Friday, May 1, 2009

Bachianas Brasileiras blog thread

I online-overheard this very interesting blog conversation about BB#1 and BB#6:

From:

Beyond the Canon - A New Perspective on Late Music History - A Synthesis of Styles: Heitor Villa-Lobos Bachianas Brasileiras nos. 1 and 6

to:

Cons. 352 Journals by Ben Cross - Response to Hannah's Bachianas Brasilerias

to:

Nick Baker's Musical Thoughts - The Bachianas Brasileiras of Heitor Villa-Lobos - A Response to Hannah Porter's Journal Entry

It's nice to see these interesting issues being debated online. Bachian vs. Brazilian themes is a great starting point. I agree with Nick's introduction of a regional musical geography. BB#1 is a great place for this discussion. It's one of many musical tours of Brazil that Villa wrote.

I find it interesting that Villa the Carioca (urban and urbane citizen of big-city Rio) has such a feel for the North-East portion of Brazil. One minute he's in the cafe drinking his cafezinho, listening to the choroes, and the next he's in the wilds of the Sertão Nordestino. And he does it all through 8 cellos playing together.

Is there a composer with a stronger sense of place in music?

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