Among the classical pieces of music there are those that are immediately remembered, engraved in memory. They include the first part of "Carmina Burana" by Orff, and "Bolero" by Ravel. This list also includes "Bahiana No. 5", written by Villa-Lobos.
Even though not everyone will listen to a well-known work to the end, the very first bars have a bewitching effect on all listeners. The author of this amazing creation is the largest figure in South American music, the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos.
The birth of an idea
He did not have a professional education. A talented self-taught man did without him, creating music in different genres. The musician not only left about a thousand creations, but also founded the most important music institutes in Brazil.
Bach was the favorite composer of Villa Lobos. So the musician decided to create something national in the style of his favorite author. The idea of the concept was born during his stay in Paris, where the musician was improving. He knew about Stravinsky's experiments in the style of musical neoclassicism, the unity of modern language and the principles of traditional music.
Upon arriving home, the Brazilian began work on suites with toccata and fugues in the Bach style, but with a Brazilian folk flavor. Vila-Lobos set out to find the border between the tastes of the mass listener and the preferences of local music lovers who did not recognize national folk tunes as art.
Creation
Over the course of 15 years, 9 Brazilian Bachians were created, a total of 29 pieces. The fifth is the most famous. It has two parts, although initially there was only Aria, the very popular melody. The author finished the second part after seven years.
There was no vocalization in the first edition: the voice was replaced by a cello solo. Who gave the idea of replacing the instrument with a voice is unknown, but it turned out brilliantly. Aria glorified the author all over the planet. However, in the homeland of the creator, Toccata from The Second Bachiana, The Deep Cuckoo, still enjoys great success. The same name is given to a small narrow-gauge train scurrying between settlements.
Many of the works are dedicated to the composer's beloved, violinist and musician's secretary Arminda. Her name is hidden under the pseudonym Mindinha. The fifth Bahiana opened a list of creations for which the girl served as a muse.
sources of inspiration
Villa-Lobos called "Arias" all the melodious pieces in the French tradition. There is no reference to the opera in the title. The model for the famous piece is Bach's Aria, the second movement of the third orchestral suite. The second source is called "Vocalise" by Rachmaninoff. In fact, this is the Russian Bahiana. It combines the lyrics of the German classic and Russian melodiousness. The idea pleased Villa-Lobos, who reworked the idea in his own way.
But still the text, albeit only in the middle, is in the Brazilian author. It was written by the first performer of Bahiana, singer Ruth Valadares Correa. It tells about the moon admiring its reflection in the sea waters and a cloud slowly floating across the night sky.
Why this particular work created such a sensation is unknown to anyone, even, most likely, to the author. However, the idea of a wonderful melody came to his head at a truly happy moment: a mesmerizing rhythm, a melody that floats like a river current and a mysteriously mesmerizing singing of a duet of a man and a cello.
