Abstract:
This dissertation comprises a memorial, an article, and a final product presented to the
Professional Graduate Program in Music (PPGPROM) of the Music School of Federal
University of Bahia (UFBA). The memorial and the final product focus on the process of
studying and recording Ciclo brasileiro, a suite for piano by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-
Lobos, for Memória da música brasileira project, whose aim is to promote Brazilian classical
music through phonographic recordings. The article titled “Study Strategies for the Technical
Challenges of Heitor Villa-Lobos's Ciclo brasileiro” addresses the resolution of technical
issues in passages that have been listed and classified in a table at the end of the present work.
The list of difficulties and the strategies to overcome them were developed through semi-
structured interviews with highly acclaimed teachers and pianists, who possess extensive
teaching experience and knowledge of the work. Additionally, this study analyses reputable
piano technique publications by authors such as Alfred Cortot, György Sándor, Walter
Gieseking, and Karl Leimer. The main objective of this dissertation is to provide insight into
the study process of a work with considerable technical difficulty and to offer some solutions
for overcoming technical problems that might be accessible to other readers and potential
performers.
