Information
Arranger: Heitor Villa-Lobos
- Felix Mendelssohn - Lieder ohne Worte in E major, Op. 30 No. 3
- Johann Sebastian Bach - Prelude & Fugue in E flat minor, BWV 853: I. Prelude
- Johann Sebastian Bach - Prelude & Fugue in E flat minor, BWV 853: II. Fugue
- Robert Schumann - Kinderszenen, Op. 15: No. 7, Träumerei
- Johann Sebastian Bach - Fugue in C major, BWV 846
- Franz Schubert - Schwanengesang, D. 957: No. 4, Ständchen
- Johann Sebastian Bach - Fugue in B flat major, BWV 866
- Frédéric Chopin - Waltz in C sharp minor, Op. 64 No. 2
- Johann Sebastian Bach - Prelude in B flat minor, BWV 867
- Sergei Rachmaninov - Prélude in C sharp minor, Op. 3 No. 2
- Johann Sebastian Bach - Prelude in F sharp minor, BWV 883
- Jules Massenet - Élégie
- Johann Sebastian Bach - Fugue in D major, BWV 874
- Ludwig van Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 'Pathétique': II. Adagio cantabile
- Heitor Villa-Lobos - Bachianas Brasileiras No. 9 (version for choir)
São Paulo Symphony Choir
Valentina Peleggi, conductor
Date: 2021
Label: Naxos
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In 1932 Villa-Lobos was made responsible for creating a music education system in Brazil. Choral singing was at the heart of his plan, and – except for the vocal version of Bachianas Brasileiras No 9 (1945) – the a cappella transcriptions presented here were designed specifically for choirs of music teachers, and large choirs at that, as Brazilian musicologist Manoel Corrêa do Lago explains in his helpful booklet note, pointing out how frequently the normal SATB voice parts are further divided. Indeed, while Villa-Lobos never strays far from the originals, he does subtly fill out the textures, particularly in the selections from Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier. Listen, say, to the F sharp minor Prelude from Book 2 side by side with the original score (or a keyboard recording) to hear how artfully he accomplishes this.
These Bach transcriptions require singers with real stamina as well as a sure sense of pitch, and happily, the São Paulo Symphony Choir have both. Not being much of a singer myself, I’m rather envious, as I imagine they allow one to get inside the music in a way that’s quite different from what I experience as a pianist.
Yet, as elevating and inspiring as the Bach transcriptions are, I’m even more taken with the arrangements of popular piano pieces and songs. Somehow, Villa-Lobos makes even an over-roasted chestnut such as Schubert’s ‘Ständchen’ delectably fresh. Is it the translation of the poetry to mellifluous Portuguese? The lovely lilt of the performance? Whatever the reason, I’ve had it on repeat for a week now. I love, too, the strain of Slavic melancholy highlighted in the Chopin Waltz and the silent-movie creepiness of the chromatic slides in Rachmaninov’s C sharp minor Prelude. If only he’d transcribed more than the first 16 bars of the slow movement from Beethoven’s Pathétique Sonata. I can imagine any of these being marvellously effective encore pieces.
The Brazilian choir’s performance of the Bachianas Brasileiras No 9 isn’t as sharply etched as the BBC Singers’ (Lorelt), but it’s quite fine nonetheless. More to the point, it directly connects Bach and the Bachianas, thus providing an apt cap to a rewarding programme.
-- Andrew Farach-Colton, Gramophone
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Heitor Villa-Lobos (March 5, 1887 – November 17, 1959) was a Brazilian composer, conductor, cellist, and classical guitarist. Described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music", Villa-Lobos has become the best-known South American composer of all time. A prolific composer, he wrote numerous orchestral, chamber, instrumental and vocal works, totaling over 2,000 works by his death in 1959. His music was influenced by both Brazilian folk music and stylistic elements from the European classical tradition, and is well represented on the world's recital and concert stages and on compact disc.
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Valentina Peleggi (Florence, 1 January 1983) is an Italian conductor. She studied at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana, the Conservatorio Santa Cecilia in Rome and the Royal Academy of Music in London. From 2005 to 2015 she was the Principal Conductor and Music Director of the University Choir in Florence. Peleggi was Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the São Paulo Symphony Chorus, Resident Conductor of the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, and Music Director (responsible for Italian repertoire) of the Theatro São Pedro. Since 2020, she has been Music Director of the Richmond Symphony (Virginia, USA).
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