''Rudepoêma'' (, ''Savage Poem'') is a composition by

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 was written in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

from 1921 to 1926 and is the largest and most challenging work Villa-Lobos wrote for the solo

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

. It is in one continuous movement and runs about 19–20 minutes. The piece has been described (with license) as "'' Le Sacre du printemps'' meets the Brazilian jungle". For the title of this work, as he also did for other compositions, such as ''Vidapura'' and ''Momoprecoce'', Villa-Lobos compounded two words together: ''

rude Rudeness (also called effrontery) is a display of actual or perceived disrespect by not complying with the social norms or etiquette expected within a relationship, social group, or culture. Social norms are established as the essential guidel ...

'', meaning "rude", "coarse", "uncultured", "discourteous", and '' poema'', "poem". However, the score's dedicatee,

Arthur Rubinstein Arthur Rubinstein Order of the British Empire, KBE OMRI (; 28 January 1887 – 20 December 1982) was a Polish Americans, Polish-American pianist.

, explained, "The 'Rude' of the title did not have the English meaning. In Brazil it meant 'savage'. When I asked him if he considered me a savage pianist, he said excitedly, 'We are both savage! We don't care much for pedantic detail. I compose and you play, off the heart, making the music live, and this is what I hope I expressed in this work'". ''Rudepoêma'' was later

orchestrated Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

by the composer, and premiered under his baton in Rio de Janeiro on July 15, 1942. The piece was intended as a tonal portrait of the Polish-American pianist Arthur Rubinstein, who premiered the work 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 on 24 October 1927, on the first of a pair of concerts devoted to Villa-Lobos's compositions. The (Portuguese) dedication of the score to Rubinstein reads, "My true friend, I do not know if I can have fully assimilated your soul with this ''Rudepoema'' ot italicised in the source but I swear with all my heart that I have the impression in my mind of having recorded your temperament and of having mechanically transcribed it on paper, like an intimate

Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...

. Therefore, if I have succeeded, you will be the true author of this work". It is rhapsodic in style and elastic in its structure. It is filled with varied rhythms and dynamic

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

changes which are meant to portray Rubinstein's brilliant and varied personality. The two main themes of the work are presented at the outset, the first one in the bass register in the left hand, the second answering it in the right hand. Fragments of both themes are clearly audible throughout the composition, which reaches its climax only five bars from the end, with the right hand raining four fortissimo blows on three low notes, C, B, and A.

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Further reading