Tumbling Villa-Lobos

A rapid impression of all Villa-Lobos.

From the guy who brought you The Villa-Lobos Website and The Villa-Lobos Magazine.

Focus, Dean, focus!

Tumbling since April 2007.

Tue Mar 6
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“ He found work as representative of a match factory in Rio. It was a novelty, matches with two heads. One on either end of the stick. The same match could be used twice to light a cigarette.

Before Villa-Lobos settled down as a composer he worked at all sorts of jobs, not all of which related to music. But I like this story (from 1915) as an analogy to Villa’s composing. Don’t so many of his works sound like his music is burning at both ends?

This anecdote is from the entertaining memoir by Antônio Chechim Filho, who accompanied Villa-Lobos on the famous Excursão Artística Villa-Lobos in 1932. Thanks to Fred Sturm, who provides the very readable translation.