Heitor Villa-Lobos is probably the best known of all South American composers. His contribution to Brazilian music—in education, in community projects, in the concert hall—was all-pervasive. Raymond Bisha drops in on Naxos’ ongoing project to record all his symphonies in a new edition that was launched in 2011 by the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra’s publishing branch (Criadores do Brasil) under the general guidance of conductor Isaac Karabtchevsky. Volume 5 features Symphonies Nos. 8, 9 and 11 that are typically rich in engaging details, arresting colours and dramatic gestures.