Rachmaninoff Brasileiro

Many a Rachmaninoff enthusiast might have wondered whether the hint of Rachmaninoff in the harmonies of the music of Heitor Villa-Lobos is merely coincidence or a direct influence of the Russian on the Brazilian.

A resounding answer to that question can be found in the choral repertoire that Villa-Lobos developed for the project set up to benefit national music education: Canto Orfeônico.

For these songbooks, Villa-Lobos not only adapted native or popular Brazilian music, but also works by composers he particularly appreciated. These include Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Schubert and Schumann, but indeed also Rachmaninoff... And it is striking how Villa-Lobos with simple means, such as the choice of vowels, succeeds in lending an unmistakable Brazilian accent to this well-known, quintessentially Russian piece of music...

Rachmaninoff Brasileiro

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