The reception of Beethoven's work in Brazil walks side by side with the history of classical music and its development, influencing creators of different trends. The composer Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959), whose work is known for dialoguing with another Germanic master, J. S. Bach – through the series “Bachianas Brasileiras” –, was one of those who contributed to the dissemination of Beethoven's legacy. That’s the story we’ll tell here.
In the early 20th century, besides the investment in symphonic and chamber music, another change was the effort of constructing Brazilian concert music, based on the nationalist ideal of valuing popular culture and the use of folk material in scholarly compositions. The greatest protagonist of this ideal in Brazil was Villa-Lobos, born in Rio de Janeiro. His presence in the Week of Modern Art (1922) and his trips to France would help to consolidate the image of the most outstanding Brazilian composer, whose music represents a musical portrait of the country.
In 1930, after two seasons in Paris, Villa-Lobos returned to Brazil, and was invited by the government of São Paulo to lead public choral demonstrations – called at the time “civic exhortations”. The following year, with the “Villa-Lobos Artistic Excursion” (photo), he traveled through the countryside of São Paulo, where he presented works by classical, romantic – including, of course, Beethoven – and modern composers. In 1932, Villa-Lobos started to coordinate a broad musical education program in Rio de Janeiro, then the capital of Brazil. Since 1930, in the context of the modernization of the education system, music gained, in public and private schools, an unprecedented dimension in the country.
One of the first products of this project was the “Coleção Escolar” ("School Collection”), with national and foreign works arranged for choir and instrument by Villa-Lobos and other musicians. These scores were used as didactic material for the training of teachers and students. Musical writing presents characteristic aspects of Brazilian culture (embolada, macumba, samba, and others); marches, work corners, wheel toys, and hymns; popular and folk themes; and references to renowned composers such as Bach, Schumann, Schubert, Chopin, and Beethoven. By adopting Brazilian musicality mixed with classical authors, Villa-Lobos sought to create, in his words, an “absolutely Brazilian methodology” for music education.
Capa de um dos fascículos da "Coleção escolar" (1932/1939) by Heitor Villa-LobosMuseum Villa-Lobos
One issue of the collection brings together “Minuetto e Andante” by Beethoven with pieces by other great European composers.
Primeira página da partitura "Os moinhos", da "Coleção escolar" (1932/1939) by Ludwig van Beethoven, Heitor Villa-Lobos, P. Geraldy, and Casa Arthur NapoleãoMuseum Villa-Lobos
Villa-Lobos' arrangements for choir (in this case, for 4 voices) received letters from collaborating writers and intellectuals.
Primeira página da partitura de "Hino à noite", de Beethoven, com arranjo de Villa-Lobos (1932/1939) by Ludwig van Beethoven, Heitor Villa-Lobos, and Ceição de Barros BarretoMuseum Villa-Lobos
Not all arrangements were made by Villa-Lobos. In “Hino à noite”, that work was made by Ceição de Barros Barreto, one of the most outstanding mentors of the music education project.
Orfeão dos Professores - concert program cover (1933-04) by UnknownMuseum Villa-Lobos
Besides the “School Collection”, another goal of the music education program coordinated by Villa-Lobos was the creation of a choir composed of teachers from the public schools of Rio de Janeiro: ...
... The “Orfeão de Professores do Distrito Federal” (Choir of Teachers of the Federal District).
“Orfeão” was born from the Music Pedagogy Course and Orphonic Singing, with the dual purpose of providing artistic enjoyment and educating children and youth in Rio de Janeiro. The repertoire was diverse: traditional religious themes (like Gregorian), indigenous songs, as well as classic, romantic, and modern compositions by authors from Brazil and abroad. Founded in May 1932, it made several presentations in schools, theaters, concert halls, institutions, football stadiums, and squares in Rio de Janeiro.
Programa de concerto da Orquestra Villa-Lobos (1933-04) by DesconhecidoMuseum Villa-Lobos
The Villa-Lobos Orchestra is another initiative created under the same music education program, months after Orfeão's debut.
In April 1933, under the coordination of Villa-Lobos, the first hearing of “Missa Solemnis” (op. 123), a Beethoven masterpiece, took place in Brazil. This work is one of the milestones of the last decade of the life of the composer. According to the musicologist HC Robbins Landon, this work “uses the past as a springboard to project itself into the future, through an unmistakably personal language, which merges and appropriates the most diverse writing resources that are left to it by Mozart's masses and Haydn. ”
Página de programa de concerto: obra "Rei Estevão", de Beethoven (1933-05) by DesconhecidoMuseum Villa-Lobos
Beethoven was featured in the 1933 season of the Municipal Theater of Rio de Janeiro, with the presentation of his “Symphony nº 7” and the first hearing, in Brazil, of “King Stephen” overture.
In December 1935, a new presentation of “Missa Solemnis” featured, in addition to Orfeão and the Orchestra, with a quartet of solo voices formed by Carmen Gomes, Emma Brízio, Reis e Silva, and Asdrúbal Lima. During the regency, Villa-Lobos was assisted by the young pianist José Vieira Brandão. The solo violin belonged to Oscar Borgerth, one of the greatest Brazilian instrumentalists – and a Villa-Lobos' collaborator in the music education program.
Villa-Lobos, ao lado de uma partitura de Beethoven, e outros músicos (1935-12) by DesconhecidoMuseum Villa-Lobos
Father Pedro Sinzig (left), born in Austria and naturalized Brazilian, had a conference on the work. Sinzig stood out in the promotion of sacred music in Brazil.
Matéria do jornal "A nação" sobre execução da "Missa solene", de Beethoven, no Rio (1935-12-05) by Jornal "A Nação"Museum Villa-Lobos
Newspapers at the time stated that the Orfeão de Professores came to gather 400 voices. They also highlighted the “Herculean” effort required to assemble the work, with praise for the “discipline” of Brazilians.
Interestingly, the plastic artist, musician, and Brazilian diplomat Sotero Cosme (1905-1978) – an exponent of art decó in Brazil – came to produce engravings by great composers, including Villa-Lobos and Beethoven. In them, the blurred and dramatic expression of the German composer contrasts with the strength and a certain grandeur in the Brazilian eye, as we can see in these images that are part of the MVL visual arts collection.
As we have seen, there are countless records on the importance of Villa-Lobos – like that of so many musicians and artists of the 19th and 20th centuries – in the diffusion, in Brazil, of the work of the great master of Bohn, whose 250 years of birth the world celebrates in December. This is the tribute of the Villa-Lobos Museum to a genius who has reconfigured the meaning of concert music, expanding emotions and perceptions.
Concerto Digital: "Missa Solemnis", de Beethoven | Thierry Fischer (regente) e convidados (2020-04-12) by Ludwig van Beethoven and OsespMuseum Villa-Lobos
PS: This is the performance of "Missa Solene" by Osesp, in Sala São Paulo, under the direction of Thierry Fischer. :)
