My life could be viewed as a series of coincidences, or, as I choose to perceive it, a series of related events. After Irailda’s wonderful presentation I went home and attended the Morehead State Percussion Ensemble concert with my husband. The guest artist was a Brazilian percussionist, Ari Colares, and the final number on the program was Chorino by Hermeto Pascoal. Coincidence, fate, divine intervention? I don’t know but damn, this semester has been full of it.
I have to be honest, I had mixed feelings and opinions of Hermeto Pascoal after hearing clips of his more eccentric compositions, today in class. While the majority of the class were in stitches laughing, I was trying hard to comprehend the humor in the music and visa versa. So this afternoon, I delved a little deeper in order to substantiate my obviously ignorant perceptions.
My first observation of Pascoal’s music is its childlike innocence. Which, in any other context outside of music, may seem insulting. Pascoal however, has an uncanny ability to recreate childlike games and capture the essence of creativity and sincerity in his music (I refer specifically to his less mainstream compositions and not his traditional Brazilian or jazz works). His ideas for creating sounds from everyday objects are not that far removed from John Cage, only a continent away. They both seem to relay the idea of basic sounds in a musical context and demonstrates their ideas of music through everyday mediums and experiences. His orchestrated voices, reminds me of a child mimicking someone. And the Musica da Lagoa could very easily have been children playing in the river. Pascoal seems to incorporate the ‘copycat’ game that we all played as a child (whether for fun or simply to annoy a friend or relative) into his musical vocabulary and takes childlike activities and creates mesmerizing sounds.
I have the utmost respect for composers who stay true to their roots and Pascoal is very obviously an example of this. A true innovator, nationalist, and musician. A musical gem for the people of Brazil.
Irailda, muito obrigada pela tua interessante apresentação. Até esta tarde eu era uma ignorante no que diz respeito a este génio brasileiro!
ReplyDeleteNicola, I was just checking the blog and only now I sow this entry... First of all, congratulations on your Portuguese... I had no idea you could speak and/or write in Portuguese... as you said, this semester has been full of surprises!!!! I am so thrilled that I was able to introduce Hermeto to you all and that you were able to explore him more and find all his amazing things. You are so right when you point out to his child-like style. This is something you can definitively notice not only in his music but in his personality. As I pointed out in class, one thing that really catches my attention is the fact that he enjoys music so much and that he does it with so much fun that it feels like you are looking at a child playing in the yard on a beautiful spring day. You should check one of his videos on youtube on which he is performing with his wife Aline Morena (which is more than 40 years younger than him – another proof of his youthfulness) you will fell (at least I did) like you are looking at a boy and a girl from Kindergarten playing.
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