String Quartet No. 6 (Villa-Lobos)

String Quartet No. 6 ("Brazilian") is one of seventeen works in the medium by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, and was written in 1938. A performance lasts approximately 24 minutes.

Heitor Villa-Lobos

History

Villa-Lobos composed his Sixth Quartet during 1938 in Rio de Janeiro, and it was first performed in the same city by the Quarteto Haydn on 30 November 1943, on the same programme as the premiere of the Seventh Quartet. The published score bears no dedication, but the manuscript is dedicated to the violist Orlando Frederico (Villa-Lobos, sua obra 1972, 85), who many years earlier had participated in the premieres of both the Second and Third Quartets. Together with the Fifth Quartet, this work is marked by a deliberate move toward a more "popular" style, incorporating elements of Brazilian popular music, and the Sixth is regarded as the most nationalistic of all Villa-Lobos's string quartets (Béhague 2003, 294). Villa-Lobos originally planned to designate this work as the second "popular quartet" (the Fifth Quartet is subtitled "Quarteto popular no. 1"), but in the end abandoned the idea of such a series (Béhague 1994, 123). At the same time, it is with this quartet that the references to the quartets of Haydn, which continue throughout the composer's later quartets, become clear for the first time (Salles 2012, 94)

Analysis

This composition, like all of Villa-Lobos's quartets except the first, consists of four movements:

  1. Poco animato
  2. Allegretto
  3. Andante, quasi adagio
  4. Allegro vivace

Instead of the usual sonata-allegro form, the first movement presents a sectional structure. Four contrasting sections (with transitions between the first and second, and between the third and fourth) are followed by a recapitulation of the first section, and an extended coda. There is no development section (Farmer 1973, 49).

The second movement is in a three-part, ABA song form in the character of the Brazilian improvised serenade known as the choro (Farmer 1973, 58–59). The A section is homophonic, while the central B section features imitative textures and a xangô-like theme set against a syncopated accompaniment in quadruple time (Farmer 1973, 67; Tarasti 2009, 238).

The third movement is also in ternary form, but with a variation. The A section falls into two parts, which are reversed in order when A is recapitulated after the central B section (Farmer 1973, 67–68). The tonal language and textural features of the outer sections resemble those of the Bachianas Brasileiras, especially parts of the first movement of Bachianas No. 5. The middle section features a fugato on a subject related to the cantilena (xangô) motive from the second movement. This passage is the first occurrence of the atonal, chromatic, legato style found often in Villa-Lobos's subsequent quartets (Tarasti 2009, 238).

The finale is similar in structure to the first movement, consisting of three successive, contrasting sections and a recapitulation of the first, concluding with a short coda (Farmer 1973, 71). Unlike the first movement, however (and unlike all of the composer's earlier quartets), there is a certain thematic kinship amongst the sections, with a recurrence of a falling-third figure and the use of pseudo-Indian motifs influenced by Antonín Dvořák's "American" Quartet (Tarasti 2009, 238).

Discography

Chronological by date of recording.

  • Heitor Villa-Lobos: Quartet no. 6 in E (Quartetto brasileiro no. 2). Stuyvesant String Quartet (Sylvan Shulman, Bernard Robbins, violins; Ralph Hersh, viola; Alan Shulman, cello). Recorded at the Majestic Theatre, New York City, 7 May 1947. Standard groove, 3 discs: 12 in., 78 rpm, monaural. International Records 301. International Master Series. New York: International Records, [1947]. Reissued on LP, 1 disc: 12  33⅓ rpm, monaural. Concert Hall CHC-19. New York, N.Y.: Concert Hall, 1949. Reissued on CD with quartets by Paul Hindemith and Quincy Porter. Parnassus PACD 96026. Woodstock, NY: Parnassus Records, 2000.
  • William Walton: String Quartet in A Minor; Heitor Villa-Lobos: String Quartet No. 6. Hollywood String Quartet (Felix Slatkin, Paul Shure, violins; Paul Robyn, viola; Eleanor Aller [Slatkin], cello). Recorded between 1951 and 1953. LP recording, 1 disc: analog, 33⅓ rpm, monaural, 12 in. Record Society 6010. Melbourne: Record Society, [195?]. Villa-Lobos also issued as part of:
    • Heitor Villa-Lobos: String Quartet No. 6; Zoltán Kodály: String Quartet No. 2, Op. 10. Hollywood String Quartet. LP recording, 1 disc: analog, 33⅓ rpm, monaural, 12 in. Capitol P 8472. Hollywood: Capitol Records, 1959.
  • Radamés Gnatalli: Quarteto popular; César Guerra-Peixe: Quartet No. 2; Alceo Bocchino: Seresta suburbana; Heitor Villa-Lobos - Quarteto nº 6. Quarteto Brasileiro da UFRJ (Santino Parpinelli and Henrique Morelenbaum, violins; Jacques Nirenberg, viola; Eugen Ranevsky, cello). LP recording.
    • Reissued on CD, CID 02027. 1999.
    • Reissued on CD, Albany TROY 420. [S.l.]: Albany Records, 2001.
    • Villa-Lobos quartet (only) reissued as part of Heitor Villa-Lobos: String Quartets nos. 1, 6, and 17. Quarteto Brasileiro da UFRJ. CD recording, 1 sound disc: digital, 12 cm, stereo. [S.l.]: Albany Records, 2005.
    • Hollywood String Quartet. Maurice Ravel: Introduction and Allegro; Claude Debussy: Danse sacrée et danse profane; Joaquín Turina: La oración del torero, Op. 34; Villa-Lobos: String Quartet No. 6; Paul Creston: String Quartet, Op. 8. Ann Mason Stockton, harp (Ravel and Debussy); Arthur Gleghorn, flute (Ravel); Mitchell Lurie, clarinet (Ravel); Concert Arts Strings, Felix Slatkin, conductor (Debussy); Hollywood String Quartet. CD recording, 1 disc: 12 cm, monaural. [England]: Testament, 1994.
  • Heitor Villa-Lobos: String Quartets Nos. 4, 6 and 14. Danubius Quartet (Judit Tóth and Adél Miklós, violins; Cecilia Bodolai, viola; Ilona Wibli, cello). Recorded at the Hungaroton Studios in Budapest, 18–19, 22–25 April, and 20–23 May 1991. CD recording, 1 disc: digital, 12 cm, stereo. Marco Polo 8.223391. A co-production with Records International. Germany: HH International, Ltd., 1992.
  • Villa-Lobos: String Quartets, Volume 1. Quartets Nos. 6, 1, 17. Cuarteto Latinoamericano (Saúl Bitrán, Arón Bitrán, violins; Javier Montiel, viola; Alvaro Bitrán, cello). Recorded at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy, NY, April 1994. Music of Latin American Masters. CD recording, 1 disc: digital, 12 cm, stereo. Dorian DOR-90205. Troy, NY: Dorian Recordings, 1995.
    • Reissued as part of Heitor Villa-Lobos: The Complete String Quartets. 6 CDs + 1 DVD with a performance of Quartet No. 1 and interview with the Cuarteto Latinoamericano. Dorian Sono Luminus. DSL-90904. Winchester, VA: Sono Luminus, 2009.
    • Also reissued (without the DVD) on Brilliant Classics 6634.
  • Villa-Lobos: Quatuors a Cordes Nos. 4/5/6. Quatuor Bessler-Reis (Bernardo Bessler, Michel Bessler, violins; Marie-Christine Springuel, viola; Alceu Reis, cello). Recorded at Studios Master in Rio de Janeiro, June–August 1987. CD recording, 1 disc: digital, 12 cm, stereo. Le Chant du Monde LDC 278 901. France: [S.n.], 1988.
    • Also issued as part of Villa-Lobos: Os 17 quartetos de cordas / The 17 String Quartets. Quarteto Bessler-Reis and Quarteto Amazônia. CD recording, 6 sound discs: digital, 12 cm, stereo. Kuarup Discos KCX-1001 (KCD 045, M-KCD-034, KCD 080/1, KCD-051, KCD 042). Rio de Janeiro: Kuarup Discos, 1996.

Filmography
  • Villa-Lobos: A integral dos quartetos de cordas. Quarteto Radamés Gnattali (Carla Rincón, Francisco Roa, violins; Fernando Thebaldi, viola; Hugo Pilger, cello); presented by Turibio Santos. Recorded from June 2010 to September 2011 at the Palácio do Catete, Palácio das Laranjeiras, and the Theatro Municipal, Rio de Janeiro. DVD and Blu-ray (VIBD11111), 3 discs. Rio de Janeiro: Visom Digital, 2012.

References
  • A., W. 1957. "String Group Performs on Guild Series". Los Angeles Times (21 November): C10.
  • Béhague, Gerard. 1979. Music in Latin America: An Introduction. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
  • Béhague, Gerard. 1994. Heitor Villa-Lobos: The Search for Brazil's Musical Soul. Austin: Institute of Latin American Studies, University of Texas at Austin.
  • Béhague, Gerard. 2003. Villa-Lobos, Heitor: String Quartets, Cuarteto Latinoamericano. [review] Latin American Music Review / Revista de Música Latinoamericana 24, no. 2 (Autumn–Winter): 293–94.
  • Estrella, Arnaldo. 1978. Os quartetos de cordas de Villa-Lobos, second edition. Rio de Janeiro: Museu Villa-Lobos, Ministério da Educação e Cultura.
  • Farmer, Virginia. 1973. "An Analytical Study of the Seventeen String Quartets of Heitor Villa-Lobos". DMA diss. Urbana: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
  • Gilman, Bruce. 1999. "Enigma de vanguardia", translated by Juan Arturo Brennan. Pauta: Cuadernos de teoría y crítica musical 17, no. 69 (January–March): 29–34.
  • Macedo Ribeiro, Roberto. 2000. "A escrita contrapontística nos quartetos de cordas de Heitor Villa-Lobos". In Anais do I Colóquio de Pesquisa de Pós-Graduação, edited by Marisa Rezende and Mário Nogueira, 71–76. Rio de Janeiro: Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) (Escola de Música).
  • Salles, Paulo de Tarso. 2012. Villa-Lobos: Desafiando a teoria e análise. IV Encontro de Musicologia de Ribeirão Preto: Intersecções da Teoria e Análise. 81–95.
  • Tarasti, Eero. 2009. "Villa-Lobos's String Quartets". In Intimate Voices: The Twentieth-Century String Quartet, vol. 1: Debussy to Villa-Lobos, edited by Evan Jones, 223–55. Eastman Studies in Music 70. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press. ISBN 978-1-58046-322-5; ISBN 978-1-58046-229-7; ISBN 978-1-58046-340-9.
  • Taubman, Howard. 1947. "Records: Brazil: Quartet by Villa-Lobos Uses Native Rhythms". New York Times (14 September): X7.
  • Villa-Lobos, Heitor. 1972. "Quartetos de cordas (do número 1 ao 8)". In Villa-Lobos, sua obra, second edition, 229–30. Rio de Janeiro: MEC/DAC/Museu Villa-Lobos.
  • Villa-Lobos, sua obra: Programa de Ação Cultural. 1972. Second edition. Rio de Janeiro: MEC, DAC, Museu Villa-Lobos.
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