Possibly the greatest composer Brazil has ever produced, Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) had little formal training, learning largely from the musical evenings that his father arranged at the family home in Rio de Janeiro. He is best known for his Bachianas Brasileiras, a series of nine suites for various instruments inspired by Bach. However, his huge body of work contains symphonies, concertos, chamber music, music for solo guitar and piano, ballet scores, and other genres of music.