We at Delos are pleased and honored to announce that our recent release, The Brazilian Guitar Quartet Plays Villa-Lobos (DE 3409) has just been nominated for the 12th Annual Latin GRAMMY® Awards, in the Best Classical Album category. The winning recordings are to be announced on November 10 is Las Vegas; the ceremony will be broadcast live on the Univision Network from 8 – 11 p.m. ET/PT (7 p.m. Central).
The album – also produced by the Brazilian Guitar Quartet (BGQ) – is a diverse and appealing collection featuring the BGQ’s own original transcriptions of five different works (or excerpts thereof) from the vast output of Heitor Villa-Lobos, universally regarded as the greatest of Brazilian composers. You’ll hear stunning treatments of two of his string quartets and of several piano cycles, some of which he later orchestrated. To have earned such recognition – for the quality of both their arrangements and their performances of their revered countryman’s music – is a BIG feather in BGQ’s collective cap!
Something of a musical chameleon, Villa-Lobos was influenced by a staggering range of composers, modalities, periods and styles – yet rarely failed to produce music of distinct originality. This is no doubt because – above all else – Villa-Lobos sought to distill in music the broad and varied essence of his beloved native Brazil: like America, a land of endless geographic diversity, natural beauty, vast resources, and (as South America’s greatest melting-pot) unique cross-cultural characteristics. For instance, in at least one of the album’s selections (Danças Caracteristicas Africanas), he captures the distinctive African influence (Colonial-era Brazil was also active in the cross-Atlantic slave trade) that worked its way into the Brazilian folk-idiom in very different ways than it did in America. He never hesitated to use original folk-materials where they suited his designs – yet also employed his own folkloric melodies – with both often appearing in the same composition. However he crafted it, you will agree with me that this is music that is – by turns –startlingly vital, languorously sensual, irresistibly earthy, and full of stylistic surprises.
As for the transcriptions and performances, allow me to quote from the album’s program notes author – distinguished educator, conductor and Villa-Lobos authority Gil Jardim:
…Villa-Lobos himself made many transcriptions during his lifetime. This recording is an authentic reflection of the Villa-Lobos way of making music.
I am amazed at the superb quality of the BGQ, who achieve the complete technical and expressive integration that is the ideal of every chamber group. This recording provides the opportunity to enjoy the way in which the guitar’s multiple timbres sensitively reveal every nuance of musical experience.
So please join the Delos team in celebrating this coveted and well-earned recognition of excellence in recorded music. And don’t forget to tune in on November 11!
By Lindsay Koob
Brazilian Guitar Quartet Plays Villa-Lobos
Brazilian Guitar Quartet
DE 3409
Suite Floral: I. Idilio na Rede • II. Uma Camponeza Cantadeira • III. Alegria na Horta
6 Cirandas: A canoa virou (The Canoe Capsized) • A Condessa (The Countess) • Terezinha de Jesus (the Little Teresa of Jesus) • A procura de uma agulha (Searching for a Needle) • Senhora Dona Sancha (Madame Dona Sancha) • Que lindos olhos! (What Beautiful Eyes!)
String Quartet No. 5: I. Pouco Andantino • II. Vivo e energico • III. Andantino • IV. Allegro
Danças Características Africanas No. 1 Farrapos • No. 2 Kankukus • No. 3 Kankikis
String Quartet No. 12: I. Allegro • II. Andante • III. Allegretto • IV. Allegro ben ritmato
All arrangements by Tadeu do Amaral