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Hommage à Chopin = Homenagem a Chopin

Appleby Catalogue W number: 
W474

Hommage à Chopin = Homenagem a Chopin

  • Noturno (Nocturne)
  • A la Ballada (Ballade)

This work was written for UNESCO, to commemorate the centenary of the death of Chopin.  An interesting article about the UNESCO project is "Music Chronicle: The Chopin Year: 1949", by Charles Riker, The Sewanee Review, Vol. 58, No. 2 (Apr. - Jun., 1950), pp. 339-358.

"Heitor Villa-Lobos, member of the Brazilian National Committee for Unesco, submitted an Hommage à Chopin for piano, in two movements: Nocturne and A la Ballade. This work had definite Chopin connotations, particularly in its use of piano figurations, thematic line, and accompaniment."

Other composers taking part included Alexandre Tansman, Andrzej Panufnik, Jacques Ibert, Howard Hanson, Lennox Berkeley, Gian Francesco Malipiero, Bohuslav Martinu, and Villa's close friend Florent Schmitt.

The work was dedicated to the music critic Irving Schwerke.

Thesis: Barrenechea, Lúcia Silva, and Heitor Villa-Lobos. 2000. Heitor Villa-Lobos' Hommage à Chopin: a musical tribute. Thesis (D.M.A.)--University of Iowa, 2000.

In the Chopin Year of 2010, this piece is bound to be more popular.  Listen to Sonia Rubinsky play Hommage à Chopin at Mbaraka Músicas (click on Villa-Lobos: Brincando seriamente com piano) 

Year Composed: 

1949

Category: 
Piano Works
Instrumentation: 

Solo piano

Scores: 

Villa-Lobos, Heitor. 1955. Hommage à Chopin, pour piano. Paris: Eschig.

Recordings: 
Performances: 

The premiere performance was by Arnaldo Estrella, in Paris on August 29, 1949.

There are thirteen records in the Concerts database (February 2010).