''Chôros No. 4'' is a quartet for three horns and trombone, written in 1926 by the Brazilian composer

Heitor Villa-Lobos Heitor Villa-Lobos (March 5, 1887November 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 globally bec ...

. It forms a part of a series of fourteen numbered compositions collectively titled ''

Chôros ''Chôros'' is the title of a series of compositions by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, composed between 1920 and 1929. Origin and conception The word ''chôro'' (; nowadays spelled simply ''choro'') is Portuguese for "weeping", "cry", ...

'', ranging from solos for guitar and for piano up to works scored for soloist or chorus with orchestra or multiple orchestras, and in duration up to over an hour. ''Chôros No. 4'' is one of the shorter members of the series, a performance lasting about five-and-a-half minutes.

History

Carlos Guinle and her Chrysler Imperial 80

''Chôros No. 4'' was composed in Rio de Janeiro in 1926, and was premiered on 24 October 1927 at the

Salle Gaveau The Salle Gaveau, named after the French piano maker Gaveau, is a classical concert hall in Paris, located at 45-47 rue La Boétie, in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. It is particularly intended for chamber music. Construction The plans for t ...

in Paris, in the first of a pair of concerts devoted to works by Villa-Lobos. The performers were Edmond Entraigue, Jean-Lazare Pénable, and Mr. Marquette, horns; Jules Dervaux, trombone. On the same programme, Arthur Rubinstein gave the premiere of ''

Rudepoêma ''Rudepoêma'' (, ''Savage Poem'') is a composition by Heitor Villa-Lobos. It was written in Rio de Janeiro from 1921 to 1926 and is the largest and most challenging work Villa-Lobos wrote for the solo piano. It is in one continuous movement a ...

''. The first North American performance took place on 16 October 1940 at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

in New York City. The score is dedicated to Villa-Lobos's patron , the brother of the dedicatee of '' Chôros No. 5''.

Analysis

When an American University professor wrote to Villa-Lobos requesting an analysis of ''Chôros No. 4'', the composer responded: "My works are meant to be played, not analysed". The work is in three parts, subdivided into nine sections. The first part comprises subsections 1–6, the second part is an undivided, slow "cradle song" (subsection seven), and the last part consists of subsections 8 and 9. The third, concluding part is contrasted to everything that precedes it, and is closer to jazz or Cuban music than to anything Brazilian. According to another opinion, the work actually falls into two sections, forming an AB form structurally analogous to '' Chôros No. 10'', in which the second part is distinguished by the character of popular music.

References

* * Footnotes

External links

villalobos.iu.edu
Villa-Lobos site at Indiana University: Maintained by th
Latin American Music Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Choros No. 4 Chôros by Heitor Villa-Lobos 1926 compositions Chamber music by Heitor Villa-Lobos Compositions for horn Compositions for trombone Music dedicated to benefactors or patrons Compositions for brass ensemble

History

Analysis

References

Further reading

External links