Composed in 1914, the Second Violin Sonata by Villa-Lobos came at a significant junction in his life as a composer. It was a choice between continuing on as a European-type composer or one that used musical inspiration drawn from his native Brazil. This sonata is one of several important pieces in which that change to a Brazilian cultural heritage is explored. The complex native rhythms found in Brazil's interior start to make their appearence in this work as does the more complex harmony that Villa-Lobos would use over the next fifteen years.