Broadening the repertoire for guitar and piano: an arrangement of Bachianas brasileiras no. 1 by Heitor Villa-Lobos

The repertoire for guitar and piano duo is small in comparison with other chamber music instrumentation; therefore, it is important to broaden this repertoire. In addition to creating original compositions, arrangements of existing works contribute to this expansion.

This project focuses on an arrangement of Bachianas Brasileiras No. 1 by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959), a work originally conceived for cello ensemble with a minimum of eight cellos. In order to contextualize the proposed arrangement, this study contains a brief historical listing of the repertoire for guitar and piano duo and of the guitar works by Villa-Lobos. Also, it includes a description of the Bachianas Brasileiras series and a discussion of the arranging methodology that shows how the original musical ideas of the composer were adapted using techniques that are idiomatic to the guitar and piano. The full arrangement is included in Appendix A.