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Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations
The Graduate School
2006
Osvaldo Lacerda: His Importance to
Brazillian Music and Elements of His
Musical Style
Carlos Eduardo Audi
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THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF MUSIC
OSVALDO LACERDA: HIS IMPORTANCE TO BRAZILIAN MUSIC AND
ELEMENTS OF HIS MUSICAL STYLE
By
CARLOS EDUARDO AUDI
A Treatise submitted to the
College of Music
in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Music
Degree Awarded:
Fall Semester, 2006
Copyright © 2006
Carlos Eduardo Audi
All Rights Reserved
Figure 1. Carlos Audi and Osvaldo Lacerda, 10 July 2006
ii
The members of the Committee approve the treatise of Carlos Eduardo Audi defended on
November 6, 2006.
_______________________
Evan Jones
Professor Directing Treatise
_______________________
Dale Olsen
Outside Committee Member
_______________________
Michael Allen
Committee Member
_______________________
Bruce Holzman
Committee Member
The office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee
members.
iii
To my wife Adriana, my daughter Carolina, and my parents Ademir and Clélia
who I love so dearly.
iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Dr. Evan Jones, treatise director, for his guidance, insightful
expertise, and words of encouragement.
I also would like to thank the other committee members – Dr. Dale Olsen, Dr.
Michael Allen, and Mr. Bruce Holzman – for their help with this project.
Finally, I want to express my gratitude to Osvaldo Lacerda who so graciously
opened his house for an interview and whose talent has greatly enriched the music of
Brazil.
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Examples .............................................................................................................. viii
Abstract............................................................................................................................. xii
INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1
I. OSVALDO LACERDA’S BIOGRAPHY ...................................................................... 4
Musical Formation .......................................................................................................... 4
Professional Career ......................................................................................................... 6
Prizes, Awards, and Recognitions .................................................................................. 8
II. MUSICAL NATIONALISM IN BRAZIL .................................................................. 11
Folk and Popular Music ................................................................................................ 11
European Contribution.............................................................................................. 12
African Contribution................................................................................................. 13
Amerindian Contribution .......................................................................................... 14
Nationalist Art-Music ................................................................................................... 16
Sigismund von Neukomm ........................................................................................ 16
Carlos Gomes............................................................................................................ 16
Brasílio Itiberê Cunha ............................................................................................... 17
Alexandre Levy......................................................................................................... 17
Alberto Nepomuceno ................................................................................................ 18
Luciano Gallet........................................................................................................... 22
Mário de Andrade ..................................................................................................... 22
Heitor Villa-Lobos .................................................................................................... 24
Mozart Camargo Guarnieri ....................................................................................... 26
III. LACERDA’S IMPORTANCE TO BRAZILIAN MUSIC ........................................ 29
Lacerda as a Composer ................................................................................................. 29
Nationalist Heritage .................................................................................................. 29
Lacerda’s Musical Style............................................................................................ 30
Lacerda’s Ideas ......................................................................................................... 31
Lacerda as a Teacher..................................................................................................... 32
Lacerda as a Promoter of Brazilian Music.................................................................... 33
IV. NATIONALISTIC ELEMENTS OF LACERDA’S MUSICAL STYLE.................. 35
Melody .......................................................................................................................... 35
Gregorian Modes ...................................................................................................... 36
Mixolydian Mode.................................................................................................. 36
Lydian Mode......................................................................................................... 38
“Northeast” Mode ................................................................................................. 40
vi
Dorian Mode ......................................................................................................... 41
Pentatonic Scale ........................................................................................................ 44
Hexatonic Scale ........................................................................................................ 51
Descending Melodic Contour ................................................................................... 51
Large Melodic Intervals............................................................................................ 54
Narrow-Ranged Melodies......................................................................................... 55
Melody Ending Note other than the Tonic ............................................................... 58
Rhythm.......................................................................................................................... 63
Syncopation............................................................................................................... 63
“Brasileirinho” ...................................................................................................... 63
Habanera-Derived Syncopation ............................................................................ 73
Ostinato and Repeated Notes .................................................................................... 77
3+3+2 Rhythmic Pattern........................................................................................... 85
Polyphony ..................................................................................................................... 87
Country Thirds (Terças Caipiras) ............................................................................. 88
Melodic Bass of the Guitar ....................................................................................... 91
Counterpoint and Thematic Variations of the Flute ................................................. 97
Harmony: Modulation to the Subdominant Minor in Minor Mode.............................. 99
V. NON-NATIONALISTIC ELEMENTS OF LACERDA’S MUSICAL STYLE ....... 102
Camargo Guarnieri’s Influence................................................................................... 102
Augmented Sixth Chords........................................................................................ 102
Absence of Key Signature ...................................................................................... 112
Atonalism and Twelve-Tone Music........................................................................ 112
Villa-Lobos’ Influence................................................................................................ 115
Unresolved Dissonances ......................................................................................... 116
Incomplete Chords .................................................................................................. 122
Bitonality................................................................................................................. 123
Impressionism ............................................................................................................. 124
Whole-Tone Scale................................................................................................... 125
Quartal Sonorities ................................................................................................... 128
Planing .................................................................................................................... 130
Pedal Point .............................................................................................................. 134
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................... 138
APPENDICES:
A: Human Subject Approval....................................................................................... 140
B: Human Subject Consent Form ............................................................................... 141
BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................................................................... 142
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .......................................................................................... 148
vii
LIST OF EXAMPLES
Example 1. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, First Movement, mm. 1-5 ............................ 15
Example 2. Lampião Tava Dormindo............................................................................... 37
Example 3. Lacerda, Pequena Suíte, “Sanfoneiro em Ré,” mm. 1-10 ............................. 38
Example 4. Lacerda, Lídio, mm. 1-10 .............................................................................. 39
Example 5. Lacerda, Pequena Suíte, “Sanfoneiro em Re,” mm. 29-40. .......................... 39
Example 6. Guarnieri, Ponteio e Dança, mm. 39-48 ....................................................... 40
Example 7. Lacerda, Three Miniatures for Percussion, “Embolada,” mm. 5-12............. 41
Example 8. Lacerda, Pequena Suíte, “Sanfoneiro em Ré,” mm. 17-33 ........................... 42
Example 9. Lacerda, Pequena Suíte, “No Balanço,” mm. 15-24 ..................................... 43
Example 10. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, First Movement, mm. 1-8 .......................... 44
Example 11. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, First Movement, mm. 70-80 ...................... 45
Example 12. Lacerda, Cançoneta, mm. 1-7...................................................................... 48
Example 13. Lacerda, Piano Study No. 4, mm. 1-2 ......................................................... 48
Example 14. Lacerda, Lídio, mm. 8-12 ............................................................................ 49
Example 15. Lacerda, Pequena Suíte, “No Balanço,” mm. 1-14 ..................................... 50
Example 16. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, First Movement, mm. 62-5 ........................ 51
Example 17. Lacerda, Toada, mm. 1-9............................................................................. 52
Example 18. Lacerda, Poemeto Erótico, mm. 1-10.......................................................... 53
Example 19. Lacerda, Lídio, violin 1, mm. 1-19 .............................................................. 54
Example 20. Lacerda, Pequena Suíte, “Modinha,” mm. 4-12.......................................... 55
Example 21. Lacerda, Oboe Sonata, First Movement, mm. 44-57................................... 56
Example 22. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, First Movement, mm. 1-6 .......................... 57
Example 23. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Second Movement, mm. 61-4 .................... 58
Example 24. Lacerda, Poemeto Erótico, mm. 21-2.......................................................... 59
Example 25. Lacerda, Poemeto Erótico, mm. 35-9.......................................................... 59
Example 26. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, First Movement, mm. 41-3 ........................ 59
Example 27. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, Second Movement, mm. 35-44 .................. 60
Example 28. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, Second Movement, mm. 49-54 .................. 61
viii
Example 29. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, Third Movement, mm. 51-63..................... 62
Example 30. Sambalelê, mm. 1-8 ..................................................................................... 64
Example 31. Lacerda, “Sambinha Dodecafônico,” mm. 1-10.......................................... 65
Example 32. Lacerda, O Menino Doente, mm. 18-25 ...................................................... 66
Example 33. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, First Movement, mm. 5-16 ........................ 66
Example 34. Lacerda, Pequena Suíte, “Modinha,” mm. 4-15.......................................... 68
Example 35. Lacerda, Pequena Suíte, “Sanfoneiro em Ré,” mm. 5-8 ............................. 69
Example 36. Lacerda, Pequena Suíte, “Sanfoneiro em Ré, mm. 35-43 ........................... 69
Example 37. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, First Movement, mm. 66............................ 70
Example 38. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Second Movement, mm. 27-8 .................... 70
Example 39. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Second Movement, mm. 41-55 .................. 71
Example 40. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Second Movement, mm. 56-63 .................. 72
Example 41. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Second Movement, mm. 99-102 ................ 72
Example 42. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Third Movement, mm. 52-4....................... 73
Example 43. Lacerda, Three Miniatures for Percussion, “Embolada,” mm. 5-16........... 74
Example 44. Lacerda, Toada, mm. 13-20......................................................................... 75
Example 45. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, First Movement, mm. 1-8 .......................... 76
Example 46. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, First Movement, mm. 99-106 .................... 77
Example 47. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, Third Movement, mm. 1-10....................... 78
Example 48. Lacerda, Lídio, mm. 1-7 .............................................................................. 79
Example 49. Lacerda, Pequena Suíte, “No Balanço,” mm. 1-7 ....................................... 80
Example 50. Lacerda, Pequena Suíte, “Sanfoneiro em Ré,” mm. 1-8 ............................. 81
Example 51. Lacerda, String Quartet No.2, Second Movement, mm. 41-50 ................... 81
Example 52. Lacerda, Three Miniatures for Percussion, “Embolada,” mm. 17-24......... 82
Example 53. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Second Movement, mm. 1-11 .................... 83
Example 54. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Second Movement, mm. 76-85 .................. 84
Example 55. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Third Movement, mm. 28-29..................... 85
Example 56. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Third Movement, mm. 74-6....................... 85
Example 57. Lacerda, “Sambinha Dodecafônico,” mm. 1-10.......................................... 86
Example 58. Lacerda, String Quartet No.2, First Movement, mm. 1-8 ........................... 87
Example 59. Lacerda, Mass for Two Voices, “Credo,” mm. 1-9..................................... 89
ix
Example 60. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, First Movement, mm. 9.............................. 89
Example 61. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, Second Movement, mm. 46-51 .................. 90
Example 62. Lacerda, Pequena Suíte, “Sanfoneiro em Ré,” mm. 5-8 ............................. 91
Example 63. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Third Movement, mm. 8-11....................... 91
Example 64. Lacerda, Segunda Valsa, mm. 4-13............................................................. 92
Example 65. Lacerda, Poemeto Erótico, mm. 7-14.......................................................... 93
Example 66. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, First Movement, mm. 13-20 ...................... 94
Example 67. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, Second Movement, mm. 23-30 .................. 95
Example 68. Lacerda, Pequena Suíte, “Modinha,” mm. 1-12.......................................... 95
Example 69. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, First Movement, mm. 96-103 .................... 97
Example 70. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, First Movement, mm. 5-16 ........................ 98
Example 71. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, First Movement, mm. 68-78 ...................... 98
Example 72. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, Third Movement, mm. 1-10....................... 99
Example 73. Lacerda, Pequena Suíte, “Valsinha Sincopada,” mm. 1-17 ...................... 101
Example 74. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, Second Movement, mm. 27-31 ................ 103
Example 75. Lacerda, Pequena Suíte, “Modinha,” mm. 1-4.......................................... 104
Example 76. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, First Movement, mm. 31-2 ...................... 105
Example 77. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Third Movement, mm. 12-7..................... 106
Example 78. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, First Movement, mm. 12-5 ...................... 107
Example 79. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, First Movement, mm. 96-100 .................. 108
Example 80. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Second Movement, mm. 99-105 .............. 109
Example 81. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Third Movement, mm. 32-5..................... 109
Example 82. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Third Movement, mm. 66-7..................... 110
Example 83. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Fourth Movement, mm. 175-8 ................. 110
Example 84. Lacerda, Piano Study No. 6, m. 1.............................................................. 111
Example 85. Lacerda, Piano Study No. 8, m. 1.............................................................. 112
Example 86. Lacerda, “Sambinha Dodecafônico,” mm. 1-10........................................ 115
Example 87. Lacerda, Sonata for oboe and piano, First Movement, mm. 139-140 ....... 117
Example 88. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, First Movement, mm. 142-4 .................... 117
Example 89. Lacerda, Lídio, mm. 52-6 .......................................................................... 118
Example 90. Lacerda, Pequena Suíte, “Valsinha Sincopada,” mm. 1-4 ........................ 119
x
Example 91. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Second Movement, mm. 12-5 .................. 119
Example 92. Lacerda, Toada, mm. 80-3......................................................................... 120
Example 93. Lacerda, Segunda Valsa, mm. 28-31......................................................... 121
Example 94. Lacerda, Sonata for oboe and piano, Third Movement, m. 135 ................ 121
Example 95. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Third Movement, m. 80 ........................... 122
Example 96. Lacerda, Ária, mm. 74-6............................................................................ 123
Example 97. Lacerda, Segunda Valsa, mm. 28-31......................................................... 124
Example 98. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Second Movement, mm. 12-4 .................. 124
Example 99. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, First Movement, mm. 96-9 ...................... 126
Example 100. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Second Movement, mm. 36-40 .............. 126
Example 101. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Second Movement, mm. 103-5 .............. 127
Example 102. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Fourth Movement, mm. 45-6 ................. 127
Example 103. Lacerda, Ária, mm. 74-6.......................................................................... 128
Example 104. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, First Movement, mm. 5-6 ...................... 129
Example 105. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, First Movement, mm. 21-2 .................... 129
Example 106. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, First Movement, mm. 58-62 .................. 130
Example 107. Lacerda, Lídio, mm. 24-5 ........................................................................ 131
Example 108. Lacerda, Lídio, mm. 32-8 ........................................................................ 132
Example 109. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, First Movement, mm. 43-6 .................... 133
Example 110. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Second Movement, mm. 99-103 ............ 133
Example 111. Lacerda, Lídio, mm. 64-8 ........................................................................ 135
Example 112. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Third Movement, mm. 1-8..................... 136
Example 113. Lacerda, Ária, mm. 70-6.......................................................................... 137
xi
ABSTRACT
Osvaldo Costa de Lacerda (b. 1927) is one of the most important composers of
contemporary Brazilian music. His musical output has already reached over three
hundred and fifty works in all areas including solo, chamber, orchestral, and vocal music.
In addition, in the past sixty years, he has played a central role as a representative of
Brazilian musical nationalism, as a music educator, and as an active promoter of national
music and musicians. Lacerda also has achieved international stature, having his works
published and performed in countries such as the United States, Germany, and England.
This treatise discusses Lacerda’s ties to Brazilian nationalism by giving a
historical background of the movement and showing the influence of some of its
important figures such as Alexandre Levy, Alberto Nepomuceno, Mário de Andrade,
Heitor Villa-Lobos, and Camargo Guarnieri on the composer’s ideas and musical style.
The study also outlines Lacerda’s pedagogical career as a teacher and author of music
theory books, and his membership in music organizations concerned with the spread and
support of Brazilian music.
This treatise then analyzes selected works by Lacerda – the string quartets, and
pieces for cello, oboe, voice, percussion, and solo piano – to identify and demonstrate
elements of his compositional style. These elements include melodic, rhythmic,
polyphonic, and harmonic patterns present in Brazilian folk and popular music that are
derived from European, African, and Amerindian music. Lacerda’s music also shows
traits that can be traced back to the styles of Debussy, Guarnieri, and Villa-Lobos.
xii
INTRODUCTION
Osvaldo Costa de Lacerda (b. São Paulo, 23 March 1927) is one of the most
important composers of contemporary Brazilian music. His musical output has already
reached over three hundred and fifty works in all areas including solo, chamber,
orchestral, and vocal music.1 He has won many national composition competitions and,
in 1972, was elected a life member of the Academia Brasileira de Música, an honor
music society founded by Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959). Lacerda also has achieved
international stature, having his works published and performed in countries such as the
United States, Germany, and England.
Yet, with all these accomplishments, very little scholarship has been dedicated to
demonstrate Lacerda’s importance in the Brazilian music scene, an importance that goes
beyond his activities as a composer. In the past sixty years, Lacerda has played a central
role as a representative of Brazilian musical nationalism (one of the most important
artistic ideologies in Brazil), as a music educator (teaching composition, music theory,
harmony, counterpoint, musical analysis, composition, and orchestration to generations
of Brazilian musicians), and as an active promoter of national music and musicians
through the various music organizations in which he has participated. Also, not enough is
known about his compositional style because very little of his music has been analyzed in
print. Only a few authors have commented on Lacerda’s music from an analytical
perspective: Vasco Mariz, who commented superficially on some of Lacerda’s songs in
his book A Canção Brasileira: Popular e Erudita;2 Cíntia Costa Macedo, who wrote
about the composer’s Piano Studies in her master’s thesis;3 Alba da Silva, who wrote a
technical and performance analysis on Lacerda’s Variações sobre uma Velha Modinha
1
Cíntia Costa Macedo, “Estudos para Piano de Osvaldo Lacerda” (Master’s thesis, Universidade
de Campinas, Brazil, 2000), 172.
2
Vasco Mariz, A Canção Brasileira: Popular e Erudita, 5th ed. (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Nova
Fronteira, 1985).
3
Macedo.
1
for clarinet and string orchestra;4 and Patricia Montgomery, who briefly described
Lacerda’s five Piano Suites in her dissertation.5
The purpose of this study is to establish Osvaldo Lacerda’s relevance to Brazilian
musical life and to identify some of the elements that make up his compositional style. It
will demonstrate Lacerda’s ties to Brazilian nationalism by giving a historical
background of the movement and showing the influence of some of its important figures
such as Alexandre Levy, Alberto Nepomuceno, Mário de Andrade, Heitor Villa-Lobos,
and Camargo Guarnieri on the composer’s ideas and musical style. The study will also
outline his pedagogical career as a teacher and author of music theory books, and his
membership in music organizations concerned with the spread and support of national
music. Finally, in order to identify and demonstrate elements of Lacerda’s compositional
style, this treatise will also analyze some of the composer’s works such as the four string
quartets – String Quartet No. 1 (1952), Lídio (1979), Pequena Suíte (1994), and String
Quartet No. 2 (1995) – two pieces for cello and piano – Cançoneta (1989) and Ária
(revised in 2005) – three pieces for oboe and piano – Segunda Valsa (1974), Toada
(1974), and Sonata (1986) – three songs – Poemeto Erótico (1951), O Menino Doente
(1949), and Mozart no Céu (1991) – Três Miniaturas Brasileiras (1974) for percussion,
and some of the Piano Studies (1960-76). These elements include melodic, rhythmic,
polyphonic, and harmonic patterns present in Brazilian folk and popular music that are
derived from European, African, and Amerindian music. Lacerda’s music also shows
traits that can be traced back to the styles of Debussy, Guarnieri, and Villa-Lobos.
With the exception of the Piano Studies, the music analyzed in this treatise
consists of chamber works. The author made this choice because chamber music is one of
the mediums in which Lacerda best expresses himself. According to Vasco Mariz,
Lacerda has a “confessed propensity for chamber music.”6 Mariz also quotes Brazilian
4
Alba Valéria Vieira da Silva, “Estudo Técnico-Instrumental e Interpretativo das Variações sobre
uma Velha Modinha de Osvaldo Lacerda” (Master’s thesis, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Brazil, 1999).
5
Patricia Montgomery, “The Latin American Piano Suite in the Twentieth Century” (D.M.A.
diss., Indiana University, 1978), 95-99.
6
Mariz, História da Música no Brasil, 4th ed. (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Civilização Brasileira,
1994), 313.
2
composer Sérgio Vasconcellos Corrêa, who considers Lacerda to be “one of the best
chamber music composers of Brazil.”7 In addition, these pieces are very good
representatives of the composer’s creative career, as they were written or revised over a
fifty-six-year span (1949-2005). Among these pieces, the reader will notice the
preponderance of the string quartets in the music examples. As a cellist himself for over
twenty years, the music that involves this instrument has a special personal appeal to the
author.
All translations from Portuguese in this treatise are the author’s.
7
Ibid.
3
CHAPTER I
OSVALDO LACERDA’S BIOGRAPHY
Musical Formation
Osvaldo Costa de Lacerda was born in the city of São Paulo, capital of São Paulo
state, Brazil, on March 3, 1927. At the age of nine years old, he started his piano studies
with Ana Veloso de Resende. His three sisters, his mother, Júlia, and his grandmother
also played the piano.8 Afterwards, Lacerda continued his piano studies with Maria dos
Anjos Oliveira Rocha and José Kliass.9 He studied harmony and counterpoint with
Ernesto Kierski from 1945 to 1947.10 In this period, perhaps influenced by his mother
who was an accomplished singer, he also had singing lessons with Russian teacher Olga
Urbany Ivanov.11
Lacerda was basically a self-taught composer until 1952, when he met his first
teacher, Camargo Guarnieri (1907-97). According to Lacerda himself, he had been
composing since he was a little boy and never thought that a composer needed a guidance
of “an experienced teacher.”12 In 1952 this belief changed when the São Paulo Municipal
String Quartet (Quarteto de Cordas Municipal de São Paulo), known at the time as Haydn
8
Macedo, 108.
9
Enciclopédia da Música Brasileira: Erudita, Folclórica e Popular (São Paulo, Brazil: Art
Editora Limitada, 1977), 402.
10
Ibid.
11
Macedo, 108, 110.
12
Osvaldo Lacerda, “Meu Professor Camargo Guarnieri,” in O Tempo e a Música. Editor: Flávio
Silva (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Funarte, 2001), 57.
4
String Quartet, commissioned a work from him.13 This was his first major work and cost
him a tremendous amount of effort. He wrote about the experience: “The results were
satisfactory, but the strenuous composition process of the quartet caused me to realize my
[technical] limitations.”14 He decided to ask nationalist composer Camargo Guarnieri for
lessons, not only for his known pedagogical skills, but also because Lacerda felt a
“tremendous affinity to his music, which reflects, so beautifully and deeply, the soul of
our people.”15 Recognizing great talent in Lacerda, Guarnieri decided not to charge for
the lessons. In exchange, he demanded that Lacerda put serious effort in his studies.16 His
composition studies with Guarnieri lasted ten years, from 1952 to 1962. According to
Lacerda, Guarnieri not only shaped his artistic personality, but also helped to launch his
career as a composer.17 In November of 1953, in São Paulo, Camargo Guarnieri
presented a recital with the works of Lacerda and other of his composition students. The
recital was well publicized and received very positive attention from the public and the
critics.18
In the next years, together with his composition studies, Lacerda entered the
Largo São Francisco College of Law of the University of São Paulo, receiving his law
degree in 1961.19 In 1963, Lacerda studied composition in the United States with
Vittorio Giannini (New York) and Aaron Copland (Tanglewood) with the help of the
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship.20 Upon his return to Brazil, Lacerda had
viola lessons for a short period with Yohannes Oelsner, but did not continue his studies,
13
Ibid.
14
Ibid.
15
Ibid., 60.
16
Ibid., 61.
17
Lacerda, autobiographical sketch emailed to the author by the composer (30 April 2005), 1.
18
Marion Verhaalen, Camargo Guarnieri, Brazilian Composer: A Study of his Creative Life and
Works (Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2005), 27.
19
Lacerda, autobiographical sketch, 3.
20
David P. Appleby, The Music of Brazil (Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 1983), 170.
5
having neither time nor interest in mastering another instrument.21 At the end of the
1970s and beginning of the 1980s, the composer polished his orchestration skills with
conductor Roberto Schnorenberg.22
Professional Career
The String Quartet No. 1 was one of the first compositions of his professional
career. It was commissioned in 1952 by the São Paulo Municipal String Quartet.
According to Lacerda, it was his first major composition.23 The recital of some of his
works in 1953 together with other of Guarnieri’s students (Arlete Marcondes Machado,
Ascendino Teodoro Nogueira, George Olivier Toni, and Sílvio Luciano de Campos) was
a very important landmark in the beginning of his career.24 The second recital of
Guarnieri’s students in 1962 helped to consolidate Lacerda’s growing reputation. This
time his works were presented side by side with names well known in the current musical
scene of the country such as José Antônio de Almeida Prado, Lina Pires de Campos,
Marisa Tupinambá, Nilson Lombardi, Pérsio Moreira da Rocha, and Sérgio Vasconcellos
Corrêa.25
Nowadays, Osvaldo Lacerda is one of the best known and respected Brazilian
composers nationally and internationally. His publishers in Brazil include Artur
Napoleão, Cultura Musical, Irmãos Vitale, Mangione e Filhos, Musicália, Novas Metas,
Ricordi Brasileira, and Secretaria da Cultura, Ciência e Tecnologia (São Paulo); Musi
Med and University of Brasília (Brasília); Funarte and Coomusa (Rio de Janeiro); and
Vozes (Petrópolis). Lacerda’s publishers abroad include Gotthard Döring, Hans Gerig,
21
Macedo, 112.
22
Lacerda, autobiographical sketch, 1.
23
Lacerda, “Meu Professor,” 57.
24
Verhaalen, Camargo Guarnieri, 27.
25
Ibid., 28.
6
Moeck, Schott’s Söhne, Tonos and Zimmermann (Germany); Frangipani Press, Paul
Price, Tempo Primo, and Panamerican Union (U.S.A.); and Saga (England).26
In addition to his composition activities, Lacerda has intensively contributed to
the formation of generations of Brazilian musicians by teaching music theory, harmony,
counterpoint, musical analysis, composition, and orchestration. For many years he was an
assistant to the famous composer and composition teacher Camargo Guarnieri.
Guarnieri’s prospective composition students had to undergo intensive harmony and
counterpoint training with Lacerda prior to entering his class.27 In addition, for 23 years
from 1969 to 1992, Lacerda taught at the Escola Municipal de Música de São Paulo,28 a
state-funded institution that offers free instruction in orchestral instruments and music
theory.29 His teaching activities also included the Santa Marcelina College, Course of
Teacher Education of the São Paulo State Music Commission (1960-62 and 1969-70),
First Sergipe Music Conference (1967), Second Ouro Preto Winter Festival (1968),
International Music Course of Paraná (1966-70, 1975, and 1977), and other music
festivals in several Brazilian cities such as Campinas, Ribeirão Preto, Franca,
Pindamonhangaba, Presidente Prudente, Poços de Caldas, Londrina, and Natal.30 Another
important pedagogical contribution of Lacerda is the publication of books in music
training that are largely adopted in music schools in Brazil and Portugal. They include
Compêndio de Teoria Elementar da Música, Exercícios de Teoria Elementar da Música,
Curso Preparatório de Solfejo e Ditado Musical, and Regras de Grafia Musical.31
26
Lacerda, autobiographical sketch, 1-2.
27
José Maria Neves, Música Contemporânea Brasileira (São Paulo, Brazil: Ricordi Brasileira,
1981), 143.
28
Fundação Biblioteca Nacional do Ministério da Cultura do Brasil, “Osvaldo Lacerda,”
http://www.bn.br/fbn/musica/oswaldolacerda/index.html (accessed July 10, 2005).
29
There, the author started learning the cello, his main instrument, in 1984, and attended
Lacerda’s harmony, counterpoint, and musical analyses classes from 1984 to 1986.
30
Lacerda, autobiographical sketch, 3.
31
Ibid.
7
Prizes, Awards, and Recognitions
Over the years, Lacerda has won many prizes, awards, and recognitions,
nationally and internationally. In 1962, he won the first prize in the National Composition
Competition City of São Paulo (Concurso Nacional de Composição Cidade de São Paulo)
with his Suíte Piratininga for orchestra. In the same year, with the same work, he placed
first in the M.E.C. Radio Composition Competition of Symphonic Works (Concurso de
Composição de Obras Sinfônicas da Rádio M.E.C.).32 Also in 1962, the composer was
awarded the prize Best Revelation as a Composer (Melhor Revelação como Compositor)
by the Rio de Janeiro Critics Association (Associação de Críticos do Rio de Janeiro).33
Lacerda was one of the Brazilian representatives in the Inter-American
Composers Seminar held at Indiana University, and in the Third Inter-American Music
Festival in Washington, D.C. in 1965.34 Two years later, he won the first prize in the
Composition and Arrangement for Mixed Choir in Four Voices Competition (Concurso
de Composição e Arranjos para Coro Misto a Quatro Vozes), promoted by the Federal
University of Paraíba, with his work Poema da Necessidade for a Carlos Drummond de
Andrade’s poem.35 The next year, Lacerda received the trophy “1968 Art Music
Composer” from the Ordem dos Músicos do Brasil.36 In 1970, the Associação Paulista de
Críticos Teatrais awarded the prize “Best Chamber Music Work of the Year” to
Lacerda’s Piano Trio.37 After two years, he was elected a member of the Academia
Brasileira de Música, a music honor society founded by Villa-Lobos on July 14, 1945.
32
Enciclopédia, 402.
33
Lacerda, autobiographical sketch, 2.
34
Gerard Béhague, “Lacerda, Osvado (Costa de),” The New Grove Dictionary of Music and
Musicians, http://www.grovemusic.com (accessed September 22, 2005).
35
Enciclopédia, 402.
36
Lacerda, autobiographical sketch, 2.
37
Enciclopédia, 402.
8
Lacerda took up the chair number nine that belonged to Brasílio Itiberê da Cunha (18961967), nephew of another composer of the same name, later mentioned in chapter 2.38
Lacerda’s Appassionato, Cantilena e Tocata for viola and piano received the prize
“Best Chamber Music Work of 1975” by the Associação Paulista de Críticos de Arte
(APCA).39 In 1981, APCA awarded the same prize for his Concerto for Piccolo and
String Orchestra.40 In 1984, he won the first prize in the First National Competition of
Compositions for Wind Instruments – French Horn and Bassoon (Primeiro Concurso
Nacional de Composição para Instrumentos de Sopro – Trompa e Fagote), promoted by
the Sindicato dos Músicos Profissionais do Município do Rio de Janeiro (Musicians
Union of Rio de Janeiro City), for his work Três Melodias for bassoon and piano.41
APCA again awarded him the prize of “Best Chamber Music Work” for his
Sonata for oboe and piano in 1986 and with the prize of “Best Symphonic Work” for his
Cromos for piano and orchestra in 1994.42 In 1996, Lacerda was one of only about twenty
composers selected to participate in Sonidos de las Americas, a festival in New York
sponsored by the American Composers Orchestra.43
The year of 1997 was particularly rewarding for Lacerda as far as professional
recognition is concerned. He received the “Grande Prêmio da Crítica” (Grand Prize of the
Critic) from APCA. In July, he was the first Brazilian composer ever to be invited to
participate in the Bar-Harbor Festival in Maine, U.S.A., where several of his
compositions were performed with great success.44 Later, on November 4, he earned the
Guarani trophy, sponsored by the Secretaria da Cultura do Estado de São Paulo, as the
“Musical Personality of the Year.”45
38
Ibid., 831.
39
Lacerda, autobiographical sketch, 2.
40
Ibid., 2.
41
Ibid.
42
Ibid.
43
Ibid., 1.
44
Ibid., 4.
45
Ibid.
9
In January of 1999, Lacerda was invited as a composer of the Latin-American
Music Festival sponsored by the Bard College at Annadale-on-Hudson, New York. The
Manhattan Chamber Orchestra then performed his works under the direction of Richard
Auldon Clark as part of the Trinity Church Concert Series, in New York City. 46 More
recently, on March 29, 2004, the composer received the APCA prize “Best CD of 2003”
for his CD Lembranças de Amor.47
In addition, over the years Lacerda received the following distinctions: Second
Prize of the Ministério da Educação for his song Mandaste a Sombra de um Beijo;48 the
medals Marechal Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon and Brigadeiro José Vieira Couto
de Magalhães, both sponsored by the Sociedade Geográfica Brasileira;49 and the title of
Comendador da Ordem dos Cavaleiros da Concordia, given by the government of
Spain.50
46
Ibid.
47
Ibid.
48
Vasco Mariz, Figuras da Música Brasileira Contemporânea, 2nd ed. (Brasília, Brazil:
Universidade de Brasília, 1970), 91.
49
Lacerda, autobiographical sketch, 2.
50
Ibid., 3.
10
CHAPTER II
MUSICAL NATIONALISM IN BRAZIL
Osvaldo Lacerda’s importance to the Brazilian music scene is three-fold. As a
composer he has given continuity to the nationalist music tradition (nationalism helped to
define Brazil’s cultural individuality after the country’s independence from Portugal in
the nineteenth century). As a teacher he has dedicated his life to the formation of
generations of Brazilian musicians who are locally, nationally, and internationally active
in the contemporary music panorama. Through his active membership in several music
organizations over the years, he has promoted Brazilian music and musicians.
His importance as a composer resides on the fact that he is a representative of
Brazilian nationalism, one of the most important artistic movements in Brazil. This
movement, according to Simon Wright, created a national identity to the Brazilian people
who only recently (in the nineteenth century) had become independent from Portugal’s
political and cultural dominance.51 Lacerda advocates nationalism through his
compositions and his ideas. His music is rich in elements of Brazilian folk and popular
music. He is also outspoken about his belief that composers need to write national music
in order to stay in touch with their audiences and faithful to their cultural origins.
Folk and Popular Music
In order to understand Lacerda’s ties to nationalism and how some important
figures influenced Lacerda’s ideas and musical style, it is important to take a historic
perspective from the beginning of the movement in the nineteenth century. Brazil’s
process of independence started with the Proclamation of Independence on September 7,
51
Simon Wright, Villa-Lobos (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992), 1-2.
11
1822, and ended with the Proclamation of the Republic on November 15, 1889, when the
final tie to Portugal, namely the Brazilian monarchy lead by Don Pedro II, grandson of
Portugal’s king Don João VI, was dissolved. A surge of nationalism then prompted artists
and intellectuals to start organizing an aesthetic that would represent the Brazilian
identity as an independent and sovereign nation. Gradually, it became clear that
composers could achieve an authentic Brazilian sound by adopting elements from folk
and popular music. These elements were basically influenced by the three cultures that
merged for the creation of the country: European, African, and Amerindian. As Geritt de
Jong notes, “These three racial strains also form the foundation upon which Brazilian folk
music is built and developed.”52 Appleby points out that the early and frequent interracial
marriages among these groups forced the amalgamation of the different cultures into
what is today perceived as Brazilian culture.53 These three groups did not, however,
contribute evenly. Mário de Andrade, an important researcher of Brazilian music, affirms
that “The Amerindian [contributed] in small percentage; the African in a much larger
percentage; and the Portuguese in great percentage.”54
European Contribution
José Maria Neves believes that Portugal influenced Brazilian music the most for
being in the position of political dominance during the colonization of the country.55 For
Andrade, “The entity of Brazilian popular music had direct bases in the Portuguese song
and dance.”56 He also recognizes the Spanish influence, especially from HispanoAmerican Cuba and Montevideo through the introduction of habanera and tango to
52
Geritt de Jong, “Music in Brazil,” Inter-American Music Bulletin 31 (September 1962): 2.
53
Appleby, “A Study of Selected Compositions by Contemporary Brazilian Composers” (Ph.D.
diss., Indiana University, 1956), 182.
54
Mário de Andrade, Ensaio Sobre a Música Brasileira (São Paulo, Brazil: Martins, 1962), 25.
55
José Maria Neves, Música Contemporânea Brasileira (São Paulo, Brazil: Ricordi Brasileira,
1981), 14.
56
Andrade, Música, Doce Música (São Paulo, Brazil: L. G. Miranda, 1933), 93.
12
Brazilian music.57 (The habanera-derived type of syncopation has an important role in
Osvaldo Lacerda’s music style and is later discussed in more detail.) Andrade also
mentions the musical influence from other parts of Europe with such dances as valse,
polka, mazurka, and scottish.58
The most obvious European influence in Brazilian folk and popular music is
tonality. Andrade affirms that, “In the vast majority of the musical documents of our
people, European harmonic tonality persists.”59
African Contribution
African culture was introduced to Brazil through slavery. The large number of
slaves brought from Africa strongly affected the music of the country. After Brazil’s
discovery in 1500, the increasing demand for labor for mining and farming in Brazil
prompted a large importation of African slaves.60 Luís Heitor Corrêa de Azevedo claims
that, among the ten million slaves sold in the Americas between the sixteenth and the
nineteenth centuries, “Brazil was by far the greatest purchaser.”61 Alan P. Merriam
established that between the years of 1600 and 1700, forty thousand African slaves were
imported into Brazil each year.62 This number increased to fifty thousand per year
between 1700 and 1800 and reached the staggering amount of eighty thousand annually
between 1831 and 1840.63 It is not surprising that Renato Almeida feels that “in
everything that one characterizes as Brazilian music, one finds, clearly and strongly, the
57
Andrade, Ensáio, 25.
58
Ibid., 25.
59
Ibid., 51.
60
Alan P. Merriam, “Songs of the Afro-Bahian Cults: An Ethnomusicological Analysis” (Ph.D.
diss., Northwestern University, 1951), 10-11.
61
Luís Heitor Corrêa de Azevedo, “Music and Musicians of African Origin in Brazil,” The World
of Music 24/2 (1982): 53.
62
Merriam, 23.
63
Ibid., 24.
13
black influence.”64 According to Appleby, in the second half of the nineteenth century
“European dances, such as the waltz, polka, mazurka, and the scottish, and importations
such as the habanera and tango began to lose their original characteristics and to
assimilate new Afro-Brazilian elements.”65
Amerindian Contribution
Neves believes that the Brazilian Amerindian culture at the time of the discovery
was very fragile and largely assimilated European characteristics after the contact with
the Portuguese, making it difficult to trace their original influence.66 Andrade speculates
that perhaps the nasal quality of some popular chants and the “discursive rhythm of
others are Amerindian contributions.”67 Appleby cites melodies with narrow pitch range
as a characteristic of Amerindian music. He mentions the recordings that Roquette Pinto
made in 1900 of music of several Brazilian Amerindian tribes. The music Pinto collected
from the tribes that were more isolated deep in the jungle (and, therefore, had less contact
with European music) had melodies composed of only four or five notes.68 Lacerda
himself is conscious of how diluted the Amerindian influence in Brazilian culture is. He
states, “The man of the Brazilian nation today is [culturally] closer to the Japanese and
the Hungarian than to the Amerindian.”69 However, the three-note melody of the
beginning of his String Quartet No. 1 suggests that the Amerindian narrow-range melody
is perhaps part of the Brazilian vocabulary after all (Example 1). In this example, one
notices that the second violin melody has only three notes, C, D, and E. The letters “pp”
64
Renato Almeida, História da Música Brasileira, 2nd ed. (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Briguiet,
65
Appleby, Music of Brazil, 42.
66
Neves, 13.
67
Almeida, 8.
68
Appleby, “Study,” 184.
1942), 9.
69
Lacerda, “Nationalism in Brazilian Music,” in Music in Brazil: Now (Brasília, Brazil: Ministério
das Relações Exteriores do Brasil, 1974), 15-16.
14
above the second violin line in the first measure mean “principal part” (parte principal in
Portuguese) and not “pianissimo,” indicating that this instrument has the melody.
Example 1. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, First Movement, mm. 1-6
15
Nationalist Art-Music
Several pivotal figures were important in the history of nationalism in Brazilian
music and some of them had direct impact on Lacerda’s nationalist ideas and musical
style.
Sigismund von Neukomm
Although the more methodical use of folk and popular music elements in
Brazilian art-music started at the end of the nineteenth century, the first known piece of
music to employ a folk melody was Amor Brasileiro, a capriccio for piano on a Brazilian
lundú by Austrian composer Sigismund von Neukomm, who composed it on May 3,
1819. Neukomm was the music teacher of Don Pedro I, the first Brazilian emperor after
the Proclamation of Independence.70
After this, the first traces of an emerging nationalist consciousness appeared in the
works of Antônio Carlos Gomes (1836-1896) and Brasílio Itiberê da Cunha (1848-1913).
Carlos Gomes
Carlos Gomes was the most successful Brazilian opera composer of the
nineteenth century. Almeida believes that the work of Gomes represents the first real step
towards an authentic Brazilian music.71 Although his music style was very similar to the
great Italian composers of the time and did not display explicit musical elements from
Brazilian folk or popular music, some of his operas dealt with national social and
political issues. As examples of Gomes’s national engagement, Azevedo cites the operas
Il Guarany, based on José de Alencar’s novel about a Brazilian Indian, and Lo Schiavo
70
Appleby, Music of Brazil, 61.
71
Almeida, 423.
16
(The Slave).72 Another nationalist element in his work was the Portuguese text of his first
opera, A Noite do Castelo (1861).73
Brasílio Itiberê da Cunha
Gerard Béhague affirms that amateur pianist Brasílio Itiberê da Cunha was the
first Brazilian composer to use sporadic elements of popular music in his work. In his
piano piece, A Sertaneja (composed in 1860 and published in 1869), da Cunha quoted the
fandango from southern Brazil “Balaio, Meu Bem Balaio,” and tried to recreate the
character of urban popular music.74
But the first Brazilian composers that are commonly regarded as nationalists were
Alexandre Levy (1864-1892) and Alberto Nepomuceno (1864-1920) because, according
to Lacerda, “[They were] the first composers who consciously and deliberately sought to
endow their music with national characteristics.”75
Alexandre Levy
Alexandre Levy was “the first Brazilian art-music composer to take a definite
interest in folk and popular music, and to use popular themes systematically in his most
important works.”76 Levy was born in São Paulo in 1864. His father emigrated from
France and founded the music store Casa Levy. Levy studied piano first with his brother,
and then with Russian pianist Luis Maurice and French pianist Gabriel Giraudon.77 In
May 1887, he traveled to Europe and studied in Paris with Debussy’s teacher, Emile
72
Azevedo, A Música Brasileira e Seus Fundamentos (Washington, D.C.: Pan American Union,
1948), 18.
73
Ibid.
74
Gerard Béhague, Music in Latin America: An Introduction (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1979),
75
Lacerda, “Nationalism,” 12.
117.
76
Béhague, “Popular Musical Currents in the Art Music of the Early Nationalistic Period in
Brazil, Circa 1870-1920” (Ph.D. diss., Tulane University, 1966), 179.
77
Appleby, Music of Brazil, 84.
17
Durand.78 Upon his return to Brazil in November of the same year, he found the country
in the midst of political unrest around the issues of the abolitionism and proclamation of
the republic. According to Appleby, “the political climate [was] ripe for the expression of
nationalist ideals in all the arts.”79 This situation clearly affected Levy’s mindset. In 1890
he wrote his Tango Brasileiro for piano, which is historically considered “the first known
characteristic nationalist work written by a professional musician.80 It contains some
,
elements taken from urban popular music of the time, such as the rhythms
, and
, which are variations of the basic habanera rhythm
.81
One also notices in these examples the Afro-Brazilian syncopation known as
“Brasileirinho” syncopation
. As later discussed in more detail, both rhythms –
variations on the habanera and Brasileirinho syncopation – are important elements of
Lacerda’s nationalist style.
In the same year, Levy composed Suite Bresilienne for orchestra in four
movements: Prelúdio, Dansa Rústica – Canção Triste, A Beira do Regato, and Samba.
Prelúdio is based on the popular melody “Vem Cá Bitu,” and Samba uses the traditional
tunes “Balaio, Meu Bem, Balaio” (already used by Brasílio Itiberê da Cunha in
Sertaneja) and “Se Eu Te Amei,” popular in São Paulo.82
Alberto Nepomuceno
Azevedo states in his book A Música Brasileira e Seus Fundamentos, “One finds
in Nepomuceno’s [music] a very Brazilian delicate sensibility.… It is a certain phrase
gracefulness, at times passionate, other times playful, somewhat sensual, that
78
Ibid.
79
Ibid., 85.
80
Ibid.
81
Ibid.
82
Béhague, Music in Latin America, 118-9.
18
corresponds…to the imagination of our people.”83 Azevedo believes that Nepomuceno
was the most influential composer in Brazil at the beginning of the twentieth century.84
Due to Alexandre Levy’s short life, Nepomuceno is considered the father of
Brazilian musical nationalism and his work inspired the next generations of composers.
His contributions include research in Brazilian folk and popular music, conscious
incorporation of Brazilian elements in his compositions, large production of songs in the
vernacular, promotion of national composers, and introduction of modern musical
techniques to the Brazilian musicians and audiences.
Nepomuceno was born in Fortaleza in 1864, where he started his piano studies
with his father.85 After moving to Rio de Janeiro to further his music studies, he
embarked to Europe in 1880. There, he studied organ and composition at the Santa
Cecilia Academy in Rome, later at the Akademische Meister Schule and the Stern’schen
Konservatorium (Berlin), and finally at the Paris Conservatory.86 According to Béhague,
Nepomuceno’s discovery of the European nationalist schools and, especially, his
friendship with Edvard Grieg while in Europe, convinced him to create national music for
his own country.87 He returned to Brazil in 1895.88
Throughout his life, Nepomuceno collected and studied Brazilian folk and
popular music. By doing so, he noticed some important recurring elements in Brazilian
music, such as the lowered seventh scale degree (Mixolydian mode) and melodies ending
in other scale degrees – mainly the third, fifth, or second – rather than the tonic.89 These
elements are present in Lacerda’s music, as will be discussed later.
83
Azevedo, Música Brasileira, 25.
84
Ibid.
85
Nicolas Slonimsky, Music of Latin America (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1949),
86
Béhague, Music in Latin America,120.
87
Béhague, “Popular Musical Currents,” 220.
88
Slonimsky, 137.
89
Béhague, “Popular Musical Currents,” 222-3, 259.
137.
19
Nepomuceno incorporated in his music several aspects of Brazilian folk and
popular music, from folk tunes to harmonic traits of the urban tango and rhythmic
motives of African origin. The first movement of his Série Brasileira (1897), “Alvorada
na Serra,” used the folk lullaby “Sapo-Jururú.”90 His piano piece Brasileira (1919)
employs triads in parallel progressions as found in many of popular music composer
Ernesto Nazareth’s tangos.91 Also, as Neves points out, Nepomuceno exploits the AfroBrazilian rhythms so characteristic of many Brazilian popular music styles.92 One
example is the first movement of his string quartet Brasileiro (1891), which displays the
rhythm motive
, common in urban popular forms according to Béhague.93 Another
example is the third movement of his Série Brasileira, “Batuque,” which makes use of
African rhythmic elements and syncopations that, as observed by Béhague, will be
extensively exploited by the twentieth-century composers.94
Nepomuceno strongly believed that composing songs in the vernacular was
crucial in the process of creating a national music. He launched a campaign with the
saying, “The people who do not sing in their own language do not have a fatherland (Não
tem pátria o povo que não canta na sua língua).”95 Neves claims that Nepomuceno is the
first Brazilian composer who systematically composed songs in Portuguese, with a
significant production of over fifty such works. 96 Geritt de Jong believes that
Nepomuceno strongly influenced the next generations of composers to write music to
Portuguese texts.97 This influence is very clear in Lacerda’s vocal output. According to
Lacerda’s catalog of works compiled by Macedo, since 1949 he has already composed, in
90
Béhague, Music in Latin America, 121-2.
91
Béhague, “Popular Musical Currents,” 259.
92
Neves, 22.
93
Béhague, “Popular Musical Currents,” 225.
94
Béhague, Music in Latin America, 121-2.
95
Béhague, “Popular Musical Currents,” 262.
96
Neves, 21.
97
Jong, 10.
20
the Portuguese language, ninety-six songs for voice and piano and twelve for voice
accompanied by a variety of instruments, in addition to fifty-three works for choir, both
accompanied and a capella.98
Béhague affirms that Nepomuceno was instrumental for Brazilian nationalism not
only through his own works, “but also by stimulating the creation of genuine national
music.”99 As director of the Popular Concerts Association from 1896 to 1906, he
promoted the performance of popular composers such as Catulo da Paixão Cearense.100
In 1919 he presented the Cello Concerto No. 1 by then young composer Heitor VillaLobos, and also recommended him to the publisher Sampaio Araujo.101 Nicolas
Slonimsky reports that in 1910, Nepomuceno conducted concerts of Brazilian music in
Brussels, Geneva, and Paris, in an effort to make the country’s music known abroad.102
Following Nepomuceno’s example, as later discussed, Lacerda also has had an important
role in the support and promotion of Brazilian music and musicians through his work in
several music organizations.
Finally, Nepomuceno’s importance to Brazilian music rests on his efforts to
introduce modern music into the national scene. Twentieth-century Brazilian composers,
including Lacerda, developed their styles by combining Brazilian elements and
contemporary European techniques. As director of the National Institute of Music from
1902 to 1903, and again from 1906 to 1916, he partially translated Schoenberg’s Theory
of Harmony to be included in the school’s curriculum.103 Also, he was one of the first to
conduct works of such composers as Glazunov, Mussorgsky, Ravel, and Debussy in
Brazil.104
98
Macedo, 121-141.
99
Béhague, “Popular Musical Currents,” 219.
100
Béhague, Music in Latin America, 120.
101
Béhague, “Popular Musical Currents,” 220-1.
102
Slonimsky, 138.
103
Béhague, “Popular Musical Currents,” 220.
104
Ibid.
21
Luciano Gallet
Another important figure in the establishment of nationalism in Brazil was
composer Luciano Gallet (1893-1931), whose main importance resides on his research of
folk music that served as basis for the nationalist composers, including Osvaldo Lacerda.
His books Canções Populares Brasileiras (1924) and Estudos de Folclore (1934,
posthumous publication) contain his harmonizations of folk themes that, according to
Lacerda, “are among the best in Brazil.”105
Mário de Andrade
Mário de Andrade (1893-1945) was a pivotal figure in Brazilian nationalism.
Lacerda states, “The affirmation of musical nationalism in Brazil is…indebted to the
writer and music scholar Mário de Andrade.”106 As Neves says, Andrade was the
movement’s “intellectual mentor.”107 Andrade taught music history and aesthetics at the
São Paulo Conservatory of Drama and Music.108 In his writings and teachings, he
synthesized the philosophy of nationalism and established aesthetic guidelines for the
composition of works of national character.109 Andrade influenced all the following
generations of Brazilian composers, including Lacerda. The composer asserts that
“Andrade’s Ensaio Sobre a Música Brasileira (Essay on Brazilian Music) has been like a
Bible” to him.110 Also, Camargo Guarnieri, Lacerda’s teacher for ten years, consciously
developed his compositional style based on Andrade’s ideas.
105
Lacerda, “Nationalism,” 14.
106
Ibid.
107
Neves, 39.
108
Verhaalen, Brazilian Composer, 1.
109
Ibid.
110
Lacerda, “Constâncias Harmônicas e Polifônicas da Música Popular Brasileira e seu
Aproveitamento na Música Sacra,” in Música Brasileira na Liturgia (Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil:
Editora Vozes Limitada, 1969), 66.
22
Nationalist Philosophy
Andrade was fully engaged in the process of creating a national culture at the
beginning of the twentieth century. He passionately believed that Brazilian artists had a
social obligation to actively produce art with a national character.111 He wrote, “The
current period in Brazil, especially in the arts, is of nationalization.…Every Brazilian
artist, who at this time makes Brazilian art, is an efficient being and has human value.
Whoever makes international or foreign art is useless, null, and a great idiot.”112
For Andrade, national music meant music with elements of popular music.
According to him, “Brazilian popular music is the most complete, most national, [and]
strongest creation of our race, ever.”113 Thus, Brazilian composers had to look for the
characteristics of “race” in popular music, because in popular music one can find the
elements of the three cultures that originated Brazilian culture: Amerindian, African, and
Portuguese (European).114 Andrade also believed that most people just knew a small part
of the popular music of the country; therefore, research to uncover the wealth of Brazilian
music heritage was also a duty of the Brazilian composer.115
Sarah Malia Hamilton explains that Andrade wanted composers to give an erudite
transposition to the elements found in popular music without directly quoting folk
tunes.116 This idea distinguished him from the nationalists of the first generation, such as
Levy and Nepomuceno, who did include traditional tunes in their music, as seen earlier.
Composers should, rather, recognize musical patterns, or “constants,” that give Brazilian
folk and popular music its individual national character, and apply them in their work.
These constants should be melodic, rhythmic, polyphonic, or harmonic.117 The use of
111
Andrade, Ensaio, 19.
112
Ibid., 18-9.
113
Ibid., 24.
114
Ibid., 29.
115
Ibid., 20.
116
Sarah Malia Hamilton, “Uma Canção Interessada: M. Camargo Guarnieri, Mário de Andrade
and the Politics of Musical Modernism in Brazil, 1900-1950” (Ph.D. diss., University of Kansas, 2003), 978.
117
According to Lacerda in interview with the author on 10 July 2006, Andrade was the first to
use the term constant (constância in Portuguese) to define these music patterns.
23
Brazilian music constants is an essential part of Lacerda’s musical style, as later
discussed in more detail.
Andrade believed that unlike rhythm, melody, or polyphony, harmony in
Brazilian popular music followed the European tonal system common to the music of
many countries and, therefore, it did not have a national identity (with the exception of
the modulation to subdominant minor in some pieces in minor key, which is a very
common process in Brazilian popular music). 118 As far as harmony is concerned,
Andrade left the door open for exploration. Modern and avant-garde techniques,
Hamilton affirms, were acceptable as long as the music displayed elements of the
Brazilian folk and popular tradition.119 Following this prescription, Lacerda’s music has
employed traditional tonal harmony, impressionistic harmony, free atonalism, and
twelve-tone serialism.
Week of Modern Art
Another important contribution of Andrade to Brazilian nationalism was his help
in organizing the Week of Modern Art in São Paulo in 1922. This event presented the
work of artists in all areas (including music) who were engaged in the cultural
nationalization of that time. It was very successful in publicizing the new aesthetic.
According to Appleby, after the event “a gradual acceleration took place in the number of
works expressing national elements.”120
Heitor Villa-Lobos
Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) was the most famous Brazilian nationalist
composer. According to Lacerda, Villa-Lobos’ main contributions were bringing
Brazilian music to an international audience and “[convincing] Brazilians of the
possibility of cutting, once and for all, the umbilical cord that had always kept them
118
Andrade, Ensaio, 49.
119
Hamilton, 105-6.
120
Appleby, Music of Brazil, 116.
24
dependent on European music.”121 He consciously worked towards assimilating the
elements of Brazilian folk and popular music into his own, inspiring other musicians to
do the same.122 Appleby believes that, together with Andrade’s ideas, Villa-Lobos’ music
offered the first “challenge to Europeanism in music.”123
Villa-Lobos started his musical studies with his father Raul, by playing the
cello.124 Still young, he played guitar with chorões (groups of street musicians)
developing the taste for popular music.125 Around 1900, soon after his father had died,
Villa-Lobos traveled around Brazil for a few years, studying the musical styles of the
different regions of the country.126
In an interview in 1958, the year before his death, Villa-Lobos said that his music
was inspired by nature, “especially that of my country.”127 He believed that his music was
very personal and unique.128 Also, he thought that the styles of Nepomuceno, Levy,
Cunha, and others were not true nationalism for following traditional European models
too closely.129
Despite the composer’s criticism of the first generation of nationalists, Béhague
sees in early Villa-Lobos a strong European influence, especially from Debussy’s
Impressionism and Stravinsky’s rhythmic energy.130 On the other hand, Jong recognizes
that Villa-Lobos “exercised his talents in the uncovering of the various component
121
Lacerda, “Nationalism,” 13.
122
Ibid.
123
Appleby, Music of Brazil, 116.
124
Azevedo, Música, 30.
125
Ibid.
126
Ibid., 31.
127
Fernando Lopes-Graça, “Inquérito aos Compositores Brasileiros,” in Coletânia: Obras
Literárias – Opúsculos Vol. 2 (Lisbon, Portugal: Caminho, 1984), 198.
128
Ibid., 198-9.
129
Neves, 27.
130
Béhague, Music in Latin America, 185, 243.
25
elements of the Brazilian cultural patterns,” and that his music is profoundly Brazilian in
character.131
In addition to inspiring the Brazilian composers to trust their musical heritage,
Villa-Lobos’ main influence on Lacerda was his innovative use of added notes, especially
in cadences that, according to Lorenzo Fernandez, “were fruit of [Villa-Lobos’] long and
patient observation.”132 The analysis of Lacerda’s music later in this dissertation will
show instances of added chord dissonances that relate to Villa-Lobos’ contributions such
as unresolved appoggiaturas and bitonality.
Mozart Camargo Guarnieri
Mozart Camargo Guarnieri (1907-1993) was born in Tietê, São Paulo. He started
his music career by playing piano as a background for silent movies.133 According to
Suzel Ana Reily, Guarnieri was mainly responsible for keeping musical nationalism
relevant to the end of the twentieth century.134 Lacerda agrees and believes that this
relevance is due to the great volume and quality of Guarnieri’s musical production.135
Guarnieri’s style and artistic philosophy came directly from Mário de Andrade’s
influence. According to Marion Verhaalen, since 1928, when they met, Andrade’s
nationalist ideas greatly influenced Guarnieri’s composing career.136 The strength of
Guarnieri’s admiration for Andrade is symbolized by the fact that he named his first son
Mário.137 At the first encounter, Guarnieri played his compositions Dança Brasileira and
131
Jong, 11,13.
132
Oscar Lorenzo Fernandez, “A Contribuição Harmônica de Villa-Lobos para a Música
Brasileira,” Boletin Latino-Americano de Música 6 (April 1946): 284.
133
Jong, 11.
134
Suzel Ana Reily, “Brazil: Central and Southern Areas,” in The Garland Handbook of Latin
American Music, edited by Dale A. Olsen and Daniel E. Sheehy (New York: Garland Publishing, Inc.,
2000), 256.
135
Lacerda, “Nationalism,” 13-4.
136
Verhaalen, Brazilian Composer, 1.
137
Ibid., 10.
26
Sonatina No. 1. 138Andrade was so impressed with Guarnieri’s talent that he decided to
take the young musician under his wings and become his aesthetic mentor.139
Guarnieri’s nationalism comes from his belief that the composer is a result of his
place in the world. According to him, “Prior to being an individual, a composer is a social
being. He is conditioned by time, ethnic background, and environment.”140 He believes a
composer is only relevant if his work reflects these influences, i.e., his national
background. For Guarnieri, universal music is the sum of all national music. What one
considers to be universal music is first of all national music. In the music of the great
universal composers, their national origin is identifiable. A musical work can not become
universally appealing if it is not based on national elements. Therefore, the musician’s
role of enriching the universal music is to produce, to the best of his ability, national
music.141
Hamilton recognizes two styles in Brazilian nationalist music as far as structure is
concerned. One, represented by Villa-Lobos, is characterized by “spontaneity,
flamboyance, and less attention to organic form.”142 The other, represented by Guarnieri,
displays “more rigid concepts of structure and more deliberate reference to certain
regional styles.”143 In this respect, Lacerda’s style was strongly influenced by Guarnieri.
He affirms that the most important things that he has learned from Guarnieri are
organization and formal integrity.144
Another important influence of Guarnieri on Lacerda was his critical position
against twelve-tone music. Although Guarnieri maintained that he was open to modern
musical techniques, he believed that a composer who used elements foreign to his
138
Ney Fialkow, “The Ponteios of Camargo Guarnieri” (D.M.A. diss., The Peabody Institute of
the Johns Hopkins University, 1995), 2-3.
139
Ibid.
140
Lopes-Graça, 224-5.
141
Ibid.
142
Hamilton, 156.
143
Ibid.
144
Osvaldo Lacerda, interview by the author, 10 July 2006, São Paulo, Brazil.
27
environment would produce an artificial work.145 He was especially harsh in his criticism
of twelve-tone music. On November 7, 1950, for example he published “Open Letter to
Musicians and Critics in Brazil” (“Carta Aberta aos Músicos e Críticos do Brasil”) in
which he called for the defense of national music and criticized twelve-tone music for
being “essentially cerebral, anti-popular, anti-national, and having no affinity with the
soul of the [Brazilian] people.”146 According to Ney Fialkow, Guarnieri’s radical position
divided the Brazilian composers into two camps. One camp agreed with his ideas and the
other embraced twelve-tone and other avant-garde techniques. The latter was lead by
émigré German composer Hans Joachim Koellreutter (b. 1915).147 Lacerda used twelvetone music only three times, either as a joke or to protest against the technique, as later
discussed.148
One of the greatest accomplishments of Guarnieri was the creation and
maintenance of a school of composition. In addition to Osvaldo Lacerda, he taught many
Brazilian composers such as Marlos Nobre, Aylton Escobar, Raul do Valle, Sérgio
Vasconcellos Corrêa, José Antônio de Almeida Prado, Ascendino Theodoro Nogueira,
Dinorá de Carvalho, Nilson Lombardi, Kilza Setti, Lina Pires de Campos, Pérsio Moreira
da Rocha, Eduardo Escalante, and others.149 Lacerda affirms that even those who
opposed Guarnieri’s nationalist orientation unanimously praised Guarnieri’s school for its
importance to Brazilian music life.150
145
Lopes-Graça, 224-5.
146
“Camargo Guarnieri: Meio Século de Nacionalismo,” Caderno de Música 7 (June/July 1981):
147
Fialkow, 4.
148
Lacerda, interview by the author.
11.
149
Sérgio Vasconcellos Corrêa, “Camargo Guarnieri and the Teaching of Composition,” in Music
in Brazil: Now (Brasília, Brazil: Ministério das Relações Exteriores do Brasil, 1974), 30.
150
Lacerda, “Meu Professor,” 64.
28
CHAPTER III
LACERDA’S IMPORTANCE TO BRAZILIAN MUSIC
Lacerda is important to Brazilian music as a composer, a teacher, and a promoter
of Brazilian music.
Lacerda as a Composer
Lacerda advocates nationalism through his music and his ideas. His compositions
are rich in elements of Brazilian folk and popular music, treated in a contemporary
manner. Lacerda is also outspoken about his belief that composers need to write national
music in order to stay in touch with their audiences and be sincere with their culture.
Nationalist Heritage
Brazilian composer Sérgio Vasconcellos Corrêa sees in Lacerda’s work a direct
progression of an aesthetic that started with Nepomuceno, and passed through VillaLobos and Guarnieri.151 Lacerda, according to Corrêa, “develops the melodic, rhythmic,
and harmonic materials that he inherited from [these] Brazilian masters…by
manipulating them with his modern creativity.”152 Lacerda’s affinity with nationalist
music came naturally. He reports that, still as a child, trying his first compositions at the
piano, his music was already “spontaneously Brazilian.”153 In 1949, Lacerda read for the
151
Mariz, História da Música no Brasil, 4th ed. (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Civilização Brasileira,
1994), 319.
152
Ibid.
153
Lacerda, “Meu Professor,” 60.
29
first time Mário de Andrade’s Ensaio Sobre a Música Brasileira.154 He told Cíntia Costa
Macedo in an interview on May of 1998 that Andrade’s writings provided a theoretical,
philosophical, and aesthetic basis for his music from that point on.155 In 1952, he started
composition lessons with Camargo Guarnieri, who himself was enchanted by Andrade’s
ideas. After ten years of study, Lacerda’s style became noticeably influenced by
Guarnieri. Although Lacerda later studied with Vittorio Giannini and Aaron Copland, he
considers Guarnieri his greatest influence.156 Vasco Mariz recognizes this fact when he
describes Lacerda’s sophisticated nationalism as departing directly from Guarnieri’s
style.157
Lacerda’s Musical Style
According to Béhague, “Lacerda’s music incorporates a subtle national idiom into
a modern harmonic context.”158 This statement indicates that Lacerda’s style combines
Brazilian elements and modern composition techniques. The nationalist elements in
Lacerda’s music, as seen before, come from the great figures of Brazilian nationalism
such as Levy, Nepomuceno, Andrade, and Guarnieri, as well as from his own research.
These elements can be melodic (Gregorian modes, pentatonic and hexatonic scales,
descending contour, large leaps, narrow-range tunes, and ending melody note other than
tonic), rhythmic (syncopations, ostinatos and repeated notes, and 3+3+2 pattern),
polyphonic (parallel thirds, guitar-like melodic bass, and flute-like counterpoint and
variations), and harmonic (modulation to subdominant minor in minor mode pieces).
Lacerda recognizes that the latter procedure is very frequent in Brazilian popular music,
154
Lacerda, “Constâncias,” 78.
155
Macedo, 112.
156
Lacerda, interview by the author.
157
Mariz, Figuras, 91-2.
158
Béhague, “Lacerda, Osvaldo (Costa de).”
30
especially in the urban music originated in Rio de Janeiro; therefore, it can be considered
a nationalist element.159
As seen later, his non-nationalist elements were influenced by Guarnieri (use of
augmented sixth chords, absence of key signature, atonalism), Villa-Lobos (chords with
added notes, bitonality), and impressionism.
Lacerda’s Ideas
Defense of Nationalism
Lacerda’s rationale to justify his nationalist style is his belief that music needs to
contain elements of people’s common experiences to be understood. These experiences
are shared by people who are immersed in the same cultural environment such as a
community or a nation.160 He believes that, above all, a composer wants to be
understood.161 In order to do so, he needs to shape his inspiration according to “the time
and place in which he writes.”162 Lacerda urges the Brazilian art-music composer to use
in their work elements from popular music that people can recognize as Brazilian – the
so-called musical constants.163
Imported Composition Procedures
Lacerda believes that Brazilian composers should be open to new compositional
techniques in order to revitalize national music and keep it from stagnancy.164 This
explains the fact that his music, although essentially nationalist with the use of Brazilian
musical constants, has traits of impressionism and atonalism.
159
Lacerda, “Constâncias,” 78-80.
160
Ibid., 62.
161
Ibid., 64.
162
Ibid.
163
Ibid., 67.
164
Lacerda, “Nationalism,” 15-6.
31
On the other hand, Lacerda is concerned about the use of modern compositional
techniques for their own sake, divorced from a national context. He sees this possibility
as a threat to Brazilian culture. According to him, some composers, motivated by either a
“cultural inferiority complex” or ignorance of the rich Brazilian musical heritage, make
the mistake of trying to produce universal music without a national character.165 He
believes that for a musical work to be universal it has to be national first.166
Lacerda as a Teacher
Lacerda has contributed extensively to the training of generations of Brazilian
musicians by teaching music theory, harmony, counterpoint, musical analysis,
composition, and orchestration.167 For many years he was an assistant to the famous
composer and composition teacher Camargo Guarnieri. Guarnieri’s prospective
composition students had to undergo intensive harmony and counterpoint training with
Lacerda prior to entering Guarnieri’s class.168 In addition, Lacerda taught for 23 years
(1969-92) at the Escola Municipal de Música de São Paulo, a state-funded institution that
offers free instruction in orchestral instruments and music theory.169 His teaching
activities also included the Santa Marcelina College, Course of Teacher Education of the
São Paulo State Music Commission (1960-62 and 1969-70), First Sergipe Music
Conference (1967), Second Ouro Preto Winter Festival (1968), International Music
Course of Paraná (1966-70, 1975, and 1977), and other music festivals in several
Brazilian cities such as Campinas, Ribeirão Preto, Franca, Pindamonhangaba, Presidente
Prudente, Poços de Caldas, Londrina, and Natal.170 Another important pedagogical
165
Ibid.
166
Lacerda, “Constâncias,” 65.
167
Osvaldo Lacerda, autobiographical sketch, 3.
168
Neves, 143.
169
Fundação Biblioteca Nacional do Ministério da Cultura do Brasil. “Osvaldo Lacerda.”
http://www.bn.br/fbn/musica/oswaldolacerda/index.html (accessed July 10, 2005).
170
Lacerda, autobiographical sketch, 3.
32
contribution of Lacerda is the publication of music theory books that are widely adopted
by music schools in Brazil and Portugal. They include Compêndio de Teoria Elementar
da Música, Exercícios de Teoria Elementar da Música, Curso Preparatório de Solfejo e
Ditado Musical, and Regras de Grafia Musical.171
Lacerda as a Promoter of Brazilian Music
Osvaldo Lacerda has been intensively active in promoting Brazilian music and
musicians through the various music organizations in which he has participated. At the
age of eighteen, in 1945, he founded the Mobilização Musical da Juventude Brasileira
(Brazilian Youth Musical Mobilization) where he served as director of the Department of
Promotion of Brazilian Music from 1951 to 1952.172 In 1949, Lacerda founded, and
directed until 1955, the Sociedade Paulista de Arte (São Paulo Art Society), an
organization that presented new musicians in public recitals.173 His stepfather was the
administrative director and he was the artistic director.174 Although the organization
promoted international music, the composer fought to emphasize Brazilian music in its
programs.175 Lacerda, along with other Guarnieri’s students, founded the Sociedade PróMúsica Brasileira (Brazilian Pro-Music Society) in 1961. He served as president until
1966, and again in 1984 when the Sociedade briefly re-opened. 176 This organization was
also dedicated to promoting Brazilian music. From 1966 to 1970, Lacerda worked with
the Comissão Nacional de Música Sacra (National Commission of Sacred Music) where
he fought for the introduction of Brazilian music in the Catholic Mass.177 Since 1985, he
171
Ibid.
172
Ibid., 2.
173
Composers of the Americas: Biographical Data and Catalogs of their Works vol. 15.
(Washington, D.C.: Organization of American States, 1969), 127.
174
Lacerda, interview by the author.
175
Ibid.
176
Ibid.
177
Fundação Biblioteca Nacional, “Osvaldo Lacerda.”
33
has been the president of the Centro de Música Brasileira de São Paulo (Brazilian Music
Center of São Paulo).178
The composer was also a member of the Comissão Municipal de Música de
Santos (Music Commission of the City of Santos) from 1965 to 1967. There, he
organized the “Composition Competition for Voice and Piano” using poems by poets
from the city of Santos. The competition was very successful and nationally promoted the
poets of the city. 179 In 1967, Lacerda was the president of the Comissão Estadual de
Música de São Paulo (Music Commission of the State of São Paulo). In this position, he
organized the first Brazilian composition competition for symphonic band with great
national acceptance.180
178
Mariz, História da Música, 312.
179
Lacerda, interview by the author.
180
Ibid.
34
CHAPTER IV
NATIONALISTIC ELEMENTS OF LACERDA’S MUSICAL STYLE
Nationalism is the most striking of Lacerda’s stylistic characteristics. Mário de
Andrade’s writings are especially influential in the shaping of Lacerda’s nationalism. The
composer declared, “Andrade’s Ensaio Sobre a Música Brasileira (Essay on Brazilian
Music) has been like a Bible” to him.181 In this work, Andrade writes that the
development of art-music depends upon “intelligent observation and use” of popular
music elements.182 These elements are the musical constants or musical patterns present
in popular music that are recognizable as national characteristics, and they include
melody, rhythm, polyphony, and harmony. 183
Melody
To Lacerda, melody is the element that most characterizes popular music. Other
elements such as rhythm and harmony, although also important, are secondary to melody.
He stated, “Beautiful melody is in the people…I studied folk and popular melody a great
deal so I could assimilate them.”184
181
Lacerda, “Constâncias,” 66.
182
Andrade, Ensaio, 24.
183
According to Lacerda in an interview with the author on July 10, 2006, Andrade was the first to
use the term musical constant (constância musical in Portuguese).
184
Lacerda, interview by the author.
35
The melodic constants of Brazilian music present in Lacerda’s music are
Gregorian modes, pentatonic and hexatonic scales, descending contours, large leaps,
narrow-range, and non-tonic note endings.
Gregorian Modes
In an interview with Cíntia Macedo, Lacerda affirms that the use of Gregorian
modes is very common in Brazilian popular music, especially in the music from the
northeastern part of the country.185 In fact, according to Neves, modalism is so prevalent
in Brazilian folk music that it is only natural for nationalist composers to turn to this
resource.186
The first Jesuit missionaries arrived in Brazil in 1549.187 Jong explains, “Since
choral and instrumental music needed in church ceremonies had to be created by these
priests who had been trained in music, Gregorian chant naturally came to have marked
influence on [Brazilian] folk music.”188 This is not only a Brazilian phenomenon.
Béhague noticed the frequent occurrence of church mode in mestizo tunes of Latin
America in general, where Jesuits and other Catholic missions were very active since the
beginning of the Spanish and Portuguese colonization.189
The most common modes found in Brazilian folk and popular music are
Mixolydian, Lydian, Dorian, and “Northeast” (a hybrid mode between Mixolydian and
Lydian with lowered seventh and raised fourth scale degrees).
Mixolydian Mode
The Mixolydian mode is probably the most common mode in Brazilian music.
Alberto Nepomuceno had already noticed the common trait of the lowered seventh
185
Macedo, 80.
186
Neves, 79.
187
Ibid., 13-4.
188
Jong, 4.
189
Béhague, “Folk and Traditional Music of Latin-America: General Prospect and
Research Problems,” The World of Music 24/2 (1982): 10.
36
degree through the analysis of some eighty folk songs and dances from his private
collection.190 According to Macedo, the Mixolydian mode occurs frequently in the music
of the northeastern part of Brazil. She cites as an example the folk tune Lampião Tava
Dormindo (Example 2).191 This tune is based on the Mixolydian scale D-E-F#-G-A-B-C.
Example 2. Lampião Tava Dormindo
Azevedo offers an alternative explanation for the presence of the Mixolydian
mode in Brazilian music. Rather than Gregorian chant, he believes that the scale with
lowered seventh degree came from pentatonic African songs. As time passed, he
explains, musicians added more notes and created the hexatonic and heptatonic scales.
For lack of sense of the tonal leading tone, though, they perpetuated the use of the
lowered seventh degree.192
There are numerous examples of Mixolydian mode in Lacerda’s music. Macedo
affirms that Lacerda, in his Piano Study No. 2, superimposes G, Ab and C# Mixolydian
scales. She observes that the composer manages to draw from traditional modalism of
Brazilian music and, at the same time, to create a modern sonority, a “quasi
atonalism.”193 She also claims that Lacerda’s Piano Study No. 11 presents the C
Mixolydian mode.194
190
Béhague, “Popular Musical Currents,” 222.
191
Macedo, 44.
192
Azevedo, “Music and Musicians,” 57.
193
Macedo, 41.
194
Ibid., 100.
37
The fourth movement of Lacerda’s Pequena Suíte for string quartet (“Sanfoneiro
em Ré”) also displays the use of the Mixolydian mode. The pitch collection throughout
this passage is D-E-F#-G-A-C, characterizing the D Mixolydian scale. The low D in the
viola and cello parts confirms this note as the tonic of the scale (Example 3).
Example 3. Lacerda, Pequena Suíte, “Sanfoneiro em Ré,” mm. 1-10
Lydian Mode
In his book Pequena História da Música, Mário de Andrade wrote that the
Hypolydian mode, or a “major” scale with raised fourth degree, is common in Brazilian
popular music.195 This scale is what, however, modern music scholars call the Lydian
mode.196 Lídio for string quartet by Lacerda is based on this mode (Example 4). The first
195
Andrade, Pequena História da Música, 9th ed. (Belo Horizonte, Brazil: Editora Itatiaia
Limitada, 1987), 186.
196
Harold S. Powers, “Lydian,” The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians,
http://www.grovemusic.com (accessed January 15, 2006).
38
and last notes of the first violin melody are Fs and all the notes are natural, characterizing
it as the Lydian mode in F.
Violin 1
Example 4. Lacerda, Lídio, mm. 1-10
Another example of Lydian mode is found in Lacerda’s Pequena Suíte, from
measures 34 to 36. The cello line alternates between a high D and the notes of a
descending Lydian mode scale in D: (D)-C#-B-A-G#-F#-E-D (Example 5).
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 5. Lacerda, Pequena Suíte, “Sanfoneiro em Ré,” mm. 29-40
39
“Northeast” Mode
The Northeast mode (Modo Nordeste), so called for being common in the music
of the northeastern part of Brazil, is a hybrid scale that contains the raised fourth degree
of the Lydian mode and the lowered seventh degree of the Mixolydian mode. Camargo
Guarnieri, Lacerda’s teacher, often used this mode in his Ponteios for solo piano.197
Verhaalen mentions Guarnieri’s Ponteio e Dança for cello and piano of 1946 as “a good
example of use of the Northeast mode.”198 Here, the cello melody is based on the scale GA-B-C#-D-E-F, which is the Northeast mode in G. The tonic G is confirmed by the
insistence of the fifth G-D in the piano part (not seen in the example) on the downbeats of
measures 42 to 47 (Example 6). In addition to its nationalist implications, Hamilton
believes that Guarnieri was especially fond of this mode for its “harmonic ambiguity.”199
Cello
Example 6. Guarnieri, Ponteio e Dança, mm. 39-48
Lacerda incorporated the Northeast mode into his style, as heard in “Embolada,”
the third movement of his Three Brazilian Miniatures for percussion. In this passage up
to measure 10, the xylophone plays a melody based on the scale A-B-C#-D#-E-F#-G,
characterizing the Northeast mode in A (Example 7).
197
Fialkow, 63.
198
Verhaalen, Brazilian Composer, 76.
199
Hamilton, 241.
40
Cymbals
Xylophone
Snare drum
Field drum
Example 7. Lacerda, Three Miniatures for Percussion, “Embolada,” mm. 5-12
In the fourth movement (“Sanfoneiro em Ré”) of his Pequena Suíte for string
quartet he also uses this mode. The pitch collection of the passage up to measure 33
makes up the Northeast mode in D: D-E-F#-G#-A-B-C. The arpeggiation of the cello in
D major shows that the note D is the tonic of the mode. The minor seventh, C natural,
does not characterize this chord as a dominant seventh because it never resolves into a
chord of G (Example 8).
Dorian Mode
Lacerda is aware of the presence of the Dorian mode in Brazilian music and
utilizes it frequently. He affirms, “The Dorian mode…as everybody knows is often
present in the [Brazilian] northeastern folk music.”200
Macedo notices that Lacerda’s Piano Study No.7 is based on the Dorian mode.
This piece in ternary form has its A part based on D Dorian and the B part in B Dorian.201
200
Lacerda, “Constâncias,” 69.
201
Macedo, 80.
41
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 8. Lacerda, Pequena Suíte, “Sanfoneiro em Ré,” mm. 17-34
In Lacerda’s “No Balanço,” from Pequena Suíte, the second violin states the
melody of the B section in the Dorian mode. This melody ends in the note D in measure
23. All its notes are natural, characterizing the Dorian mode in D (Example 9).
42
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 9. Lacerda, Pequena Suíte, “No Balanço,” mm. 15-24
One finds another example of Dorian mode in Lacerda’s String Quartet No. 2, in
the first theme of the first movement. In this passage, the viola melody is in the C Dorian
mode (C-D-Eb-F-G-A-Bb). The only note in this melody that does not belong to that
scale is the Db in the third measure. Lacerda disguises the modal quality of the theme by
providing a highly chromatic counterpoint in the cello part. The note C is clearly the tonic
of the viola theme as established by the initial note C and the C-minor arpeggio in
measure 4 (Example 10). This theme is also restated in the recapitulation section of the
movement. This time around, the statement of the theme is in B Dorian. It starts in the
cello in the last quarter note of measure 72 and moves to the first violin in the third beat
of measure 76 (Example 11).
43
Example 10. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, First Movement, mm. 1-8
Pentatonic Scale
Another nationalist element in Lacerda’s musical style is the pentatonic scale.
This scale was introduced to Brazilian music through the influences of both native
Amerindian and African peoples. Interestingly, both groups, although originally
separated historically and geographically, based some of their music on the five-note
scale.
44
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 11. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, First Movement, mm. 70-80
45
African Pentatonic Scale
It is impossible to over-emphasize the African influence in the formation of
Brazilian culture. Portugal, practicing the slave trade since the fifteenth century, started to
import Africans to Brazil in 1538.202 In the following centuries, Brazil ended up being
one of the greatest consumers of African slave labor in the Americas. Merriam reports
that in 1768 there were nineteen blacks for each white in Bahia, which constituted the
biggest market of slaves in colonial Brazil.203 Azevedo affirms that, due to making up a
large portion of the Brazilian population, Africans exerted a great influence in the
country’s “religion, language, folk traditions, culinary art, jewelry, [and] especially in the
field of music.”204 The pentatonic scale was one of these influences. Azevedo reports that
many melodies of African origin were based on the pentatonic scale; these were found in
Bahia and studied by scholars Richard A. Waterman and Oneyda Alvarenga.205 Merriam
analyzed Afro-Brazilian music originating from four different African groups – Ketu,
Gêge, Jesha, and Congo Angola – and recognized the strong presence of the pentatonic
scale in all of them. From the songs that he analyzed of the Ketu group (a group that
came from the Yoruba tribe of Nigeria) sixty-eighty percent were pentatonic.206 All the
songs that Merriam analyzed from the Gêge group (originating in Dahomey, presently the
People’s Republic of Benin) were pentatonic.207 From the Jesha group (a group also from
Nigeria) four of the five songs analyzed were based on the five-note scale.208 In the music
of the group originated in the Congo-Angola area, Merriam found out that, although it
contained songs composed of four, five, six, and seven-note scales, the pentatonic was
the most commonly used scale.209
202
Appleby, The Music of Brazil (Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 1983), 4.
203
Merriam, 29.
204
Azevedo, “Music and Musicians,” 53.
205
Ibid., 57.
206
Merriam, 77.
207
Ibid., 160.
208
Ibid., 201.
209
Ibid., 236.
46
Amerindian Pentatonic Scale
The contribution of the native Brazilian Amerindian to the pentatonic scale
present in folk and popular music is harder to trace. According to Neves, the original
Amerindian culture was fragile and rapidly assimilated European traits, losing much of
its character.210 Azevedo claims that, through his analysis of the Brazilian Amerindian
music that has been recorded and annotated throughout the centuries, some melodies,
perhaps the purest and most ancient ones, are based on the pentatonic scale.211 The
Pareci, Aparai, and Miranha tribes are especially notable for using this scale in their
melodies.212
Pentatonic Scale in Lacerda’s Music
In his Cançoneta for cello and piano, Lacerda writes an opening cello theme
based on the pentatonic scale. In Example 12, the cello melody is based on the pentatonic
scale G-A-B-D-E.
Lacerda’s Piano Study No. 4 is another example of the presence of the pentatonic
scale in his music. In the two opening measures (Example 13), Lacerda’s juxtaposes two
pentatonic scales, one half-step apart from each other. The right hand plays the scale DE-G-A-B, and the left hand plays the scale Db-Eb-Gb-Ab-Bb. Demonstrating his
nationalist awareness, Lacerda comments about this piece in an interview with Cíntia
Costa Macedo: “The melody of this Study [No. 4] is based on the pentatonic scale, which
is one of the most primitive scales in music, in the same manner that it is used in AfroBrazilian music.”213
210
Neves, 13.
211
Azevedo, Escala, Rítmo e Melodia na Música dos Índios Brasileiros (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil:
Rodrigues e Cia., 1938), 24.
212
Ibid., 24-6.
213
Macedo, 60-1.
47
Example 12. Lacerda, Cançoneta, mm. 1-7
Example 13. Lacerda, Piano Study No. 4, mm. 1-2
Lacerda also employs the pentatonic scale in three of his four string quartets. In
Lídio for string quartet, one can see a good example of a pentatonic scale in use (Example
48
14). In this example, the first violin plays a melodic passage based on the five-note scale
D-F-G-A-C.
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 14. Lacerda, Lídio, mm. 8-12
In the first movement (“No Balanço”) of his Pequena Suíte for string quartet,
there is another instance of this scale. In Example 15, the first violin states a melody
based on the scale F-G-A-C-D from measures 2 to 7. The viola, then, plays a variation of
the same theme, using the same pentatonic scale, up to measure 14.
49
Example 15. Lacerda, Pequena Suíte, “No Balanço,” mm. 1-14
Lacerda’s String Quartet No. 2 contains another instance of the pentatonic scale.
In Example 16, the cello plays a downward melodic passage based on the scale F, G, A,
C, D in measures 64 and 65.
50
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 16. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, First Movement, mm. 62-5
Hexatonic Scale
According to Eleanor Hague, “Among the [Black] population in Brazil, one finds
often a six-tone scale, lacking the leading tone.”214 Andrade also noticed the hexatonic
scale in his research and wrote that it had a “very interesting effect.”215 Merriam found
out that twenty-five percent of the Ketu songs that he analyzed were based on the
hexatonic scale.216 Lacerda incorporated this scale into his music style; Macedo affirms,
for example, that he uses it in his Piano Study No. 10.217
Descending Melodic Contour
Andrade observed that the melodies of Brazilian folk and popular music have a
tendency to exhibit a downward contour.218 Béhague concluded that the Brazilian
214
Eleanor Hague, Latin American Music: Past and Present (Santa Ana, California: The Fine Arts
Press, 1934), 63.
215
Andrade, Ensaio, 45.
216
Merriam, 77.
217
Macedo, 96.
218
Andrade, Ensaio, 47.
51
nationalist composers understood this melodic pattern very early in the history of the
movement. In his Ph.D. dissertation on Brazilian music from 1870 to 1920, for example,
he states, “The descending melodic tendency…observed in popular music also
characterizes most of the nationalist art compositions [of that period].”219
Lacerda’s Toada for oboe and piano offers a good example of this Brazilian
melodic trait. In the passage offered as Example 17, the melody in the oboe part is
composed of four descending sections, conferring an overall downward contour to the
theme. The first descending melodic section starts on the first note of measure 1 and
ends on the first note of measure 3 (F#). The second section starts on D in measure 3 and
ends on the second F in measure 5. Another descending section starts on the note Bb of
measure 5, ending on F# in measure 7. This is a variation of the first section. The fourth
section is a variation of the second one. It goes from the note D in measure 7 to F in
measure 9.
Example 17. Lacerda, Toada, mm. 1-9
219
Béhague, “Popular Musical Currents,” 274.
52
In his song Poemeto Erótico, Lacerda also employs a descending melodic
contour. Not only the vocal phrase has a downward line, but the piano introduction also
does, especially in the right hand part (Example 18).
Voice
Piano
Example 18. Lacerda, Poemeto Erótico, mm. 1-10
The theme in the first violin part in Lacerda’s Lídio is another example of this
kind of melodic tendency. The melodic passage starting in measure 3 ends one octave
lower in measure 10, confirming its descending general direction. After a quick upward
53
gesture in measure 11, the melody starts to descend again until its end in measure 19
(Example 19)..
Violin 1
Example 19. Lacerda, Lídio, violin 1, mm. 1-19
Large Melodic Intervals
Wide leaps are another melodic characteristic of Brazilian music. They were a
common feature of nineteenth-century modinhas, according to Andrade, and could be
larger than an octave.220 Modinha is a sentimental song favored by Portuguese and
Brazilian composers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.221 Renato Almeida
reports that in the nineteenth century, the virtuoso Italian opera influenced the Brazilian
modinha.222 This fact explains the wide leaps in the melody of the modinhas, as singers
wanted to show off their vocal skills.
There are good examples of melodic wide leaps in Pequena Suíte’s third
movement, “Modinha,” by Lacerda. In Example 20 we see that the viola part has a leap
of a seventh in measure 6 (E to D), a leap of a sixth in measure 10 (F to D), and a leap of
a ninth in measure 11 (A to B).
220
Andrade, Ensaio, 45.
221
Béhague, Music in Latin America, 194.
222
Almeida, 16.
54
Viola
Example 20. Lacerda, Pequena Suíte, “Modinha,” mm. 1-12
Another example of this Brazilian melodic characteristic is present in Lacerda’s
Sonata for oboe and piano, as seen in Example 21, where the oboe melody leaps an
interval of a thirteenth in measure 46. There follow three leaps of a seventh, the first
between measures 50 and 51 (G to F), the second between the measures 51 and 52 (E to
D), and the third in measure 53 (Gb to F).
Narrow-Ranged Melodies
In addition to the pentatonic scale, another contribution of the Amerindian to
Brazilian music may be narrow-ranged melodies. According to Azevedo, whereas native
Brazilians assimilated the seven-tone scale from their early contact with Europeans,223
their songs rarely reach the range of an octave and at times only encompass the range of a
third.224
223
Azevedo, Escala, Rítmo e Melodia, 31.
224
Ibid., 22, 31.
55
Oboe
Piano
Example 21. Lacerda, Sonata for oboe and piano, First Movement, mm. 44-57
Lacerda claims not to have used indigenous melodic constants in his music.225 On
the other hand, however, he admits to having deeply studied Brazilian folk and popular
songs in order to assimilate their melodic constants.226 Also, according to him, through
his close contacts and study, making music with a Brazilian character became like second
nature to him.227 Therefore, it is conceivable that Lacerda acquired this narrow-ranged
melodic constant from Brazilian Amerindians, even though he is unaware of its
indigenous origin.
225
Lacerda, interview by the author.
226
Ibid.
227
Ibid.
56
In Lacerda’s music, there are instances of narrow-ranged melodies that can very
well be related to the melodic constant mentioned above. The beginning of his String
Quartet No. 1, for example, displays such an instance when the second violin plays a
melody composed of the notes C, D, and E, ranging only a major third (Example 22).
Example 22. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, First Movement, mm. 1-6
In a similar passage from Lacerda’s String Quartet No. 2, second movement
(Example 23), the first violin also plays a melodic passage with a range of a major third
and the same notes C, D, and E as in the previous example.
57
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 23. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Second Movement, mm. 61-4
Melody Ending Note other than the Tonic
According to Appleby, “[Brazilian] folk and popular melodies frequently end on
tones other the first tone of the scale, with the third of the scale preferred.”228
Nepomuceno had already noticed this feature in the beginning of the nationalist
movement.229Andrade believes that Brazilian musicians feel that the tonic is a little too
weak and simple to be the end of a melodic phrase.230
Poemeto Erótico for voice and piano by Lacerda exemplifies this Brazilian
constant (Examples 24 and 25). In measures 22 (Example 24) and 39 (Example 25), for
example, the vocal melodies end on the note F, which is the fifth degree of the Bb major
scale.
228
Appleby, Music of Brazil, 115.
229
Béhague, “Popular Musical Currents,” 222-3.
230
Andrade, Ensaio, 48.
58
Voice
Piano
Example 24. Lacerda, Poemeto Erótico, mm. 21-2
Voice
Piano
Example 25. Lacerda, Poemeto Erótico, mm. 35-9
Lacerda’s String Quartet No. 1 also exhibits several instances of melodies ending
on notes other than the tonic. In the first movement, for example, the melody in the viola
part ends in measure 43 on the note F#, which is the third degree, the mediant, of the key
of D major. The cello supports the viola with a low D-A double-stop, confirming this key
(Example 26).
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 26. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, First Movement, mm. 41-3
59
In the second movement of the same work, there are two melodies ending on the
fifth degree (Examples 27 and 28). In both examples, the melodies in the first violin are
in the key of G major and the ending notes are a D, or the dominant.
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 27. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, Second Movement, mm. 35-44
60
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 28. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, Second Movement, mm. 46-54
Another example of a melody ending on the fifth degree can be found in the third
movement of the same quartet (Example 29), where the melody played by the second
violin is clearly in D major as the cello’s D-major arpeggios in both first and last
measures (measures 52 and 63) confirm. The last note of the melody in measure 63 is an
A, the dominant of the key. The letters “pp” in measure 52 in the second violin part mean
61
here “principal part” (parte principal in Portuguese) and indicate the beginning of the
melody. The half-bracket in measure 62 indicates the end of that melody.
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 29. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, Third Movement, mm. 51-63
62
Rhythm
African music was the greatest contributor to the Brazilian rhythmic repertoire.
According to Merriam, African slaves brought their religious rituals to Brazil. Since
slavery, these rituals contain songs and dances accompanied by a rich variety of
percussion instruments.231 Appleby affirms, “The most obvious characteristic of Negro
folk music [in Brazil] is…the wealth of its rhythmic resources, and abundance of its
syncopations and ostinatos.”232 There are rhythmic patterns in Brazilian folk and popular
music that have been recognized as constants. Some of these rhythmic constants that
Osvaldo Lacerda incorporated into his nationalist style include Brasileirinho syncopation,
habanera-derived syncopation, ostinato, quick repeated notes, and the 3+3+2 pattern.
Syncopation
Merriam notices that syncopations are very common in the songs of the Ketu and
the Gêge African groups that he studied in Bahia. In these syncopations, the melodies are
moved forward or backward in relation to the percussive beat in order to create melodic
tension.233
“Brasileirinho”
The single most characteristic Brazilian rhythm is the syncopation
,a
sixteenth-note followed by an eighth-note, and followed by another sixteenth-note. It is
so pervasive in the national music that Lacerda affirms it is known as Brasileirinho.234
A good example of a Brazilian folk tune that employs Brasileirinho is Sambalelê
(Example 30).
231
Merriam, 42-5.
232
Appleby, “Study,” 193-4.
233
Merriam, 74-5, 160.
234
Lacerda, “Constâncias,” 73.
63
Example 30. Sambalelê, mm. 1-8
Béhague writes, “The systematization of the syncopation
…has been
verified in all new types of popular music which appeared [in Brazil] during the period
1870-1920.”235
Although it is commonly agreed that Brasileirinho is a rhythm of African origin,
there is a controversy whether it is purely African or European transformed by African
influence. Slonimsky, for example, explains, “The basic rhythm of many Brazilian
melodies of Negro origin is a sixteenth-note, an eighth-note, and a sixteenth-note.”236
Montgomery has the same opinion by stating that this is the syncopation pattern of many
Negro dances.237 On the other hand, according to Almeida, Mário de Andrade and
Luciano Gallet believed that the Brasileirinho syncopation came from Portugal and,
thanks to the popularity of African rhythms, became largely accepted in Brazil.238
Azevedo explains it this way: the Iberian rhythm
when accompanied by the African percussion binary rhythm
in the 6/8 time signature,
, became
.239
In either case, Lacerda understands the importance of this syncopation to create
music with national flavor. One example of his use of the Brasileirinho syncopation is his
Sambinha Dodecafônico (Example 31), where Brasileirinho is in the vibraphone part in
235
Béhague, “Popular Musical Currents,” 273.
236
Slonimsky, 109-110.
237
Montgomery, 55.
238
Almeida, 11.
239
Azevedo, Música Brasileira, 9.
64
measures 4, 5, 8, and 9, and also throughout the example in the tom-tom and bass drum
parts.
Vibraphone
Tambourine
Tom-tom
Bass drum
Example 31. Lacerda, Three Miniatures for Percussion, “Sambinha Dodecafônico,” mm. 1-10
Lacerda’s song O Menino Doente also displays this syncopation (Example 32).
The vocal part contains Brasileirinho in the first half of measure 21 and in the second half
of measure 23. Here, rather than the pattern sixteenth-, eighth-, sixteenth-note, the
syncopation appears in the variation eighth-, quarter-, eighth-note. Interestingly, the vocal
melody of this example is also an instance of melodic descending contour, which is
another Brazilian musical constant earlier discussed.
Three of the four string quartets by Lacerda also present instances of the
Brasileirinho syncopation. In his String Quartet No. 1, first movement, the first and
second violins play the syncopation in measures 8, 9, 12, 13, and 16. The viola has it in
measures 7 and 11 (Example 33).
65
Voice
Piano
Example 32. Lacerda, O Menino Doente, mm. 18-25
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 33. Lacerda, Quartet No. 1, First Movement, mm. 5-16
66
Example 33 Continued
Lacerda uses Brasileirinho in two movements of his Pequena Suíte for string
quartet. In the third movement, “Modinha,” this syncopation is in measures 6 and 8 of the
viola part, in measure 9 of the cello part, and in measures 13, 14, and 15 of the first violin
part (Example 34).
In the fourth movement, “Sanfoneiro em Ré,” both violins play the syncopation in
measure 8 in thirds (Example 35).
67
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 34. Lacerda, Pequena Suíte, “Modinha,” mm. 4-15
68
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 35. Lacerda, Pequena Suíte, “Sanfoneiro em Ré,” mm. 5-8
It appears again in measures 40 to 43, alternating between the first violin and the
viola (Example 36).
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 36. Lacerda, Pequena Suíte, “Sanfoneiro em Ré, mm. 35-43
69
In his String Quartet No. 2, Lacerda employs the Brasileirinho syncopation in the
first three movements. The first instance occurs in the first movement, measure 66, in the
viola part (Example 37).
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 37. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, First Movement, mm. 66
The first time it appears in the second movement is in the viola part, in measure
28 (Example 38).
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 38. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Second Movement, mm. 27-8
It appears again in the cello part, every other measure, from measures 44 to 50,
and in measure 51 (Example 39). In this example, the viola also plays the Brasileirinho
syncopation in measure 52.
70
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 39. String Quartet No. 2, Second Movement, mm. 41-55
The other instances of Brasileirinho in this movement happen in the violins in
measures 60, 61, and 63 (Example 40) and in all the instruments simultaneously in
71
measures 99, 101, and 102 (Example 41). In measure 102, a rest replaces the first
sixteenth-note.
Violin 1
Violin 2
Example 40. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Second Movement, mm. 56-63
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 41. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Second Movement, mm. 99-102
In the third movement of the quartet, the Brasileirinho syncopation appears in the
second violin in measure 53 and in the first violin in measure 54 (Example 42).
72
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 42. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Third Movement, mm. 52-4
Although Brasileirinho is the single most characteristic Brazilian rhythm, Lacerda
used it sparingly in his works, and not continuously as one would encounter in a folk or
popular Brazilian dance piece. This confirms Lacerda’s agreement with Andrade’s
prescription for nationalist art-music compositions. Andrade warned against the excessive
use of the syncopation, which, according to him, would make the music sound mundane
and stereotyped.240
Habanera-Derived Syncopation
Another syncopation that is characteristic of Brazilian folk and popular music is a
derivation of the habanera rhythm. The basic habanera rhythm is composed of a dotted
eighth-note, followed by a sixteenth-note and two eighth-notes
. Influenced by
the maxixe, a popular Brazilian dance of the late nineteenth century, the second and third
notes became tied, producing the syncopation
and its variation
.241
Appleby points out that Alexandre Levy’s Tango Brasileiro (1890) for piano was one of
the first nationalist compositions to employ habanera syncopation.242 Macedo notices that
240
Andrade, Ensaio, 38.
241
Montgomery, 55.
242
Appleby, Music of Brazil, 85.
73
Lacerda also uses the following variations of habanera syncopation in his Piano Study
No. 1:
,
,
, and
.243 The points in common of
these motives are the habanera figure in the first part of the rhythm and a tied-over note
to the beginning of the second part.
Lacerda’s “Embolada,” from his Three Brazilian Miniatures for percussion, contains
an example of his use of habanera syncopation (Example 43). In this example, the snare
drum plays the syncopation by itself in measure 5 and one of its variations together with
the other instruments in measure 13. Interestingly, the Brasileirinho syncopation also
appears in measure 9 and 12 in the snare drum and in measure 12 in the xylophone.
Cymbals
Xylophone
Snare drum
Field drum
Example 43. Lacerda, Three Miniatures for Percussion, “Embolada,” mm. 5-16
243
Macedo, 25-6.
74
In Toada for oboe and piano, Lacerda uses habanera syncopation in combination
with Brasileirinho to achieve a lively variety of rhythms. In the passage presented as
Example 44, variations of habanera syncopation in the oboe part in measures 13, 14, 15,
17, and 19, and in the piano part in measures 17, 18, and 19 can be seen. Brasileirinho
also appears in the oboe part in measures 16, 18, and 20, and in the piano part in
measures 13 and 15.
Oboe
Piano
Example 44. Lacerda, Toada, mm. 13-20
Lacerda also makes use of habanera syncopation in two movements of his String
Quartet No. 1. In the Prelude part of the first movement, “Prelúdio e Fuga,” the habanera
presence is quite prominent. Example 45 shows the cello playing habanera syncopation
from measures 1 to 7, while the viola has it in all the measures but 4 and 7 (in measure 7,
the viola plays a Brasileirinho syncopation). The second violin plays habanera
syncopation in measure 2.
75
Example 45. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, First Movement, mm. 1-8
Habanera syncopation is also important in the fugue part of the same movement,
being one of the rhythms that comprise the fugue’s subject. In the first statement of the
fugue’s subject (Example 46), which starts in measure 100 in the second violin part, a
variation of the habanera rhythm appears in measures 100 and 104.
76
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 46. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, First Movement, mm. 99-106
In the same quartet, the third movement, “Dança,” also contains several instances
of habanera syncopation. In Example 47, the inner parts (second violin and viola) provide
a fast accompaniment to the melody of the first violin with the syncopation in question.
The cello also plays habanera syncopation in measures 3, 4, and 5.
Ostinato and Repeated Notes
Another rhythmic element that is common in Brazilian folk and popular music is
repetition, which can be either in the form of ostinato or quick repeated notes. Rhythmic
repetition is an important component of both Amerindian and African music.
77
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 47. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, Third Movement, mm. 1-10
Ostinato
Azevedo wrote, “The music of the Brazilian Indians … is built by constant
repetition of a short motif, which is characteristically more rhythmic than melodic.”244
Appleby notices that ostinato is also one of the elements of African-originated folk music
in Brazil.245
Osvaldo Lacerda incorporated ostinatos in his nationalist style. In fact, three out
of his four works for string quartet include instances of ostinatos. Lídio displays usage. In
Example 48, the second violin, viola, and cello provide an ostinato accompaniment for
244
Azevedo, Escala, Rítmo e Melodia, 17.
245
Appleby, “Study,” 193-4.
78
the violin from measures 1 to 6. The second violin has a one-measure accompaniment
figure, and the viola and the cello have a two-measure accompaniment figure.
Example 48. Lacerda, Lídio, mm. 1-7
Lacerda’s Pequena Suíte contains ostinatos in two of its four movements. In the
first movement, “No Balanço,” similar to the prior example, the second violin, the viola,
and the cello accompany the first violin melody. As seen in Example 49, the same rhythm
pattern is repeated in every measure from measures 1 to 7, although the harmony changes
in measures 5 and 7.
79
Example 49. Lacerda, Pequena Suíte, “No Balanço,” mm. 1-7
In the fourth movement of the same work, subtitled “Sanfoneiro em Ré,” the cello
plays a one-measure ostinato motif against a two-measure ostinato motif in the viola part
from measures 1 to 8. Meanwhile, both violins play the theme (Example 50).
In his String Quartet No. 2, second movement, Lacerda gives to the cello a twomeasure ostinato figuration starting in measure 44. In this example of ostinato (Example
51), Brasileirinho is also found in the first measure of the rhythmic pattern.
80
Example 50. Lacerda, Pequena Suíte, “Sanfoneiro em Ré,” mm. 1-8
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 51. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Second Movement, mm. 41-50
81
Quick Repeated Notes
According to Slonimsky, “The repetition of short and rapid notes is…very
common in Afro-Brazilian music.”246 Lacerda uses repeated short notes in “Embolada”
from his Three Brazilian Miniatures for percussion, where (Example 52) the xylophone
plays the melody in sixteenth notes, repeating some notes two times (for example, the C#
in measures 17 and 18), three times (A in measure 17 and G in measure 22), and four
times (for example, the A in measure 19 and the D in measure 24).
Shaker
Xylophone
Agogô
Bass drum
Example 52. Lacerda, Three Miniatures for Percussion, “Embolada,” mm. 17-24
Lacerda employs quick repeated notes in his String Quartet No. 2 in the second
and third movements. In the second movement, they appear first in the first violin part,
where the first violin plays a sequence of quick sixteenth notes, starting in measure 2 of
Example 53.
246
Slonimsky, 10.
82
Example 53. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Second Movement, mm. 1-11
83
In the next example, the cello plays a quick repeated-note figuration starting in
measure 80 (Example 54).
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 54. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Second Movement, mm. 76-85
In the third movement of the same work, one finds two instances of quick
repeated notes (Examples 55 and 56).
84
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 55. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Third Movement, mm. 28-29
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 56. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Third Movement, mm. 74-6
3+3+2 Rhythmic Pattern
Another rhythmic constant present in Brazilian music is the 3+3+2 rhythmic
pattern. This pattern is a pulsation that corresponds to the sequence of 3+3+2 eighth
notes, or
. This pulsation was introduced into Brazilian music via either
European or African influence, or both. According to Appleby, the 3+3+2 pattern is
common to both Moorish Iberian and African music traditions.247 Fialkow, in his study of
247
Appleby, Music of Brazil, 153.
85
Guarnieri’s Ponteios for piano, noticed that this nationalist composer regularly used the
3+3+2 rhythmic pattern.248
In Lacerda’s “Sambinha Dodecafônico” from Three Brazilian Miniatures for
percussion, the 3+3+2 rhythmic pattern is used, in this case with sixteenth notes rather
than eighth notes (Example 57). In this example, the rhythm in question appears in the
tambourine part in measures 2, 4, and 6, and in the tom-tom part in measure 10.
Vibraphone
Tambourine
Tom-tom
Bass drum
Example 57. Lacerda, Three Miniatures for Percussion, “Sambinha Dodecafônico,” mm. 1-10
In his String Quartet No. 2, Lacerda uses the 3+3+2 pattern and its reversed form,
2+3+3. The 2+3+3 pattern is seen in Example 58 in measures 3 and 7 in the viola part.
The first section of the pattern (two eighth notes) is represented by the first quarter note
of the measure. The slurs accomplish the second and third sections (three plus three
eighth notes). In measure 8, the 3+3+2 pulsation is present in a subtle way. The first two
sections (three plus three) are the two eighth-note-quarter-note units in the viola part. The
third section (two eighth notes) is represented by the quarter note in the cello part.
248
Fialkow, 74-5.
86
Example 58. Lacerda, String Quartet No.2, First Movement, mm. 1-8
Polyphony
Andrade wrote, “The process of sound simultaneity that can display a greater
national character is polyphony.”249 He was referring to the fact that, besides the
modulation to the subdominant minor in some Brazilian popular pieces in minor mode,
one cannot identify any harmonic process as a Brazilian constant. On the other hand,
249
Andrade, Ensaio, 52.
87
there are several polyphonic processes that are typical to the Brazilian musical tradition
that are commonly used by nationalist composers.
Lacerda mentions four of these polyphonic processes: the singing in thirds
common to the music of the states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais, called country thirds
(terças caipiras in Portuguese); the melodic bass of the guitar in many genres of popular
music; the counterpoint and thematic variations that Brazilian flautists add to several
types of popular music; and the typical counterpoint of certain band instruments.250 (The
latter will not be discussed in this dissertation since no band music is being analyzed).
Country Thirds (Terças Caipiras)
According to Lacerda, the style of singing in parallel thirds is well recognized in
the country music of the southeastern states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais, what he calls
country thirds (terças caipiras).251 Larry Crook claims that, in the northeast of Brazil,
melodies in parallel thirds are also common. They can be heard in the fifes of the
zabumba ensemble, which is formed by pífano fifes and zabumba drums.252
Lacerda cites the “Credo” from his Mass for Two Voices as an example of country
thirds (Example 59).253
250
Lacerda, “Constâncias,” 84.
251
Ibid., 85.
252
Larry Crook, “Northeastern Brazil,” in Music in Latin American Culture: Regional Traditions,
edited by John M. Schechter (New York: Schirmer Books, 1999), 194, 199.
253
Lacerda, “Constâncias,” 86.
88
Voices I and II
Organ
Example 59. Lacerda, Mass for Two Voices, “Credo,” mm. 1-9
Another example of country thirds can be found in his String Quartet No. 1, first
movement. In this brief passage given as Example 60, the two violins move in thirds.
Another Brazilian musical constant in this example is Brasileirinho in the first half of the
measure, also in the violins.
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 60. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, First Movement, mm. 9
89
The second movement of the same work offers another instance of country thirds.
As presented in Example 61, from the middle of measure 49 to the end of measure 51, the
two violins play the melody in parallel thirds, with only two exceptions: the fourth
downbeat of measure 50 (interval of a sixth) and the second downbeat of measure 51
(interval of a fourth).
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 61. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, Second Movement, mm. 46-51
Lacerda used country thirds again in “Sanfoneiro em Ré,” from Pequena Suíte for
string quartet. In Example 62, once again, the two violins play a melody in parallel thirds,
from the second beat of measure 7 to the first beat of measure 8.
90
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 62. Lacerda, Pequena Suíte, “Sanfoneiro em Ré,” mm. 5-8
In his String Quartet No. 2, Lacerda makes use of parallel thirds in two examples,
but this time in the counterpoint rather than in the melody. In Example 63, the second
violin and the viola play a countermelody to the theme in the first violin (measure 10 and
first note of measure 11).
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 63. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Third Movement, mm. 8-11
Melodic Bass of the Guitar
Lacerda wrote, “Our popular music guitarists developed extremely characteristic
creation processes of melodic bass usage. [Their bass lines] not only… admirably
accompany the main melody, but many times also constitute independent melodic lines
91
of highly expressive value.”254 He goes on to say that the melodic bass of the guitar is
common to all regions of the country and is found in many different genres of popular
music.255 There are two elements that characterize the melodic bass in the Brazilian
music. The first is the frequent use of Brazilian syncopations, both Brasileirinho and
habanera. The second element is stepwise movement, in either diatonic or chromatic
scales, present mainly in the second half of the measure, providing a smooth melodic
transition to the next measure.
One of the genres that Lacerda mentions where melodic manifestations of the bass
can be found is in the waltz. 256 In his Segunda Valsa for oboe and piano, for example,
Lacerda makes use of this polyphonic Brazilian constant. In Example 64, the left hand of
the piano provides a melodic counterpoint to the oboe melody, as a Brazilian popular
guitarist would do. In all the measures, the bass line connects to the following measure by
stepwise motion.
Oboe
Piano
Example 64. Lacerda, Segunda Valsa, mm. 4-13
254
Ibid., 88.
255
Ibid.
256
Ibid.
92
Example 64 Continued
Lacerda’s Poemeto Erótico displays another example of Brazilian melodic bass.
In Example 65, the bass of the piano plays in counterpoint to the melody, in this case,
with the rhythmic figuration of habanera syncopation.
Voice
Piano
Example 65. Lacerda, Poemeto Erótico, mm. 7-14
There are numerous examples of melodic bass in the guitar fashion in Lacerda’s
string quartets. Measures 12 to 21 of his String Quartet No. 1, first movement, provide a
93
good example of how the composer employs this particular bass-line character (Example
66). Here, the cello provides a counterpoint to the melody in the first violin. Habanera
syncopation is present, in the cello part, in measures 13, 15, 16, 17, and 19, enhancing the
Brazilian character of the line.
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 66. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, First Movement, mm. 13-20
In the second movement of the same work, the cello plays a melodic counterpoint
to the viola melody, while the first and second violins supply a chordal accompaniment,
as seen in the excerpt given as Example 67.
94
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 67. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, Second Movement, mm. 23-30
Another example of melodic bass is found in “Modinha” from Lacerda’s Pequena
Suíte for string quartet. In Example 68, the cello has the melody from the beginning to
measure 4. In measure 5, the cello part becomes the counterpoint for the melody now
played by the viola.
Example 68. Lacerda, Pequena Suíte, “Modinha,” mm. 1-12
95
Example 68 Continued
In his String Quartet No. 2, an instance of melodic bass is present in the first
movement. In measures 98 and 99 of Example 69, the cello plays a chromatic
counterpoint to the first violin melody. From measure 100, it provides a counterpoint to
the viola melody. One notices Brasileirinho in the cello part in the first half of measure
99, and habanera syncopation in measures 100 and 101. Also, the cello’s stepwise
motion, which melodically connects each measure, is clear.
96
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 69. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, First Movement, mm. 96-103
Counterpoint and Thematic Variations of the Flute
According to Lacerda, another polyphonic element typical of Brazilian music is
the counterpoint and thematic variations played by the flute. He states that “our popular
[music] flutists, who are as talented and creative as our guitarists, developed very
characteristic processes of melodic variation and counterpoint in several genres of
popular music.”257 He also says that agility is one of the main qualities of these melodies
due to the nature of the instrument.258 The agility of the flute is translated into the
257
Ibid., 90.
258
Ibid.
97
addition of notes to a melody that will create one or more countermelodies within the
same instrument’s line.
The first violin part in Lacerda’s String Quartet No. 1, first movement, captures
the essence of the Brazilian flutists’ invention as seen in the excerpts in Examples 70 and
71, where the theme presented by the first violin in measure 6 (Example 70), is varied in
measure 69 (Example 71). While the theme notes are kept in the upper register of the
variation, other notes are added in a lower register, creating polyphony within the same
instrument’s line.
Violin 1
Example 70. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, First Movement, mm. 5-16
Violin 1
Example 71. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, First Movement, mm. 68-78
98
Another example of flute-like counterpoint is present in “Dança,” the third
movement of the same string quartet. In Example 72, the first violin line, which is itself a
counterpoint to the cello melody, creates the effect of two interactive melodies. From
measures 1 to 4, for instance, the first, second, third, fifth, and seventh notes (A, B, A, A,
C) correspond to one melody, while the fourth, sixth, and eighth notes (F#, E, E)
correspond to a second melody.
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 72. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, Third Movement, mm. 1-10
Harmony: Modulation to the Subdominant Minor in Minor Mode
In comparison to the melodic, rhythmic, and polyphonic constants of Brazilian
music, scholars and nationalist composers alike have had greater difficulty in identifying
99
the harmonic constants of the country’s folk and popular music. According to Andrade,
the harmonic processes of Brazilian music are the same as the European ones, which
themselves do not have a national identity.259 Lacerda agrees with Andrade, but
recognizes that there is one harmonic procedure that is very frequent in Brazilian popular
music, especially in the urban music that originated in Rio de Janeiro known as modinha.
This procedure, which can be considered a harmonic constant, is the modulation to the
subdominant minor in pieces in minor mode.260 Modinha, a type of Brazilian love song
that originated in the colonial period, is likely the genre that solidified this procedure.
According to Béhague, “Harmonically the modulation to the subdominant observed in a
great number of modinhas became so widely used in popular forms that it may be
regarded as an authentic national trait.”261 Lacerda’s music reflects this harmonic
nationalist consciousness. His work is essentially based on the European tonal system and
incorporates many instances of this particular modulation.
Macedo, in her dissertation on Lacerda’s piano studies, identify examples of the
modulation to the subdominant minor in two of his piano studies in minor mode. In Piano
Study No. 5, there is a modulation to G minor in measure 12 from the original key of D
minor.262 Also, Study No. 9 in F# minor modulates to its subdominant minor B minor in
measure 33.263 Lacerda confirms both instances of the use of the Brazilian harmonic
constant in an interview with Macedo in November of 1999.264
“Valsinha” from his Pequena Suíte displays another example of the modulation to
the subdominant minor. In this piece, which is in the key of A minor, one notices the
modulation to D minor in measure 13, which is accomplished through its dominant
seventh chord (A-C#-E-G) in measures 11 and 12 (Example 73).
259
Andrade, Ensaio, 49-50.
260
Lacerda, “Constâncias,” 78-80.
261
Béhague, “Popular Musical Currents,” 66.
262
Macedo, 67.
263
Ibid., 90.
264
Ibid., 67, 91.
100
Example 73. Lacerda, Pequena Suíte, “Valsinha Sincopada,” mm. 1-17
Now that we have examined Lacerda’s nationalistic musical characteristics, we
will analyze his non-nationalistic characteristics in the next chapter. Both of these forces
constitute the elements of Lacerda’s musical style.
101
CHAPTER V
NON-NATIONALISTIC ELEMENTS OF LACERDA’S MUSICAL STYLE
Non-nationalistic elements are also significant to Lacerda’s musical style,
especially those influenced by Guarnieri, Villa-Lobos, and impressionism.
Camargo Guarnieri’s Influence
Vasco Mariz claims, “Osvaldo Lacerda’s musical idiom is nationalist …departing
from his master [Camargo Guarnieri’s]…”265 Indeed, Guarnieri exerted great influence in
Lacerda’s nationalist style. After ten years of teachings, Guarnieri greatly helped Lacerda
to acquire and to consolidate his nationalist elements discussed earlier. By analyzing
Lacerda’s work, though, one comes to the conclusion that Guarnieri’s influence was
beyond nationalist traits and included non-nationalist elements as well. Some of these
non-nationalist elements are the consistent use of augmented sixth chords, absence of key
signatures in his scores, and his relationship to atonalism and twelve-tone music.
Augmented Sixth Chords
One of Lacerda’s stylistic traits is his fondness for the augmented sixth sonority.
An analysis of his string quartets shows a frequent use of augmented sixth chords in a
rich variety of ways.
Especially indicative of Guarnieri’s influence is the fact that Lacerda uses
augmented sixth chords, more often the French augmented sixth (Fr+6), at cadence points
265
Mariz, Figuras, 91-2.
102
preceding the tonic chord instead of the dominant chord, as is more usual.266 The next
example shows such an instance (Example 74). In this example, the last chord of measure
30 (Ab-C-D-F#) is a French augmented sixth chord that resolves into the tonic chord in
the key of G minor (Fr+6/i – i). It happens that this augmented chord can also be
interpreted in G minor as the dominant seventh, with diminished fifth, in second
inversion. The dominant function of this chord is emphasized by the presence of a low D
(fifth scale degree) in the third beat of measure 30 in the cello part. Fialkow in his
dissertation on Guarnieri’s Ponteios for solo piano points out that “[A] harmonic
feature…in Guarnieri’s Ponteios…[is] the cadential use of dominant seventh chords with
altered fifth, either by diminution or augmentation.”267 It is conceivable that Guarnieri, as
Lacerda’s teacher for ten years, influenced his pupil in favoring this harmonic procedure
from time to time.
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 74. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, Second Movement, mm. 27-31
266
For a useful survey of non-standard uses of augmented sixth chords see Daniel Harrison,
“Supplement to the Theory of Augmented-Sixth Chords,” Music Theory Spectrum 17/2 (1995): 170-95.
267
Fialkow, 104.
103
Another example of a French augmented sixth chord used as dominant is present
in Lacerda’s “Modinha,” from his string quartet Pequena Suíte (Example 75). The last
chord of measure 3 (G#-D-E-Bb) is a French augmented sixth chord that resolves into the
tonic in A minor. One notices the unusual fact that the G# is the lowest note, which
inverts the augmented sixth interval into a diminished tenth instead (G#-Bb). Lacerda’s
intention of using this chord as a dominant is confirmed by the presence of the
Neapolitan chord (D-Bb-D-F) on the first beat of measure 3. Commonly, the Neapolitan
chord has the function of a pre-dominant sonority. In addition, similarly to the prior
example, the cello plays the fifth scale degree (E) on the third beat of measure 3.
Example 75. Lacerda, Pequena Suíte, “Modinha,” mm. 1-4
104
One finds another Fr+6/i – i cadence in the key of A minor in Lacerda’s String
Quartet No. 2, first movement. Here, in Example 76, the French augmented sixth chord
Bb-G#-D-E is in the last quarter note of measure 31.
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 76. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, First Movement, mm. 31-2
Another passage that displays Lacerda’s affinity for the augmented sixth interval
is present in the third movement of his String Quartet No. 2. The passage in Example 77
contains three French augmented sixth chords with resolutions. The first is on the second
beat of measure 12 (A-Eb-G-C#). Its quick resolution is the last note D in the first violin,
in the same measure. The second chord is in measure 13, second beat (E-Bb-D-G#). It
has an even quicker resolution with the last note A of the measure, also in the first violin.
The last French sixth resolution of the passage is longer and has a stronger cadential
meaning. It is the chord D-F#-Ab-C spread out from the second beat of measure 14 to the
last beat of measure 16. It resolves into the tonic of G minor in measure 17. At this point,
the cello starts playing the main theme.
105
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 77. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Third Movement, mm. 12-7
In Lacerda’s String Quartet No. 2, one notices the composer’s experimentations
with the augmented sixth sonorities through the expansion of the uses of the chord
beyond its traditional role and configurations. In measure 14 of the first movement, there
is an augmented sixth interval produced in the duet of the viola and the cello (Example
78). In this example, the augmented sixth interval Ab-F# is left without its normal
resolution into the note G.
106
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 78. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, First Movement, mm. 12-5
In measure 99, an augmented sixth chord is again used as a cadence element, but
this time in a new chord configuration (Example 79). The last chord of measure 99
contains the augmented sixth interval Db (C# enharmonic) -B that resolves into the tonic
in the key of C minor in measure 100. Instead of one of the traditional forms of
augmented sixth chords, though (Italian, French, or German), this is a whole-tone chord
(A-B-C#-Eb). This chord shows Lacerda’s impressionist influence, later discussed in
more detail.
In the second movement of the same work, a sequence of French augmented sixth
chords illustrates Lacerda’s experimentation with the augmented sixth chord and his
affection for Impressionist procedures. The last chords of measures 101, 102, and 103 in
Example 80 are French augmented sixth chords. Each of the chords in measures 101 and
102 can be heard to resolve into one of the notes in the following arpeggio (the
augmented sixth Eb-C# of measure 101 resolves into the fifth of the chord G-B-D and the
augmented sixth Bb-G# of measure 102 resolves into the fifth of the chord D-F#-A-C#).
The French augmented sixth chord of measure 103 (F-A-B-D#) does not resolve in a
traditional manner. The parallel progression of these chords is a typical impressionist
procedure.268
268
The Harvard Dictionary of Music, s. v. “Parallel Chords.”
107
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 79. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, First Movement, mm. 96-100
Lacerda also changes the augmented sixth interval’s function. Its traditional
function is to emphasize a tone by approaching it by a half step from both above and
below. Instead, as in Example 81, the composer makes use of a French augmented sixth
chord in an enharmonic modulation. In measure 32, a G-major chord with minor seventh
(G-B-D-F) gives a hint of a cadence into a C chord. The note C# in the first violin in
measure 33 seems to function as a lower neighbor to the D, but heard as Db it results in a
French augmented sixth chord (G-B-Db-F). Instead of resolving into a C chord, Lacerda
introduces an enharmonic modulation to F# minor in the second beat of measure 34. The
F in the second violin from measure 33 becomes an E# in measure 34. The C# of the first
violin moves to the viola, the B from the viola moves to the cello, and the G of the cello
moves up a half step and becomes the first violin’s G#. This dominant seventh chord then
resolves into the tonic of F# minor in measure 35.
108
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 80. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Second Movement, mm. 99-105
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 81. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Third Movement, mm. 32-5
109
Another unresolved augmented sixth occurs in measure 66 of the third movement,
demonstrating that Lacerda favors this sonority for its own sake, regardless of
functionality (Example 82). The French augmented sixth chord in the second half of the
first beat of measure 66 (Bb-E-G#-D) does not resolve into an A chord, as it would be
expected. The same example also contains a German augmented sixth chord at the end of
measure 66 (Ab-C-Eb-F#). This chord resolves normally into a G-minor chord in the next
measure.
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 82. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Third Movement, mm. 66-7
Finally, Lacerda employs a German augmented sixth chord in the last cadence of
the piece. The German augmented sixth chord in measure 175 (Db-Ab-B-F) of Example
83 resolves into the tonic of C major in measure 177.
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 83. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Fourth Movement, mm. 175-8
110
One finds augmented sixth chords in Lacerda’s other works as well. Macedo
points out two instances of this sonority in the composer’s Piano Studies. About Study
No. 6, she wrote, “The intervals of a second in both hands in the first measure resemble
an inverted French sixth chord, although, within an atonal ambience, the intended
sonority is of dissonance with tritones between the notes D and Ab, and between E and
Bb” (Example 84).269 Although Macedo discards this chord as a legitimate French
augmented sixth, one can interpret this passage as another expansion of its traditional
function. Lacerda treats the chord as having two augmented sixth intervals and resolves
both of them linearly. He resolves the interval Fb (E enharmonic) –D into the D# in the
fourth beat of the measure. He will then treat the interval Bb-Ab as another augmented
sixth (Bb-G#) and resolve it into the note A in the left hand of the piano, also in the last
beat of the measure.
Piano
Example 84. Lacerda, Piano Study No. 6, m. 1
Macedo also mentions the beginning of Piano Study No. 8, by saying “…the notes
played simultaneously by both hands form chords that can be compared to the French
sixth, but with three notes” (Example 85).270 Macedo is right in pointing out the
augmented sixth sonority but the chords created in the first, third, and fifth sixteenth
notes are in the Italian configuration, not French. They all resolve in the following note of
269
Macedo, 74.
270
Ibid., 83.
111
the piano left hand part, proving once more Lacerda’s fascination with the augmented
sixth sonority.
Piano
Example 85. Lacerda, Piano Study No. 8, m. 1
Absence of Key Signature
In his doctoral dissertation, Fialkow wrote that after 1928 Guarnieri started to
omit a key signature in his compositions.271 By analyzing a number of Lacerda’s pieces,
it can be seen that the absence of key signature is one of his habits as well, especially in
his music composed after 1952, the year that he started to study with Guarnieri. Poemeto
Erótico for voice and piano is the only one of Lacerda’s pieces analyzed in this treatise
that contains a key signature (two flats). It was composed in 1951, a fact that suggests
that Guarnieri influenced Lacerda in writing music without a key signature, although the
style of both composers is strongly tonal.
Atonalism and Twelve-Tone Music
Another way that Lacerda was influenced by Guarnieri is with his opinion about
atonalism and twelve-tone music. Guarnieri’s idea was that, while free atonalism is
acceptable as one of the technical tools available to nationalist composers, the stricter
twelve-tone serial system has to be vigorously combated for being anti-national. This
influence is reflected in Lacerda’s musical style.
271
Fialkow, 101.
112
Atonalism
Concerning nationalist composition, Guarnieri’s mentor Mário de Andrade wrote,
“Avant-garde tendencies… [are] acceptable, provided the music exhibits some element of
the Brazilian musical tradition.”272 Guarnieri, although strongly adept in tonal styles,
started to study atonalism in 1933.273 He said that during the years of 1933 and 1934 he
had “a period of infatuation with atonalism.”274 Atonalism was then incorporated in his
style as one of the harmonic options of his musical vocabulary. Appleby affirms that as
recently as the 1970s, Guarnieri wrote non-tonal works, citing the composer’s Sonata for
piano of 1972 and his Fifth Symphony of 1977.275
Following his master’s example, Lacerda also explored the atonal arena. Although
his work is mostly tonal, he feels that free atonalism is a valid compositional tool.276
Lacerda states, “I use the harmonic system that will fit a specific composition. If I want to
write a modal piece, I do it. If I want to write an atonal piece (free atonal, not twelvetone) I do it. And if I want to write a piece with tonic and dominant in C major, I do
it.”277
Macedo classifies Lacerda’s Piano Studies Nos. 2, 3, 6, and 8 as having an “atonal
character.”278 According to Mariz, Lacerda “tried to conciliate nationalism and atonalism
in his Inventions Nos.2 and 4 for solo piano,”279 while Caldeira Filho describes Lacerda’s
Sonata for viola and piano of 1962 as having an “atonal ambience.”280
272
Hamilton, 105-6.
273
Ibid., 159.
274
Fialkow, 14.
275
Appleby, Music of Brazil, 153.
276
Lacerda, interview by the author.
277
Ibid.
278
Macedo, 19, 41.
279
Mariz, História da Música, 320.
280
João da Cunha Caldeira Filho, A Aventura da Música: Subsídios Críticos para Apreciação
Musical (São Paulo, Brazil: Ricordi Brasileira, 1968), 134.
113
Twelve-Tone Music
On the other hand, twelve-tone music – which was brought to Brazil by German
composer Hans Joachim Koellreuter in the late 1930s281 – was aggressively combated by
both Guarnieri and Lacerda. According to Fialkow, nationalists saw twelve-tone
techniques as an international element that represented a threat to the Brazilian musical
tradition.282 Guarnieri led the nationalist reaction and published, in 1950, the famous
article “Open Letter to Musicians and Critics in Brazil” (“Carta Aberta aos Músicos e
Críticos do Brasil”). In the article, he attacked Schoenberg’s system and urged musicians
and critics to defend Brazilian music.
Lacerda shares Guarnieri’s opinion that twelve-tone music is anti-national and
adds that it is also too simplistic a technique. According to him, “A child that can count
from one to twelve and knows note values can become a twelve-tone composer.”283
Notwithstanding his very conservative (and strongly stated) point of view, Lacerda
himself has employed the technique three times, but always in the context of a protest
against it.284
The first time was in his Three Studies for percussion. In the middle of the last
movement, “Rondo,” the vibraphone introduces a twelve-tone series. “It comes as an
intruder, a foreigner. Then, the other instruments respond, expelling the stranger with a
Brazilian element of the music of the northeast and the piece ends.”285
In “Sambinha Dodecafônico” (“Little Twelve-Tone Samba”) from his Three
Brazilian Miniatures for percussion of 1968, he wanted “to show the dodecaphonists that
it is possible to make Brazilian music with twelve-tone technique…although it is antinationalist.”286 In the excerpt given as Example 86, the vibraphone plays the twelve-tone
281
Edino Krieger, “Vanguard Music in Brazil,” in Music in Brazil: Now (Brasília, Brazil:
Ministério das Relações Exteriores do Brasil, 1974), 33.
282
Fialkow, 10-1.
283
Lacerda, interview by the author.
284
Ibid.
285
Ibid.
286
Ibid.
114
series G-F#-C-C#-F-B-Bb-E-Eb-D-A-G#. The Brazilian elements here are Brasileirinho
syncopations in the vibraphone, tom-tom, and bass drum parts and the 3+3+2 rhythm
pattern in the tambourine part.
Vibraphone
Tambourine
Tom-tom
Bass drum
Example 86. Lacerda, Three Miniatures for Percussion, “Sambinha Dodecafônico,” mm. 1-10
In Lacerda’s Caderno de Cromos No. 5, the first movement is called “Metrônomo
Dodecafônico” (“Twelve-Tone Metronome”). There, he feels that it is appropriate to use
a twelve-tone series to depict the metronome since it is “a cold machine.”287
Villa-Lobos’ Influence
According to Fernandez, Villa-Lobos made an important contribution to Brazilian
music in the twentieth century by being the first to bring “harmonic solutions to our
music.”288 Béhague states that, in the 1910s, even before getting acquainted with the
music of Debussy and Stravinsky, Villa-Lobos was already using modern harmonic
287
Ibid.
288
Fernandez, 284.
115
procedures such as unresolved dissonances, altered or incomplete chords, tone clusters,
bitonality and polytonality.289
These very elements are present in Osvaldo Lacerda’s music. Being the most
important composer in Brazilian nationalism, Villa-Lobos exerted a predictable influence
(directly or indirectly) on Lacerda’s style.
Unresolved Dissonances
In general, Fernandez classified Villa-Lobos’ added chord notes as unresolved
appoggiaturas and affirmed that they were a characteristic element of the composer’s
style.290
Minor Chord with Major Seventh
As an instance of unresolved appoggiatura Fernandez cites the last chord of VillaLobos’ String Quartet No. 2 of 1915, where the composer writes an A-minor chord with
augmented fourth and major seventh (A-C-E-D#-G#). In Lacerda’s music one can find
several examples of minor chords with a major seventh. (Although not identical to VillaLobos’ chord for not having the augmented fourth, Lacerda does use chords with this
interval as discussed in later examples.) One example of a minor-major seventh chord is
the last chord of the first movement of Lacerda’s Sonata for oboe and piano (Example
87). It is a G-minor chord with a major seventh (G-Bb-D-F#). One could, as Fernandez
did in Villa-Lobos’ case, consider the F# as an unresolved appoggiatura that should
resolve up to G.
289
Béhague, Music in Latin America, 242-3.
290
Fernandez, 290.
116
Oboe
Piano
Example 87. Lacerda, Sonata for oboe and piano, First Movement, mm. 139-140
Another example of a minor-major seventh chord is the last chord of the first
movement of Lacerda’s String Quartet No. 2 (Example 88). Here, the notes C-Eb-G-B
characterize a C-minor chord with major seventh.
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 88. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, First Movement, mm.142-4
In Lacerda’s Lídio there are two such chords in consecutive measures (Example
89). In this example, the first chord of measure 55 is a Bb minor-major seventh chord,
Bb-Db-F-A, and the second chord of measure 56 is a Db minor-major seventh chord, DbE (Fb enharmonic)-Ab-C.
117
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 89. Lacerda, Lídio, mm. 52-6
Added Augmented Fourth Chords
In addition to the Villa-Lobos’ String Quartet No. 2 example, Fernandez mentions
other pieces where the composer added the augmented fourth interval to chords such as
“Boizinho de Chumbo” from Prole do Bebê (1918), “O Lobozinho de Vidro” from
Cirandas (1926), Chôro No.11 (1928), Momo Precoce (1929), and Uirapurú (1917).291
Likewise, Lacerda added the augmented fourth to the A-minor harmony in the
beginning of his “Valsinha Sincopada” (Example 90). By adding the D# in the viola part,
291
Ibid., 286, 288, 291.
118
Lacerda created a tone cluster with the E in the second violin. Tone clusters are also,
according to Béhague, a harmonic characteristic of Villa-Lobos’ music.292
Example 90. Lacerda, Pequena Suíte, “Valsinha Sincopada,” mm. 1-4
Another instance of a minor chord with added augmented fourth is present in
Lacerda’s String Quartet No. 2. Just like in the previous example, the augmented fourth
G# in measure 15 of Example 91 creates a cluster with the fifth of the chord, A. These
notes are in the violins.
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 91. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Second Movement, mm. 12-5
292
Béhague, Music in Latin America, 242-3.
119
An interesting chord with added augmented fourth is the last chord of Lacerda’s
Toada for oboe and piano (Example 92). This chord (Bb-D-F-C#-E) has, in addition to
the augmented fourth E, the note C#. This note is enharmonic of the minor third Db, what
makes this chord simultaneously major and minor. Fernandez cites a similar chord (CEb-E-G-B) used by Villa-Lobos in his Trio No. 3 and classifies it as bitonal.293 The use
of bitonal chords is yet another element shared by Villa-Lobos and Lacerda, later
discussed with more examples.
Oboe
Piano
Example 92. Lacerda, Toada, mm. 80-3
The next example from Segunda Valsa for oboe and piano shows a chord used by
Lacerda that, in addition to the augmented fourth, has also the minor seventh and minor
ninth (Example 93). In this example, the chord in question is in measure 30 (D-F#-A-G#C-Eb).
293
Fernandez, 287.
120
Oboe
Piano
Example 93. Lacerda, Segunda Valsa, mm. 28-31
Added Sixth Chords
Fernandez also mentions Villa-Lobos’ chords with added sixth in such works as
Oratório Vidapura (1919), A Fiandeira (1921), “A Condessa” and “Nesta Rua” from
Cirandas (1926), “A Boneca de Massa” from Prole do Bebê (1918), Chôro No. 11
(1928), Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4 (1935), and Momo Precoce (1929).294 Lacerda also
used chords with added sixth in several occasions. One such occasion is in the last chord
of his Sonata for oboe and piano (Example 94). This is a G-major chord with major sixth
and major seventh, just like the C chord used by Villa-Lobos to end his Trio No. 2, as
mentioned by Fernandez.295
Oboe
Piano
Example 94. Lacerda, Sonata for oboe and piano, Third Movement, m. 135
294
Ibid., 285-8, 291.
295
Ibid., 287.
121
Added Ninth Chords
In the last measure of the third movement of his String Quartet No. 2, Lacerda
employs a G-minor chord with major ninth (Example 95). Villa-Lobos had already used
this chord but with the extra major sixth at the end of his Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, as
Fernandez pointed out.296 The note B of the second violin is flat as it is tied over from a
Bb in the prior measure (not seen in this example).
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 95. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Third Movement, m. 80
Incomplete Chords
As mentioned earlier, one of Villa-Lobos’ harmonic procedures is the use of
incomplete chords.297 One finds an incomplete chord at the end of Lacerda’s Ária for
cello and piano suggesting that this is another element shared by both composers
(Example 96). The chord in measure 76 (E-B-F#-A) is an E chord with added fourth and
ninth, but no third.
296
Ibid., 288.
297
Béhague, Music in Latin America, 242-3.
122
Cello
Piano
Example 96. Lacerda, Ária, mm. 74-6
Bitonality
According to Fialkow, Villa-Lobos’ friendship with French composer Darius
Milhaud after 1917 exposed the Brazilian composer to bitonal and polytonal
procedures.298 Fernandez, on the other hand, believed that the tonal instability of VillaLobos’ music from as early as 1913 would naturally lead the composer to bitonality,
polytonality, and even atonality.299 Regardless whether Villa-Lobos absorbed these
procedures from Milhaud or developed them through his own experimentations, there are
examples of bitonality and polytonality in his music.
As previously seen, Fernandez cites Villa-Lobos’ chords with both minor and
major thirds as examples of the composer’s bitonal style. Lacerda, like Villa-Lobos, also
uses bitonal harmonic procedures. In addition to the chord in example 92, Lacerda used a
bitonal chord in his Segunda Valsa for oboe and piano (Example 97). Here, the chord EbF# (Gb enharmonic)-G-Bb-D in measure 31 is simultaneously an Eb minor and major
chord with seventh.
298
Fialkow, 6.
299
Fernandez, 285.
123
Oboe
Piano
Example 97. Lacerda, Segunda Valsa, mm. 28-31
In the next example, from Lacerda’s String Quartet No. 2, another bitonal chord is
present (Example 98). In measure 14 of this excerpt, one finds an F minor/major chord,
F-G# (Ab enharmonic)-A-C.
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 98. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Second Movement, mm. 12-4
Impressionism
Impressionism has been very influential in the music of Latin America since the
early twentieth century. According to Béhague, Latin American composers, with few
124
exceptions, started to adopt Debussy’s compositional procedures in the 1910s.300
Brazilian composers were no different. Neves affirms that Brazilian composers felt
strongly attracted to impressionism because it represented at the same time a reaction to
the Wagnerian influence of the end of the nineteenth century, a fresh approach to
composition, and the “maintenance of the great laws of tonality.”301
In my interview with Lacerda, he stated that he finds Debussy’s harmonies
“wonderful” and that twentieth-century music rests on the French composer’s
contributions.302 Lacerda incorporated impressionist traits into his musical style such as
whole-tone scale, quartal sonorities, planing, and pedal points.
Whole-Tone Scale
Robert Ottman, in his book Advanced Harmony: Theory and Practice, explains
that the whole-tone scale, which is a scale entirely composed of major seconds, is
characteristic of the impressionist music of Debussy.303
In Lacerda’s String Quartet No. 2, five instances of the use of the whole-tone
scale, used both melodically and harmonically, are found. In the first movement, Lacerda
employs the scale twice in the span of three measures (Example 99). In this example,
from measure 97 to the first note of measure 98, the first violin plays the whole-tone
scale Db-Eb-F-G-A-B. The last note of measure 97 (Bb) is ostensibly a chromatic passing
tone. In the same excerpt, the last chord of measure 99 is composed by four notes of a
whole-tone scale, A-B-C#-Eb. This is also an augmented sixth chord that was previously
discussed.
300
Béhague, Music in Latin America, 243.
301
Neves, 19, 78.
302
Lacerda, interview by the author.
303
Robert W. Ottman, Advanced Harmony: Theory and Practice, 5th ed. (New Jersey: Prentice
Hall, 2000), 371.
125
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 99. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, First Movement, mm. 96-9
The same chord (now spelled A-B-C#-D#) is present in the second movement of
the quartet in measure 39, second beat, as seen in the excerpt in Example 100. If, in this
passage, one considers the first note of the cello in the same measure (G) to be part of the
chord, then it contains five whole-tone scale notes, G-A-B-C#-D#.
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 100. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Second Movement, mm. 36-40
Still in the second movement, Lacerda makes an interesting use of the whole-tone
scale by combining its pitches harmonically and melodically (Example 101). The passage
from the last chord of measure 103 to the last note of measure 105 contains the notes of
126
the whole-tone scale G-A-B-C#-D#-F. The only exception is the note D in measure 104
which is a chromatic passing tone.
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 101. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Second Movement, mm. 103-5
In the fourth movement, Lacerda uses yet another whole-tone chord (Example
102). This time, the chord in measure 46 contains the entire whole-tone scale G#-A#-CD-E-F#.
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 102. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Fourth Movement, mm. 45-6
127
Quartal Sonorities
According to Adrianne Auvil, quartal harmony is “the generic term for any
sonority based on construction by the superposition of either fourths or fifths.”304 Ottman
affirms that quartal sonorities are part of Debussy’s music style.305
Lacerda assimilated this impressionist procedure into his musical vocabulary as
well. One example of a quartal sonority in the Brazilian composer’s music is in his Ária
for cello and piano. In measure 75 of Example 103, the piano plays an arpeggio of
superposed fourths, E-A-D-G-C-F#-B. Incidentally, this is the pitch collection of the Eminor scale.
Cello
Piano
Example 103. Lacerda, Ária, mm. 74-6
Lacerda employs quartal sonorities in two of his four string quartets. In his String
Quartet No. 1, one finds two instances of such a sonority. The first is in measure 6 of the
piece’s first movement (Example 104). The last chord of measure 6 is a quartal sonority
composed by the rearrangement of the fourths E-A, A-D, and D-G.
304
Adrianne M. Auvil, “A Survey of the Evolution and Use of Quartal and Quintal Sonorities,
1890-1960” (Ph.D. diss., Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester, 1973), 62.
305
Ottman, Advanced Harmony, 379.
128
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 104. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, First Movement, mm. 5-6
The second quartal sonority is in the same movement, measure 22 (Example 105).
Here, the note F# of the first violin is supported by the chord C-G-D-A. This chord is a
quartal sonority containing the superposition of fifths.
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 105. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 1, First Movement, mm. 21-2
The superposition of fifths produces a quartal sonority in Lacerda’s String
Quartet No. 2. The quartal chord G-D-A-E is in the first part of measure 61 of Example
106. It appears again in measure 62, second beat, but this time without the note E.
129
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 106. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, First Movement, mm. 58-62
Planing
An analysis of Lacerda’s music shows that it contains instances of planing.
Planing or parallelism is the harmonic progression in parallel motion. It is a process
common to the music of Debussy and can be a progression of simple triads, seventh
chords, augmented triads, or any other kinds of sonorities.306 There can be strict planing,
when the quality of the chords does not change, and diatonic planing, when vertical
sonorities are “determined by the prevailing diatonic scale.”307 Two of Lacerda’s string
quartets display the use of planing, demonstrating his assimilation of this impressionist
procedure.
306
Ibid., 377-8.
307
Stefan Kostka and Dorothy Payne, Tonal Harmony with an Introduction to Twentieth-Century
Music, 3 ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1995), 502.
rd
130
In Lídio for string quartet, there is a passage where the cello arpeggiates the
outline of three chords in parallel motion (Example 107). By playing the tonic, fifth, and
octave of the chords F major, G major, and A minor, the cello part results in parallel
fifths and octaves moving upwards in intervals of major seconds.
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 107. Lacerda, Lídio, mm. 24-5
An extended strict planing is present in the same work from measures 33 to 38
where a parallel progression of augmented chords takes place (Example 108). By
focusing on the cello and viola parts of this example, the planing becomes clearer. While
the cello sustains the tonic of the chords, the viola arpeggiates them. From measure 33 to
34, there progresses one chord per measure (Db+5, Eb+5, and E+5). From measure 36 to
beginning of measure 38, there are two chords per measure, moving chromatically
upwards (A+5, Bb+5, B+5, C+5, and Db+5).
131
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 108. Lacerda, Lídio, mm. 32-8
The next example from Lacerda’s String Quartet No. 2 shows a subtler and
shorter planing than the previous excerpt. In measures 45 and 46 of Example 109,
although displaying a progression of four seventh chords, the parallel voicing is only kept
from the first to the second chords and from the second to the third. The two chords in
measure 45, F-Ab-C-Eb and Db-F-Ab-Cb, move in parallel motion (diatonic planing in
this case): the tonic of the chords are in the cello, the third in the second violin, the fifth
in the first violin, and the seventh in the viola. Strict planing occurs between the second
chord of measure 45, Db-F-Ab-Cb, and the first chord of measure 46, Ab-C-Eb-Gb in the
cello and the viola parts.
132
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 109. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, First Movement, mm. 43-6
In the second movement of the same work, Lacerda employs strict planing
involving French augmented sixth chords. In Example 110, the last chords of measures
101, 102, and 103 are French augmented sixth chords that move upwards in parallel
motion and intervals of a fifth.
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 110. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Second Movement, mm. 99-103
133
Example 110 Continued
Pedal Point
Ottman states that impressionist music features the “frequent use of long pedal
points on the tonic against more or less unrelated progressions (in the traditional sense) in
the upper voices [in order to] maintain tonal stability.”308 The music of Lacerda displays
instances of this procedure, demonstrating the composer’s incorporation of this
impressionist element into his style. His Lídio has a good example of pedal point. As seen
in Example 111, the cello plays an F pedal note from measure 65 to measure 68. The
upper string instruments arpeggiate an F#-major chord in measures 65 and 66, resolving
into F major, the tonic key, in measure 67. It is clear in this passage that the cello pedal
maintains the tonal stability by holding the tonic note.
308
Ottman, Advanced Harmony, 370.
134
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Example 111. Lacerda, Lídio, mm. 64-8
Lacerda also makes use of a pedal point in his String Quartet No. 2, as in this
excerpt (Example 112) where the cello holds the pedal note G, starting in measure 2.
Meanwhile, the upper voices move harmonically in G minor from i in measure 2 to V7/iv
in the second beat of measure 4, to iv in measure 5, to It+6/i in the third beat of measure
6, and back to i in measure 8.
The pedal point at the end of Lacerda’s Ária for cello and piano ensures the tonal
stability of the piece as the harmonies above are inconclusive (Example 113). As the left
hand of the piano holds an E pedal from measure 73 (joined by the cello in measure 75)
the upper harmony contains altered chords. There is a bII7 chord (F-A-C-E) in measure
73, followed by a bV7 chord (Bb-D-F-Ab) in measure 74, a quartal chord in measure 75
(E-A-D-G-C-F#-B), and finally a i chord in measure 76. However, the latter chord is not
very stable. It is altered, having the ninth and eleventh added and no third.
135
Example 112. Lacerda, String Quartet No. 2, Third Movement, mm. 1-8
136
Cello
Piano
Example 113. Lacerda, Ária, mm. 70-6
137
CONCLUSION
This study has explored the musical style and ideas of Brazilian composer
Osvaldo Lacerda through the discussion of his influences and development and the
analysis of selected solo and ensemble pieces. As a representative of the Brazilian
musical nationalistic movement, he inherited many important stylistic characteristics
from important figures such as Alexandre Levy, Alberto Nepomuceno, Mário de
Andrade, and Camargo Guarnieri. Levy influenced Lacerda in the use of rhythms from
Brazilian folk and popular music such as Brasileirinho and habanera syncopation.
Nepomuceno’s contributions to later generations of nationalist composers, including
Lacerda, are the use of Mixolydian mode, melodies ending in scale degrees other than the
tonic, vocal music with Portuguese texts, and support of national music and musicians.
Lacerda greatly shaped his nationalist musical style around Andrade’s research on
Brazilian musical constants, i.e., the melodic, rhythmic, polyphonic, and harmonic
patterns present in folk and popular music. Finally, his ten years of study with Guarnieri
(1952-62) helped him to develop and consolidate his compositional skills and his
commitment to nationalism.
The outline of Lacerda’s pedagogical career and membership in musical
organizations in Chapter III shows that the composer has played an important role in the
training of generations of Brazilian musicians and in the promotion of the national music.
Further, the analysis of selected works by Lacerda in Chapters IV and V demonstrates
that his musical style contains nationalistic and non-nationalistic elements. The
nationalistic elements can be divided into four categories: melodic, rhythmic, polyphonic,
and harmonic. In the melodic category, one observes the use of Gregorian modes
(Mixolydian, Lydian, the hybrid “Northeast,” and Dorian), pentatonic and hexatonic
scales, melodies with a descending contour, large melodic intervals, narrow-ranged
melodies, and melodies ending in scale degrees other than the tonic. The rhythmic
category includes the presence of syncopations (Brasileirinho and habanera), ostinatos,
quick repeated notes, and the 3+3+2 rhythmic pattern. In the polyphonic category,
Lacerda uses voices singing in parallel thirds (country thirds or terças caipiras), bass
parts that imitate the popular guitarists’ bass lines, and counterpoint and thematic
138
variations in the style of the popular music flutists. In the harmonic category, one
observes Lacerda’s use of a procedure common to Brazilian popular music, namely the
modulation to the subdominant minor in minor-mode works.
The non-nationalistic elements in the composer’s style can be grouped according
to his influences: Camargo Guarnieri, Heitor Villa-Lobos, and impressionism.
Guarnieri’s non-nationalistic influences include Lacerda’s fondness for the augmented
sixth harmonic interval, the absence of key signature in his scores, his acceptance of free
atonalism, and his strong opposition to twelve-tone music. Villa-Lobos’ influences
include Lacerda’s use of chords with unresolved dissonances, and incomplete and bitonal
chords. From the impressionist musical style, the composer makes use of traits such as
the whole-tone scale, quartal sonorities, parallel chord progressions (planing), and pedal
point.
Compared to mid-nineteenth-century European nationalism, the nationalist
movement in Brazil might seem strangely delayed, as the contributions of its greatest
figures (Andrade, Villa-Lobos, and Guarnieri) derived from the first half of the twentieth
century. From the Brazilian historical point of view, however, the timing of the
movement is quite logical. Brazil only became politically independent from Portugal in
1889 with the Proclamation of the Republic and twentieth-century nationalism was an
appropriate reaction of a freshly born nation in search of its cultural individuality.
Lacerda’s greatest contributions are his conviction with which he has embraced
nationalist ideas and aesthetic and his willingness to combine them with more universal
composition techniques. He has empowered Brazilians with the awareness of the unique
elements of their artistic expression. In addition, by incorporating non-nationalist
elements into his style, he has demonstrated how to keep nationalist music from
stagnancy and viable as an artistic idiom for twentieth-first-century musical expression.
139
APPENDIX A
Human Subject Approval
140
APPENDIX B
Human Subject Consent Form
141
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Carlos Audi was born in São Paulo, Brazil. There he started his music studies at
the age of seven. Mr. Audi attended the Escola Municipal de Música de São Paulo and
the Faculdade Santa Marcelina, where he studied music theory with Osvaldo Lacerda and
cello with Maria Cecília Brucoli. In Brazil, he also received cello instruction from
Zigmunt Kubala and Robert Suetholz. Mr. Audi earned a Bachelor of Music degree from
the Faculdade Mozarteum de São Paulo and a Master of Music degree from the
University of South Carolina, where he studied cello with Dr. Robert Jesselson. At the
Florida State University he studied with cello professor Lubomir Georgiev.
As a cellist, Mr. Audi has been a member of several orchestras in Brazil and in the
United States. In Brazil, these orchestras include the Orquestra Sinfônica de Santo André,
the Orquestra Experimental de Repertório, and the Orquestra Sinfônica da Universidade
de São Paulo, where he played under the direction of Camargo Guarnieri. In the United
States, his orchestral experiences include the South Carolina Philharmonic Orchestra, the
Tallahassee, Augusta (GA) and Albany (GA) Symphony Orchestras, and the Tampa
Opera Orchestra.
Mr. Audi is also very active as a cello and orchestra teacher. He has been a faculty
member at the Clearwater Christian College, Florida State University Summer Camp, and
Hillsborough County Schools.
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