Piano Concerto No. 5 (Villa-Lobos)

Piano Concerto No. 5
Piano Concerto No. 5
Concerto by Heitor Villa-Lobos
	Heitor Villa-Lobos
Catalogue	W521
Composed	1954: Rio de Janeiro, Paris, New York
Dedication	Felicja Blumental
Published	1984: Paris (reduction for two pianos)
Publisher	Max Eschig
Recorded	25 May 1955 Felicja Blumental, piano; Vienna Symphony, conducted by Heitor Villa-Lobos).
Duration	19 minutes
Movements	4
Scoring	piano; orchestra;
Premiere
Date	8 May 1955:
Location	Royal Festival Hall, London
Conductor	Jean Martinon
Performers	Felicja Blumental, piano; London Philharmonic Orchestra

The Piano Concerto No. 5, W 521, is a piano concerto by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, written in 1954. One performance recorded under the composer's baton lasts 18 minutes, 48 seconds.

History

The concerto was composed in 1954 in Rio de Janeiro. It was commissioned by Felicja Blumental, to whom the score is dedicated, and who gave the first performance at the Royal Festival Hall in London on 8 May 1955, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Jean Martinon.^[1]

Instrumentation

The work is scored for solo piano and an orchestra consisting of piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (bass drum, xylophone), celesta, harp, and strings.

Analysis

Royal Festival Hall, London, venue of the concerto's premiere

The concerto has four movements:

Allegro non troppo
Poco adagio
Allegretto scherzando – Cadenza
Allegretto

The first movement is in sonata-allegro form. After an orchestral introduction featuring a mirror motif, the main theme enters at rehearsal number 3. It is in A minor and resembles a slow waltz, alternating ³
₄ and ⁶
₈ metres. A bridge, in which the opening mirror motif is played by the piano, leads to the second, chromatic, Gershwinesque theme at rehearsal no. 11, in the distant key of G♯ minor. A return of the main theme at rehearsal no. 15 is followed by a third theme in C minor, at rehearsal no. 18, closing the exposition section.^[2]

Recordings

Heitor Villa-Lobos: Concerto for Piano No. 5. Felicja Blumental, piano; Vienna Symphony, conducted by Heitor Villa-Lobos. Recorded live at the Musikverein, Vienna, Austria, on 25 May 1955. LP recording.
- Reissued on CD (coupled with Isaac Albéniz: Piano Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 78, with the Orchestra di Torino, conducted by Alberto Zedda). Dureco: Ars Classium 1159302. Weesp, Netherlands: P & C Dureco, 1994.
- Reissued as part of a 5-CD set, Brana Records Collection Vol 1: Felicja Blumenthal, Piano (with other works by Villa-Lobos, as well as compositions by Camargo Guarnieri, Francisco Mignone, Heckel Tavares, Ludwig van Beethoven, Carl Czerny, Ferdinand Ries, Carl Stamitz, and Georg Joseph Vogler. Brana 29. Perivale, Middlesex: Brana Records, 2007. Disc no. 1 (with the concerto) also released separately, as Brana BR0001. Perivale, Middlesex: Brana Records, 2007.
Heitor Villa-Lobos: Symphonie no 4: Vitoria; Concerto no 5 en ut majeur. Felicja Blumenthal, piano; Orchestre national de la radiodiffusion française, conducted by Heitor Villa-Lobos. Concerto recorded at the Salle de la Mutualité, Paris, on 8 June 1955. LP recording, 1 audio disc: analog, 33⅓ rpm, 12 in., monaural. Columbia FCX 438. [France]: Columbia, 1957. Also issued on Angel LP 424 in Brazil.
- Re-issued on LP as part of: Villa-Lobos par lui-même. Various performers, orchestras conducted by Heitor Villa-Lobos. Eleven audio discs: 10 LPs, analog, 33⅓ rpm, 12 in., monaural; 1 analog, 45 rpm, 7 in., monaural. EMI/La voix de son maître VSM 14090–99. France: La voix de Son maître, 1976.
- Set reissued on CD, 6 audio discs: analogue/digital, 4¾ in., monaural. EMI CZS 7 67229 2 (CDZ 7 67230 2 – CDZ 7 672135 2). France: EMI, 1991.
- Reissued on CD, with Villa-Lobos: Symphony No. 4 "Momoprecôce", and Chôros No. 5. Urania Widescreen Collection WS 121.133. Piva: Manzoni Editore, 2011.
Heitor Villa-Lobos: 5 concertos para piano e orquestra. Fernando Lopes, piano; Orquestra Sinfônica Municipal de Campinas; conducted by Benito Juarez. Recorded 18–24 June 1984, in the Teatro Interno do Centro de Covivência Cultural da Campinas. LP recording, 4 discs: 12 inch, 33⅓ rpm, stereo. Energia de São Paulo: LPVL 01/25 – LPVL 04/25. São Paulo: Energia de São Paulo, [1984?].
Heitor Villa-Lobos: Five Piano Concertos. Cristina Ortiz, piano; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Miguel Gómez-Martínez. Recorded at the Walthamstow Assembly Hall in October 1989, January and July 1990. 2-CD set: stereo. London 430 628-2 (430 629-2 and 430 630-2). London: The Decca Record Company Limited, 1992.
Heitor Villa-Lobos: Cinco Conciertos para Piano y Orquesta. Elvira Santiago, piano (Concerto No. 1); Ulises Hernández, piano (Concerto No. 2); Patricio Malcolm, piano (Concerto No. 3); Harold López-Nussa, piano (Concerto No. 4); Roberto Urbay, piano (Concerto No. 5); Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Cuba, conducted by Enrique Pérez Mesa. Concerto No. 5 recorded at the Teatro Auditorium Amadeo Roldán, Havana, Cuba, 10 December 2003, as part of the XXV Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano. 2 CDs + 1 DVD. Colibrí DVD/CD 050. Havana: Colibrí, 2006.

References

↑ Villa-Lobos, sua obra 2009, p. 57.
↑ Tarasti 1995, pp. 349–350.

Cited sources

Tarasti, Eero. 1995. Heitor Villa-Lobos: The Life and Works, 1887–1959, translated from the Finnish by the author. Jefferson, North Carolina, and London: McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0013-7.
Villa-Lobos, sua obra. 2009. Version 1.0. MinC / IBRAM, and the Museu Villa-Lobos. Based on the third edition, 1989.

Heitor Villa-Lobos
List of compositions
Opera	Magdalena: a Musical Adventure Yerma
Orchestral works	Chôros No. 6 Chôros No. 8 Chôros No. 9 Chôros No. 10 Chôros No. 11 Chôros No. 12 Chôros No. 13 Chôros No. 14 Symphony No. 1 (The Unforeseen) Symphony No. 2 (Ascension) Symphony No. 3 (War) Symphony No. 4 (Victory) Symphony No. 5 (Peace) Symphony No. 6 (On the Outline of the Mountains of Brazil) Symphony No. 7 (Peace Odyssey) Symphony No. 8 Symphony No. 9 Symphony No. 10 (Sumé, Father of Fathers: Amerindian Symphony with Chorus) Symphony No. 11 Symphony No. 12 Uirapuru
Concertante	Cello Concerto No. 1 Cello Concerto No. 2 Fantasia for saxophone, three horns, and strings Guitar Concerto Piano Concerto No. 1 Piano Concerto No. 2 Piano Concerto No. 3 Piano Concerto No. 4 Piano Concerto No. 5
Chamber music	Nonet String Quartet No. 1 String Quartet No. 2 String Quartet No. 3 String Quartet No. 4 String Quartet No. 5 String Quartet No. 6 String Quartet No. 7 String Quartet No. 8 String Quartet No. 9 String Quartet No. 10 String Quartet No. 11 String Quartet No. 12 String Quartet No. 13 String Quartet No. 14 String Quartet No. 15 String Quartet No. 16 String Quartet No. 17
Piano works	A prole do bebe Rudepoêma
Works for guitar solo	Chôros No. 1 Étude No. 1 Étude No. 2 Étude No. 3 Étude No. 4 Étude No. 5 Étude No. 6 Étude No. 7 Étude No. 8 Étude No. 9 Étude No. 10 Étude No. 11 Étude No. 12 Prelude No. 1 in E minor Prelude No. 2 in E major Prelude No. 3 in A minor Prelude No. 4 in E minor Prelude No. 5 in D major Suite populaire brésilienne
Other compositions	Bachianas Brasileiras Introdução aos Chôros Chôros No. 2 Chôros No. 3 Chôros No. 4 Chôros No. 5 Chôros No. 7 Chôros bis Quinteto (em forma de chôros) The Little Train of the Caipira
Film score	Green Mansions
Related articles	Modern classical guitar Music of Brazil
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