibito collage di frammenti villalobiani enon ad opera di Bronislau Kaper, che vi introdusse perloccasione la sua Song of Green Mansions; la canta Abel(Anthony Perkins) per la sua Rima (Audrey Hepburn),accompagnandosi alla chitarra. Villa-Lobos incise lapartitura originale per la United Artists, ribattezzandolaFloresta do Amazonas. In quello stesso periodo fecedono al repertorio chitarristico delle due trascrizioni quiofferte: Cano do Amor, per chitarra e voce; Veleiros,per due chitarre e voce.

Andrea Bissoli

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when I spotted the title in the tracklists of some old LPs,so I went ahead and ordered them. One of them, from1967, seemed to be a complete one-off: it included theCano do poeta do sculo XVIII performed by noneother than Jodacil Damaceno himself! When I got therecord, I learned from the notes, written by Hermnio Bellode Carvalho, that the version recorded dated from 1953. Itook down the guitar part from the LP, but decided not torecord the work until I had some sort of confirmation of itsorigins. Humberto Amorim, in his authoritative book HeitorVilla-Lobos e o Violo (Heitor Villa-Lobos and the Guitar),reveals a minor transgression on the part of the guitarist:in 1967, when the recording was made, Damacenoconfessed that he still had his own copy of the manuscriptscore, the same one he had used at the premire fiveyears earlier.

Segovia had long wanted Villa-Lobos to write aconcerto for him, and often asked Arminda to use herinfluence on the composer. One day, Villa-Lobos askedher to hand him a guitar, saying he had a strange itch inhis fingers and wanted to translate it into music. Theresulting work was the Fantasia concertante, but it had no

cadenza for the soloist. Segovia did not give up, however,and having obtained the desired Cadncia, gave thepremire of what had become the Concerto for Guitar andSmall Orchestra in Houston on 6thFebruary 1956, Villa-Lobos himself conducting the Houston SymphonyOrchestra.

In 1958 Villa-Lobos wrote a score for the Mel Ferrerfilm Green Mansions. In the event, however, the finishedsoundtrack was a collage of Villa-Lobos original music,adapted by Bronislau Kaper, who also supplied the lovetheme, Song of Green Mansions (sung by AnthonyPerkins as Abel to Audrey Hepburn as Rima, to guitaraccompaniment). Villa-Lobos recorded his original scorefor United Artists, renaming it Floresta do Amazonas(Forest of the Amazon). At around the same time he alsotranscribed two of its numbers for voice/guitar andvoice/two guitars respectively: Cano do Amor (Song ofLove) and Veleiros (Sailing Ships).

Andrea Bissoli

English translation: Susannah Howe

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Questa composizione da considerarsi come uno studio;non la ritengo assolutamente musica seria. Cos Villa-Lobos recens la sua semplice mazurka, Simples (1911).

La sentenziosa autocritica potrebbe essere unriflesso della severa educazione ricevuta dal padre Raul.Per comprendere a fondo lorigine di tanto contegno,per, bene precisare che nel 1911 Villa-Lobos avevagi abbandonato le rodas de choro e stava lavorando pernobilitare la propria figura di artista. La stesura di unapopolareggiante mazurka poteva sembrargli unoscivoloso ritorno al passato e fu cos che offr al suoallievo Eduardo Luiz Gomes il manoscritto, ma con ledovute cautele.

Risale agli anni Venti la prima versione, poi nonpubblicata, della Suite populaire brsilienne; includeva,tra gli altri, un brano intitolato Valse-Choro. Esclusa dallaversione definitiva della Suite, la Valse fu ignorata perottantanni dalla totalit degli scritti, per essere ritrovatanegli archivi Max Eschig da Frdric Zigante allinizio delnuovo mil lennio. I l manoscritto rivel da subitonellaudacia il suo punto di forza: selvaggia nei bruschiglissez e carica di saudade negli irresistibili rallentando,eclettica fino alla stravaganza, questa composizione fuprobabilmente esclusa per la sua originalit; seppureispirati, infatti, gli altri brani della Suite non ne condividonole mirabolanti allucinazioni.

Nel periodo che intercorse tra i due viaggi pariginidegli anni Venti nacquero le Cirandas (1926), per pianosolo. La ciranda un girotondo: Teresina del Ges / caduta gi per terra, / Accorron tre cavalieri / Facendoleun inchino... Lantica melodia, cui concessa la malia diuna venatura di samba, introdotta da un energicopreludio, ispirato ad unaria senza parole che ritroviamonel libro Folk-Lore brsilien (1889), di F.-J. de Santa-AnnaNery. Terezinha de Jesus fu trascritta per due chitarre daE. Pujol; A canoa virou, invece, una trascrizione a cuiPujol ha lavorato insieme alla prima moglie, la chitarristaM. Cuervas.

Al 1926 risale anche la versione per piano e voce diModinha, dalle Serestas; la trascrizione per chitarra e vocefu redatta in seguito dallo stesso Villa-Lobos, su richiestadella cantante e chitarrista brasiliana O. Praguer Coelho.

Gli impegni alla S.E.M.A. coinvolsero il compositorenella redazione di uninfinit di partiture per coro;ciononostante riusc ad intraprendere la stesura delle sueBachianas Brasileiras e a raccogliere le quattro suite di ODescobrimento do Brasil, trovando persino il tempo perdedicarsi ad unantica passione: la chitarra. Scrisse infatti,nel 1936, una Valsa sentimental; si tratta di una pagina diun minuto, priva di dedica, purtroppo perduta. Mi haaffascinato lidea di riconoscerla nel manoscritto autografodi una piccola Valsa dal tono sentimentale, privo di data,ritrovato a met degli anni Novanta. Rinvenuto nella casadella prima moglie Luclia Guimares, infatti, non puessere stato redatto dopo il 36, anno in cui il compositorele scrisse la sua lettera daddio.

Sulla scia degli impegni alla S.E.M.A., il 15 dicembredel 37 Villa-Lobos diresse un concerto corale al TheatroMunicipal di Rio de Janeiro. Il programma prevedeva ladrammatizzazione ritmica di un brano per chitarra, flautoe coro femminile: Motivos Gregos. La partitura, risalenteal 1937, andata perduta. Alcuni anni prima, nel 1932,Villa-Lobos aveva composto un duetto per chitarra eflauto: Distribuio de flores (Dana de motivos gregos);lanalogia che corre tra i due titoli potrebbe non esserecasuale. Esiste infatti un breve solfeggio per corofemminile dal titolo Melodia sobre motivos Gregos,pubblicato nel fascicolo Solfejos 2 Volume. Il MuseuVilla-Lobos di Rio de Janeiro ne conserva una copiaappartenuta ad Arminda Villa-Lobos, seconda moglie delcompositore, nonch sua assistente alla S.E.M.A. dallaprima met degli anni Trenta. Accanto al titolo del solfejoArminda aveva annotato: Distribuio de Flores.Possiamo scorgere unanalogia formale tra la parte delflauto, in cui il motivo principale compare tre volte, e laparte corale, che prevede tre interventi basati su unmedesimo melisma; detto melisma, inoltre, unesplicitaimitazione del motivo del flauto... Queste coincidenze mihanno indotto a considerare unipotesi: Villa-Lobos,comera sua consuetudine, potrebbe aver ripreso unbrano composto in precedenza (Distribuio de flores, perchitarra e flauto), elaborandone una versione ad hoc(Motivos Gregos, per chitarra, flauto e coro femminile),tramite laggiunta di una semplice parte corale. Essendo

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Heitor Villa-Lobos nacque nel quartiere di Laranjeiras, aRio de Janeiro, sul finire del diciannovesimo secolo. Eraun bambino vivace e adorabile, tanto da meritarsi ilgrazioso soprannome di Tuh, piccola fiamma. Il padreRaul, che lavorava alla Biblioteca Nacional, eraclarinettista e violoncellista dilettante, nellaccezione pialta del termine; impart al figlio le prime lezioni di musica,facendo di una viola un piccolo violoncello improvvisato. Ilcompositore pi tardi descrisse cos il suo noviziato: Erotenuto a riconoscere il genere, lo stile, il carattere elorigine dei brani, cos come a dichiarare con prontezza ilnome della nota, dei suoni e dei rumori che si levavano almomento; lo stridere della ruota di un tram, il pigolio di unpassero, il tonfo di un oggetto metallico E guai a me senon indovinavo! Nel 1899 Raul si ammal e mor,prematuramente. Lirrequieto Tuh inizi a frequentare lerodas de choro, gruppi di musicisti bohmien che siesibivano per le feste cittadine in cambio di una buonatavola. Sotto legida di Jos Rebello da Silva (Z doCavaquinho) e forte dello studio dei classici (Carulli, Sor,Aguado, Carcassi), Villa-Lobos divenne un valentechitarrista. La madre Nomia, che voleva fare di lui unmedico, non si dava per vinta e Tuh, per proseguire ilsuo apprendistato musicale, ripar in casa della zia Fifina.Santa Zia Fifina, come lui stesso amava ricordarla in etmatura, era pianista e gli fece conoscere il Clavicembaloben temperato di Bach: Tuh ne fu ammaliato.

Da giovane Villa-Lobos viaggi molto e, sebbene isuoi mirabolanti reportage includano una cerimoniafunebre di tre giorni con la quale i selvaggi si sarebberoapprestati a cibarsi di lui, le tappe delle sue incursionirealmente documentate sarebbero Paranagu, Manaus elo Stato del Bahia. Nel 1912 conobbe Luclia Guimares,egregia pianista carioca, che presto divenne sua moglie;fu la principale interprete delle sue opere in questadelicata fase della sua vita artistica.

Negli anni Venti Villa-Lobos comp due importantiviaggi in Europa, stabilendosi per loccasione a Parigi, citt

che fu estremamente sensibile alla natura dirompentedelle sue composizioni, nonch della sua personalit.Compose in quegli anni la monumentale serie degliChoros, per gli organici pi disparati: dalla chitarra sola(Choros n1) fino a una compagine di orchestra, banda ecori (Choros n14). Lo Choros n14, assieme ad altrilavori, purtroppo andato perduto. Quando Villa-Lobostorn in Brasile, infatti, lo scoppio della Rivoluzione del1930 imped le rimesse che avrebbero ammansito i suoicreditori parigini; questo caus il pignoramento del mobilionellappartamento di Parigi, con il relativo contenuto

La Rivoluzione del 1930, daltro canto, offr possibilitinsperate al compositore. Nel 1932 fu messo a capo dellaS.E.M.A. (Superintendncia de Educao Musical eArtstica), organo ufficiale del governo Vargas, prepostoalla diffusione della cultura musicale nel Paese; Villa-Lobos arriv a dirigere un coro di quarantamila personeallo stadio Vasco da Gama!

Allinizio degli anni Trenta intraprese la stesura di unaltro fondamentale ciclo di composizioni: le BachianasBrasileiras, in cui la musica di Bach vista dallautorecome principio folclorico universale, quasi un ponte trale genti. Nelle Bachianas il contrappunto indulge al ritmodei tropici e scopre in s una seconda giovinezza; in quelperiodo lo stesso accadde a Villa-Lobos, che cambi ilcorso della sua vita sentimentale scrivendo una letteradaddio alla moglie Luclia.

La fama del compositore cresceva e Villa-Lobosinizi a dirigere i propri lavori orchestrali in mezzo mondo;la nuova compagna, Arminda Neves dAlmeida, gli fusempre devota e, dopo la morte del compositore, neperpetu la memoria promuovendo la fondazione delMuseu Villa-Lobos (1960). Tra gli interpreti che rivolsero ipropri sforzi alla sua musica troviamo Arthur Rubinstein,Leopold Stokowski, Mstislav Rostropovich, Victoria de losngeles, Andrs Segovia e Julian Bream.

Andrea Bissoli

Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)I manoscritti per chitarra: capolavori e opere perdute 1

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Questa composizione da considerarsi come uno studio;non la ritengo assolutamente musica seria. Cos Villa-Lobos recens la sua semplice mazurka, Simples (1911).

La sentenziosa autocritica potrebbe essere unriflesso della severa educazione ricevuta dal padre Raul.Per comprendere a fondo lorigine di tanto contegno,per, bene precisare che nel 1911 Villa-Lobos avevagi abbandonato le rodas de choro e stava lavorando pernobilitare la propria figura di artista. La stesura di unapopolareggiante mazurka poteva sembrargli unoscivoloso ritorno al passato e fu cos che offr al suoallievo Eduardo Luiz Gomes il manoscritto, ma con ledovute cautele.

Risale agli anni Venti la prima versione, poi nonpubblicata, della Suite populaire brsilienne; includeva,tra gli altri, un brano intitolato Valse-Choro. Esclusa dallaversione definitiva della Suite, la Valse fu ignorata perottantanni dalla totalit degli scritti, per essere ritrovatanegli archivi Max Eschig da Frdric Zigante allinizio delnuovo mil lennio. I l manoscritto rivel da subitonellaudacia il suo punto di forza: selvaggia nei bruschiglissez e carica di saudade negli irresistibili rallentando,eclettica fino alla stravaganza, questa composizione fuprobabilmente esclusa per la sua originalit; seppureispirati, infatti, gli altri brani della Suite non ne condividonole mirabolanti allucinazioni.

Nel periodo che intercorse tra i due viaggi pariginidegli anni Venti nacquero le Cirandas (1926), per pianosolo. La ciranda un girotondo: Teresina del Ges / caduta gi per terra, / Accorron tre cavalieri / Facendoleun inchino... Lantica melodia, cui concessa la malia diuna venatura di samba, introdotta da un energicopreludio, ispirato ad unaria senza parole che ritroviamonel libro Folk-Lore brsilien (1889), di F.-J. de Santa-AnnaNery. Terezinha de Jesus fu trascritta per due chitarre daE. Pujol; A canoa virou, invece, una trascrizione a cuiPujol ha lavorato insieme alla prima moglie, la chitarristaM. Cuervas.

Al 1926 risale anche la versione per piano e voce diModinha, dalle Serestas; la trascrizione per chitarra e vocefu redatta in seguito dallo stesso Villa-Lobos, su richiestadella cantante e chitarrista brasiliana O. Praguer Coelho.

Gli impegni alla S.E.M.A. coinvolsero il compositorenella redazione di uninfinit di partiture per coro;ciononostante riusc ad intraprendere la stesura delle sueBachianas Brasileiras e a raccogliere le quattro suite di ODescobrimento do Brasil, trovando persino il tempo perdedicarsi ad unantica passione: la chitarra. Scrisse infatti,nel 1936, una Valsa sentimental; si tratta di una pagina diun minuto, priva di dedica, purtroppo perduta. Mi haaffascinato lidea di riconoscerla nel manoscritto autografodi una piccola Valsa dal tono sentimentale, privo di data,ritrovato a met degli anni Novanta. Rinvenuto nella casadella prima moglie Luclia Guimares, infatti, non puessere stato redatto dopo il 36, anno in cui il compositorele scrisse la sua lettera daddio.

Sulla scia degli impegni alla S.E.M.A., il 15 dicembredel 37 Villa-Lobos diresse un concerto corale al TheatroMunicipal di Rio de Janeiro. Il programma prevedeva ladrammatizzazione ritmica di un brano per chitarra, flautoe coro femminile: Motivos Gregos. La partitura, risalenteal 1937, andata perduta. Alcuni anni prima, nel 1932,Villa-Lobos aveva composto un duetto per chitarra eflauto: Distribuio de flores (Dana de motivos gregos);lanalogia che corre tra i due titoli potrebbe non esserecasuale. Esiste infatti un breve solfeggio per corofemminile dal titolo Melodia sobre motivos Gregos,pubblicato nel fascicolo Solfejos 2 Volume. Il MuseuVilla-Lobos di Rio de Janeiro ne conserva una copiaappartenuta ad Arminda Villa-Lobos, seconda moglie delcompositore, nonch sua assistente alla S.E.M.A. dallaprima met degli anni Trenta. Accanto al titolo del solfejoArminda aveva annotato: Distribuio de Flores.Possiamo scorgere unanalogia formale tra la parte delflauto, in cui il motivo principale compare tre volte, e laparte corale, che prevede tre interventi basati su unmedesimo melisma; detto melisma, inoltre, unesplicitaimitazione del motivo del flauto... Queste coincidenze mihanno indotto a considerare unipotesi: Villa-Lobos,comera sua consuetudine, potrebbe aver ripreso unbrano composto in precedenza (Distribuio de flores, perchitarra e flauto), elaborandone una versione ad hoc(Motivos Gregos, per chitarra, flauto e coro femminile),tramite laggiunta di una semplice parte corale. Essendo

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Heitor Villa-Lobos nacque nel quartiere di Laranjeiras, aRio de Janeiro, sul finire del diciannovesimo secolo. Eraun bambino vivace e adorabile, tanto da meritarsi ilgrazioso soprannome di Tuh, piccola fiamma. Il padreRaul, che lavorava alla Biblioteca Nacional, eraclarinettista e violoncellista dilettante, nellaccezione pialta del termine; impart al figlio le prime lezioni di musica,facendo di una viola un piccolo violoncello improvvisato. Ilcompositore pi tardi descrisse cos il suo noviziato: Erotenuto a riconoscere il genere, lo stile, il carattere elorigine dei brani, cos come a dichiarare con prontezza ilnome della nota, dei suoni e dei rumori che si levavano almomento; lo stridere della ruota di un tram, il pigolio di unpassero, il tonfo di un oggetto metallico E guai a me senon indovinavo! Nel 1899 Raul si ammal e mor,prematuramente. Lirrequieto Tuh inizi a frequentare lerodas de choro, gruppi di musicisti bohmien che siesibivano per le feste cittadine in cambio di una buonatavola. Sotto legida di Jos Rebello da Silva (Z doCavaquinho) e forte dello studio dei classici (Carulli, Sor,Aguado, Carcassi), Villa-Lobos divenne un valentechitarrista. La madre Nomia, che voleva fare di lui unmedico, non si dava per vinta e Tuh, per proseguire ilsuo apprendistato musicale, ripar in casa della zia Fifina.Santa Zia Fifina, come lui stesso amava ricordarla in etmatura, era pianista e gli fece conoscere il Clavicembaloben temperato di Bach: Tuh ne fu ammaliato.

Da giovane Villa-Lobos viaggi molto e, sebbene isuoi mirabolanti reportage includano una cerimoniafunebre di tre giorni con la quale i selvaggi si sarebberoapprestati a cibarsi di lui, le tappe delle sue incursionirealmente documentate sarebbero Paranagu, Manaus elo Stato del Bahia. Nel 1912 conobbe Luclia Guimares,egregia pianista carioca, che presto divenne sua moglie;fu la principale interprete delle sue opere in questadelicata fase della sua vita artistica.

Negli anni Venti Villa-Lobos comp due importantiviaggi in Europa, stabilendosi per loccasione a Parigi, citt

che fu estremamente sensibile alla natura dirompentedelle sue composizioni, nonch della sua personalit.Compose in quegli anni la monumentale serie degliChoros, per gli organici pi disparati: dalla chitarra sola(Choros n1) fino a una compagine di orchestra, banda ecori (Choros n14). Lo Choros n14, assieme ad altrilavori, purtroppo andato perduto. Quando Villa-Lobostorn in Brasile, infatti, lo scoppio della Rivoluzione del1930 imped le rimesse che avrebbero ammansito i suoicreditori parigini; questo caus il pignoramento del mobilionellappartamento di Parigi, con il relativo contenuto

La Rivoluzione del 1930, daltro canto, offr possibilitinsperate al compositore. Nel 1932 fu messo a capo dellaS.E.M.A. (Superintendncia de Educao Musical eArtstica), organo ufficiale del governo Vargas, prepostoalla diffusione della cultura musicale nel Paese; Villa-Lobos arriv a dirigere un coro di quarantamila personeallo stadio Vasco da Gama!

Allinizio degli anni Trenta intraprese la stesura di unaltro fondamentale ciclo di composizioni: le BachianasBrasileiras, in cui la musica di Bach vista dallautorecome principio folclorico universale, quasi un ponte trale genti. Nelle Bachianas il contrappunto indulge al ritmodei tropici e scopre in s una seconda giovinezza; in quelperiodo lo stesso accadde a Villa-Lobos, che cambi ilcorso della sua vita sentimentale scrivendo una letteradaddio alla moglie Luclia.

La fama del compositore cresceva e Villa-Lobosinizi a dirigere i propri lavori orchestrali in mezzo mondo;la nuova compagna, Arminda Neves dAlmeida, gli fusempre devota e, dopo la morte del compositore, neperpetu la memoria promuovendo la fondazione delMuseu Villa-Lobos (1960). Tra gli interpreti che rivolsero ipropri sforzi alla sua musica troviamo Arthur Rubinstein,Leopold Stokowski, Mstislav Rostropovich, Victoria de losngeles, Andrs Segovia e Julian Bream.

Andrea Bissoli

Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)I manoscritti per chitarra: capolavori e opere perdute 1

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basati sul medesimo modo greco, le tre apparizioni delmotivo del f lauto e i tre interventi del coro sonointercambiabili. Sarebbe cos spiegato il numero 25,unica altra annotazione riportata da Arminda nellapartitura di Melodia sobre motivos Gregos: il coro,entrando al posto del flauto, dovrebbe aspettare i 25/4 diintroduzione chitarristica.

Nel 38 Villa-Lobos compose il primo movimento dellasua quinta Bachianas, ria: unintroduzione dei violoncelli inpizzicato; una cantilena intrisa di saudade; quasi declamata,unantica modinha ( sera, una nube rosea, lenta etrasparente...). Anche in questo caso dobbiamo la versioneper chitarra alla persuasione della Praguer Coelho.

Cano do poeta do sculo XVIII, anchessa originaleper piano e voce, fu scritta nel 1948; cinque anni pi tardi,nel 1953, Villa-Lobos ne redasse una versione cheprevedeva la chitarra in sostituzione del pianoforte. Lapremire fu data postuma, nel 62; la voce era di C.Maristany, dedicataria del brano, accompagnata allachitarra da J. Damaceno. La trascrizione rimasta ineditae i l manoscritto andato perduto. Incuriositodallesistenza di vecchi LP che riportavano in tracklist iltitolo di questa cano, ne feci incetta. Incappai in unvinile del 67, dalle credenziali pi uniche che rare:conteneva unincisione di Cano do poeta do sculoXVIII che vedeva alla chitarra niente meno che lo stessoJ. Damaceno, il chitarrista che ne aveva dato la primaesecuzione! Quando ricevetti il disco appresi dalle note,curate da H. Bello de Carvalho, che la versione qui incisa del 1953. Editai la parte chitarristica dal prezioso LP,ma mi risolsi a portarla in sala dincisione soltanto quando

ebbi una gradita conferma. Humberto Amorim, nel suoimprescindibile lavoro Heitor Villa-Lobos e o Violo,riporta unindiscrezione dello stesso Damaceno: nel 67,anno dellincisione, Damaceno era ancora in possessodella copia del manoscritto di cui si era avvalso per lapremire nel 62.

Segovia chiese a lungo un concerto per chitarra eorchestra; generalmente invocava lintercessione diArminda, che il compositore teneramente chiamavaMindinha... Il giorno arriv e Villa-Lobos le chiese lachitarra, dicendo di avvertire uno strano prurito alle dita edi avere certe idee per tradurlo in musica; ne nacque unaFantasia concertante, purtroppo priva di cadenza solistica.Segovia non si arrese e, ottenuta lagognata Cadncia, il 6febbraio del 56 diede a Houston la premire di quello cheera cos divenuto il Concerto pour guitare et petitorchestre; a dirigere lorchestra fu lo stesso compositore.

Nel 1958 Villa-Lobos scrisse le musiche per ilcolossal Green Mansions. La colonna sonora, per,risult da un disinibito collage di frammenti villalobiani enon ad opera di Bronislau Kaper, che vi introdusse perloccasione la sua Song of Green Mansions; la canta Abel(Anthony Perkins) per la sua Rima (Audrey Hepburn),accompagnandosi alla chitarra. Villa-Lobos incise lapartitura originale per la United Artists, ribattezzandolaFloresta do Amazonas. In quello stesso periodo fecedono al repertorio chitarristico delle due trascrizioni quiofferte: Cano do Amor, per chitarra e voce; Veleiros,per due chitarre e voce.

Andrea Bissoli

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when I spotted the title in the tracklists of some old LPs,so I went ahead and ordered them. One of them, from1967, seemed to be a complete one-off: it included theCano do poeta do sculo XVIII performed by noneother than Jodacil Damaceno himself! When I got therecord, I learned from the notes, written by Hermnio Bellode Carvalho, that the version recorded dated from 1953. Itook down the guitar part from the LP, but decided not torecord the work until I had some sort of confirmation of itsorigins. Humberto Amorim, in his authoritative book HeitorVilla-Lobos e o Violo (Heitor Villa-Lobos and the Guitar),reveals a minor transgression on the part of the guitarist:in 1967, when the recording was made, Damacenoconfessed that he still had his own copy of the manuscriptscore, the same one he had used at the premire fiveyears earlier.

Segovia had long wanted Villa-Lobos to write aconcerto for him, and often asked Arminda to use herinfluence on the composer. One day, Villa-Lobos askedher to hand him a guitar, saying he had a strange itch inhis fingers and wanted to translate it into music. Theresulting work was the Fantasia concertante, but it had no

cadenza for the soloist. Segovia did not give up, however,and having obtained the desired Cadncia, gave thepremire of what had become the Concerto for Guitar andSmall Orchestra in Houston on 6thFebruary 1956, Villa-Lobos himself conducting the Houston SymphonyOrchestra.

In 1958 Villa-Lobos wrote a score for the Mel Ferrerfilm Green Mansions. In the event, however, the finishedsoundtrack was a collage of Villa-Lobos original music,adapted by Bronislau Kaper, who also supplied the lovetheme, Song of Green Mansions (sung by AnthonyPerkins as Abel to Audrey Hepburn as Rima, to guitaraccompaniment). Villa-Lobos recorded his original scorefor United Artists, renaming it Floresta do Amazonas(Forest of the Amazon). At around the same time he alsotranscribed two of its numbers for voice/guitar andvoice/two guitars respectively: Cano do Amor (Song ofLove) and Veleiros (Sailing Ships).

Andrea Bissoli

English translation: Susannah Howe

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between these trips was Cirandas (1926), for solo piano(the ciranda being a traditional childrens round dance).The old folk tune of Terezinha de Jesus (Little Thrse ofJesus), into which Villa-Lobos infuses a touch of samba,giving it added charm, is introduced by a lively preludeinspired by a song without words from Frederico Jos deSanta-Anna Nerys book Folk-Lore brsilien (1889).Terezinha de Jesus was transcribed for two guitars byEmilioPujol, who also arranged A canoa virou (TheCanoe Turned Round), this time in collaboration with hisfirst wife, the guitarist Matilde Cuervas.

Modinha (Little Tune), which is part of the Serestas(Serenades) collection, also dates from 1926 in its originalversion for voice and piano. The transcription for voiceand guitar was realized later by Villa-Lobos himself, at therequest of Brazilian singer and guitarist Olga PraguerCoelho.

In the early 1930s the composer became head ofSEMA, the Superintendency of Musical and ArtisticEducation for Rio, as part of which rle he wasresponsible for writing a large number of choral works.Nonetheless, during the same period he also found timeto compose the Bachianas Brasileiras, put together thefour suites from his film score to O Descobrimento doBrasil (The Discovery of Brazil), and even returned to aformer passion the guitar. In 1936 he wrote anundedicated Valsa sentimental, a minute long, of which,sadly, all trace has been lost. I like the idea that thesentimental little Valsa on this album, taken from anundated autograph manuscript score found in the mid-1990s, may be that same piece. The score came from thehome of Villa-Lobos first wife, Luclia Guimares, so musthave been written in 1936 or earlier, because that was theyear they separated.

As part of his work with SEMA, on 15thDecember1937 Villa-Lobos conducted a choral concert at Rio deJaneiros Theatro Municipal. On the programme was apiece he had written for guitar, flute and female chorus, onthat occasion performed with dancers as well: MotivosGregos (Greek Motifs). The 1937 score has since beenlost. A few years earlier, in 1932, Villa-Lobos hadcomposed a duet for guitar and flute entitled Distribuio

de flores (Dana de motivos gregos) Distribution ofFlowers (Dance Based on Greek Motifs). It seems unlikelythat the similarity between the two titles is coincidental.There is also a brief vocal exercise for female chorus withthe title Melodia sobre motivos Gregos, published as partof the second volume of Solfejos. The Museu Villa-Lobosin Rio de Janeiro has a copy which belonged to ArmindaVilla-Lobos, the composers second wife (and hisassistant at SEMA in the early 1930s). Next to the title arethe words Distribuio de Flores , in Armindashandwriting. The flute part, in which the main motifappears three times, clearly echoes the vocal line, whichhas three entries based on the same melisma, itself animitation of the flute motif. My hypothesis, therefore, isthat Villa-Lobos, as was his wont, went back to an earlierwork (Distribuio de flores, for guitar and flute) anddeveloped it into a piece for a specific occasion (MotivosGregos, for guitar, flute and female chorus), by adding asimple choral part. Based as they are on the same Greekmode, the three flute motifs and the three choral entriesare interchangeable. Arminda also added the figure 25to the score of Melodia sobre motivos Gregos, whichmight be explained by the fact that the chorus, taking theplace of the flute, comes in after a 25-beat introductionfrom the guitar.

In 1938 Villa-Lobos composed the first movement ofhis Bachianas Brasileiras No.5, ria: it features apizzicato introduction from the cellos, a melody steeped insaudade and an old modinha, which is sung in semi-declamatory style (Tarde, uma nuvem rsea lenta etransparente As night falls, a rose-coloured clouddrifts transparently by.). Once again, the guitartranscription was realised by the composer at the requestof Olga Praguer Coelho.

Cano do poeta do sculo XVIII (Song of anEighteenth-Century Poet), another piece originally forvoice and piano, was written in 1948. Five years later, in1953, Villa-Lobos adapted the piano part for the guitar.The work was premiered in 1962, after the composersdeath, by its dedicatee, Cristina Maristany, and guitaristJodacil Damaceno. The transcription was never publishedand the score disappeared. My curiosity was aroused

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Lia SerafiniThe soprano Lia Serafini started singing in 1986, after graduating withdistinction as a pianist. During her long career she has worked with artists whohave pioneered the rediscovery of early music. She has a strong interest inchamber music and Lieder repertoire, and collaborates with distinguishedensembles and colleagues, including Jordi Savall, Rinaldo Alessandrini andPaola Erdas.

Federica ArtusoFederica Artuso graduated as a guitar pupil of Stefano Grondona and completeda postgraduate course summa cum laude. She attended masterclasses withSigiswald Kuijken, Paul Galbraith, Laura Mondiello and Oscar Ghiglia(Accademia Chigiana), and won awards at several international competitions.She has given concerts in Italy and Spain. She graduated with full marks inphilosophy with a thesis on Vladimir Janklvitchs conception of music.

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Stefano BraitStefano Brait began studying the flute with Gaetano Martella and later graduatedat the Conservatorio di Musica Benedetto Marcello in Venice under Enzo Caroli.He perfected his technique and his knowledge of the flute repertoire underCaroli, Conrad Klemm, John Wion, Raffaele Trevisani, Felix Renggli, StefanoParrino and Maurizio Simeoli. He has won awards at various chamber music andsolo competitions, and performs regularly as a flautist and piccoloist in severalorchestras and chamber music ensembles in Italy as well as abroad.

Schola San Rocco ChorusFrancesco Erle, Director

Renowned for its concertsand recordings featuringdistinguished artists such asEnnio Morricone and AndrsSchiff, the Schola San RoccoChorus of Vicenza is led bythe singer Giovanna Damianand director Francesco Erle.The choir has won widepublic and critical acclaim, aswell as the praise of leadingmusicians with whom it hascollaborated.

Photo: Rafael Motta Francesco Erle

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Heitor Villa-Lobos was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1887. Hisfather, an employee of the National Library, was also anamateur musician, enthusiastic enough to teach his sonthe cello, using to begin with a viola, more suited to thechilds size. Villa-Lobos was later to acquire a knowledgeof the guitar and, in adolescence, close acquaintance withthe popular music of Rio, where thechoro had become apopular urban form for street serenaders. After his fathersdeath he soon deserted the medical studies proposed forhim by his mother in favour of music, an aim he pursuedby travelling throughout Brazil, learning at first various folktraditions of the country and writing music of his own thataccorded fully with what he heard. After some years ofthis irregular existence, Villa-Lobos attempted a moreformal study of music in Rio, but soon gave this up,preferring freedom and the personal development of hisimpatient genius, which won more general acceptancewith a series of concerts devoted to his works. Largelythrough the advocacy of Arthur Rubinstein, who had beenimpressed by the earlier piano music, Villa-Lobos won thesupport of rich sponsors, which enabled him to move in1923 to Paris, where he based his activities for thefollowing years. His return to Brazil in 1930 provedpermanent, although he had had every intention ofreturning to Paris, a place congenial to his talent, as soonas he could. It was during these Paris years, interruptedby a tr ip home from 1925-27, that he wrote hisfourteen Choros , a series of works for variouscombinations of voices and instruments, derived ininspiration from the popular music of the streets of Rio deJaneiro. The change of government in Brazil in 1930brought a change in the future of Villa-Lobos, who foundhimself increasingly responsible for the organization ofnational musical education, a task that he continued withinspired enthusiasm. His reputation abroad grew rapidly,while at home he occupied an unassailable position asthe musical leader of his generation. As a composer Villa-Lobos was thoroughly imbued with the very variedtraditions of his country, Amerindian, African and

Portuguese. These he was able to translate into termsacceptable in concert halls and theatres. His music before1930 has strong traces of French influence, or rather ofthe influences current in Paris in the 1920s, while his laterwork in Brazil was to include that fascinating synthesis ofBrazil and Bach,Bachianas Brasileiras and a series ofcompositions in which a demand for instrumentalvirtuosity made itself known.

Keith Anderson

This is just a study I by no means consider it to beserious music. Such was Villa-Lobos own view ofSimples (Simple), a little mazurka he wrote in 1911. Suchpithy self-deprecation might have something to do withthe rigorous standards set by the education he hadreceived from his father, Raul, but it is also worth notingthat by this point Villa-Lobos had already moved on fromthe street musicians of his native Rio, the rodas de choro,and was working on broadening his artistic scope. Writinga folk-style mazurka might therefore have seemed to himto be a backward step, which is why he played down itsworth when he gave the manuscript to his pupil EduardoLuiz Gomes.

The original, unpublished version of the Suite popularbrasileira dates from the 1920s and included a piececalled Valse-Choro. Left out of the final version of theSuite, the Valse lay undiscovered for eighty years, untilFrdric Zigante came across it in the archives ofpublishing house Max Eschig at the beginning of thiscentury. Its manuscript reveals a piece of bold andinnovative writing, featuring wild glissandos and a numberof irresistible rallentandos, laden with saudade(melancholic nostalgia). This waltz was probably omittedbecause of its originality while the pieces that did makeit into the Suite are certainly inspired, they do not share itsastonishing flights of fancy.

During the 1920s, Villa-Lobos made two extendedvisits to Paris. One of the works he wrote in the period

Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)The Guitar Manuscripts: Masterpieces and Lost Works 1

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Minas Gerais Philharmonic OrchestraThe Minas Gerais Philharmonic Orchestra was created in 2008 forthe promotion of orchestral music in the State of Minas Gerais andelsewhere, nationally and internationally. Artistic excellence anddynamic programming are at the heart of the orchestras work.With ninety musicians from all over Brazil, Europe, Asia and theAmericas, the orchestra has won recognition, particularly throughthe 2012 Carlos Gomes Award for best Brazilian orchestra, andits selection in 2010 as the best classical music ensemble of theyear by the So Paulo Art Critics Association (APCA). In 2009 itsmusic director and principal conductor, Fabio Mechetti, washonoured with the Carlos Gomes Award for best Brazilianconductor. The Minas Gerais Philharmonic currently performs atthe Palace of Fine Arts, a concert hall in the city of Belo Horizonte,

capital of the state of Minas Gerais. It tours around the state as well as other states in Brazil, and abroad. It promotesaudience development projects such as educational concerts and open concerts in the parks and squares of BeloHorizonte. It participates in festivals and fosters innovative initiatives, including the promotion of Brazilian contemporarycomposers and young Brazilian conductors.

Fabio MechettiFabio Mechetti was born in So Paulo and has been Artistic Director andPrincipal Conductor of the Minas Gerais Philharmonic Orchestra since itsformation in 2008. For his work with the orchestra he received the 2009 XIICarlos Gomes Award for Best Brazilian Conductor. Mechetti has also beenMusic Director and Principal Conductor of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra(USA) since 1999. He was formerly the Conductor of the Syracuse SymphonyOrchestra and the Spokane Symphony Orchestra, where he is now itsConductor Emeritus. He made his dbut conducting the New Jersey SymphonyOrchestra at Carnegie Hall in New York. Since then he has led several NorthAmerican orchestras and is often a guest of summer festivals in the UnitedStates. He worked as Associate Conductor for Mstislav Rostropovich with theNational Symphony Orchestra in Washington, and has conducted in Mexico,Spain, and Venezuela, as well as in Japan. Other engagements have includedappearances with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the AucklandPhilharmonia Orchestra, and theOrchestre Symphonique de Qubec. Winner of

the Nikolai Malko International Conducting Competition in Denmark, Mechetti conducts regularly in Scandinavia,particularly the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra and, in Sweden, the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra. Heholds a Masters degree in Conducting and in Composition from the prestigious Juilliard School in New York.

Photo: Eugenio Savio

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HeitorVILLA-LOBOS

(1887-1959)Guitar Concerto (1951/c. 1955) 19:20

1 I. Allegro preciso 5:382 II. Andantino e Andante Cadncia 9:013 III. Allegro non troppo Vivo 4:414 Simples (1911) 2:545 Valse-Choro (1920s) 5:12

Cirandas (arr. Emilio Pujol for 2 guitars) (excerpts) (1926/c. 1957) 4:576 No. 1. Terezinha de Jesus (Little Thrse of Jesus) 2:327 No. 14. A canoa virou (The Canoe Turned Round) 2:258 Floresta do Amazonas: Cano do Amor (Song of Love)

(version for voice and guitar) (c. 1958) 4:519 Floresta do Amazonas: Veleiros (Sailing Ships)

(version for voice and 2 guitars) (c. 1958) 2:500 Cano do poeta do sculo XVIII (Song of an Eighteenth-Century Poet)

(version for voice and guitar) (1948/53) 3:39! Serestas: No. 5. Modinha (Little Tune) (version for voice and guitar) (1926) 2:20@ Valsa (1936?) 0:52# Motivos Gregos (Greek Motifs)

(arr. A. Bissoli for flute, guitar and female chorus) (1937/2010) 4:11$ Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5: I. ria (Cantilena)

(version for voice and guitar) (1938/c. 1947) 5:47Recorded at Teatro do Centro Educacional, Ibirit, Minas Gerais, Brazil,

on 5th October, 2012 (tracks 1-3); at Chiesa di Santa Maria dei Carmini, Vicenza, Italy, from 11th to 14th December, 2009 (tracks 4, 5), from 10th to 16th August, 2012 (tracks 6-11, 14),

and on 17th March, 2010 (track 12); and at Chiesa di San Rocco, Vicenza, Italy, on 25th November, 2012 (track 13)

Producer: Alessandro PanettoEngineers: Uli Schneider (tracks 1-3), Federico Pelle (tracks 4, 5, 12),

Andrea Dandolo (tracks 6-11, 14), Matteo Costa (track 13)Publishers: Max Eschig (tracks 1-3, 5-7, 11); Unpublished (Museu Villa-Lobos) (tracks 4, 8, 9, 12);

Unpublished (tracks 10, 13); Associated Music Publishers (track 14)

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Andrea BissoliThe Italian guitarist AndreaBissoli had his first lessonswith his brothers, laterstudying with GiuseppeMaderni. When he wasthirteen he gave his firstrecital in his hometown,performing Villa-Lobos CinqPrludes, later adding to hisrepertoire works by Turina,Albniz and several of Villa-Lobos tudes, performancesof which won him prizes atcompetitions for youngmusicians. At fourteen heretired from competitions tostudy with Stefano Grondonaat the Conservatorio ArrigoPedrollo in Vicenza. Aftergraduating with full marksfrom high school, he turnedto musical studies, graduating

and then completing a postgraduate course at the Vicenza Conservatory, once again with honours. He studied with LauraMondiello, Paul Galbraith, Oscar Ghiglia and Alirio Daz, and has won awards at several guitar competitions in hisnative Italy, including the Premio Citt di Parma, Premio Nazionale delle Arti, Citt di Voghera, Citt di Arezzo,A.GI.MUS. and Rocco Peruggini. He has played as a soloist in Italy and Brazil. In 2006 he started the guitar duo PhdreAdroit with Federica Artuso. They have studied baroque music with Monica Huggett and Sigiswald Kuijken, and alsoplay nineteenth-century music on two period instruments labelled Petitjean. Their repertoire also includes an all-Villa-Lobos programme of unpublished transcriptions for two guitars made by Andrea Bissoli. He has studied the works ofVilla-Lobos for some seven years, and has written articles for Il Fronimo. He plays a J. Vincenti guitar, currently strungwith New Nylgut strings by Aquila.

www.andreabissoli.com

To Mario and Giovanna, my parents.With thanks to Marcelo Rodolfo, Jacques Vincenti, don Agostino Zenere,

Stefano Grondona, Marco Di Pasquale and Umberto DArpa.

Photo: Marcio Monteiro

VILLA-LOBOSThe GuitarManuscripts 1Guitar ConcertoValse-ChoroFloresta do Amazonas

Andrea Bissoli, GuitarSerafini Artuso BraitSchola San Rocco ChorusFrancesco ErleMinas GeraisPhilharmonic OrchestraFabio Mechetti

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CMYK

LATIN

AMERICAN

CLASSICS

8.573043

8.557460-62 8.557765

Also available

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This is the first of three volumes including rare and recently discovered works by Heitor Villa-Lobos. Guitarist Andrea Bissolis researches have revealed new sources for lost manuscripts,and these recordings of the Valsa, the Motivos Gregos and Cano do poeta do sculo XVIIIrepresent the revival of music thought to have vanished forever. These works are joined bytranscriptions which include one of Villa-Lobos best loved melodies, the ria from BachianasBrasileiras No. 5, as well as the Concerto he wrote for the legendary Segovia. DDD

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Booklet notes in English

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mHeitor

VILLA-LOBOS(1887-1959)

The Guitar Manuscripts: Masterpieces and Lost Works 1

*WORLD PREMIRE RECORDINGSAndrea Bissoli, Guitar

Lia Serafini, Soprano 8-! $Federica Artuso, Guitar 6 7 9 Stefano Brait, Flute #

Schola San Rocco Chorus # Francesco Erle #Minas Gerais Philharmonic Orchestra 1-3 Fabio Mechetti 1-3

1-3 Guitar Concerto 19:204 Simples 2:545 Valse-Choro 5:126 Cirandas: No. 1. Terezinha

de Jesus (arr. E. Pujol) 2:327 Cirandas: No. 14. A canoa

virou (arr. E. Pujol)* 2:258 Floresta do Amazonas:

Cano do Amor 4:51

9 Floresta do Amazonas: Veleiros 2:50

0 Cano do poeta do sculo XVIII 3:39

! Serestas: No. 5. Modinha 2:20@ Valsa* 0:52# Motivos Gregos

(arr. A. Bissoli)* 4:11$ Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5:

I. ria (Cantilena) 5:47

Sponsored by Orquestra Filarmnica de Minas GeraisA co-production with APM Alessandro Panetto Management

A detailed track list and recording and publishers details can be found inside the bookletProducer: Alessandro Panetto Booklet notes: Andrea Bissoli

Cover: Villa-Lobos embracing his guitar (Photo kindly provided by Museu Villa-Lobos)

Playing Time56:53

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Manuscripts 1

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