Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos was born in 1887 in Rio de Janiero. His father, Raul Villa-Lobos, a librarian at the Biblioteca Nacional, first introduced music to his son by teaching him the rudiments of the cello. Heitor’s father died when he was 12 years old, so by the time he was in his late teens, he was earning money for the family by playing the guitar and cello in vaudeville, cafes, and cinemas.Heitor Villa-Lobos was principally a self-taught composer and, although it was recommended that he enter the Music School for further study, it seemed that he preferred working outside the constraints of the academic setting. 

From 1915 to 1917, Villa-Lobos organized public concerts of his own works including the Cello Sonata No. 2, which was featured on a concert on November 17, 1917. This work, like his sonatas for violin and piano, is romantic in mood, combining the timbre and harmonies of the turn-of-the-century French composers. The first movement begins with an extensive introductory piano solo, presenting the main theme in the left hand. One can hear what is considered a genuinely Villa-Lobosian feature in the leaps of a fifth and sixth which are brought out through the placement of accents. Instead of entering with a repetition of the main theme, the cello begins with a broad arpeggiated chord in C major with rising arpeggios in A major. The cello arrives at the main theme in such a subtle fashion that the listener may not even realize it has begun until many measures later.

The second movement is written in 12/8 meter. The characteristic form of Faure’s melodies is hidden in the stepwise movement of the melody: three long, two short beats. In the piano accompaniment the fifth passage plays a decisive role, as well as—particularly towards the end—the wide arpeggiated chords. The Scherzo in triple 6/8 meter contains nothing different from Villa-Lobos’ usual style of that period. For the cello, he has written numerous capricious glissandi and flutelike tones; at the end of the piece the triple meter changes into a dotted one. The last movement begins with a rhythmic diminution of the first movement’s main theme played staccato by the cello as the piano picks up chords in imitation of a tambourine.