String Quartet No. 9 (Villa-Lobos)

String Quartet No. 9 is part of a series of seventeen works in the medium by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos.

Villa-Lobos composed his Ninth Quartet in Rio de Janeiro in 1945. It was first performed in London in 1947, but the exact date, place, and performers are not known. The first performance in the composer's native country took place at the Auditório do MEC in Rio de Janeiro on 25 April 1960, as part of the Festival Villa-Lobos. The performers on this occasion were the Quarteto de Cordas da Rádio MEC. The score is dedicated to Mindinha (Arminda Neves d'Almeida), the composer's companion for the last 23 years of his life.^[1]

A typical performance lasts approximately 25 minutes.

The quartet consists of four movements:

Allegro
Andantino vagaroso
Allegro poco moderato (con bravura)
Molto allegro

The first movement is cast in the traditional sonata-allegro form, with a particularly strong influence from Joseph Haydn. This is seen especially in the use of mirroring that recalls the al rovescio counterpoint of the fugue in Haydn's Op. 20, No. 2.^[2] The second theme group contains four subjects, the second of which uses the octatonic scale, suggesting the possible influence of Stravinsky.^[3] The second movement, on the other hand, shows remarkable similarities to Alban Berg's Lyric Suite and to Béla Bartók's Sixth Quartet.^[4]

Discography

Chronological, by date of recording.

Heitor Villa-Lobos: String Quartets Nos. 5, 9 and 12. Danubius Quartet (Gyöngyvér Oláh and Adél Miklós, violins; Cecilia Bodolai, viola; Ilona Ribli, cello). Recorded at the Rottenbiller Street Studio in Budapest from 18 to 23 May 1992. CD recording, 1 disc: digital, 12 cm, stereo. Marco Polo 8.223392. A co-production with Records International. Germany: HH International, Ltd., 1993.
Heitor Villa-Lobos: Quartetos de cordas 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. Quarteto Amazônia. CD recording, 2 discs: digital, 12 cm, stereo. Barcelona: Discmedi D.L., 2000.
- 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.
Villa-Lobos: String Quartets, Volume 6. Quartets Nos. 4, 9, 11. 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, 31 July – 3 August 2000. Music of Latin American Masters. CD recording, 1 disc: digital, 12 cm, stereo. Dorian DOR-93229. Troy, NY: Dorian Recordings, 2001.
- 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. 9 (Villa-Lobos)

Discography

Filmography

References

Cited sources

Further reading

Related Articles