Last couple of nights I linked some Vivaldi music - the catalog of his music is so large one could spend years going through it.

Closer to our time, a composer who also wrote quite a bit but whose work is largely ignored is Heitor Villa-Lobos. Most people can recognize one or two of his compositions (even if they can’t recall the name), yet the catalog of his work numbers in the hundreds. I suspect he gets more respect in Latin America than he does in the Anglosphere.

Anyway, here is something special: Villa-Lobos’ “Choros no. 10” subtitled “Rasga o Coracao” (see the Villa-lobos dedicated site for more information about videos of the piece). There are a few recordings available at Amazon and iTunes, but here is a recording supposedly of a performance led by the composer - it premiered in 1926 but the recording is of a quality that I assume comes from a later date ( he didn’t die until 1959.)

The piece sounds modern yet it is approachable by those who simply want to listen to music that is enjoyable.

Enjoy:

MP3 Audio