Chôros No. 11 is a work for piano and orchestra written in 1928 by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. It is part of a series of fourteen numbered compositions collectively titled Chôros, ranging from solos for guitar and for piano up to works scored for soloist or chorus with orchestra or multiple orchestras. Chôros No. 11 is the longest in the series, a performance lasting over an hour. History According to the official account, Chôros No. 11 was composed in Rio de Janeiro in 1928, and the score is dedicated to Arthur Rubinstein. The first known performance was given on 18 July 1942 in Rio de Janeiro by , piano, and the Orquestra Sinfônica do Theatro Municipal, conducted by the composer. However, for a variety of reasons it seems more likely that it may have begun in 1928, but was only completed in 1941, after Arthur Rubinstein had requested a piano concerto during a visit to Rio in 1939. The only known surviving page of the original 1928 score (marked "page 8" in the margin) is reproduced in. The piano solo part is identical with the final published score, at rehearsal number 43, but there are differences in the orchestration. Because he realised that its extraordinary length, in a single movement, would inhibit uncut performances, Villa-Lobos specified cuts that would make a shorter performing version of only about thirty-five minutes. Scoring The work is scored for solo piano and a large orchestra consisting of 2 piccolos, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, E clarinet, 2 clarinets in B, bass clarinet, soprano saxophone in B, alto saxophone in E, 2 bassoons, 2 contrabassoons, 4 horns, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, tam-tam, cymbals, reco-reco, chocalho, side drum, tambourine, tambor, coco, cabacinhas, caxambu, cuíca, xylophone, vibraphone, celesta, 2 harps, and strings. Analysis The composer compares the structure of Chôros No. 11 to that of the baroque concerto grosso, because of the solo role of the piano, "whose technical virtuosity on the curious fantasy of recurring themes fully confirms the tendency of its type." However, it also takes advantage of aspects of the symphonic poem, the symphony, the classical serenade, and the fantasy, all of which contribute to explaining the extraordinary length of an hour or more in performance. Although Chorôs No. 11 is in a single continuous movement, the long central modinha in slow tempo stands apart from the surrounding