Profile of the Day: Heitor Villa-Lobos

Do you have any Brazilian roots in your family tree? Today we remember one of Brazil’s greatest composers in history, Heitor Villa-Lobos, who was born on March 5, 1887.

Image: Heitor Villa-Lobos / Arquivo Nacional Collection, Public Domain

Described as “the single most significant figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music,” Villa-Lobos has become one of the most well-known Latin American composers to date.

He was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Raul Villa-Lobos and Noêmia dos Santos Monteiro. His father was an educated man and held many interests. In addition to being a civil servant and a librarian, he was an amateur astronomer and musician. Villa-Lobos’s exposure to his father’s musical gatherings at his house greatly influenced his own interest in music.

Villa-Lobos’s music often combined the sound of Brazilian folk music and the stylistic elements of European classical music. His series Bachianas Brasileiras is often regarded as one of his greatest master pieces.

Explore Heitor Villa-Lobos’s family tree on Geni and share how you’re related to the Brazilian composer.

View Heitor Villa-Lobos’s Geni Profile