Symphony No. 8 (Villa Lobos)

History

Villa-Lobos composed his Eighth Symphony in Rio de Janeiro in 1950. It was first performed at Carnegie Hall in New York on 14 January 1955 by the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by the composer. The European premiere took place shortly afterward, on 15 March 1955 at the Salle Gaveau in Paris. The performers were the Orchestra of the Concert Society of the Paris Conservatory, conducted by the composer. The score is dedicated to the New York Times music critic Olin Downes (Villa-Lobos, sua obra 2009, 45–46).

Instrumentation

The symphony is scored for an orchestra consisting of 2 piccolos, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, tuba, timpani, tam-tam, cymbals, xylophone, celesta, 2 harps, piano, and strings.

Analysis

The symphony has four movements

1. Andante
2. Lento (assai)
3. Allegretto scherzando
4. Allegro (giusto)

This is according to Villa-Lobos, sua obra 2009, 45, and Latin American Music Center n.d. The liner card and electronic track listing for the CPO CD of the work (CPO 999 517-2) gives:

1. Andante – Allegro – Tempo I
2. Lento assai
3. Allegro giusto
4. Molto allegro

With the exception of the expanded listing of the first movement, however, the booklet accompanying the CD agrees with the two Villa-Lobos catalogues. Enyart 1984, 271 gives a slightly different version, with the Portuguese spelling, justo, in place of the Italian giusto in the last movement:

1. Andante – Allegro
2. Lento
3. Allegretto scherzando
4. Allegro justo