Tim Mahon wrote:

>>Eero Tarasti's book manitains Choros 9, 13 and 14 are missing.  I have
>>managed to locate a Marco Polo recording of No. 9 (together with No. 8),
>>but I can trace nothing on 13 and 14.  ...

and Karl Miller:

>David Appleby's Catalog of the works only lists No.13 as being for two
>orchestras and band, and dating from 1929 and No.14 being for orchestra,
>band and choirs and dating from 1928.  No publication listings for either
>work.

 From what I have read, the 13th (1928-9) and 14th (1928) were never
published, and the manuscripts are considered lost, but the composer's
own handwritten analysis of the works is still in existence.  For the
13th, the two orchestras second the band, the first in the higher register,
the second in the lower, and an important part of the percussion section
is typically Brazilian in type and in flavour.  Apparently, Villa-Lobos
intended the 14th Choros as an aesthetic synthesis of the whole series, and
their thematic and harmonic complexity is impressive.  He also experimented
here with vocal quarter-tones.  The large number of intrumentalists and
chorists needed for the work was never surpassed in any other of his works.
Villa-Lobos is thought to have been at the height of his compositional
powers at this time.

The 9th, also written in 1929, were premiered in Rio in January 1942,
Villa-Lobos conducting.  They exalt kaleidoscopic rhythm - complex rhythmic
structures, with equally complex changes of tempo and a combination of
classical and traditional percussion instruments, the latter comprising
the 'tartaruga' and a 'camisao'.

I don't know many of the Choros, but, as I find them attractive and quite
exhilarating, I have been trying to hear more...

Regards,

Christine Labroche