NILS CHEVILLE – Heitor Villa Lobos: Prélude 1° | Classical Album 2025 Preview (2025)

Nils Cheville is a contemporary guitarist/composer. He wonderfully performs compositions of Heitor Villa-Lobos on classical guitar. He has recorded and shared interpretations of Villa-Lobos’ compositions, alongside pieces by other classical and Latin American composers such as Agustín Barrios.

Heitor Villa-Lobos’s Prélude No. 1 in E minor is the first of his Cinco Prelúdios (Five Preludes) for solo guitar, composed in 1940 while he was in Rio de Janeiro. These preludes are among his most beloved contributions to the classical guitar repertoire, standing alongside his famous Doze Estudos (Twelve Etudes).

Villa-Lobos integrates Brazilian popular idioms with European Romantic and Impressionistic colors. Prélude No. 1 carries a lyrical, melancholic, and nostalgic atmosphere, often described as a musical evocation of the Brazilian saudade. Its mix of lyrical simplicity and subtle sophistication makes it accessible to audiences while still rewarding for seasoned performers.