Villa-Lobos Digital Project at the ABM

Here's an exciting project from the Academia Brasileira da Música.

Villa-Lobos is considered the greatest Brazilian composer of all time and, undoubtedly, one of the world greatest geniuses of music in the twentieth century.  

A controversial artist, but widely respected and admired, his compositions are part of great artists’ repertoire and are performed in the most important concert halls around the world. His monumental orchestral work - which includes symphonic poems, concertos, ballets, symphonies, suites, operas, famous “Bachianas Brasileiras”, the “Choros”, the “Forest of the Amazon” and many others -, lacked a revised orchestral edition to do justice to what Villa-Lobos represents for the Brazilian and world culture. For a long time Dr. Marisa Gandelman (former attorney of the ABM - Brazilian Academy of Music) cherished the complex and difficult to achieve dream to transform this lack in reality.

Many performing rights of Villa-Lobos works belong to foreign publishers, especially Max Eschig, from Paris. The first and most difficult step was to obtain the permission of these companies to produce BAM own editions. The second step was to invite Sarau Agência de Cultura Brasileira, a renowned company in the cultural market, to develop a management and fundraising project required to achieve this goal. 

Therefore, the Digital Villa-Lobos project has as its main goal to provide Villa Lobos scores and orchestral material, in a high-level edition, stimulating and making possible the performance of Villa Lobos symphonic works.  

When we were invited to take the Project’s artistic direction we decided to create, under our presidency, a commission formed by academics Luther Robinson, Henrique Morelenbaum, Ricardo Tacuchian and Turibio Santos, to set the parameters of future issues and have the collaboration of professionals signing several works reviews.
Sarau's work bore fruit, the sponsorship came. Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional, moved by the Project’s significance, was receptive to provide the necessary funds to the first part, that is the editing of the first fifteen works. Shortly after, the Consul Company aware of the importance of a better dissemination of Villa-Lobos works came to meet us to offer the sponsorship of another stage. The work began. There are still other important works to be edited. New sponsors are expected to honor and promote the one who was and still is the biggest name of Brazilian music.

Here are the scores to be published in the first stage of the project:

• Alvorada na Floresta Tropical
• Choros #06
• Momoprecoce
• Danca Frenetica
• Danca dos Mosquitos
• Introducao aos Choros
• Guitar Concerto
• Mandu-Sarrara
• Madona
• O Naufragio de Kleonicos
• Bachianas Brasileiras #9 (orchestral and choral versions)
• Symphony #06
• Fantasia for Cello and Orchestra
• Genesis
• Choros #10
• Choros #07
• Harp Concerto
• Magnificat-Alleluia
• Dancas Africanas
• Rudepoema (orchestral version)
• Amazonas