Composer, conductor, and pedagogue. Camargo Guarnieri occupies a central position in the context of Brazilian music. His influence on several generations of nationalist composers is widely acknowledged and can hardly be overestimated. The universal appeal of his style, which can be felt immediately upon contact with his works, results primarily from his highly personal blending of melodies and rhythms influenced by Brazilian traditions with a musical language of a more cosmopolitan scope. His interest in Brazilian folklore was stirred by Mário de Andrade, the great Brazilian scholar and critic who revitalized the Brazilian traditions through his tireless research around the country. Andrade continued to nurture a particular interest in the career of Guarnieri, a composer whom he saw as a bastion against the diluting influence of European academicism. Even though he remained a devoted nationalist throughout his career, Guarnieri also absorbed European elements during his period of studies in Paris, where he worked with Koechlin. He returned to Brazil at the outbreak of World War II, and shortly thereafter went to the United States on an invitation from the Pan American Union. Several of his works were performed in New York, and he was awarded a number of prizes, including the first prize of the Philadelphia Free Library Fleischer Music Collection for his Violin Concerto, and a prize from the Chamber Music Guild of Washington, D.C., in 1944, for his second String Quartet. In addition to his importance as a composer, he also had a profound impact on musical education in Brazil, particularly after his return from Europe. He was made a life member on the foundation of the Academia Brasileira de Música in 1945, and in 1960 was appointed director of the Conservatório Dramático e Musical in São Paulo. As a conductor, he appeared with most of the leading European and American orchestras, and continued to play a leading role in orchestral and choral organizations in Brazil until his death.

Selected Works

• Angustia, for string quartet (1932)
• Cantilenas, for cello and piano (1974/82)
• Ponteio e Dança, for cello and piano (1946)
• Sonata no. 1, for cello and piano (1931)
• Sonata no. 2, for cello and piano (1955)
• Sonata no. 3, for cello and piano (1977)
• Sonata no. 2, for violin and piano (1933) [Real Player] [Quicktime]
• Sonata no. 3, for violin and piano (1950) [Real Player] [Quicktime]
• Sonata no. 5, for violin and piano (1961)
• Sonata no. 6, for violin and piano (1963)
• Sonata no. 7, for violin and piano (1978)
• String Quartet no. 1 (1932)
• String Quartet no. 2 (1944)
• String Quartet no. 3 (1962)
• Trio, for violin, cello, and piano (1931)
• Trio, for violin, viola, and cello (1931)

• Abertura Concertante, for orchestra (1942), for Brazil and South America only