Yerma was commissioned in 1955 by Hugh Ross, the conductor of the New York Schola Cantorum and an old friend of Villa-Lobos, and by John Blankenship, at that time head of the drama department at Sarah Lawrence College. The original plan was that GarcĂ­a Lorca's play would be translated into English by the British poet Alastair Raid and Hugh Ross, but Villa-Lobos immediately began setting the original Spanish text. It was composed partly in New York, partly in Paris, and was finished in 1956.

Date of composition 1955
Premiered 1971, August 12th (Santa Fe Opera) in Santa Fe, NM, United States
Type Opera
Instruments Voice (Soprano) - Yerma
Voice (Tenor) - Juan, her husband
Voice (Baritone) - Victor, Yerma's youthful lover
Voice (Mezzo-Soprano) - Maria, Yerma's friend
Voice (Mezzo-Soprano) - An old woman
Voice (Mezzo-Soprano) - Dolores
Voice (Tenor) - Masked Man
Voice (Soprano) - Masked Woman
Voice (Soprano) - 1st Laundress
Voice (Soprano) - 2nd Laundress
Voice (Soprano) - 3rd Laundress
Voice (Mezzo-Soprano) - 4th Laundress
Voice (Mezzo-Soprano) - 5th Laundress
Voice (Mezzo-Soprano) - 6th Laundress
Autotranslations beta Heitor Villa-Lobos: Yerma
Heitor Villa-Lobos: Yerma
Heitor Villa-Lobos: Yerma