Ravinia 2025 Issue 6

plans included the design and implementation of a musical education system, first in the state of São Paolo and later throughout Brazil, and a series of gargantuan stadium concerts with as many as 40,000 performers. The culmina- tion of his pedagogical advocacy came in 1942, when the Brazilian government founded the Conservatório Nacional de Canto Orfeônico under Villa-Lobos’s direction. Villa-Lobos composed the Five Preludes for solo guitar in August and September 1940— his last works for the instrument—and ded- icated the set to Arminda Neves de Almeida (“Midinha”), a violinist and the composer’s be- loved companion from 1936 until his death. The preludes were composed, in all likelihood, for the legendary Spanish guitarist Andrés Sego- via, who had moved to Uruguay in 1939 and regularly visited Villa-Lobos in Brazil. Segovia even mentioned a sixth prelude, which has not survived. Though they never appeared in print, Villa-Lobos originally imagined titles for each movement, as he revealed in a 1958 speech: No. 1. Homage to the Dwellers of the Brazilian Serão—Lyrical Melody No. 2. Homage to the Rascal from Rio— Capadócia Melody—Capoeira Melody No. 3. Homage a Bach No. 4. Homage to the Brazilian Indians No. 5. Homage to the Social Life—“To the Lively Young Boys and Girls Who Go to Concerts and Theaters in Rio” VIOLETA PARRA (1917–1967) “Gracias a la vida” (arranged by Emmanuel Sowicz) Violeta del Carmen Parra Sandoval was born into a large family in the small town of San Carlos in the central region of Chile. Her fa- ther Nicanor was a local music teacher, and her mother Clarisa, as a seamstress, sang folk songs and played guitar. The family moved frequently during Violeta’s childhood: Santiago, Lautaro, Chillán, and, after her father’s death, back to Santiago in 1932. She entered Quinta Normal School for Girls but drifted away to pursue artistic interests. Violeta launched a singing career at El Popular and El Tordo Azul restau- rants, performing with three of her brothers. Parra quickly emerged as a leading figure in the performance and ethnographic studies of Chil- ean folk music, lore, and art. In the 1960s and 1970s, she was associated with the revolution- ary Nueva Canción Chilena (New Chilean Song) movement, in which tradition merged with “new song” innovation. Equally admired for her artistic creations, Parra became the first Latin American artist to have a solo exhibition in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs at the Louvre, a 1964 display that included 22 arpilleras (brightly colored, embroidered burlap tapes- tries), 26 oil paintings, and 13 sculptures accompanied by samples of Chilean food and Parra’s live performances. Parra composed “Gracias a la vida” (Thanks to Life) in 1966 while in La Paz, Bolivia, where she had followed her lover, musician Gilbert Favre, the quena (Andean flute) player in the folk music group Los Jaires. Parra included the song on her album Las Últimas Composiciones . The lyrics convey a universal message of grat- itude for all that life has provided, both joyful and sorrowful, performed in a simple, intro- spective, and somewhat melancholy vocal style with charango and guitar accompaniment. This album was Parra’s last recording before taking her own life on February 5, 1967. The 2011 film Violeta Went to Heaven honored Parra’s life, music, and career almost a century after her birth. Since 2005, Chilean Music Day has been celebrated annually on October 4— Parra’s birthdate. ARY BARROSO (1903–1964) “Aquarela do Brasil” (arranged by Sérgio Assad) Ary Evangelista de Rezende Barroso was a leading composer of popular Brazilian songs and dances—the samba, valsa, and marchinha. His training as a pianist prepared him for a ca- reer in musical theater, first as an accompanist in the local movie theater and later as a col- laborator on musical revues. Barroso’s career flourished in the late 1920s, with the release of his first commercial recordings and engage- ment with Napoleão Tavares e Sua Orquestra. In 1930, Barroso won the second Casa Edison Carnival Song Competition with “Dá nela” (From Her), an upbeat marchinha. Carmen Miranda’s 1938 recording of “Na baixa do Sapateiro” (In Downtown Sapateiro) inau- gurated an extended collaboration with Barro- so. The flamboyant singer-actor’s live perfor- mances and film appearances helped popularize his songs internationally. Barroso Violeta Parra traveled to Hollywood in 1944 to compose the soundtrack for the film Brazil : his song “Rio de Janeiro” earned an Oscar nomination. Presi- dent Café Filho bestowed Brazil’s prestigious Ordem Nacional do Mérito on Barroso (and Heitor Villa-Lobos) in 1955. Composed in 1939, the song “Aquarela do Bra- sil” (Watercolors of Brazil; sometimes simply called “Brazil”) is a samba-exaltação , a form Barroso invented to celebrate the splendors of Brazil in the style of the traditional samba. EDU LOBO (b. 1943) & CHICO BUARQUE (b. 1944) “Beatriz” (arranged by Sérgio Assad) Highly successful in their own rights, Edu Lobo and Chico Buarque forged an influential songwriting partnership that produced ap- proximately 40 songs, with particular emphasis on musical theater and album-length projects. They have been trailblazers of the Música Pop- ular Brasileira movement, which blends tradi- tional Brazilian styles, such as samba and bossa nova, with rock and jazz influences. The duo undertook several musico-theatrical productions in the 1980s, among them O grande circo mistico (Oh Great Mystical Circus; Ary Barroso Edu Lobo and Chico Buarque RAVINIAMAGAZINE • AUG. 18 – AUG. 31, 2025 78