page_title: Chôros No. 6
section_title: Analysis
hierarchical_section_title: Chôros No. 6 / Analysis
caption_attribution_description: Português: fachada theatro municipal do rio de janeiro
context_page_description: Chôros No. 6 is an orchestral work written between 1925 and 1942 by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. It is part of a series of fourteen numbered compositions collectively titled Chôros, ranging from solos for guitar and for piano up to works scored for soloist or chorus with orchestra or multiple orchestras, and in duration up to over an hour. Chôros No. 6 is one of the longer compositions in the series, lasting about 25 minutes in performance.
context_section_description: The composer describes the general harmonic atmosphere of the work as having 
  a kind of romance of the backcountry atmosphere of northeastern Brazil. The climate, color, temperature, light, chirping of birds, the scent of honeyed grass between the hen-houses, and all elements of nature of a hinterland served as inspiration for motives in this work; however, it does not represent any objective aspect nor a descriptive flavor. (Villa-Lobos 1972, 200)
  The opening melody, played by a flute (one of the most typical instruments of the improvising choro ensembles) is a seresteiro theme, sharply contrasting with the polytonal harmonic environment, which "leads us to hazy stopping points of simultaneous sounds among the forests of the Amazon valley" (Villa-Lobos 1972, 200). This melody, which enters over the soft sounds of Brazilian percussion instruments and strings, is a slightly altered quotation of Lundu característico by the flautist and band-leader Joaquim Antônio da Silva Calado, who was one of the founders of the popular choro genre in the late nineteenth century (Appleby 2002, 84). The alterations, however, make it also similar to a popular melody called O Nó (The Knot), by the trombonist Cândido Pereira da Silva, nicknamed "Candinho Trombone" (Negwer 2008, 151). The flute is shortly joined by a saxophone, and the conclusion of their duet marks the end of the first section (Appleby 2002, 84).
  The form of Chôros No. 6 unfolds as a series of episodic sections, which are "clear and contrasting in tempo" (Appleby 2002, 84). However, there is some disagreement about their number and interrelationship. Adhemar Nóbrega describes six sections (Nóbrega 1975, 53–60), while Eero Tarasti finds there are no fewer than sixteen sections (Tarasti 1995, 108–16, 150). More recently, Guilherme Seixas proposes nine sections, some of which are subdivided (Seixas 2007, 116).
caption: The Theatro Municipal, Rio de Janeiro, where Chôros No. 6 was premiered
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 40D", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS3 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2015:10:01 22:49:39", "Image Artist": "Picasa", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "226", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1154", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "8130", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/100", "EXIF FNumber": "9/2", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Shutter Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "160", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:06:02 15:45:58", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:06:02 15:45:58", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "53/8", "EXIF ApertureValue": "35/8", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "2/3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "17", "EXIF SubSecTime": "00", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "00", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "00", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1834", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1534", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "2184", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "1701", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1006", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "324000/73", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "2592000/583", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "b999ec19ccdb9d5e0ea39bf2992cf85d"}