Unlike the first movement, however (and unlike all of the composer's earlier quartets), there is a certain thematic kinship amongst the sections, with a recurrence of a falling-third figure and the use of pseudo-Indian motifs influenced by Antonín Dvořák's 'American' Quartet Discography The finale is similar in structure to the first movement, consisting of three successive, contrasting sections and a recapitulation of the first, concluding with a short coda. This passage is the first occurrence of the atonal, chromatic, legato style found often in Villa-Lobos's subsequent quartets The middle section features a fugato on a subject related to the cantilena (xangô) motive from the second movement. The tonal language and textural features (such as rhythmic combination, doubling, portamento, and open fifths) of the outer sections resemble those of the Bachianas Brasileiras, especially parts of the first movement of Bachianas No. The A section falls into two parts, which are reversed in order when A is recapitulated after the central B section. The third movement is also in ternary form, but with a variation. The A section is homophonic, while the central B section features imitative textures and a xangô-like theme in common time held by the cello, set against a syncopated accompaniment of continuous pizzicato quarter-note triplets in the upper three voices. The second movement is in a three-part, ABA song form in the character of the Brazilian improvised serenade known as the choro. In keeping with the references to Brazilian popular music, Villa-Lobos begins with a shorter motive that he then expands in length and by increasing the variety in the rhythmic syncopations, which alludes to the Brazilian popular music after which Villa-Lobos titles the quartet. Four contrasting sections (with transitions between the first and second, and between the third and fourth) are followed by a recapitulation of the first section, and an extended coda. Instead of the usual sonata-allegro form, the first movement presents a sectional structure. This composition, like all of Villa-Lobos's quartets except the first, consists of four movements: 1'), but in the end abandoned the idea of such a series.

Villa-Lobos originally planned to designate this work as the second 'popular quartet' (the Fifth Quartet is subtitled 'Quarteto popular no. This work - along with the Fifth Quartet - is marked by a deliberate move toward a more 'popular' style, incorporating elements of Brazilian popular music. Indeed, the Sixth Quartet is regarded as the most nationalistic of all Villa-Lobos's string quartets. Villa-Lobos himself remained adamant that his works were entirely his own he believed firmly in the superiority of his work and took pride in his independence from the European tradition.

However, while there are Haydnesque and also Beethovenian influences that appear in this quartet, it is an oversimplification to conclude that his time living in Paris and closer connection with the music of these composers brought changes to his compositional style. While in Paris, Villa-Lobos was immersed in the Parisian and broader European musical traditions of the day. It is with this quartet that the references to the quartets of Haydn, which continue throughout the composer's later quartets, become clear for the first time. The composition of this quartet came relatively soon after time spent living in Paris (1923-1930). The published score bears no dedication, but the manuscript is dedicated to the violist Orlando Frederico, who many years earlier had participated in the premieres of both the Second and Third Quartets. Villa-Lobos composed his Sixth Quartet in 1938 in Rio de Janeiro, and it was first performed in the same city by the Quarteto Haydn on 30 November 1943, on the same programme as the premiere of the Seventh Quartet. A performance lasts approximately 24 minutes. 2' as opposed to 'Brazilian,' and while the work is indeed one of his more nationalist pieces, it also bears direct connections to the Viennese tradition of string quartet composition. Villa-Lobos considered naming it 'Quartet Popular No. 6 ('Brazilian') is one of seventeen works in the genre by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, and was written in 1938, in between his early and late periods. 1938 work by Heitor Villa-Lobos Heitor Villa-Lobos

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