Villa-Lobos’s contact with classical music began at home. His father Raul, the son of Spanish immigrants, was not born to a family from the local elite. However, he was sponsored by Alberto Brandão, then leader of the majority group in the Fluminense Provincial Assembly and founder of a well-respected secondary college in the town of Vassouras. As a result, Raul managed to complete his secondary school studies, which amounted to a rare privilege in the Second Empire (1840-1889) and even during the First Republic (1889-1930). The education received by him at Vassouras enabled what would have otherwise been unimaginable for a child without a wealthy background: access.
