The Naxos label's "The Music of Brazil" series, backed by the Brazilian government, unearths a real find here, with barely known choral arrangements of a set of preludes and fugues (separate, not paired) of Bach, by Heitor Villa-Lobos, here receiving their world recorded premieres. The rest of the program consists of similar a cappella arrangements of famous repertory pieces, both polyphonic and tune-plus-harmony, both vocal and instrumental. The arrangements were made in the mid-1930s and intended for school choruses. A ...
Read More
The Naxos label's "The Music of Brazil" series, backed by the Brazilian government, unearths a real find here, with barely known choral arrangements of a set of preludes and fugues (separate, not paired) of Bach, by Heitor Villa-Lobos, here receiving their world recorded premieres. The rest of the program consists of similar a cappella arrangements of famous repertory pieces, both polyphonic and tune-plus-harmony, both vocal and instrumental. The arrangements were made in the mid-1930s and intended for school choruses. A few of the songs are given Portuguese texts, but it is the arrangements of instrumental pieces that are the most striking. They are wordless, but they are not vocalises. Villa-Lobos adds color by scoring them for varied syllables from the choir, and this is done with exceptional subtlety. Listen to any of the Bach pieces, or the Chopin Waltz in C sharp minor, Op. 64, No. 2 (especially the middle section). What could easily have been a mechanical exercise instead lies close to the heart...
Read Less