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Texas Choral Directors Association 59th Annual Convention & New Music Reading Clinic

July 27 - 30, 2014 — San Antonio Convention Center The Choral Music of Brazilian Composer Reginaldo Carvalho

Vladimir Silva, UFCG – Brazil vladimirsilva@hotmail.com

1. Life and works

1.1. Born in Guarabira-PB, 1932; died in João Pessoa-PB, 2013 1.2. Early musical influences at home, listening to the modal songs of farmers, washerwomen in the river and

the vaqueiros’ songs. Vaqueiro is a horse-mounted livestock herder of a tradition that originated on the Iberian Peninsula. They usually sing, a cattle-calling song.

1.3. In early youth, around 1942, he moved to Lagoa Seca, where he studied music theory and joined the school choirs at Ipuarana Convent.

1.4. During this period, he discovered the Gregorian chant, the music of Palestrina, Victoria, Bach, Schubert and Wagner.

“One day while searching through one of the rooms of the Convent, I found a stack of 78 rpm discs from Germany. I heard everything whenever possible. I fixed myself in Bach, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert and Schumann mainly. I even find another collection, also huge, only with Wagner works, who became my harmonic paradigm”. (CARVALHO, 2008, p. 3)

1.5. Lived and studied in different cities of the Northeast, including João Pessoa, Natal and Recife, important

cultural centers of the time. 1.6. In 1949, he moved to Rio de Janeiro. He attended the National Conservatory of Orpheonic Singing

(1950-1952), having studied with Gazzi Sá, Muricy Andrade, Paulo Silva and Adhemar Nóbrega, among others.

1.7. It was at this time that he met Villa-Lobos, who became his teacher and urged him to study in France.

“In late 1952, I was living in Paris. He [Villa-Lobos] had sponsored my ticket, and wrote a letter to the great French master Paul Le Flem, who was a disciple of Albert Lavignac and teacher of Tony Aubin. Through him and Villa-Lobos I knew personally all the great musicians of the time: composers and performers, conductors, singers and instrumentalists.” (CARVALHO, 2008, p. 4)

1.8. In 1956, back to Brazil, he served as professor and choir conductor in various educational institutions in

Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais. This was a period in which Reginaldo Carvalho wrote many works and arrangements for choir, both sacred and secular music.

1.9. First Brazilian composer to write concrete-electronic music (Sibemol, 1956) 1.10. In 1964, with a scholarship offered by the French government, he returned to study in France. There

was a frenzy of modernity and musical experimentalism in Paris. On this occasion, he worked at the Centre Bourdan, Organization of Radio-Télévision Française (ORTF), under the direction of Pierre Schaeffer.

1.11. His output includes vocal music (solo and choral), instrumental (solo, chamber, band and orchestral), concrete, electroacoustic, as well as music for theater, film, radio, and television.

“As everyone knows, I love to write music. And I do it all the time, working for free, responding to requests, which are many. Sometimes I write entire collections, always send the originals without keeping copies. I believe that I am or have been very fruitful in production, but I'm the least performed composer in Brazil.

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Often, people ask my music but not interpret it. They act the same way I do here at home. But I'm not even care about it”. (CARVALHO, 2008, p. 10)

1.12. By the end of the 1960s, lived and worked in Brasilia, Federal Capital. Then, he moved to Teresina-PI

and stayed there for 40 years, moving back to João Pessoa only in 2011. 1.13. He wrote various books about music theory, conducting, and music history. 1.14. Sacred works

Year Place Title Comments

1946 Ipuarana, PB Santo! Santo! Santo! Traditional 1946 Ipuarana, PB Tantum ergo No 1 Traditional 1947 C. Grande, PB Tantum ergo No 2 Traditional 1952 Rio de Janeiro, RJ Hino a Nossa Senhora Maria Villar 1954 Juiz de Fora, MG Oração para Antes da Refeição Alano Porto 1954 Paris, França Kyrie Eleison (Missa Brevis, No 2) Traditional 1956 Rio de Janeiro, RJ Glória a Deus Lucas M. Neves 1956 Juiz de Fora, MG As Sete Palavras da Oração Dominical Traditional 1957 São Paulo, SP Oferenda Lucas M. Neves 1957 Juiz de Fora, MG Salmo de Davi Gilberto Villar 1958 Rio de Janeiro, RJ Missa Sertaneja Traditional 1959 S. J. D’El Rey, MG Ave, Maria! Traditional 1978 Teresina, PI Rezação Composer Bendito de São Benedito Traditional O Salutaris Hostia Traditional

1.15. Secular works

Year Place Title Text

1947 Ipuarana, PB O meu Ranchinho J. Baptista Villar 1949 Trovas Populares Traditional 1949 Se eu morresse amanhã Álvares de Azevedo 1950 Rio de Janeiro, RJ Embolada Coryna Rebuá 1950 Rio de Janeiro, RJ Razão de Pranto Coryna Rebuá 1952 Paris, France Canção 3 Irineu Guimarães 1955 Marselha, France As Flô de Puxinanã Zé da Luz 1956 Marselha, France A cacimba Zé da Luz 1958 Recife, PE Iô Paranã Traditional 1959 Rio de Janeiro, RJ Confissão Manuel Bandeira 1990 Teresina, PI Tempo Carlos Drummond de Andrade Cantiga Manuel Bandeira Desafio Manuel Bandeira Encanto de Existir Hindemburgo Pereira Encomenda Traditional Irene no Céu Manuel Bandeira Não te esqueças de mim Rondó do Capitão Manuel Bandeira Tempo Será Manuel Bandeira Passarela dos Santos João de Lima

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2. Choral music

2.1. Choral compositions are mostly short and without many repetitions, sometimes through composed, others with stanzas. Generally, the works are homophonic and written for mixed choir (SATB).

2.2. He wrote different versions of the same composition. 2.3. Trovas popular Nº 1, for voice and piano, and also for a cappella choir. The two pieces remain the same

harmonic, melodic, textual and formal structure, varying in minor details.

Figure 1: Trovas populares, m. 1-4, for voice and piano Copyright 2008 Reginaldo Carvalho

Figure 2: Trovas populares, m. 1-6, for mixed choir

Copyright 2008 Reginaldo Carvalho

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2.4. Santo!, Santo!, Santo! (Holy!, Holy!, Holy!), for female chorus, is one of the few works in which he employs

points of imitation. It was his first composition and is closely related to Schubert’s Heilig, Heilig, Heilig! (E-flat major, triple time, title, text).

Figure 3: Santo! Santo! Santo!, m. 11-14 Copyright 2008 Reginaldo Carvalho

2.5. Tantum ergo Nº 1, for male chorus, presents predominantly homophonic texture.

Figure 4: Tantum ergo No 1, m. 1-5 Copyright 2008 Reginaldo Carvalho

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2.6. Various compositions are based in the Northeastern popular culture, connecting the composer to his childhood and to the music of the place where he was "born and cemented his auditory memory with great affection and enchantment". (CARVALHO, 2008, p. 4)

2.7. His cantata Rezação, published by FUNARTE in 1982, mixes regional (xote, a dance from the Northeast) and universal elements (altered chords).

Figure 5: Rezação, m. 14-22

Copyright 2008 Reginaldo Carvalho

2.8. Rhythm 2.8.1. There are no time signatures 2.8.2. Quarter note is constantly the unit 2.8.3. Syncopation, triplets, appoggiaturas, crossed rhythms

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2.8.4. Regarding the bar lines, he prefers writing them through the pentagrams, employing a technique commonly used for editing Medieval and Renaissance music (mensurstrich) in order to minimize the effects and the stiffness of the bar line, allowing a freer flow of the text.

2.8.5. An example of crossed rhythm can be found in his cantata Rezação.

Figure 6: Rezação, m. 1-10 Copyright 2008 Reginaldo Carvalho

2.9. Vocal lines 2.9.1. Comfortable range for all voices, exploring the high and low boundaries for expressive purposes 2.9.2. Spoken and/or sung voice, sounds and noises, chromatic versus diatonic lines 2.9.3. All parts have divisi, parallelism, chant-like melodies

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Figure 7: Passarela dos Santos, m. 10-13 Copyright 2008 Reginaldo Carvalho

2.10. Harmony

2.10.1. First phase 2.10.1.1. Music based on standards – orthodox harmonies 2.10.1.2. Traditional progressions (Santo!, Santo!, Santo!), major and minor chords

2.10.2. Second phase 2.10.2.1. Unorthodox harmonies 2.10.2.2. Diminished and augmented chord, second and fourth harmonies

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2.10.3. The comparison of As sete palavras da oração dominical (The Seven Words of the Lord's Prayer), written in Juiz de Fora-MG (1956), with the Ave, Maria! (Hail Mary), composed in São João D'El Rey-MG (1959), shows the connection between the two works, since in both Reginaldo Carvalho uses similar harmonic and melodic material. This procedure seems to reiterate the musical, mystic and religious link between the two texts of the compositions, which are actually the two best-known prayers of the Roman Catholic Church (Our Father and Hail Mary).

2.10.4. Even in the sacred repertoire, Reginaldo Carvalho plays with the casual and the unexpected. The cadence (Picardy) that concludes the Ave, Maria! seems to emphasize the expectations of the afterlife and eternity.

Figure 8: As sete palavras da oração dominical, m. 1-3 Copyright 2008 Reginaldo Carvalho

Figure 9: Ave, Maria!, m. 1-3 Copyright 2008 Reginaldo Carvalho

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb-nf87kvvY&list=UUL6bqg07ZCa6wMwc3X6u9aw

TAMUC Concert Chorale sings Ave, Maria!

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2.11. Text 2.11.1. Carefully observes the prosody and the relation between text and music

“I suffer greatly because of the mistakes of my fellow composers and lyricists, both scholars as popular, thus compromising the quality of our music. It gives me great satisfaction to hear the singing with musical prosody fully implemented and well understood.” (Carvalho, 2008, p. 11)

2.11.2. Reginaldo Carvalho highlights important semantic aspects of the poem. In this secular song, A cacimba, the poem is written in Portuguese, although in the way it is spoken in northeastern Brazil. The apocopation creates a very interesting percussive effect that combines with the main subject of the text.

“Desejo, para que negar? Desejo ser um caçote, com dois olhos deste tamanho, para ver aquele magote de moça tomando banho.”

“Desej’… pra quê negá? Desej’ sê um caçote, cum dois óio dêx tamãe! Prá vê aquele magóte de moça tumado bãe!”

"I wish… why should I deny that? I wish to be a small bowl with two huge eyes, to see that crowd of young woman taking a shower."

MÚSICA HODIE 81

Figure 10: A Cacimba, m. 61-68

Copyright 2008 Reginaldo Carvalho

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl9E7PAhrVQ Coro de Câmara de Campina Grande sings A Cacimba

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2.12. Missa sertaneja (Mass of the Hinterland) 2.12.1. Like other Brazilian composers that wrote masses based on idiosyncratic elements of Brazilian

musical culture, Reginaldo Carvalho composed in 1958 the Missa Sertaneja (Mass of the Hinterland) for mixed choir (SATB). It is a cyclic Mass that is divided into six parts. The initial theme of each movement is built on the Mixolydian mode. Rhythmic vivacity is prevalent throughout the work.

Figura 15: Missa Sertaneja: Senhor, Glória, CrenDeusPai, Santo, Benedito and Cordeiro de Deus. Copyright 2008 Reginaldo Carvalho.

2.12.2. The text of the Mass differs from the canonical text of the Catholic Mass, recited in Portuguese, by its popular tone, characterized by the use of colloquialisms.

2.12.3. Gloria: We thank God for the sun, rain and wind, which are essential for maintaining work and life. 2.12.4. Symbolism is another important aspect of the Mass. 2.12.5. Crucifixion: the choir sings in unison, in the lower range and the minor mode. In the resurrection,

the polyphony reappears; the choir sings in the middle register, a static chord of C, recitative. Soprano, alto and tenor change positions and reach the climax (heavens). The rests (suspiratio) and the fermata between bars 21-22 reinforce the expressiveness of the section, the temporary silence of death.

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Figura 16: Missa Sertaneja, Credo, m. 19-27 Copyright 2008 Reginaldo Carvalho.

3. Final words

3.1. Reginaldo Carvalho composed with simplicity and without populism, connecting national and universal elements, the past and the present.

3.2. His style covers multiple tendencies that result from his training and musical tastes developed from childhood, the family and school environment.

3.3. He was cautious about the influences of his teachers. 3.4. With Villa-Lobos, Messiaen and Paul Le Flem, he learned to remain always open to the new, eclectic,

never closing a single trend. 3.5. He did not adhere to any specific compositional aesthetic movement (twelve-tone or atonal, for example).

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3.6. The vast majority of choral compositions have a strong didactic aspect. He wrote most of them for choirs that he directed lifelong, continuing the Orpheonic Singing project initiated by Villa-Lobos.

3.7. His music can be included in the repertoire of amateur and professional choirs because of its variety. The vocal extensions are comfortable, lush and sophisticated harmonies, despite numerous dissonances and unusual progressions.

3.8. Rounded and light sound, with controlled breathing, to keep the legato of the melodic lines and tuned vowels, especially in the highest parts, obtaining a uniform sound.

3.9. Because of the dissonances, vibrato has to be controlled. It is also necessary good articulation and diction, paying attention to linguistic regionalisms that appear in some texts, especially because some of them were collected orally and do not follow the standard Portuguese language.

3.10. The systematic use of the Northeastern modes and stepwise melodies contrasts with the polychords and angular melodies of some compositions, characteristics that place him in line with his time and modernity. He had a strong sense of social-cultural identity.

“I know the Northeast invades all my work, as people say. I make the music I make, I like, I want, despite the countless wealth of information I have. The same way in music, I'm so in philosophy, religion, politics, school of samba and soccer: independent, proud, and responsible. I'm also a frequent and compulsive reader. I like music, like listening to music. I can say that I know and love music. (Carvalho, 2008, p. 4)

4. References CARVALHO, Reginaldo. Entrevista de Vladimir A. P. Silva e José Francisco Lima Silva em julho de 2008. Teresina. Documento escrito. Universidade Federal do Piauí. _____ . A Cacimba. Partitura para coro misto a quatro vozes. França: manuscrito, 1955. _____ . As Sete Palavras da Oração Dominical. Partitura para coro misto a quatro vozes. Juiz de Fora: manuscrito, 1956. _____ . Ave Maria. Partitura para coro misto a quatro vozes. São João D’el Rey: manuscrito, 1959. _____ . Passarela dos Santos. Partitura para coro misto a quatro vozes. Piauí: manuscrito, 1976. _____ . Rezação. Partitura para coro misto a quatro vozes. Rio de Janeiro: FUNARTE, 1980. _____ . Salmo de Davi. Partitura para coro misto a quatro vozes. Minas Gerais: manuscrito, 1957. _____ . Santo! Santo! Santo!. Partitura para coro misto a quatro vozes. s/l: manuscrito, 1946. _____ . Tantum ergo No 1. Partitura para coro misto a quatro vozes. Paraíba: manuscrito, 1946. _____ . Trovas populares Nº 1. Partitura para coro misto a quatro vozes. Rio de Janeiro: manuscrito, 1950. _____ . Trovas populares Nº 1. Partitura para solo e piano. s/l: manuscrito, s/d. COMPAGNON, Antoine. O FERREIRA FILHO, João Valter. Catálogo de Obras de Espécie Vocal para Coral do Compositor Reginaldo Carvalho. Teresina: Texto impresso, 2000. MÚSICA HODIE MARCONDES, Marcos Antônio (Org.). Enciclopédia da Música Brasileira: erudita, folclórica e popular. 2. ed. São Paulo: Art Editora, 1998. SILVA, Vladimir A. P. e SILVA, José Francisco Lima e. Música brasileira para coro a cappella: catalogação e edição da obra de Reginaldo Carvalho. Trabalho de conclusão do PIBIC. Teresina: UFPI-CNPQ, 2008a. _____ . A obra coral de Reginaldo Carvalho: Catalogação e Edição. In: SEMI- NÁRIO NACIONAL DE PESQUISA EM MÚSICA, 8. Anais do... Goiânia: UFG, 2008b. p. 315-317.