The Little Train of Caipira
Encyclopedia
The Little Train of the Brasilian [sic] Countryman (Port.: O tremzhinho [sic, recte: trenzinho] do caipira (Villa-Lobos 1952, 53)) is the subtitle for the Toccata
movement that concludes an orchestra
l suite written by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos
in 1930, titled Bachianas brasileiras No. 2
. The Toccata is approximately 4 to 5 minutes long. The subtitle refers to the local trains in the small communities of the Brazilian interior, the noises of which are imitated in the composition (Slonimsky 1945, 147).
In the year of composition, 1930, Villa-Lobos transcribed this movement for cello and piano, titled simply O trenzinho do caipira. This arrangement, which lasts about 2 minutes in performance, was premiered in São Paulo–Pirajuí
in 1930, with Villa-Lobos himself playing the cello and João de Souza Lima the piano. The original, orchestral version was only first performed (in the context of the complete Bachianas No. 2) on 3 September 1934, at the Venice International Festival, with an orchestra conducted by Dimitri Mitropoulos (Appleby 1988, 64–65).
An unrelated a cappella
chorus composition by Villa-Lobos, Trenzinho, setting a text by Catarina Santoro, was written in 1933, and premiered on 10 October 1939 by the Orfeão da Escola Argentina, conducted by the composer. Originally for three-part chorus, it was also adapted for four-part female chorus, in which form it was published in 1951 as number 31 in volume 2 of the composer's collection, Canto orfeônico (Appleby 1988, 79 and 111).
Toccata
Toccata is a virtuoso piece of music typically for a keyboard or plucked string instrument featuring fast-moving, lightly fingered or otherwise virtuosic passages or sections, with or without imitative or fugal interludes, generally emphasizing the dexterity of the performer's fingers...
movement that concludes an orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
l suite written by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos
Heitor Villa-Lobos
Heitor Villa-Lobos was a Brazilian composer, described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has become the best-known and most significant Latin American composer to date. He wrote numerous orchestral, chamber, instrumental and vocal works...
in 1930, titled Bachianas brasileiras No. 2
Bachianas Brasileiras
The Bachianas Brasileiras constitute a series of nine suites by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, written for various combinations of instruments and voices between 1930 and 1945...
. The Toccata is approximately 4 to 5 minutes long. The subtitle refers to the local trains in the small communities of the Brazilian interior, the noises of which are imitated in the composition (Slonimsky 1945, 147).
In the year of composition, 1930, Villa-Lobos transcribed this movement for cello and piano, titled simply O trenzinho do caipira. This arrangement, which lasts about 2 minutes in performance, was premiered in São Paulo–Pirajuí
Pirajuí
Pirajuí is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil....
in 1930, with Villa-Lobos himself playing the cello and João de Souza Lima the piano. The original, orchestral version was only first performed (in the context of the complete Bachianas No. 2) on 3 September 1934, at the Venice International Festival, with an orchestra conducted by Dimitri Mitropoulos (Appleby 1988, 64–65).
An unrelated a cappella
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
chorus composition by Villa-Lobos, Trenzinho, setting a text by Catarina Santoro, was written in 1933, and premiered on 10 October 1939 by the Orfeão da Escola Argentina, conducted by the composer. Originally for three-part chorus, it was also adapted for four-part female chorus, in which form it was published in 1951 as number 31 in volume 2 of the composer's collection, Canto orfeônico (Appleby 1988, 79 and 111).