Customer Reviews (4)

Great, but lack of fingerings and other explanations makes it opaque and overly-challenging
The music is great, but I wonder if there are other editions out there.I think most people are reviewing the compositions and not this collection specifically.There are very few fingerings, very few other subtleties marked, mostly just the notes.If you go through the work of deciphering the concepts behind the notes, the pieces are great.This is definitely advanced guitar music, not for beginning or intermediate students.However, much of it is easy to comprehend when chords are analyzed and everything is worked out.A lot of the music is simple chord shapes embellished with extra 6ths and 9ths and suspensions and such.It is very idiomatic to the guitar and certainly is concert-worthy music quality.I believe that an edition could be done that added notes about chord names or positions or more fingerings in such a way that it would make it much easier to sight-read and clue-in the reader more immediately to the concepts.

Amazing
The works are left as villa lobos intended with all of his reccomended fingerings and notation left intact despite the sometimes unclear intentions and incredibly difficult fingerings. The harmonics are also confusing but a section is reserved in the back that translates them into tarrega's notation.

What can you say?
Probably the pinnacle of achievement in 20th century classical guitar works, certainly among Brazilian composers.

Rating something like this is like rating Shakespeare.The work itself innately valuable, it's just a matter of the accuracy of translation.To that effect this collection succeeds beautifully.You get all his guitar works, plus there is a much needed section at the end which clarifies harmonics and fingering patterns penned by Villa-Lobos himself.

This collection contains all the composer's solo guitar compositions.Here is a list of the contents:

- Choros No. 1 (Typico)
- Suite Populaire Bresilienne
- 12 Etudes
- 5 Preludes

These works are among the most important and innovative in the classical guitar repertiore.Essential.

Best collection of the Brazilian master!
I was so excited when this book came out about 8 years ago.The exact works as put to paper by Heitor Villa-Lobos.And the price is right!It used to be you would need to spend over 100 bucks for all the guitar works.Etudes, preludes and the Brazilian suites along with the Choros no. 1.
Easy to follow harmonic explinations in the back of the book.This is a must have for all classical guitarists.The best music investment I made in a long time. ... Read more

Product Description
The Baby's Family (Prole do Bebe), Volume I Brand: Alfred Publishing Model Number: 00-K04027 ... Read more

Product Description
In this book, masterful Uruguayan guitarist and teacher Abel Carlevaro (1918-2001) offers insights to the performance of the 12 Studies (1929) by Heitor Villa-Lobos. Without presenting the complete works being analyzed, Carlevaro guides the student through the most challenging parts of each of these twelve landmark pieces. Using short examples and facsimiles of a few bars of the original manuscripts given to him by Villa-Lobos himself, Carlevaro reveals profound and illuminating insights. For the advanced student, it s almost like being in a real master class with the maestro himself. This book is written in standard notation only.

"Villa-Lobos gave birth to the modern guitar, forging a new path for it; the newly expanded musical and technical possibilities have greatly benefited the repertoire for the instrument." -Abel Carlevaro ... Read more

Product Description
Heitor Villa-Lobos was the most famous, and charismatic twentieth century Brazilian composer. This book, based on the composer's private papers and correspondence, describes the gradual development from his first struggles to world wide recognition of the individuality of his compositions and his influence on the generation of musicians and composers of the late twentieth and twenty first century. Essential reading for anyone who has ever succumbed to the magic and power of Villa-Lobos's music and to anyone interested in the arts of Brazil over the last century. ... Read more

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This complete edition of the letters of the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, collected for the first time in any language, details his stay in the Paris of the 1920s, his work in Brazil and the 1930s and `40s and his international travels as conductor of his own music. The letters also discuss commissions for ballets, concertos and other works. Lisa M. Peppercorn, who knew Villa-Lobos, is the acknowledged expert on the life and music of this colourful figure, and she gives a detailed commentary on the events giving rise to the letters. A chronology gives a detailed account of Villa-Lobos' life, which is thoroughly illustrated with photographs of the persons and places associated with Villa-Lobos, facsimiles of works and concert programmes, and so on. The letters thus form a guide to the most productive years of his life. ... Read more

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One of the most prolific composers of the 20th century, Heitor Villa-Lobos' influence on the music of Latin America was enormous. This bio-bibliography, published to coincide with the centennial celebration of the composer's birth, contains comprehensive information about his life and work heretofore unavailable in a single source in any language. The book is divided into four principal sections: Biography, Works and Performances, Discography, and Bibliography. Designed as a basic research tool for scholars interested in Latin American music and culture, performing musicians, and music students, the volume also includes helpful appendixes containing alphabetical and classified lists of compositions. ... Read more

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This new arrangement by Frank Bongiorno of the popular Aria (or Cantilena) from Villa LobosÕ Bachianas Brasilieras #5 is for alto sax solo and sax quartet accompaniment, and includes a score and all parts. This saxophone arrangement makes the famous tune accessible to even more players. ... Read more

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This Masterclass volume explores the music of Hector Villa-Lobos. "Villa-Lobos played his own guitar compositions when other performers could not master them. Certainly a number of the studies employ mechanisms that could only have been approached with a fresh technical concept. Some of these techniques can still be considered revolutionary and at the time that they appeared they must have been in opposition to a number of established ideas. With Villa-Lobos a new guitar was born, a truly South American guitar, not just because of the harmonic, melodic and rhythmic elements employed, but also because of the technique it demanded." -Abel Carlevaro ... Read more

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Heitor Villa-Lobos was perhaps the greatest of Brazilian composers. He wrote music for voice, guitar and piano, as well as chamber pieces, concertos, and orchestral and operatic works. This book, a revision of a work first published in Finland, concentrates on his compositions, with many analyzed in depth. ... Read more

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Rich selection of 33 pieces by famed Brazilian composer, including the well-known "Prole do Bebê Vol. 1," "Suíte Floral"(3 pieces), "Simples Coletânea" (3 pieces), "Histórias da Carochinha" (4 pieces) and many more. Reprinted from authoritative editions.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Nice music, shame about the edition
Dover Publications must have run out of ink when printing this - the music was pale grey, and almost impossible to read. I returned it along with another Dover music score, impossible to read for another reason: Iberia and Espana by Albeniz, where 20 pages were overprinted with music staves running UP the page. Amazon gave a refund of course, so full marks to them, and none to Dover.

It's a Doll's World...
A prole de bebe 1--"The Baby's Family"--is a wonderful suite with each part devoted to a specific doll.These pieces are not for children, however.They are a look back on the things that bring joy to youth.Brazilian folk song quotations are heard throughout the entire suite, and it is fun to hear how these tunes influence the development of each doll.The dolls include a porcelian white doll, which is only played with on special occasions.One can hear this in the majestic opening, and this piece includes one of the more obvious uses of folk song.My personal favorite is the "brunette doll".The joy of playing with this well-loved doll is apparent throughout the piece.Some other gems include the rhythmic "Little black doll", the slow, poignantly beautiful and sad "Poor little rag doll", and the mysterious "Little witch doll".The most famous doll, however, is "The Punch Doll", a rapid toccata-like movement made famous by Artur Rubenstein, who often performed this piece as an encore. I highly recommend these fun pieces to any able pianist. They are wonderful to put on a recital, as much fun to hear as they are to play.As proof, try listening to the Marc-Andre Hamelin recording of both Baby's Family suites. ... Read more

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This sheet music was newly engraved from early and authoritative editions. ... Read more

Product Description
This sheet music was newly engraved from early and authoritative editions. ... Read more