RECORDED REPERTOIRE
ASSAD, SÉRGIO (1952) - The Brazilian Sergio Assad is an important composer and one of the most famous guitarist in the world nowadays. His most important works are the orchestral piece Espantalho, the guitar duet Saga dos Migrantes, the suíte Natsu no Niwa, written specially for a Japanese movie, the Jobinianas, the Sonata for guitar solo, and Aquarelle, also for guitar solo.
Uarekena (1994), originally written for guitar quartet, is based on Brazilian indigenous themes. The piece is rhythmically strong and uses percussion effects and exotic scales. In Uarekena it is also easy to recognize the influences of São Paulo countryside music. Quaternaglia recorded Uarekena in 1998 for Forrobodó album, launched in 2000, and in 2007 the quartet made another recording of the piece for the CD Estampas, launched in 2010.
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BACH, JOHAN SEBASTIAN (1685-1750) - Fabio Ramazzina's version for the Concerto for Four Harpsichords and Orchestra BWV 1065 was written for a Quaternaglia concert with the Santo André Symphonic Orchestra in 1996, conducted by Flávio Florence. The version is, in fact, "a transcription of a transcription", once Bach based himself on the Concerto for Four Violins and Orchestra Op. 3 n.10 RV 580 by Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741). Although the original key signature used by Vivaldi for the violins is B minor, Ramazzina maintains the key signature chosen by Bach for the harpsichords, A minor. Quaternaglia recorded the complete concerto without the orchestra for the anniversary album of Violão Intercâmbio Magazine (10 anos de Violão Intercâmbio, GTR, 2004).
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BELLINATI, PAULO (1950) - Brazilian guitar player and composer, Paulo Bellinati is a specialist in Brazilian popular rhythms. As a composer, he has published many pieces for solo guitar and guitar ensemble. His work Jongo was recorded by the famous Australian guitarist John Williams.
The works dedicated and recorded by Quaternaglia utilize different compositional structures and Brazilian rhythms in the guitar quartet formation.
Baião de Gude (1997), first performed and recorded by Quaternaglia in 1998, reproduces the structure of the Northeastern rhythm made famous by Luiz Gonzaga allied to a strong jazz undercurrent. At times, the instruments traditionally used in "baião" music, such as the accordion, bass drum, triangle and the voice are clearly evoked by the guitars.
A Furiosa (1997, first performed in the same year and recorded in 1999) is an ironic virtuoso piece that uses the "maxixe" rhythm, typical of early twentieth century Brazilian music. It is also a tribute to the small-town bands of Brazil, popularly known "furiosas" (furious, in Portuguese). After the piece was recorded in the album Forrobodó, Quaternaglia also registered the work in a live performance in the DVD Quaternaglia (2006), where the composer himself plays cavaquinho with the group.
Lun-Duos (1996, first performed in 1997 and recorded in 1998) is based on multiple percussive effects, relying also on the "lundu", an Afro-Brazilian rhythm. The quartet is treated here in the spirit of a desafio (musical contest) between various guitar duos, which gives its good-humored title.
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BOCCHERINI, LUIGI (1743-1805) - A violoncellist and an Italian composer born in Lucca, Luigi Boccherini, went to Vienna and Paris before settling in Madrid in 1768. Boccherini's quintets can be classified in two different types: quintets, more elaborate scores, and quintettini, less pretentious compositions which were adapted from other quartets and quintets by the composer himself. Such is the case with pieces that include the guitar or more specifically the 5 course guitar.
Grave Assai and Fandango, written in 1788, were originally the first two movements of a quintet with two violoncellos (op. 40 n.2). The "guitarristic" sound of the piece was intended by the composer himself who titled the piece: "quintettino imitando il fandango che suona sulla chitarra il Padre Basilio". Padre Basilio (Miguel Garcia) was an important Spanish guitar player and was one of the first to use 6 simple strings in the guitar. The guitar is added to the pieces in 1798 by Boccherini himself becoming the last two movements of his Quintet n. 4 for guitar and string quartet (Gérard 448) dedicated to violoncellist Marquês Benavente. This is the version used in the guitar quartet transcription written by Jeremy Sparks (recorded in 1995 by Quaternaglia) which restores the piece to the guitar, the instrument that first inspired its composition.
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BROUWER, LEO (1939) - Leo Brouwer's works have largely contributed to the spread and stabilization of the guitar quartet as an interesting chamber alternative. He has, over time, helped the formation become increasingly more present in the international musical scene. The three pieces correspond to the author's present esthetical concerns but still include elements from previous phases of his composing career including late romanticism combined with Latin American qualities (in the fifties and sixties) and that of radical vanguard experiments (in the sixties and seventies). The influence of minimalism and exotic scales is also present in his work for guitar quartet.
Paisaje Cubano con Rumba (1985) was written originally for Franz Brügen's flute quintet and later was adapted by the author for guitar quartet as well as for guitar solo and magnetic tape. In the piece, the rumba transfers an African mystical celebration to an urban Caribbean lifestyle.The piece takes advantage of the pentatonic scale as well as the golden section. Quaternaglia won the ensemble prize at the International Guitar Contest of Havana (May 1998) by performing the piece (the interpretation was very well commented by the composer).
Paisaje Cubano con Lluvia (1984) evokes the atmosphere of falling rain, a typical Cuban landscape.
The ritualistic pentatonic matrix and the Afro-Latin rhythms are qualified as much by the diatonic modes as by serial atonalism. The golden section is also appears since the beginning of the piece, where rain drop-notes are presented in the proportion of 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 etc. Rumba and Lluvia are part of the series of Paisajes Cubanos (Cuban Landscapes) with Paisaje Cubano con Campanas (1986), Paisaje Cubano con Tristeza (1996), for guitar solo, and Paisage Cubano con Ritual, for percussion.
Together with Toccata (1988) - piece originally composed for larger groups such as guitar orchestras - Rumba and Lluvia were recorded by Quaternaglia in 1995.
In 2007 Quaternaglia recorded a version of Brouwer's Três Danzas Concertantes specially prepared by Fabio Ramazzina for CD Estampas, launched in 2010. This piece was originally composed for guitar and string orchestra in 1958, when the composer was only 19 years old. Ramazzina's transcription emphasizes the "guitaresque" character of the orchestral parts as well as the orchestral nature of the solo guitar.
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CAMPOS, LINA PIRES DE (1918-2003) - Lina Pires de Campos studied composition with Camargo Guarnieri, Osvaldo Lacerda, Furio Franceschini and Caldeira Filho. As piano teacher, she was Magdalena Tagliaferro's assistant and among her students we can name the famous pianist Caio Pagano. Among her most important works, we can highlight Ponteio and Toccatina for solo guitar, which won and important award at the I Brazilian Contest of Classical Music Composed for Piano and Guitar (1978). Originally written for piano, the Variações sobre o tema de Mucama Bonita were adapted by the composer for the Manoel São Marcos's Guitar Ensemble and based on this score, Quaternaglia prepared a guitar quartet version recorded in the album named Universo Sonoro de Lina Pires de Campos (Regia Musica) in 1998, the year in which the composer turned 80 years old.
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CARULLI, FERDINANDO (1770-1841) - The Neapolitan Ferdinando Carulli studied violoncello before definitely choosing the guitar. He settled in Paris in 1808 where he worked actively as a composer, interpreter and teacher. He wrote nearly 400 pieces for and with the guitar. The Sonata op.21 no. 1, written for guitar solo, was probably published prior to his famous Méthode Complète pour Guitare in 1810. The piece was conceived according to classical patterns and is composed of three movements (Moderato - Adagio - Rondó/ Allegretto). Suffering a heavy influence from Italian opera, the work suggests a very "orchestral" view of the guitar, aspect that was greatly emphasized by the guitar quartet version by Heinrich Albert recorded by Quaternaglia in 1995. When performing the piece, the group also took into account a version of the same piece for piano and solo guitar.
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GINASTERA, ALBERTO (1916-1983) - One of the most important composers from South America in the 20Th century, Ginastera was born in Buenos Aires (Argentina). His masterpieces are usually divided in three parts: objective nationalism, subjective nationalism and neo-expressionism. His Sonata dedicated to the Brazilian guitarist Carlos Barbosa-Lima is a very important piece of the guitar solo repertoire. Following Egberto Gismonti's suggestion, the guitarist João Luiz prepared a version for guitar quartet of Ginastera's Danzas Argentinas op.2, piece written for piano solo in 1937. Quaternaglia's interpretation of the piece, recorded in 2007 on the CD Estampas (launched in 2010), also incorporates elements from the performance of the Argentinean pianist Martha Argerich.
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GISMONTI, EGBERTO (1947) - Brazilian guitarist, pianist and composer, Egberto Gismonti is one of the most eclectic Brazilian musicians nowadays. He has written orchestral, ballet, chamber and vocal music. His most important musical influences are jazz, Brazilian popular rhythms and contemporary music, most notably the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky.
Since 1996, Quaternaglia and Egberto Gismonti have been working together to develop a concept of Brazilian music for guitar quartet. The work on the pieces dedicated to the quartet (Forró, Karatê, Quatetinho and Forrobodó) and the adaptation of the piece Um Anjo, with the direct involvement of the composer, has been one of the most important focuses Quaternaglia's activities on the last years.
The author says the following about Forró (1996): "Forró was the first piece to be sent to Quaternaglia. It is a sort of endurance and musicality test. As a performer, one feels happy when "typical Brazilian character" is visible in the middle of the technical problems and one jumps to the conclusion: "the mixture is good". I would say that "Forró" has to do with explorers who don't know exactly what to find at the end of the path, but who cannot resist the smell of bush, of wet land, traces of tapir on the road, or even the distant bark of the dog." Forró was performed for the first time in Campinas (São Paulo, 1997) and recorded in 1998. The debut in the U.S.A. was in January, 1999.
Karatê (1997) is a swinging "frevo", the most popular rhythm in the street carnival of Pernambuco. As arranged for Quaternaglia, this theme plays hide-and-seek in an intricate game of disappearance and emergence. The piece was performed for the first time in 1998 and recorded in 1999.
Quartetinho (1997) is an exquisite miniature with a polyphonic nature, based on a theme with Northeastern characteristics, "to be played as a final encore piece", in the words of the composer's dedication. Egberto wrote an orchestral arrangement to the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra. The orchestral version was called Strawa no Sertão - Zabumba. Quartetinho was performed for the first time and recorded in 1998.
Forrobodó (1999) is undoubtedly among the most challenging pieces for four guitars. This is "survival music", music of those who cannot afford to bargain with time, music of simultaneity, which leaves no room for triviality. It is thirst for life in music form. Forrobodó was first performed in MASP Auditorium (São Paulo) in September, 1999. The piece was recorded in December in the same year.
Um Anjo, written especially for Ruy Guerra's movie version of Antônio Callado's novel Quarup, was arranged for four guitars by Paulo Porto Alegre. The version recorded by Quaternaglia in 1999 has the participation of Gismonti playing synthesizer.
Quaternaglia also registered a live performance of Forrobodó, Um Anjo and Quartetinho in the DVD Quaternaglia (2006).
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GNATTALI, RADAMÉS (1906-1988) - Nowadays it is easy to talk about Radamés Gnattali's works not because it has already been sufficiently studied, but because the musical world is becoming more and more "gnattalian". Frequently attacked during his life by the nationalists and the vanguard, as well as by the popular and classical musicians, the composer was born in Porto Alegre and lived most of his life in Rio de Janeiro. His urban and very ironic view of Brazil, his fluency and his fusion of different musical languages announced, 50 years ago, the postmodern esthetics we are experiencing today.
Most of the publications about the guitar repertoire of the 20th century highlight his two Toccatas em Ritmo de Samba, Danza Brasileira, the 10 Estudos (for solo guitar), the four concertos for guitar and orchestra and the concert for two guitars and orchestra, as well as his pieces for two guitars, guitar and piano and guitar and flute. The guitar quartet version, recorded by Quaternaglia in 2004 - it was the first world recording -, is based on his String Quartet n.1 (1939) and was developed by Radamés in 1980 after a suggestion by guitarist and composer Sérgio Assad. The first movement of the Quartet is also performed live by Quaternaglia in its DVD (2006).
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HUME, TOBIAS (c. 1569-1645) - The English composer Tobias Hume did not write any of his works in a conventional staff but used, instead, a tablature similar to that used in France for the lute. The cycle of pieces recorded by Quaternaglia was originally published in London in 1607 for lyra viol (a small bass viola da gamba) under the name Captaine Humes Poeticall Musicke. Here is what Gilbert Biberian says about his arrangement: "The title Intavolatura is a metaphor. I had to go back to the principles of Renaissance music to understand its deep polyphonic principles. It is a true transcription, since nothing from the original piece was changed". The cycle, Intavolatura, recorded by Quaternaglia in 1995, includes Sweet Music, Maske, The Passion of Music and Mistress Tittle's Jig.
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JOBIM, TOM (1927-1994) - Jobim's songs are so powerful that they frequently dazzle his movie soundtracks. However, cinema was always present throughout his life from Orfeu Negro (1959), at the beginning of his career, to the trilogy Eu te amo (1981), Gabriela (1983) and Fonte da Saudade (1987). Crônica da Casa Assassinada (Chronicle of the Murdered House), based on a homonym novel written by Lúcio Cardoso (1912-1968) published in 1959, was composed by Jobim especially for the movie A Casa Assassinada (The Murdered House, 1971), by Paulo César Saraceni, awarded at the First Cinema Festival of Gramado. The adaptation made by João Luiz (Quaternaglia's member) highlights the main parts of the soundtrack registered by Tom in his LP Matita Perê (1973), including "Trem para Cordisburgo" (Train to Cordisburgo), a reference to the city were the famous Brazilian writer Guimarães Rosa was born, and "Chora Coração" (Cry Heart), with lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes. The version was recorded in 2004 (CD Presença) and 2006 (DVD Quaternaglia).
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LORA, DOUGLAS (1978) - Douglas Lora is a Brazilian guitarist and composer who earned degrees in Music Composition and Classical Guitar at University FIAM / FAAM in São Paulo, taught by Ricardo Rizek and Henrique Pinto respectively. His work, mainly directed to guitar, includes solo guitar pieces, duos and trios. The idiomatic character of his writing is immediately revealed in Maracasalsa (2003-4), his first work for guitar quartet, written for Quaternaglia. The piece shows a virtuoso fusion between the Brazilian rhythm Maracatu and the Latin American Salsa, using the Baroque forms of the toccata and fugue. The piece was recorded in 2004 (CD Presença), and the "Fugue" (second movement) has also a live performance in the DVD Quaternaglia (2006).
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MARQUEZ CUNHA, ESTÉRCIO (1941) - Estércio Marquez Cunha, a Brazilian composer, is a professor at the Universidade Federal de Goiás and holds a degree in Doctor of the Arts granted by the University of Oklahoma (USA). Besides Suiternaglia (1993), his compositions for guitar include two pieces for guitar solo, various works for guitar and violin, three pieces for soprano, flute and guitar, and music for two guitars.
The author says the following about Suiternaglia: "Suiternaglia was written for four guitars (especially for Quaternaglia) in three continuous and inseparable movements. Basically molded on the same elements, each movement preserves its own emphasis: the first one is melodious, the second one is full of timbre and the third one is rhythmical". Suiternaglia was recorded in 1995.
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MOLINA, SÉRGIO (1967) - Brazilian Guitarist and Bachelor in Composition of São Paulo University taught by Willy Corrêa de Oliveira, Sergio Molina is the author of a versatile production that includes mainly popular songs and chamber music. His Sweet Mineira (1998) was based on themes by Milton Nascimento. The idea of using themes of the Brazilian composer and popular singer Milton Nascimento (1942) to create a new piece for guitar quartet was suggested by the composer Leo Brouwer. The conversation that inspired Sweet Mineira occurred in Montevideo (Uruguay), just after Quaternaglia had recorded the complete work for four guitars written by the Cuban composer (CD-JHO, 1995). His work is structured around four Milton's themes, three of them suggested by Brouwer. The first movement is "Ponta de Areia" (Sand Point), a beautiful pentatonic song that tells the story of an abandoned railroad on the way between Minas Gerais and Bahia (two Brazilian States). This song dialogues and fuses with "San Vicente" (Saint Vincent), the report of a "strange dream" that fills with "glass" and "cut" the Latin American subjectivity. The lyrics of both songs were written by Fernando Brant. The second and third movements - with lyrics by Ronaldo Bastos - are "Cais" (Pier) and "Cravo e Canela" (Clove and Cinnamon): "Cais" shows the necessity of "inventing the limits to be able to be free", as well as of "creating the dreamer to be able to dream", and "Cravo e Canela" shows with humor and piquancy the various "spices" of the typical food of Minas Gerais. In the almost classic sonata form chosen for the last movement, Molina mentions, ironically, the beginning of the recapitulation of the first movement of Appassionata op.57 by Beethoven: a low C note - persistently repeated - interferes in the theme, bothers its appearance; but the theme returns and ends by imposing itself, as if nothing had happened. San Vicente, Cais and Cravo e Canela were released by Milton in the historical LP Clube da Esquina (1972), while Ponta de Areia was launched in his Minas album (1975).
The piece, dedicated to Quaternaglia, was premiered in 1998 (São Paulo) and 2003 (United States), and recorded in 2004 (CD Presença) and 2006 (DVD Quaternaglia).
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NAZARÉ, ERNESTO (1863-1934) - Born in Rio de Janeiro, Ernesto Nazaré was one of the first to establish the Brazilian tango form. His works were widely played by popular pianists, choro groups and brass bands, until he was discovered by classical pianists and composers.
Batuque is a "typical tango" published in 1906, which Gismonti arranged for Guitar, Piano and Orchestra. Escovado, a 1904 tango, was arranged by Gismonti for Piano and Orchestra. On the basis of these arrangements, Paulo Porto Alegre developed his version for guitar quartet. The both versions were recorded in 1999 and first performed in 2000 in Cuiabá (Mato Grosso).
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PÉNICAUD, ERIC (1952) - According to Leo Brouwer, the French composer Eric Pénicaud's "writes sensorial music which generates its own development, its own expansion." In 2009, Quaternaglia was invited by the composer himself to register "Garrawog Blues", work written in 1974, for the CD Guitare Du XXI Siècle, entirely composed of his works. Other than Quaternaglia, the album includes participations by internationally acclaimed guitarists including Roberto Aussel, Fabio Zanon and Roland Dyens. The work was premiered in Brazil (2009) in a concert in the city of Bauru (SP).
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PRAETORIUS, MICHAEL (c. 1571-1621) - Today, the "instrumentation" or the "sound form" of a piece is seen as part of the composition. During the Renaissance, this idea was not completely established yet. This means that in many cases - even in the 17th and 18th centuries - the choice of the instrumental arrangement was part of performance and not of composition.
The German theoretician and composer, Michael Praetorius (born in Creuzburg), used to leave his pieces open to various instrumental combinations, either within the same family or with different instruments. Gilbert Biberian (England), author of the transcription, says: "Probably, Praetorius would not object to these dances being performed by an ensemble of guitars".
The 8 Dances that are recorded by Quaternaglia in 1995 (Ballet Des Coqs, Gaillarde, Bransle De La Torche, Ballet, Courante, Spagnoletta, Bransle De La Reyne and Volta) are part of the Terpsichore cycle, dating from 1612. The dances were specially chosen by Biberian, since Praetorius did not organize his work in suites.
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STRAVINSKY, IGOR (1882-1971) - Igor Stravinsky wrote Three Pieces for Piano for Four Hands in 1915 (March dedicated to Alfred Casella, Waltz to Eric Satie, and Polka to Serge Diaghilev) and Five Pieces for Piano for Four Hands in 1917 (Andante, Española, Balalaika, Napolitana and Galop), in a piano hiatus between the 4 Studies op.7 (1908) and Piano Rag-Music (1919). Almost simultaneously he did the orchestration of these 8 pieces now divided into two suites: nº 2 (1921) containing March, Waltz, Polka and Galop and nº 1 (1925) with Andante, Napolitana, Española and Balalaika.
These 8 Pieces were successfully performed by the famous Aguillar Lute Quartet during tours all over Europe and in North and South America in the twenties and thirties. These Spanish musicians were praised by the famous Brazilian writer Mario de Andrade when they presented their concerts in São Paulo in 1933. The first recording for guitar quartet dates from 1976 and was performed by the Argentinian quartet Martinez-Zárate. The version of Quaternaglia (1995) was conceived from the original for piano for four hands by the Brazilian guitarist Paulo Porto Alegre, who also transcribed and recorded some of these pieces for guitar trio (Trio Opus 12, 1982).
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TELEMAN, GEORG PHILIPP (1681-1767) - Born in Magdeburg, Georg Philipp Telemann was the most significant composer from the northern Germanic school during the first half of the 18th century. In this piece, recorded in 1995, originally entitled Concerto a 4 violini Senza Basso, the composer writes both the solo and the tutti for the concertino (the soloist group from the baroque concert). To get this result, Telemann uses various combinations among the four instruments and this includes a sophisticated use of polyphony, with canonical entrances which were rather uncommon in his pieces. The transcription was written by Heinz Teuchert. Quaternaglia recorded the piece in 1996.
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TINÉ, PAULO (1970) - Brazilian composer and guitarist, Paulo Tiné graduated at São Paulo University, studied classical guitar with Edelton Gloeden and attended the Composition and Music Esthetics courses by Ricardo Rizek. His solo guitar pieces are very interesting and have been edited in Europe by Martin Müller Edition. Noite Escura (Dark Night, 1998), which was inspired by a poem written by the mystic San Juan de la Cruz (1542-1591), reveals the composer's view of the Spanish music, while Presença (Presence, 2003) is a choro that began as a homage to the Brazilian composer and performer Egberto Gismonti (reproducing the harmony of his piece Sete Anéis). However, the piece soon gained its own life, incorporating specific characteristics of Tiné's work, such as lightness and swing in the thematic material, detailed transitions between the sections, original modulations, and a dynamic form. Noite Escura was premiered in São Paulo (2002) and in the United States (2003), and Presença in Belém (2003). The pieces, dedicated to Quaternaglia, were recorded in 2004, and Noite Escura has also a live performance in the DVD Quaternaglia (2006).
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TORROBA, FEDERICO MORENO (1891-1982) - One of most important composers of solo guitar pieces of the 20th century - such as Aires de la Mancha, Noturno, Burgalesa, Madroños, Piezas Characteristicas, Sonatina and Castilllos de España -, Moreno Torroba was also a famous author of zarzuelas. Product of his collaboration with the Los Romeros guitar quartet, Estampas (1976), collection of eight small pieces inspired in landscapes and day-to-day scenes, is one of the first cycles of pieces originally written for guitar quartet. Quaternaglia's album Estampas (recorded in 2007 and released in 2010) was named after the piece and contains the full recording of the work.
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VILLA-LOBOS, HEITOR (1887-1959) - A Lenda do Caboclo was written by Heitor Villa-Lobos for piano solo in 1920, period prior to his participation in the Semana de Arte Moderna (1922), in São Paulo, and his first trip to Paris (1923). It was written in the same year as Choros n.1, a very important piece for solo guitar. Eduardo Fleury authors the transcription for guitar quartet.
The series of 9 Bachianas Brasileiras (1930-45) was conceived by Villa-Lobos as a dialogue between the universality of J.S. Bach's work (1685-1750) and the Brazilian popular music of the first half of the 20th century. Bachianas Brasileiras nº1, recorded in 1995 by Quaternaglia, shows this intention in the double titles of the movements: Introdução connected with the rhythm of "emboladas", Prelúdio with the melodism of "modinhas" and Fuga with a "conversation" between four "Chorões" from the city of Rio de Janeiro. Dedicated to Pablo Casals, it was originally composed for 8 cellos and it was performed for the first time in Rio de Janeiro and directed Walter Burle Max. On the recording, Quaternaglia performs Sergio Abreu's transcription, a Brazilian guitarist and luthier. The first performance of the piece in the U.S.A. occurred in 1997 in Miami, Princeton and Washington D.C. In 2007 Quaternaglia made another recording of the piece for Estampas CD, launched in 2010 and produced by Sérgio Abreu himself.
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VITTA, RODRIGO (1971) - Rodrigo Vitta is a Brazilian composer and conductor graduated in Music Composition at University FIAM / FAAM in São Paulo taught by Ricardo Rizek. Vitta is an admirer of the Second Viennese School, and takes the risk of always being on the "boundaries of tonality": his work is not nationalist; his view of Brazil is influenced by Alban Berg's strict harmonic structures as well as by Schoenberg's pre-dodecaphonic period. Sonata, written for Quaternaglia in 1997, was orchestrated in 2000, becoming the first movement of the Sinfonia Brasileira, a piece awarded at the celebration contest of Brazil's 500 years. Paisagem Brasileira n.4 (Brazilian Landscape, 2004), entitled "Urbana", was inspired by the work of the Brazilian sculptor Nele Azevedo, who sculpts little ice men who are placed in chosen spots of big cities: in the middle of the urban chaos, the miniatures simply melt, causing an inexplicable feeling due to their fragility. The first three pieces of the series called "Paisagens Brasileiras", respectively entitled "Mangue", "Cerrado", and "Caatinga" - were written for string orchestra. Quaternaglia recorded the pieces in 2004.
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