Curator of Brazilian Cultural Expressions: Three Moments from the Work for Cello and Piano by Heitor Villa-Lobos
Name: DANIEL ENACHE JUNIOR
Publication date: 20/03/2026
Examining board:
Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| ALEXANDRE SIQUEIRA DE FREITAS | Presidente |
| DANIEL TAPIA | Examinador Interno |
| HUGO VARGAS PILGER | Examinador Externo |
| JOSE EDUARDO COSTA SILVA | Coorientador |
Summary: This paper addresses the formation of Brazilian musical modernism as the result of an intellectual and artistic process based on cultural anthropophagy and musical nationalism, highlighting the central role of Oswald de Andrade and Mário de Andrade in the construction of an aesthetic thought that had Heitor Villa-Lobos as a relevant figure in the field of concert music. As a representative of musical modernism, we highlight the composer as a “curator” of Brazilian music, beyond his compositional and educational activities, contributing significantly to the national and global dissemination of Brazilian music. In this context, the research sought to identify elements of Brazilian modernism in Villa-Lobos' works for cello and piano, based on the analysis of three works representative of his compositional maturation process, namely: Pequena Suite (1913-14), Bachianas Brasileiras No. 2 (1930), and Divagação (1946). Two analytical tools were used: the concept of “hermeneutic windows” by Lawrence Kramer (1992) and “migrations” by Cinta Cristiá (2012). Based on these references, the research investigated how textual, quotational, and structural elements, combined with processes of conceptual, material, morphological, and textural migration, contribute to the construction of extramusical meanings derived from modernist thought. As a result, we observed the maturation of the composer's musical/modernist language, which starts with strong references to European tradition in the first work, moves on to the integration of contrapuntal elements and imagery references from Brazilian culture in the second work, finally arriving at a balanced assimilation of national and foreign influences in the third work through the intrinsic use of elements suggested by Mário de Andrade for the formation of modernism in Brazilian music. This journey highlights the synthesis and assimilation of the composer's anthropophagic desire, contributing to the consolidation of the modernist idea of Brazilianness.
