Villa-Lobos's Music for the Feature O Descobrimento Do Brasil [The Discovery of Brazil] (1937)

This chapter discusses the score composed by Heitor Villa-Lobos for the feature film O Descobrimento do Brasil ([The Discovery of Brazil], dir. Humberto Mauro, 1937). In order to understand the aims and achievements of this score, it is necessary to examine closely the nationalist context behind the project. Villa-Lobos was considered the most prestigious Brazilian composer at the time, just as in their respective disciplines were the director Humberto Mauro and the other professionals involved with the movie, which must be understood in terms beyond the mere theme of the discovery of Brazil. This work also represented a period in which the country was discovering its national identity.