String Quartet No. 5 ("Quarteto popular no. 1") is the fifth of seventeen works in the genre by the Brazilian composer

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 ...

, written in 1931. A performance lasts approximately 17 minutes.

History

Villa-Lobos composed his Fifth Quartet in São Paulo in 1931. The manuscript bears a dedication to the federally appointed Governor (''Interventor'') of the State of São Paulo from 26 November 1930 to 25 July 1931, though his name does not appear in the published score. The circumstances of the quartet's first performance are not recorded. The Quarteto popular is the first of a pair of quartets written in the 1930s, and marks a return by Villa-Lobos to the string quartet after a hiatus of fourteen years. Its composition also coincides with the composer's return to Brazil after a lengthy period spent mainly in Paris, and its marked turn to

nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

is associated with the political programme of the

Getúlio Vargas Getúlio Dornelles Vargas (; ; 19 April 1882 – 24 August 1954) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as the 14th and 17th president of Brazil, from 1930 to 1945 and from 1951 until his suicide in 1954. Due to his long and contr ...

regime. The subtitle, "Quarteto popular", likely refers to the use of actual popular Brazilian melodies. Villa-Lobos himself declared that this quartet is among his weaker compositions.

Analysis

This quartet, like all of Villa-Lobos's quartets except the first, consists of four movements: # Poco andantino # Vivo e energico # Andantino – tempo giusto e ben ritmato # Allegro The Fifth Quartet is unusual in Villa-Lobos's works in this genre for using genuine folk material, albeit in modified form. Over the course of the first movement the tempo changes many times, ranging from Lento to Presto. The long Lento section in b. 90 to 136 is characterised by lyrical melodic writing in the first violin accompanied by a complex rhythmic pattern in the other instruments. The second movement's predominantly fast tempo is also interrupted after eleven bars by a Lento section featuring

double stop In music, a double stop is the technique of playing two notes simultaneously on a stringed instrument such as a violin, a viola, a cello, or a double bass. On instruments such as the Hardanger fiddle it is common and often employed. In performin ...

s in all four instruments and

sul ponticello A variety of musical terms is encountered in printed scores, music reviews, and program notes. Most of the terms are Italian, in accordance with the Italian origins of many European musical conventions. Sometimes, the special musical meanings ...

tremolo effects in the two violins. After eight bars, the opening tempo is resumed for the remainder of the movement, save for a concluding Molto lento coda of five bars. The third movement inverts the relationship found in the first two movements by interrupting a predominantly slow tempo after only two bars with a fast and light-hearted section (Tempo giusto e ben ritmato) of sufficient length to make the opening material sound merely like a slow introduction. After twenty-three bars, however, a slow tempo (Adagio) is resumed, eventually giving way to the original Andantino. The short opening Andantino motive, played in unison, is one that Villa-Lobos often uses to suggest Indian music. The finale, in contrast to the earlier movements, maintains a steady Allegro tempo throughout. After a brief introduction in parallel fourths, the main theme from the first movement returns, at double its original tempo but in the same key. A series of children's themes taken from Villa-Lobos's collection, ''Guia prático'', provides the substance for the rest of the movement. The central section is based on the song "O Bastão ou mia gato" (The Stick or a Cat's Meow), played in

harmonics In physics, acoustics, and telecommunications, a harmonic is a sinusoidal wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the ''fundamental frequency'' of a periodic signal. The fundamental frequency is also called the ''1st harm ...

in all four instruments, after which the opening section, minus the introduction, is repeated to create an ABA

ternary form Ternary form, sometimes called song form, is a three-part musical form consisting of an opening section (A), a following section (B) and then a repetition of the first section (A). It is usually schematized as A–B–A. Prominent examples inclu ...

Discography

In chronological order, by date of recording. * Heitor Villa-Lobos: Brazilian Quartet No. 5. Quarteto Carioca (Borgeth .e. Oscar Borgerth? first violin; Barraca, second violin; Orlando, viola; Iberé .e. Iberê Gomes Grosso? cello). 2 sound discs: analog, 78 rpm, monaural, 12 in. Victor 11212, 11213. Red Seal Record. Camden, N.J.: Victor, 93-?* Heitor Villa-Lobos: Quarteto de cordas No. 1; Quarteto de cordas no. 5. Quarteto Bessler. LP recording, 1 disc: 33⅓ rpm, stereo, 12 in. EMI Angel 31C 051 422878. Brazil: EMI Angel, 1980. * Villa-Lobos: Quatuors a Cordes Nos. 4/5/6. Quatuor Bessler-Reis (

Bernardo Bessler Bernardo Bessler (born 24 May 1954) is a Brazilian violinist, conductor, teacher, and producer. Bessler was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He is among the leading musicians of his country. His recordings have won for five consecutive years the Sh ...

, Michel Bessler, violins; Marie-Christine Springuel, viola; Alceu Reis, cello). Recorded at Studios Master in Rio de Janeiro, June–August 1987. CD recording, 1 disc: digital, 12 cm, stereo. Le Chant du Monde LDC 278 901. France: .n. 1988. ** 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. 5, 9 and 12.

Danubius Quartet The Danubius Quartet was formed in Hungary in 1983. Its personnel comprise the violinists Judit Tóth (formerly Mária Szabó) and Adél Miklós, violist Cecilia Bodolai (formerly Agnes Apró) and cellist Ilona Ribli, under the artistic direction ...

(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. * Villa-Lobos: String Quartets, Volume 5. Quartets Nos. 5, 10, 13.

Cuarteto Latinoamericano Cuarteto Latinoamericano is a string quartet from Mexico. Since its founding in 1981, the quartet has toured in Europe, The Americas, Israel, China, Japan, and New Zealand. They have premiered over 100 works written for them. The members of Cuart ...

(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, 24–28 January 2000. Music of Latin American Masters. CD recording, 1 disc: digital, 12 cm, stereo. Dorian DOR-93211. Troy, NY: Dorian Recordings, 2000. ** 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.

Filmography

* ''Villa-Lobos: A integral dos quartetos de cordas''. Quarteto Radamés Gnattali (Carla Rincón, Francisco Roa, violins; Fernando Thebaldi, viola; Hugo Pilger, cello); presented by

Turibio Santos Turibio Soares Santos (born March 7, 1943) is a Brazilian classical guitarist, musicologist, and composer, who established himself as a performer with a wide repertoire of pieces by Heitor Villa-Lobos, Ernesto Nazareth, Francisco Mignone, and b ...

. Recorded from June 2010 to September 2011 at the Palácio do Catete,

Palácio das Laranjeiras The Laranjeiras Palace (; literally "Palace of the Orange Trees") is the official residence of the Governor of the State of the Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The palace is located within Eduardo Guinle Park, a park in the Laranjeiras neighborhood of t ...

, and the Theatro Municipal, Rio de Janeiro. DVD and Blu-ray (VIBD11111), 3 discs. Rio de Janeiro: Visom Digital, 2012.

References

Cited sources

* * * * * {{wikicite, ref={{harvid, ''Villa-Lobos, sua obra'', 1972, reference=''Villa-Lobos, sua obra: Programa de Ação Cultural''. 1972. Second edition. Rio de Janeiro: MEC, DAC, Museu Villa-Lobos.