The Bachianas Brasileiras (Portuguese pronunciation: [bakiˈɐ̃nɐz bɾaziˈlejɾɐs]) (an approximate English translation might be Bach-inspired Brazilian pieces) are a series of nine suites by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, written for various combinations of instruments and voices between 1930 and 1945. They represent a fusion of Brazilian folk and popular music on the one hand and the style of Johann Sebastian Bach on the other, as an attempt to freely adapt a number of Baroque harmonic and contrapuntal procedures to Brazilian music.[1][2] Most of the movements in each suite have two titles: one "Bachian" (Preludio, Fuga, etc.), the other Brazilian (Embolada, O canto da nossa terra, etc.).
In the Bachianas, Villa-Lobos employs the counterpoint and harmonic complexity typical of Bach's music and combines it with the lyrical quality of operatic singing and Brazilian song. The listener experiences the charm of the Brazilian landscape; the energy of Brazilian dance; the color, dissonance and expression of early 20th-century Brazilian modernism; and the refreshing originality of Villa-Lobos' compositional style.