Choral music holds a central position in Villa-Lobos’s catalogue of works, but among these famous pieces is a series of little-known transcriptions for a cappella choir taken from the standard classical repertoire. They were intended for a teachers’ chorus and for use in schools, and through astonishing alchemy they achieve a true ‘orchestration’ of largely piano originals, adding a fresh new repertoire for vocal ensembles. This album also includes the first ever recording of Villa-Lobos’s complete set of a cappella transcriptions from Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier.

This new release is the latest in our ‘Music of Brazil’ series, co-produced with the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to promote music by Brazilian composers dating back to the 18th century. Previous releases included Villa-Lobos’s Guitar and Harmonica Concertos (8.574018).

Founded in 1994, the São Paulo Symphony Choir is now recognised as a benchmark for vocal music in Brazil. They have appeared in a recording of Villa-Lobos’s Symphony no.10 ‘Amerindia’ (8573243), praised by ClassicalCDReview.com: ‘This is a magnificent performance… The Saõ Paulo orchestra and chorus do total justice to this music, and the recording, [is] superb sonically.’

The choir also recorded Bernstein’s Missa brevis (8559742) with conductor Marin Alsop, in which Musical Toronto commented: ‘the São Paulo Symphonic Choir produces a forceful but well-blended sound.’