Moores School Chamber Players

Program Notes

Heitor Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras, V. Cantilena

The music of Heitor Villa-Lobos almost always reflected his two loves: Brazilian culture and the music of J. S. Bach. Born in Rio de Janiero, he was a proud Brazilian, fascinated by his country’s history and culture. And, ever since receiving the gift of some preludes and fugues from the Well-Tempered Clavier from his aunt as a child, Villa-Lobos had been captivated by Bach’s style and technique. His best-known compositions, a set of nine suites for various combinations of instruments and (sometimes) voices called Bachianas Brasileiras reflect both of these influences.

The fifth suite, for solo soprano and an ensemble of eight cellos, is, by far, the most performed of the set. It was written in 1938 and falls in two movement, the first of which is featured on this program. That “Cantilena,” as Villa-Lobos called it, begins with a vocalise for the soprano, accompanied by the cello ensemble. After presenting the wordless melody, the soprano then sings a brief, declamatory setting of a poem by Ruth Corrêa that describes the moon rising in the sky. A reprise of the vocalise, now with the vocalist instructed to sing the melody “with mouth closed” brings the movement to a haunting, memorable close.

– Adapted from Jonathan Blumhofer.

Paul Hindemith: Trauermusik

Trauermusik was composed on the 21st January 1936 at very short notice in memory of King George V, who had passed away the previous night. The English translation of the title is ‘Funeral Music’, although it is always known by its German name. On the 19th January 1936 Hindemith travelled to London intending to premiere his new viola concerto Der Schwanendreher with the BBC Symphony Orchestra on the 22nd January. This was to be the UK premiere of the work.

This did not go to plan, however. On the 20th January King George V died, therefore the concert was cancelled. However, BBC Music Producer Edward Clark and conductor Adrian Boult still wanted Hindemith to be involved in the music that was going to be broadcast instead of the original concert. After much deliberation it was decided that Hindemith should compose a new work. The BBC gave him a quiet office for six hours as Hindemith composed Trauermusik.

– Adapted from Alex Burns.