Prime Number: Choros #1

I fell in love with Brazilian guitar when I heard these pieces: Paulinho Nogueira’s Bachianina #1, Baden Powell’s Euridice and Heitor Villa-Lobos’ Choros #1. After several years of study and practice I still cannot play any of them fluently. But I’m getting closer.

This is a rare recording of Villa Lobos performing his fantastic composition, Choros #1:
Choros #1

I do not feel competent to really comment on the piece since my knowledge of Brazilian musical styles and traditions is still rudimentary. But, just a little context: Villa Lobos was one of Brazil’s greatest “classical” composers. He blended classical European elements with the indigenous Brazilian folk and popular music, which he loved. The term “Choro” refers to a musical style that flourished in Brazil in the early part of the 20th century. It was played by street musicians and featured elements of improvisation—some say it bears a similarity to jazz.

Although Villa Lobos never pursued a career as a professional guitarist, in his early days he studied the instrument and became quite an accomplished Choro player; his command of the guitar was considerable as evidenced by this recording. I have heard that Villa Lobos deliberately accelerated the tempo when recording it in order to make it fit on a roughly 3 minute recording.

Villa Lobos composed Choros #1 in 1920. I do not know when or where this recording was made, but the poor fidelity certainly indicates it must have been done using very early recording technology.(The Villa Lobos museum in Brazil http://www.museuvillalobos.org.br has not been
especially helpful in this regard. They haven’t responded to email inquiries and their posted Choros #1 file has never worked.