Songs Of Love

BACHIANAS BRASILEIRAS NO. 5 (Aria)  - In this beautiful aria, portraying a mood of a moonlit midnight and slowly drifting clouds, Villa-Lobos has fused the spirit of Bach with the music materials native to Brazil.  He wrote that "Bach was a mediator among all races" and considered Bach's music a "Universal and rich folkloristic source, deeply rooted in the folk music of every country in the world". 

The present "Bachiana" is the fifth in a series of suites highly original in form, from the pen of this incredibly gifted and prolific composer.  Originally scored for soprano and eight violoncelli, the present arrangement by Laurindo Almeida, a very close and dear friend of the late Villa-Lobos, is for the unique combination of voice, guitar, violencello, contrabasso and trombone.

CANCAO DO CARREIRO (The Ox-cart Driver's Song)  - Villa-Lobos spent much of his time in the north coastal region of Brazil called Manaos.  The summer there brings on a severe drought, the heat is oppressive and the earth cracks open like a wounded animal.  This melancholy song describes the thirsty, bone-weary oxen, their ribs protruding, wending their way homeward across the merciless terrain.  Their equally weary driver tries half-heartedly to coax his animals to hurry, and not succeeding, falls into meditation on the happier things awaiting him at home.  The song is a lament in A-B-A form, the rhythm of the slowly turning wheels forming the outer parts.  To accomplish the "Basso Ostinato" effect, a sound-over-sound recording was done with the guitar track, the E string tuned down to E flat on one guitar.  At the end of the song, the driver sounds his resignation as the cart fades from view.

YOURS (Quiereme Mucho) - This is one of the loveliest ballads ever written.  Not only is the melody beautiful, but both melody and words are a perfect match.  It's almost impossible to say so much in so few lines:
                                                                            "Cuando se quiere deveras
                                                                              como te quiero yo a ti,
                                                                              es impossible, mi cielo,
                                                                              tan separados, vivir."
Laurindo has made an arrangement which beautifully supports Miss Eamon's rich, velvety voice, interspersed with a unique guitar solo of imaginative harmonic chords.

CABOCLO BRAZIL - This is a fiercely patriotic son in spite of its inoccuous outward appearance.  The lyrics tell the whole story:
                                                    "Caboclo is tanned by the sun and is bold and as quick as can be;
                                                    He lives by the skill of his gun and the fish he may catch in the sea;
                                                    As wild as the wildest of animals, lover of nature is he;
                                                    Through forrest and jungle he roams in the land that's eternally free.
                                                    As he sails along on his raft with the beauty of starlight above;
                                                    He sings of the tropical night and his longing for someone to love.
                                                    Caboclo, so lonely tonight, so alone on the ocean of blue;
                                                    And softly he strums his guitar as he dreams of a love that is true.
                                                    Some evenings you see him as swiftly he rides through the wide rolling land;
                                                    And loudly he sings of his love in a manner so gallant and grand,
                                                    But then he suddenly, merrily dances his way into your heart,
                                                    Caboclo can be sad or gay, young or old, as his mood may impart.
                                                    Throughout the land, every woman and man seems to bow to his will.
                                                    His name's the most glorious name in the world, for his name is  - BRAZIL".

DANNY BOY - This is an old and tried love song, from the County of Londonderry in Northern Ireland.  Its popularity seems to was and wane with wars and other periods of human misery, but it has never been far from the current scene in all its many years.

GREENSLEEVES - This is another ageless melody of the English Renaissance, a lovelorn lass lamenting the cruelty of her swain's fickle heart.  The song has eluded many a vocalist, unable to negotiate its wide dynamic range without resorting to "blasting".  Deltra has outdone herself in the remarkable virtuosity she shows in this recording.  Tenor recorder joins softly in the second verse to accompany the singer in this trice-familiar melody.

INTERMEZZO - Has served as the theme for the famous film of the early forties, starring Ingrid Bergman and Leslie Howard.  In Almeida's rich arrangement, this lovely melody returns to haunt those of us old enough to remember the film, while winning new converts among listeners hearing it for the first time.

SONGS MY MOTHER TAUGHT ME - This is a combination lullaby and a mild hymn to music.  Antonin Dvorak, famous Czeck composer of the late 19th century, did not embrace the nationalistic trend espoused by his fellow countryman Bedrich Smetana, author of such famous pieces as "The Moldau", part of a cycle entitled "My Fatherland".  Rather, he was a homebody who loved to compose in the kitchen, amid the din of womenfolk and children.  His extended sojourn in the United States resulted in the famous "From the New World" Symphony, incorporating Negro spiritual elements, and his equally famous "American String Quartet.

DREAM AND VARIATION - This is a lovely and intriguing A-B-A form song by the former classical radio announcer, Howard Rhyms, and is given an exquisite rendition for voice and guitar by Laurindo and his wife Deltra.

A TIME FOR US - Here we are treated to a new and different arrangement of the tender, beautiful ballad from the film "Romeo and Joliet".  To give more characteristic "ambiance" the arrangement has the recorder between parts while Laurindo plays the lute, which, along with Miss Eamon's marvelous interpretation takes one back to those days long ago in Verona.

THE NAKED SEA BALLAD - Some years ago a crew of fifteen men headed by Captain Joaquim, a Portuguese seaman, took to the seas for a full month in search of fish in a fishing vessel called the Naked Sea.  The trip was both marvelous and treacherous as the brave fishermen had to tackle may times the tremendous sea storms called "Chabasco" commonly found in the gulf of Mexico, a favorable place for commercial fishing.  A Hollywood movie director, Allen Miner had the idea of making a film out of the trip hired cameraman Gerry Schnitzer who went along with Capt. Joaquim, his boat and his crew.  When the film was completed they asked Laurindo and George Fields (an accomplished harmonica virtuoso) to compose and perform the music for it.  The Naked Sea Ballad which Miss Eamon sings on this CD accompanied by her husband Laurindo Almeida was taken from the Main Title Theme which opens and closes the film, portraying a mood of restlessness, mystery and yearning.  The lyric was inspired by the famous author Jack Brooks.