Brazilian String Quartet

The Brazilian String Quartet, affiliated with the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, has a 48 year history as one of the world's most distinguished ensembles. This CD is devoted to four Brazilian composers of the 20th century. Villa-Lobos needs no introduction. Radames Gnattali settled in Rio di Janeiro permanently in 1931. He became conductor of the city's Radio National Orchestra and became well known because of his arrangements and orchestrations of popular songs. His own serious music was inspired by popular music and was very nationalistic. It contained elements of post romanticism. Jose Vieira Brandao studied piano with the great French pianist Marguerite Long and in 1932 became the assistant to Villa-Lobos as he attempted to reform the music education system of Brazil. For many years he was the President of the Brazil Music Conservatory. Cesar Guerra-Peixe graduated from the Conservatory in 1943 with degrees in piano and composition. His early works were written in the 12-tone idiom which he soon abandoned, adopting a more nationalistic approach which he felt better defined his own musical goals. He did a great deal of research on the subject of Brazilian folk music and taught composition privately for over 30 years.