Quinteto (em forma de chôros)

The Quinteto (em forma de chôros) (French: Quintette (en forme de chôros) = Quintet (in the Form of a Chôros)) is a chamber-music composition by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, written in 1928. Originally scored for five woodwind instruments (flute, oboe, cor anglais, clarinet, and bassoon), it is most often performed in an arrangement for the conventional wind quintet of flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, and bassoon. A performance lasts about eleven minutes.

Portuguese: Quinteto (em forma de chôros)
by Heitor Villa-Lobos
Heitor Villa-Lobos
EnglishQuintet (in the Form of a Chôros)
CatalogueW231
GenreChamber music
FormChôros
Composed1928 (1928): Paris
Published1953 (1953): Paris
PublisherMax Eschig
Duration11 minutes
Movements1
ScoringFlute, oboe, cor anglais (or horn), clarinet, and bassoon
Premiere
Date14 March 1930
LocationSalle Chopin, Paris
PerformersGaston Crunelle (flute), Louis Mercier (oboe), Paul-Gustave Brun (cor anglais), Louis Cahuzac (clarinet), and Auguste Lenom (bassoon)

History

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Villa-Lobos composed the work in Paris in 1928, during the same period in which he was working on the series of fourteen Chôros. The first manuscript fair-copy score is titled simply "Quintetto para flauta, oboé, corn'inglez, clarinete e fagote". The subtitle was added only after the premiere in 1930.[1] Although it was not originally intended as part of the Chôros series, some writers (e.g. Neves,[2] Wright,[3] and Appleby[4] have treated it as related.

It was first performed on 14 March 1930 at the Salle Chopin in Paris, on the same concert (part of the Festival de Musique Moderne) with the premieres of Chôros bis (for violin and cello), the Cirandas (for piano), and the Chansons typiques brésiliennes. The performers in the Quintet were Gaston Crunelle, flute; Louis Mercier, oboe; Paul-Gustave Brun, cor anglais; Louis Cahuzac, clarinet; and Auguste Lenom, bassoon. The score was only first published in 1953, by Max Eschig, in an edition that includes alternative passages to facilitate the substitution of the (French) horn for the cor anglais.[5][6]) This alternative scoring for conventional wind quintet undoubtedly improved chances for performances.[7]

Analysis

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The Quintet consists of a loose succession of five large sections played continuously, each of which can be parsed into smaller subsections. The change from one large section to the next is marked by a decided change of texture and tempo.[8] A free rhythmic organization, reflected by frequent changes of metre and tempo and reinforced by a deliberate tonal freedom, produces a quality of spontaneity.[9]

References

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Sources

  • Appleby, David P. 2002. Heitor Villa-Lobos: A Life (1887–1959). Lanham, Maryland, and London: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-4149-5.
  • Béhague, Gerard. 1994. Villa-Lobos: The Search for Brazil's Musical Soul. Austin: Institute of Latin American Studies, University of Texas at Austin. ISBN 0-292-70823-8.
  • Mellers, Wilfrid. 2001. Singing in the Wilderness: Music and Ecology in the Twentieth Century. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-02529-6.
  • Neves, José Maria. 1977. Villa-Lobos, o choro e os choros. São Paulo: Musicália S.A.
  • Peppercorn, Lisa M. 1991. Villa-Lobos: The Music: An Analysis of His Style, translated by Stefan de Haan. London: Kahn & Averill; White Plains, New York: Pro/Am Music Resources Inc. ISBN 1-871082-15-3 (Kahn & Averill); ISBN 0-912483-36-9 (Pro/Am).
  • Peterson, Elaine Leigh. 2004. "The Quintette en forme de choros by Heitor Villa-Lobos: An Analysis of Stylistic Influences". DMA diss. Greensboro: University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
  • Villa-Lobos, sua obra. 2009. Version 1.0. MinC / IBRAM, and the Museu Villa-Lobos. Based on the third edition, 1989.
  • Wright, Simon. 1992. Villa-Lobos. Oxford Studies of Composers. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-315476-5 (cloth); ISBN 0-19-315475-7 (pbk).

Further reading

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  • Grice, Janet. 2004. "Popular Styles in Brazilian Chamber Music: Heitor Villa-Lobos's Quinteto em forma de choros and Oscar Lorenzo Fernández's Invenções seresteiras". The Double Reed 27:93–102.
  • Lee, Sun Jo. 2005. "A Study of Nationalistic Expression of the Choro in Heitor Villa-Lobos's Chamber Works with Bassoon". DMA diss. Cincinnati: University of Cincinnati.
  • Nóbrega, Adhemar Alves da. 1975. Os chôros de Villa-Lobos. Rio de Janeiro: Museu Villa-Lobos.
  • Tarasti, Eero. 1995. Heitor Villa-Lobos: The Life and Works, 1887–1959, translated from the Finnish by the author. Jefferson, North Carolina, and London: McFarland & Company. ISBN 0-7864-0013-7.
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