Villa-Lobos’s most famous Bachiana is nº5, for soprano and orchestra of cellos. As with the other works in the cycle, #5 has two movements: Aria (Cantilena) (1938) and Dansa (Martelo) (1945).  Our listening example is the Aria (Cantilena), one of the best-known pieces in the Latin American classical music repertory. It has portions sung in wordless vocalise and a central section sung to words by Ruth Valadares Correia. The Aria shows Villa-Lobos’s ability to cater to long, lyrical melodic lines reminiscent of the operatic bel canto much favored by Brazilians. The middle section recalls the melancholic old popular songs, modinhas, performed in the streets of Rio de Janeiro by chorões. To accompany the memorable vocal line, Villa-Lobos chose an orchestra of cellos, which plays a countermelody similar to the low guitar parts in choro music. The cello part is also reminiscent of the Baroque “walking bass” techniques used during the time of J.S. Bach. 

Form: AABBA

Instrumentation: Orchestra of cellos and voice (soprano)