The hugely prolific Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos remained throughout his career fiercely independent of any one compositional style or influence and the works in this recording offer a comprehesive sample of the variety of genres and styles to be found in his piano music. The majority of his compositions for the instrument consist of character pieces, either single or organised into suites or collections and while they reveal a proliferation of traditional formal procedures, they are united in exhibiting the composerʼs unique synthesis of Brazilian and Western cultures.