String Quartet No. 2 (Villa-Lobos)

String Quartet No. 2 is the one of a series of 17 works in the genre by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos.

Villa-Lobos composed his Second Quartet in 1915, either in Rio de Janeiro or Nova Friburgo. It was first performed on 3 February 1917 by a quartet consisting of Judith Barcellos and Dagmar Noronha Gitahy, violins, Orlando Frederico, viola, and Alfredo Gomes, cello. The published score bears the indication "Op. 56".

A typical performance lasts approximately 20 minutes.

As in all of Villa-Lobos's quartets except the first, there are four movements:

Allegro non troppo
Scherzo: Allegro
Andante
Allegro deciso – Presto – Prestissimo final

One writer, however, regards the Prestissimo final as a separate, fifth movement.^[1]

This early quartet in Villa-Lobos's catalogue is composed according to the cyclic principles developed by César Franck and Vincent d'Indy. Franck and Debussy were two of the most important influences on Villa-Lobos's early style, and he had studied d'Indy's 1912 textbook, Cours de Composition Musicale.^[2]

The composer describes the scherzo as a novelty, played in harmonics, "whose harmonies involve a syncopated melody in a context that suggests small bamboo rustic flutes (a sort of Panpipe played using the nose by the Pareci Indians of Mato Grosso)".^[3]

Discography

In order of date of recordings:

Villa-Lobos: Quatuors a Cordes Nos. 1–2–3. Quatuor Bessler-Reis (Bernardo Bessler, Michel Bessler, violins; Marie-Christine Springuel, viola; Alceu Reis, cello). Recorded at Studios Master in Rio de Janeiro, July 1988 and September – December 1989. CD recording, 1 disc: digital, 12 cm, stereo. Le Chant du Monde LDC 278 1052. [S.l.]: [S.n.], 1991.
- Also issued as part of Villa-Lobos: Os 17 quartetos de cordas / The 17 String Quartets. Quarteto Bessler-Reis and Quarteto Amazônia. CD recording, 6 sound discs: digital, 12 cm, stereo. Kuarup Discos KCX-1001 (KCD 045, M-KCD-034, KCD 080/1, KCD-051, KCD 042). Rio de Janeiro: Kuarup Discos, 1996.
Heitor Villa-Lobos: String Quartets Nos. 2 and 7. Danubius Quartet (Mária Zs. Szabó and Adél Miklós, violins; Ágnes Apró, viola; Ilona Ribli, cello). Recorded at the Rottenbiller Street Studio in Budapest, 12–16 November 1992. CD recording, 1 disc: digital, 12 cm, stereo. Marco Polo 8.223394. A co-production with Records International. Germany: HH International, Ltd., 1994.
Villa-Lobos: String Quartets, Volume 4. Quartets Nos. 2, 12, 16. Cuarteto Latinoamericano (Saúl Bitrán, Arón Bitrán, violins; Javier Montiel, viola; Alvaro Bitrán, cello). Recorded at the Sala Blas Galindo of the Centro Nacional de las Artes in Mexico City, November and December 1998. Music of Latin American Masters. CD recording, 1 disc: digital, 12 cm, stereo. Dorian DOR-93179. Troy, NY: Dorian Recordings, 1998.
- Reissued as part of Heitor Villa-Lobos: The Complete String Quartets. 6 CDs + 1 DVD with a performance of Quartet No. 1 and interview with the Cuarteto Latinoamericano. Dorian Sono Luminus. DSL-90904. Winchester, VA: Sono Luminus, 2009.
- Also reissued (without the DVD) on Brilliant Classics 6634.

v t e Heitor Villa-Lobos
List of compositions
Opera	Magdalena: a Musical Adventure Yerma
Orchestral works	Chôros No. 6 Chôros No. 8 Chôros No. 9 Chôros No. 10 Chôros No. 11 Chôros No. 12 Chôros No. 13 Chôros No. 14 Symphony No. 1 (The Unforeseen) Symphony No. 2 (Ascension) Symphony No. 3 (War) Symphony No. 4 (Victory) Symphony No. 5 (Peace) Symphony No. 6 (On the Outline of the Mountains of Brazil) Symphony No. 7 (Peace Odyssey) Symphony No. 8 Symphony No. 9 Symphony No. 10 (Sumé, Father of Fathers: Amerindian Symphony with Chorus) Symphony No. 11 Symphony No. 12 Uirapuru
Concertante	Cello Concerto No. 1 Cello Concerto No. 2 Fantasia for saxophone, three horns, and strings Guitar Concerto Piano Concerto No. 1 Piano Concerto No. 2 Piano Concerto No. 3 Piano Concerto No. 4 Piano Concerto No. 5 Momoprecoce
Chamber music	Nonet Miniaturas Modinhas e canções String Quartet No. 1 String Quartet No. 2 String Quartet No. 3 String Quartet No. 4 String Quartet No. 5 String Quartet No. 6 String Quartet No. 7 String Quartet No. 8 String Quartet No. 9 String Quartet No. 10 String Quartet No. 11 String Quartet No. 12 String Quartet No. 13 String Quartet No. 14 String Quartet No. 15 String Quartet No. 16 String Quartet No. 17
Piano works	A prole do bebe Rudepoêma
Works for guitar solo	Chôros No. 1 Étude No. 1 Étude No. 2 Étude No. 3 Étude No. 4 Étude No. 5 Étude No. 6 Étude No. 7 Étude No. 8 Étude No. 9 Étude No. 10 Étude No. 11 Étude No. 12 Prelude No. 1 in E minor Prelude No. 2 in E major Prelude No. 3 in A minor Prelude No. 4 in E minor Prelude No. 5 in D major Suite populaire brésilienne
Other compositions	Bachianas Brasileiras Introdução aos Chôros Chôros No. 2 Chôros No. 3 Chôros No. 4 Chôros No. 5 Chôros No. 7 Chôros bis Quinteto (em forma de chôros) The Little Train of the Caipira
Film score	Green Mansions
Related articles	Modern classical guitar Music of Brazil
Category

String Quartet No. 2 (Villa-Lobos)

Discography

Filmography

References

Cited sources

Further reading

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