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String Quartet No. 9 is part of a series of seventeen works in the medium by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, and was written in 1945. A performance lasts approximately 25 minutes.
String Quartet No. 9 is part of a series of seventeen works in the medium by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, and was written in 1945. A performance lasts approximately 25 minutes.
Villa-Lobos composed his Ninth Quartet in Rio de Janeiro in 1945. It was first performed in London in 1947, but the exact date, place, and performers are not known. The first performance in the composer's native country took place at the Auditório do MEC in Rio de Janeiro on 25 April 1960, as part of the Festival Villa-Lobos. The performers on this occasion were the Quarteto de Cordas da Rádio MEC. The score is dedicated to Mindinha (Arminda Neves d'Almeida), the composer's companion for the last 23 years of his life.[1]
The quartet consists of four movements:
The first movement is cast in the traditional sonata-allegro form, with a particularly strong influence from Joseph Haydn. This is seen especially in the use of mirroring that recalls the al rovescio counterpoint of the fugue in Haydn's Op. 20, No. 2.[2] The second theme group contains four subjects, the second of which uses the octatonic scale, suggesting the possible influence of Stravinsky.[3]
The second movement, on the other hand, shows remarkable similarities to Alban Berg's Lyric Suite and to Béla Bartók's Sixth Quartet.[4]
Chronological, by date of recording.