My Brazilian Odyssey
(Em Portuguese a baixo.)
My Brazilian odyssey began in 1987 when I accompanied my husband, Ben Dunham, to the International Music Council meeting in Brasília, where he was representing the US National Music Council. The renowned Franco-Brazilian flutist Odette Ernest Dias, then professor at the Federal
University, attended my concert of contemporary American music at the Sala Martins Pena. She invited me to give a master class at the University, thus beginning a long friendship and collaboration. Her eldest daughter, Beth,
is the dedicatee of "Santa Teresa." Beth is on the faculty of the Escola de Musica and also a flutist in the National Orchestra in Brasília. When I was professor at the International Summer Music Festival at the Escola, my
colleague was the flutist, Antonio Carlos Carrasqueira. Through "Toninho," I met Maria José and learned of their father, the distinguished flutist João Dias Carrasqueira of São Paulo.
Odette generously shared music from her extensive archive of Brazilian compositions, and much of the music on this CD is by composers she introduced me to, including Osvaldo Lacerda (he later gave me additional compositions of his), José Siqueira, César Guerra-Peixe, and Mathieu-André
Reichert. Odette also first introduced me to the choro and has told me stories about Pixinguinha, whom she knew. (Maria's edition "O Melhor de Pixinguinha" is one of the leading collections of Pixinguinha's music.)
This recording was made possible with a Faculty Fellowship from the Berklee College of Music. My project also included studying, and assisting where I could, the Flautistas da Pro Arte, a wonderful music education project in Río de Janeiro and the nearby village of Marambaia. Thanks to Co-director Claudia Ernest Dias, also one of Odette's daughters, for allowing me this opportunity, and to the children and their teachers.
When I was growing up, my favorite composers – Béla Bartók in particular – were always those influenced by folk traditions. With the exception of Reichert's "Souvenir," which is definitely a European's musical description
of the Amazon region of Brazil, I think the theme running through the compositions on this recording is the melding of the folk, the European tradition, and the "erudite" and the "popular" into a repertoire for the flute that deserves to be more widely known outside Brazil.
Wendy Rolfe, 2006
THE BRAZILIAN MUSICAL TRADITION
Traditional Brazilian music is the result of centuries of synthesis of cultural elements of European (mainly Portuguese), native Indian, and African origins. The languid and sensual melodies and the lyricism of the
17th-century Portuguese modinha blended with the rhythm of the choreographic African batuques in styles such as the lundu, brought to Brazil by the African slaves. This gave birth to the texture of the rhythmic-melodic infrastructure of Brazilian music.
Among the most fashionable genres in the 19th-century salons of Rio de Janeiro we find the waltz, the schottish, and the polca, originating in Bohemia and introduced in Brazil in 1844. These genres would be "Brazilianized" by local musicians, who infused their performances with
articulations, inflections, and rhythmic-melodic designs of the popular tradition, such as syncopation and the displacements of accents. The polca, adapted by the groups of instrumental musicians responsible for the musical
activities of the cities, gave birth to the maxixe and the choro. Likewise, the waltz was incorporated into the serestas (serenades) performed by musicians strolling along the deserted city streets during the early hours of the morning. In Brazil, the line dividing the popular and the classical styles was very subtle. This interaction was intensified by the awakening of nationalistic feeling, leading to the systematization and assimilation of new Afro-Brazilian rhythmic pulses.
The works presented in this CD bring out some traces that are common and pertinent to the Brazilian musical universe. Coming from a Brazilian musical family, to share Brazilian music has always been an aim for me. Sharing this work with my dear friend and musical colleague Wendy Rolfe was a real pleasure! It is full of joy and color, and I hope you will enjoy this music as much as we did!
Maria José Carrasqueira, 2006
Images of Brazil
Tracks 1-3: "Atrahente," "O Corta-Jaca," and "Santa Teresa"
"Atrahente" and "O Corta-Jaca" BY CHIQUINHA GONZAGA (1847-1935) were arranged for flute and piano by my friends, pianist Francisca Aquino and bassist Ricardo Vasconcellos, founders of "AssuntoGrave Musical Editions" in Brasília (www.assuntograve.com). Gonzaga was a pioneering woman composer in Río and an early Brazilian suffragist. "Atrahente" means "attractive"
and is a polka. "O Corta-Jaca" was written in 1895 as part of the opera Zizinha Maxixe. It is a maxixe, an urban dance that appeared in the forrós and cabarés in the Lapa district of Río de Janeiro around 1875. The tune was "borrowed" by Darius Milhaud for Le boeuf sur le toit. FRANCISCA AQUINO (WITH RICARDO VASCONCELLOS) began writing "Santa Teresa," a modern choro, when she was staying at a beautiful old Colonial hotel in the Santa Teresa section of Río, high on hills that overlook the city. (The cover photo for this recording was taken in Santa Teresa.)
Track 4: "Poemeto" (1974); Track 8: "Mômento Lírico" (1974); Track 9: "Toccatina" (1974); Track 15: "Cantilena" (1974); Track 17: "Romântica" (1975)
BY OSVALDO LACERDA (b. 1927) is one of Brazil's leading composers in its Nationalist School. When Odette Ernest Dias first shared "Poemeto" and "Mômento Lírico" with me, I was drawn to the lyricism in the music and to the harmonies, which had a different flavor from those north of the Equator. Maria José introduced me to Sr. Lacerda in 2000, and he generously gave me copies of several more of his works. Maria and I returned just before we recorded in October 2005, played the repertoire for him, and shared coffee and biscuits in his home in São Paulo. After giving us his "seal of approval," he said a bit about his music: "Poemeto" was to be "more dolce, intimate." "Romântica," like "Cantilena," which was written
for Maria's brother, Antonio Carlos, is also "dolce." "Cantilena" is like a traditional, very flowing song from the area of São Paulo. "Mômento Lírico" was written for João Dias Carrasqueira, father of Maria José and Toninho.
Tracks 5-7: "Sonatina em Ré Maior" (1974)
BY RADAMES GNATTALI ((1906-1988), born in Porto Alegre, spent much of his career in Río de Janeiro, where he was one of the shaping influences in the formation and programs of the National Radio. He was a pioneer in bringing together the "popular" and "classical" Brazilian music genres, instruments, and performers. Gnattali arranged, conducted, and composed, working with contemporaries, such as the great singer Bidú Sayão and Jacob do Bandolim, and influencing those in the next generation, such as Tom Jobim. While at a National Flute Association Convention (USA), I bought my copy of the "Sonatina" from its dedicatee, the eminent Brazilian flutist, Celso
Woltzenlogel. It was also dedicated to Heitor Alimonda, the Brazilian pianist. The third movement, "Lembrando Pixinguinha," is an homage to the legendary Brazilian flutist, saxophonist, and composer of choro. It, too,
is influenced by Brazilian rhythms (the interplay between triple and duple meters, for instance).
Track 10: "Souvenir du Para," Op. 10
BY M. A. REICHERT
The virtuoso Belgian flutist Mathieu-André Reichert (1830-1880) was brought to Río in 1859 by the Emperor to perform at the Imperial Court. He and his colleague and erstwhile rival, Joaquim Callado (writer of the first choro),
established a great flute tradition in Brazil. Odette Ernest Dias found many of his lost works and has published the first modern edition of these, with an informative biography (publ. Editora Universidade de Brasília).
"Souvenir" was written after Reichert visited Para, the Amazon region of Brazil.
Tracks 11-14: "Quatro Coisas" (c. 1988)
11, Prelûdio; 12, Movimentação; 13, Interlûdio; 14, Caboclo de Pena
BY CESAR GUERRA-PEIXE
"Quatro Coisas" are short vignettes by César Guerra-Peixe (1914-1993). Another Brazilian composer who drew on Brazilian traditions, Guerra-Peixe traveled in the interior of Brazil and in the northeast, collecting and studying folkloric music. He, too, was influential in establishing a
Brazilian nationalist tradition. Flutists will also enjoy his duets, trio, and quartet in Celso Woltzenlogel's excellent Método Ilustrado de Flauta (publ. Irmãos Vitale, São Paulo). "Caboclo de Pena" is based on an Amerindian dance, typical of northeast Brazil, danced mainly at Carnival time.
Track 16: "Toada"
BY JOSE DE LIMA SIQUEIRA (1907-1985) was born in Conceiçao in Paraiba. He, too, incorporated Brazilian folk rhythms and harmonies, especially from the northeast, into his compositions. After studying at the National Music
Institute in Río, he went on to found and conduct the Brazilian and Río de Janeiro Symphony Orchestras. The "Toada" is one of his "Drei Etuden." The toada is a melancholic and sentimental song, one of the Brazilian lyrical romance forms.
Wendy Rolfe, Flutes http://people.berklee.edu/~wrolfe/
"She had charm, sensitivity, and rare technical ability." – Andrew Porter, The New Yorker
Wendy Rolfe is a leading performer on historical and modern flutes. She has toured the USA with a Solo Recitalist Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and also annually tours Brazil. Ms. Rolfe performs, records, and tours with Boston's Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Baroque, and New
York's Concert Royal. She has appeared with the New York Collegium and the Dallas Bach Society and performed and recorded with Toronto's Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra (2006 Juno Award). A Tanglewood Fellow, she has participated in the Boston and Connecticut Early Music Festivals, and the Waterloo, Monadnock, and Buzzards Bay Festivals. Ms. Rolfe has been artist and professor at the International Flute Festival in Quito, Ecuador, and at the International Summer Festival in Brasília, Brazil. In the USA, she has given recitals and master classes at leading conservatories and
universities, including the San Francisco Conservatory and the University of Michigan, and in Brazil, the universities of São Paulo, Río, and Brasília.
Ms. Rolfe is professor at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. She earned the BM at Oberlin Conservatory with Robert Willoughby and the MM and DMA at the Manhattan School of Music with Harvey Sollberger. She also studied with Marcel Moyse, Janice Smith, Lois Schaefer, Thomas Nyfenger, and in master classes with Jean-Pierre Rampal. Ms Rolfe has recorded for Decca, Telarc (Grammy-nominated), Analekta, for Ken Burns' "Thomas Jefferson" on PBS, and with the Hollywood Studio
Orchestra for Disney/Touchstone.
MARIA JOSÉ CARRASQUEIRA, PIANO
Renowned as performer and professor, Brazilian pianist Maria José Carrasqueira pursues her career as a soloist, chamber musician, lecturer, and recitalist in Europe, Brazil, the United States, and Latin America to wide acclaim. She is the producer of Régia Música, a highly-respected classical music series with one of Brazil´s major record labels, Paulinas-COMEP and is the recipient of three of the most important prizes for classical musicians in Brazil: The Carlos Gomes Award-Best Instrumental
Soloist; the São Paulo Critics of Art Association Award-Best Recitalist of the Year, and the prestigious Sharp Music Award-Best Classical CD Production.
Ms. Carrasqueira received her PhD from the University of São Paulo with a thesis on the life and works of legendary Brazilian composer M. Camargo Guarnieri, with whom she also studied. Born into an artistic family, she received her first music lessons from her flutist father, Professor João
Dias Carrasqueira, followed by piano studies with Brazilian professor and composer Lina Pires de Campos. In Europe she studied with Harry Datyner, Doris Rossiaud, M. Tagliaferro, Bruno Seidlhofer, E. Richepin, J. Demus, and H. Dreyfuss (harpsichord).
Ms. Carrasqueira has performed and taught at music festivals throughout Latin America, notably Peru and Ecuador, and in Europe, including Scandinavia, Germany, and Italy. She has also performed extensively in the United States and appeared on the National Flute Convention's Twenty-fifth Anniversary program.
Her two editions of Brazilian music, O Melhor de Pixinguinha (The Best of Pixinguinha) and O Livro de Pattápio Silva (The Book of Pattápio Silva) for flute and piano, are published by Irmãos Vitale. In 2005, her CD with works by Ernesto Nazareth was released by the French label SOLSTICE in Europe and by YB in Brasil, receiving four stars from the French magazines Le Monde de La Musique and Diapason. She is currently professor of piano at the
Faculdade Santa Marcelina in São Paulo.
A MINHA ODISSEIA BRASILEIRA
A minha Odisseia brasileira começou em 1987, quando acompanhei o meu marido Ben Dunham á "International Music Council" em Brasília, onde ele representou o National Music Council dos EUA. A aclamada flautista franco-brasileira Odette Ernest Dias, que era na altura professora na
Universidade Federal, foi ao meu concerto de mûsica contemporanea Americana na Sala Martins Pena. Aí, ela convidou-me para dar uma masterclasse na Universidade, dando início a uma longa amizade e colaboração. A filha mais velha de Odette, Beth, é "dedicatee" de Santa Teresa. Beth é professora na Escola de Mûsica e flautista na Orquestra Nacional da Brasília. Quando eu ensinei no "Brasília International Summer Music Festival," o meu colega era um maravilhoso flautista, Antonio Carlos Carrasqueira. Foi atraves do "Toninho" que conheci a Maria José e aprendi muito sobre o pai de ambos, o grande flautista João Dias Carrasqueira de São Paulo.
A Odette partilhou, generosamente, mûsica do seu arquivo extenso de composiçoes brasileiras. A maior parte da mûsica neste CD pertence a compositores que descobri através da Odette, que inclui Osvaldo Lacerda (este, mais tarde, deu-me composiçoes dele), José Siqueira, César Guerra-Peixe e Mathieu-André Reichert.
Com a Odette também descobri o "choro," ela contou-me histórias sobre Pixinguinha, quem ela conhecia. O pai da Maria José, João Dias Carrasqueira, também o conhecia e tocava com ele. E a ediçao "O Melhor do Pixinguinha" da Maria, é uma das coleçoes mais importantes desta mûsica.
Esta gravaçao foi possível através de um Fellowship da Berklee College of Music. O meu projecto inclui também o estudo e a assisténcia aos Flautistas da Pro Arte – um projecto maravilhoso de educaçao musical no Río e na
aldeia Marambaia. Gostaria também de agradecer á Claudia Ernest Dias, também filha de Odette, ás criancas e aos professores, por me terem dado essa oportunidade.
Ao crescer, os meus compositores favoritos eram sempre os que eram influenciados por tradiçoes folclóricas, especialmente, Béla Bartók. Com a excepçao de "Souvenir" de Reichert, que 'e definitivamente uma descriçao musical europeia do Amazonas no Brasil, eu penso que o tema predominante destas composiçoes é o folklore, as tradiçoes europeias e o "erudito" e o "popular." Um conjunto de repertório para a Flauta que merece ter mais reconhecimento fora do Brasil.
Wendy Rolfe, 2006 (translation, Adriana Duarte)
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