Choros

​Chôros  is the title of a series of compositions by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, between 1920 and 1929. The word chôro (Portuguese pronunciation; nowadays spelled simply choro) is Portuguese for "weeping" and came to be the name used for music played by an ensemble of Brazilian street musicians (called chorões) using both African and European instruments, who improvise in a free and often dissonant kind of counterpoint called contracanto. Villa-Lobos described the basic concept of his Chôros as a "brasilofonia"—an extension of the popular street-musicians' chôro to a pan-Brazilian synthesis of native folklore, both Indian and popular.
 
The Chôros series:

• Introdução aos Chôros: Abertura (Introduction aux chôros: Ouverture), for guitar and orchestra (1929) [2 piccolos, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, alto saxophone, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, tuba, timpani, tam-tam, prato, celesta, xylophone, piano, 2 harps, guitar (with microphone), violins I, violins II, viola, cellos, double basses] or [piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, saxophone, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, tuba, timpani, tam-tam, xylophone, celesta, 2 harps, piano, strings] 
• No. 1 for guitar (1920)
• No. 2 for flute and clarinet (1924)
• No. 3 for male chorus or seven wind instruments, or both together (1925) "Pica-páo" (Woodpecker) [Male chorus (2 tenor, baritone, bass), clarinet, alto saxophone, bassoon, 3 horns, trombone]
• No. 4 for 3 horns and trombone (1926)
• No. 5 for piano (1925) "Alma brasileira" (Brazilian Soul)
• No. 6 for orchestra (1926) [piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, clarinet, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 4 trombones, tuba, timpani, tam-tam, saxophone, xylophone, bells, cymbals, bass, drum, celesta, 2 harps, strings, and other percussion instruments]
• No. 7 for winds, violin, and cello (1924) "Settimino" (Septet) [flute, oboe, clarinet, alto saxophone, bassoon, tam-tam (ad lib.), violin, cello]
• No. 8 for large orchestra and 2 pianos (1925) "Dance Chôro" [piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 4 clarinets. bass clarinet, saxophone, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, tuba, timpani, tam-tam, xylophone, triangle, other percussion instruments, cymbals, celesta, 2 harps, strings]
• No. 9 for orchestra (1929) [Piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 3 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, tuba, timpani, tam-tam, bombo, tambor, tambor surdo, camisao (large and small), pio, triangle, reco, tartaruga, cax, cho (metal and wood), xylophone, vibraphone, celesta, 2 harps and strings]
• No. 10 for chorus and orchestra (1925) "Rasga o coração" (It Tears Your Heart) [piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, saxophone, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 3 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, 2 timpani, tam-tam, tambourine, tambor, caxambu, 2 puitas, surdo, drums, reco-reco (large and small), chocalhos de metal e de madeira, piano, harp, strings]
• No. 11 for piano and orchestra (1928) [piccolo, 3 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, requinta, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, tuba, timpani, tam-tam, reco-reco, chocalhos, xylophone, bells, tambor, bombo, cymbals, tambourine, celesta, 2 harps, strings, piano]
• No. 12 for orchestra (1929) [2 piccolos, 3 flutes, 3 oboes, English horn, 3 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 saxophones, 3 bassoons, contrabassoon, 8 horns, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, tuba, timpani, tam-tam, cymbals, cuica, bombo, xylophone, tambor, celesta, 2 harps, piano, strings]
• No. 13 for band and 2 orchestras (1929) – score lost, except for a short-score fragment consisting of the first page of a piano reduction, held by the Museu Villa-Lobos. 
• No. 14 for orchestra, band, and chorus (1928) – score lost
• Chôros bis, for violin and cello (1928–29)

 
Here are four Albums:
 
Villa-Lobos: Chôros Volume I. John Neschling with Cristina Ortiz (piano), and São Paulo Symphony Orchestra. Release Date: 3 Mar 2008. Label: BIS. Catalogue No: BISCD1440. Hi-Res FLAC (Lossless, 44.1 kHz, 24 bit).
Award:
Diapason d’Or de l’Annee, 2009.
 
Villa-Lobos: Chôros Volume 2. John Neschling with Fabio Zanon (guitar), Dante Yenque, Ozéas Arantes & Samuel Hamzem (horn) & Darrin Coleman Milling (bass trombone), Linda Bustani and Ilan Rechtman (piano), and São Paulo Symphony Orchestra. Release date: 30 Jun 2008. Label: BIS. Catalogue No: BISCD1450. Hi-Res FLAC ( Lossless, 44.1 kHz, 24 bit). 
Awards:
Diapason d’Or de l’Année, 2009.
Gramophone Magazine, October 2008, Editor's Choice.
 
Villa-Lobos: Chôros Volume 3. John Neschling with Fabio Zanon (guitar), Cláudio Cruz (violin), Johannes Gramsch (cello), Elizabeth Plunk (flute) & Ovanir Buosi (clarinet), and São Paulo Symphony Orchestra & Choir of the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra. Release Date: 5 Jan 2009. Label: BIS. Catalogue No: BISCD1520. Hi-Res FLAC (Lossless, 44.1 kHz, 24 bit).
Award:
Diapason d’Or de l’Année, 2009.
 
Villa-Lobos: Complete Choros & Bachianas Brasileiras. John Neschling with Fabio Zanon (guitar), Cristina Ortiz (piano), Jean Louis Steuerman (piano), Donna Brown (soprano), Nigel Shore (cor anglais) & Anders Miolin (guitar), and São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, Choir of the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra & Members of the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet. Release date: 27 Jul 2009. Label: BIS. Catalogue No: BISCD183032. FLAC ( CD Quality, 44.1kHz, 16 bit).
Award:
Diapason d’Or de l’Annee, 2009.

​Reference:
Chôros (2024, August 9). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chôros