The Music of Richard Wagner and its influence in Brazil

Harry Crowl

The relations between Brazil and Wagner’s music have

attracted a great deal of curiosity from the end of the 19th century

to our days. It’s a well known fact that both his intellectual and

artistic productions led to controversy, even in Brazil.

The first issue ever involving the composer’s name with Brazil to

draw attention is that the Emperor Pedro II of Brazil had

presumably had some connection with the Wagner’s music.

The Brazilian Emperor’s interest in the filed of arts is already a well

known and much admired aspect. He was a generous patron and

thanks to him many Brazilian composers and artists had the chance

to study in Europe, especially the nowadays famous Carlos Gomes.

Besides that, there have been many actions to promote both

Wagner’s music and ideas in Brazil throughout the 20th century.

Albeit, through the actual production of his operas and the

performances of his music in concerts as well as through Brazilian

composers’ music who took up the influence of his style.

The episode involving D. Pedro II’ interest in Wagner’s music has

lead to many interpretations and myths as can be seen on the

following Wikipedia (Portuguese) anonymous entry:

"Also in March 1857, the Brazilian ambassador in Leipzig appeared

unexpectedly in Zurich bringing a message to Wagner. His Imperial

Majesty Dom Pedro II, Emperor of Brazil, was very interested in the

work of Wagner, and wanted to invite him to Rio de Janeiro. Wagner

was so surprised that he could not believe it. He sent scores richly

bound and autographed of “The Flying Dutchman”, “Tannhäuser”

and “Lohengrin” to Brazil, and waited for a response. Several

months went by, and the answer did not come. Wagner thought he

had been played a hoax. Only many years later, when Pedro II

himself appeared to greet him in person at the first Bayreuth

Festival is that Wagner learned that the Emperor's interest in his

work was true. To the present date, one can read the guestbook of

the hotel in Bayreuth marked modestly: Name: Pedro II Occupation:

Emperor. It is speculated that Wagner was waiting for an answer

and got no, but it is more likely that, no matter what the interest of

Peter II in bringing Wagner to Brazil, his ministers have so

deterred. After all, we must not forget that Wagner was then

considered a revolutionary criminal, even wanted by police in

Germany "(1).

The episode was revealed in detail by Edgard Brito Chaves Junior, in

his book "Wagner and Brazil", in which he tells us:

"Undoubtedly, the greatest bond that Wagner had with Brazil

consisted of the exchange of letters between the composer and the

then Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil’s son, bearing the same

name as his father, Dr. Ernesto Ferreira França, in 1857. This

correspondence led Wagner to think about moving to Brazil and

present their works in Italian translation in the Lyric Theatre of Rio

de Janeiro. Those letters also prove Wagner’s intention to dedicate

to D.Pedro II his “Tristan and Isolde”, having earlier abandoned the

project for “The Ring of the Nibelungs”, to devote himself to that

lyrical drama. "(2)

Later, he continues:

"The first letter of Ferreira França, dated from Dresden, on March 9,

1857, which will find Wagner in a depressive mood, banned from

Germany, says in French:

"I am one of your talents admirers both of and your musical and

literary works, and knowing that you are in Zurich and perhaps now

with nothing to attach you to Europe at this moment, it occurred to

me the idea of a relationship between you and my country. I have in

mind associating the southern charming nature and the great talent

that no one can deny you. I thought you’d might decide to

undertake a leisure trip to Brazil, whose capital, Rio de Janeiro, as

you might know, has a very well established Italian opera house,

where your works could be presented and where you would

undoubtedly find support and protection in the person of the

Emperor, a zealous protector of arts and letters. "I take hereafter

the liberty to consult with you about it and, in case you authorize it,

I shall write within the next 24 hours to the present board of the

Rio de Janeiro Lyric Theatre to convey your wishes. I am not in

charge of taking any initiative in this regard, but I believe I’m

providing a service to my country, giving it the opportunity to

admire such a talent as yours.””

"It has come to my knowledge that you are finishing a great work,

whose title is worthy of its author, The Nibelungs. If you want to

dedicate this new opera, with pleasure I shall convey your wish to

His Majesty, whose qualities and skills are above any praise. In this

case, your application must be accompanied by a copy of all your

musical and poetic works. I hope you excuse the liberty I have

taken and accept the expression of high esteem with which I have

the honor to be your humble servant. " (3)

The article by Edgard Brito Chaves Junior Keys in its turn based on

an article written by Carlos H. Hunsche, published in the Humboldt

Magazine, no.23, Year 11, 1971. Due to the widespread interest not

only in Wagner’s music, but also in his ideas, speculation around

this episode was always intense, in Brazil. On the other hand, D.

Pedro II has traditionally been associated with the idea of a well

cultivated ruler interested in the arts and sciences with an open

mind to the innovations that took place during time his time.

Anyway, it was not only Dom Pedro II’s interest that made the

music and the ideas of Wagner come to Brazil when the composer

was still alive and fully productive.

The evolution of concert music in Brazil, as described in one of the

first serious books about that subject entitled "150 Years of Music

in Brazil", its author Luis Heitor Correa de Azevedo states that

Wagner's music began to appear in the opera seasons repertoire in

Rio de Janeiro, in 1883. (4) In that year, the opera "Lohengrin"

would have been received with coldness and boredom. This was

something that could be easily explained by the deep rooted habit

of nearly a century of Italian opera tradition in Brazil, at the time.

However, in 1892, still according to Luis Hector, the first audition of

"Tannhäuser" was received with much enthusiasm and was a major

social event.

Wagner's operas came to Brazil in a sequence thereafter. They were

"Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" in 1905, "Tristan und Isolde" in

1910, "Parsifal" and "Die Walküre" in 1913, and in 1922, during the

celebrations for Brazil’s independence centennial, the complete foru

operas cycle "Der Ring des Nibelungen". As opera companies that

were active in Brazil at that time were always Italian until the time

of World War I, Wagner's operas were always staged in that

language. Only from the 1922 celebrations and on is that German

opera companies, or German language casts began to appear in

Brazil. From that time on, there has been no more news of any

production occurred in another language besides the original

German. The practice adopted in some countries to eventually

produce foreign operas in the local language has always been

vehemently rejected in Brazil. Between 1911 and 1959, over one

hundred performances of ten musical dramas by Wagner were

presented in Rio de Janeiro.

From the 1960s on, festivals in many different capital cities also

included Wagner’s music in their opera seasons and concert

programs. The Amazonas Opera Festival, held annually in Manaus,

in the historically famous Opera House has had almost all his operas

already staged. "Parsifal" was the one chosen in 2013, during the

celebrations of the composer's bicentennial. That’s to say, exactly

one hundred years after its premiere in Brazil. A very interesting

fact about the production of "Parsifal" at the Teatro Municipal in Rio

de Janeiro, on September 8, 1913 was that there was a legal

prohibition from Germany that the opera could not be presented

elsewhere before 1. January 1914. Premiered in Bayreuth in 1882, it

was to be heard again in the Metropolitan Theater, New York, on

December 24, 1903, with a subsequent ban on the basis of German

law. The premiere of the Paris Opera production took place only on

January 6, 1914. The fact is that Rio de Janeiro’s Theater had

obtained a special license to present the opera when Prince Albert,

Kaiser Wilhelm II’s brother, and his wife, Princess Irene of Prussia

visited Brazil in early 1913 with the purpose of expanding the

investments and trade with Germany. (5)

The influence of Wagner's music could already be felt in the

productions of Carlos Gomes (Campinas,1836 - Belém,1896), the

most famous Brazilian opera composer. His musical discourse lies

somewhere between the tradition of Verdi and Puccini, which places

him alongside with Amilcare Ponchielli (1834-1886). He gained

wide notoriety in Italy during his time. However, Italians flirtation

of with Wagner's music was to be strengthened through Arrigo

Boito (1842-1918), poet, composer and librettist, author of the

opera "Mefistofele" and also of Verdi's operas librettos "Otello" and

"Falstaff".

Despite the growing nationalist sentiment in Italy, which took place

around the time of the country’s unification, the enthusiasm for the

new German music grew considerably even under intense protest of

the critics on newspapers. The construction of a musical drama

through the continued use of leitmotifs, in the manner of Wagner,

exerted great attraction on Italian composers at that time. Carlos

Gomes was not immune to this. Not only he used such technique,

but also even eventual melodic motifs began to appear in some of

his works as well as in some Italians composers. In Gomes’ opera

"Lo Schiavo" (The Slave), dated of 1889, he makes a distant but

noticeable reference to the famous "Forest Murmurs" musical

episode, from Siegfried, at the beginning of the Fourth Act, through

the aria "Come è Splendido e bello il sol". The very heroic character

and descriptive orchestral prelude that precedes the aria, the

nowadays well-known (in Brazil) "Alvorada (Dawn)", were very

similar to the Wagnerian orchestral excerpts. In the opera "Mary

Tudor", the use of leitmotifs gives cohesion to a structure in which,

the composer was already looking away from the ordinary sequence

of arias, ensembles and choruses to create a solid drama. In his last

opera, "Condor" or "Odaléia", premiered at the Teatro Alla Scala in

Milan on February 21, 1891, Carlos Gomes makes explicit use of

leitmotifs. The subject was already somewhat out of fashion. A plot

that took place between Samarkand and Baghdad was imagined by

Mario Canti, the librettist. The opera was received coldly. Although

the Brazilian composer was trying to adapt to the new trends

through a mature and coherent drama having assimilated the most

important of Wagnerian technique, it is still belonged to the world

of exotic distant lands that made "Il Guarany" so famous. The

premiere of “Odaléia” took place one year after the that of the

opera "Cavalleria Rusticana", by Pietro Mascagni, in "Verista" style

in Italian opera, directly influenced by Realism, in literature.

Another aspect about Wagnerian operas in Italy at that time was

the constant use of harmonic modulations, which seemed very

annoying to some critics.

The Italian violinist and musical memorialist, Vincenzo Cernicchiaro,

who lived many years in Brazil in the second half of the 19th

century, spared no criticism to some Brazilian composers he

considered to use harmonic modulations abusively. The author

describes anyway, the premiere of "Condor" in Brazil, as a major

event. It took place in 1892, the same year "Tannhäuser" was

premiered in Rio de Janeiro attracting a lot more interest than

Carlos Gomes’ opera. (6)

The most distinguished of all admirers and supporters of

Richard Wagner’s music in Brazil was Leopoldo Miguéz (Rio de

Janeiro, 1850-1902), whose education had been fully realized in

Europe. His father, a successful Spanish merchant moved to Porto,

when Leopold was still a boy. There, he studied violin, piano and

harmony. For a long time, Miguéz served as a musician in his spare

time, as he followed his father in the trade business. However, the

attraction for both conducting and composition made him gradually

move away from trade to devote himself exclusively to music. In

1882, the composer put all his efforts on the Symphony in E flat,

introducing choirs and a fanfare in the final movement. The work

was written especially for the Marquis of Pombal’s death centennial

celebrations and it was premiered at the Dom Pedro II Imperial

Theater. The composer invested a large sum in the production of

this symphony that took after Beethoven’s 9the Symphony

grandiloquent model. His financial loss was huge, but the success of

the work was worth the effort. Besides being a composer, Miguéz

was an important reformer of music education and the Conservatory

organizer, which was renamed National Institute of Music, after the

Republic’s proclamation. For some years, he worked as a merchant

and developed his artistic activities in parallel.

Miguez’ talent, combined with a severe training in a traditional so-

called Portuguese Trade School for business administration helped

him considerably. His thoroughness with ledgers was transposed

into the scores he prepared and copied very accurately. After the

success of the Symphony in E flat, the composer went to Europe to

improve his composing skills. He brought with him an autograph

letter of the Emperor Pedro II addressed to the French composer

Ambroise Thomas, who taught at the Paris Conservatoire. He

eventually settled in Brussels, the city where as a child he dreamed

of studying. Miguéz arrived in Europe in 1882, the year of Wagner's

death, which caused an enormous repercussion in the press. It was

something similar to the death of a great head of state. That year

was also when Wagner’s last opera, "Parsifal" made it to the scene

in Bayreuth. In his return to Brazil in 1884, his advocacy on

Wagner’s aesthetic ideals took him together with Coelho Neto,

writer and several young intellectuals, and the composer Alberto

Nepomuceno, to found the "Centro Artístico" that would be

responsible for Wagner’s ideas dissemination in Brazil. The

programmatic use of music fascinated Miguéz so that his attempts

in the field of pure music, such as in the Symphony in E-flat and the

Sonata in A major for violin and piano, were not as successful as in

his symphonic poems.

Miguéz’ tone poems represent the first large-scale symphonic works

ever written by a Brazilian composer. Each one of these large

orchestral frescos lasts about 20 minutes comprising full

development sections with formal coherence. The model of Franz

Liszt is quite evident, but these compositions present a less

rhapsodic structure than those by the Hungarian composer. In all

three symphonic poems, he uses two alternating themes. There is a

remarkable tone-color work associated with a refined orchestration.

There are many contrasts between solos and ensembles reinforced

by the brass section with the strings support.

It is important to stress out that the orchestral excerpts from

Wagner operas became independent well known musical works. All

preludes, interludes and overtures were introduced in the

symphonic repertoire and inspired many concert pieces. As the

operas concepts for the theater themselves taken after Wagner

required material resources often unattainable, either in Brazil, or in

most European and New World countries at that time.

"Parisina" (1888), the first of the symphonic poems of Miguéz, is a

major work inspired by a poem by Lord Byron. It was written

between 1812 and 1815 based on a sixteenth century narrative. In

Byron’s poem, Hugo and Parisina were engaged before Azo decide

to marry Parisina. Hugo was the bastard son of Azo, Duke of Naples.

In the end, Azo orders Hugo to be executed before Parisina who

runs screaming in horror as if she were mad. In the original story,

however, the fate of Parisina is unknown. Miguéz sought a model

similar to Wagner’s idea of redemption. According to Guilherme de

Melo, "he was looking for a transcendent idealism, excluding any of

the original poem’s sensuality, to treat love in its purest and most

elevated form." (7) In this work, Miguéz introduces a fugue that is

probably the first written according to scholastic canons as all the

fugues indicated in the works of Brazilian composers from the

colonial period are just simple “fugatti” without further

elaborations. "Ave Libertas" (1890) is a tribute to Marshal Deodoro

da Fonseca (1827-1892) to commemorate the Republic’s

Proclamation’s first anniversary. Miguéz represents in this piece the

triumph of the Republic over the Empire as an apotheosis. The time

control is rigorous and dramatic and effective use of orchestration is

perhaps the most well finished example within the Brazilian musical

romanticism. The plot here is not as detailed as it would be

expected in a typical symphonic poem.

"Prometheus" (1891), the last symphonic poem by Miguéz is based

on Greek mythology. Prometheus stole fire from Olympus and

delivered it to men, teaching them how to use it. Zeus punished him

for that chained him to a cliff on top of the Caucasus. The work

begins in the Dorian mode depicting the Theogony, or the origin of

the gods in Greek mythology, which develops the symbolism of

Prometheus, the son of the Titan Iapetus by Clymene, one of the

Oceanids. According to Hesiod’s classic work, Prometheus, which

means "Forethinker", was one of the Titans who supported Zeus

against Chronos. Men Creator and giver of fire to mankind, he was

sentenced to be chained for 30,000 years, with an eagle who fed on

his ever-regenerating liver every day. However, he was freed by

Heracles, who replaced the prisoner by Chiron, the centaur.

All three symphonic poems were published in Leipzig by J.Rieter-

Biedermann. The composer traveled to Europe in 1895 with the

purpose of visiting conservatories in France, Italy and Germany. For

that prupose, he requested financial assistance to the newly sworn

republican government that only allowed him to keep his wages

during the trip. Besides getting the publication of his symphonic

poems, as well as works by other his contemporary Brazilian

composers in Leipzig, he acquired a large number of instruments for

the National Institute of Music’s symphony orchestra. In a report

presented to the Minister of the Interior, in 1896, Miguéz hails what

he had seen in German conservatories opposed to French and

Italian counterparts.

Some authors, such as Vincenzo Cernicchiaro and Renato Almeida,

tried to diminish the importance of Miguéz’ works. The first one

considered him unimaginative and overestimated, while the other

one, too subservient to Wagner’s music. It is a fact that Cernichiaro

did not see with good eyes the growing interest in German opera in

a milieu where he thought to be Italian opera’s exclusive territory.

Renato Almeida was on the other hand, totally committed to Mário

de Andrade’s nationalist movement’s cause and wanted to diminish

the importance all romantic composers who did not make use of

Brazilian folk themes according to the modernists beliefs. In his

book "Compêndio de História da Música Brasileira " (8), he even

states untruly that symphonic poems appeared in Brazil only in

1897 (!) with Leopoldo Miguéz. This was at a time when Claude

Debussy had already premiered "L'Aprés-midi d'one faune ", first

presented in 1894, Paul Dukas, his "L'Apprenti Sorcier ", premiered

in 1897, and Jean Sibelius, "Finland", premiered in 1899.

Cernicchiaro even states, what in our today’s current understanding

is very shallow, that the symphonic poems by Miguéz lack stylistic

unity, originality and a more rigorous orchestration making him a

second-rate composer .... (!) (9).

From that time to the present, one could say exactly the opposite,

as Miguéz was very thoroughly composer and an exceptional

orchestrator. Such quality was improved in its vast experience as a

conductor. He was therefore an artist in pace with his time and his

programmatic symphonic works were pointing towards the same

direction of the most updated trends in Europe in the late

nineteenth century. This was something Cernicchiaro could not

admit. It is no exaggeration to approximate these symphonic

poems to the early ones composed by Richard Strauss.

There were two productions for the theater by Miguéz. The first one

was the incidental music for the drama, "Pelo Amor!” (For Love!),

on a libretto by Coelho Neto, which was performed at the Casino

Fluminense in 1897. It is, therefore, a drama with musical numbers

and not exactly an opera, as some authors suggest. His only opera,

"I Salduni", was premiered at the Teatro Lirico Fluminense in 1901.

Those performances took place under excellent conditions provided

by Giovanni Sanzone’s opera company. However, they did not take

place on the occasion for which they were planned, the Fourth

Centennial of Brazil’s celebrations. Despite of being a devoted

follower of Wagner aesthetics, Miguéz introduced some

Mediterranean colors into his music. And although the plot had

nothing to do with a Brazilian theme, he was looking somehow for

southern European roots. In the case of "I Salduni", he used a story

taken the times of the Roman Empire. In this opera, the composer

explicitly appropriated themes from "The Ring of the Nibelungs". On

a libretto by Coelho Neto, translated into Italian by Ettore Malaguti,

the opera is set during the time of Caesar's wars against the Gauls,

covering their Druidic rites and customs. The plot describes the vow

of the “Salduni” fraternal friendship while going to war chained

together to one another and destined to die together. It still deals

with them both love for the same woman and the final destruction

of the Gallic armies, crushed by the Roman strategy.

Miguéz was also the author of "Hymn to the Proclamation of the

Republic", with lyrics by Medeiros de Albuquerque. Despite having

benefited from Dom Pedro II generosity, Miguéz was a staunch

Republican and that political view of his much benefited him after

the Republic’s proclamation in 1889. He died on September 6, 1902.

Another composer who also was influenced by the music of Wagner

was Alexandre Levy (São Paulo, 1864-1892), as can be heard on his

symphonic poem "Werther", of 1888. In fact, this composition still

follows the structural form of an overture. Levy was the son of a

French merchant of music of Jewish origin, Louis Levy, who was

also a clarinet player. Although he died very young, his musical

output was very significant. Despite of most authors attaching him

to the nationalist movement, he was a romantic composer mostly

trained in the European tradition, directly influenced by the mid-

nineteenth century French, which followed the earlier German

models of Schumann and Mendelssohn. Such influences can be

noted in works like his Symphony in E minor, chamber and piano

music. However, in "Werther", the composer is already closer to the

more elaborated overtures such as those in the operas "Rienzi" and

"Tannhäuser", by Wagner.

Alberto Nepomuceno was another composer who lived through this

time of great conflict on both aesthetic and political ideas. Born in

Fortaleza, in 1865, he was educated in Rio de Janeiro and in 1890

went to Berlin, where he improved his fluency in German language

and joined the Academy Meisterschule, becoming a composition

student of Heinrich von Herzogenberg, a great friend of Brahms.

During his vacations, he attended the concerts of Brahms and Hans

von Bülow, in Vienna. Later he transferred to the Stern

Conservatory in Berlin, where for two years he had organ and

composition lessons with Arnó Kleffel, and piano with H. Ehrlich.

Nepomuceno also had lessons with Theodor Lechetitzky. In his class

he met his future wife the Norwegian pianist, Walborg Bang whom

he married in 1893. She was a student of Edvard Grieg, the most

important Norwegian composer of the time. After his marriage, he

spent a season at Grieg’s home in Bergen. Nepomuceno’s friendship

with Grieg was essential for the development of a nationalistic

ideal, especially through the awareness of Brazilian culture’s

richness. After making the finals at the Stern Conservatory, in 1894,

conducting the Berlin Philharmonic with two of his works (Scherzo

für grosses Orcherter e Suíte Antiga), he enrolled at the Schola

Cantorum in Paris in order to improve his organ studies under

Alexandre Guilmant. At that time, he met Camille Saint-Saëns,

Charles Bordes, Vincent D'Indy and others. He attended the world

premiere of “Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune”, by Claude Debussy,

Nepomuceno was the first to conduct that piece in Brazil, in 1908,

during the Opening of Ports Centenary celebrations. He was also

invited by Charles Chabault, Greek Professor at the Sorbonne to

write the incidental music for the tragedy “Electra”. Funded by the

Brazilian government, in 1910, he held several concerts with music

by Brazilian composers in Brussels, Geneva and Paris. During that

tour, he visited Debussy at his home in Neuilly-sur-Seine, having

received as a gift the score of “Pelléas et Mélisande”, with an

autograph. (10)

In 1913, he conducted the great Wagner Festival at the Municipal

Theatre of Rio de Janeiro, having as soloist the dramatic tenor Karl

Jorn, from both the Metropolitan Theater in New York and the

Royal Opera of Berlin’s casts, in addition to being a singer at the

German Imperial House. It was the first time ever Rio de Janeiro

heard of a Festival fully dedicated to the works of Wagner. The

repertoire presented was of excerpts from the opera "Die

Meistersinger von Nürnberg", "Der Fliegende Holländer",

"Tannhäuser", "Die Walküre" and "Lohengrin" (11). Nepomuceno

wrote two operas, “Ártemis”, in 1898, on a libretto by Coelho Neto

and “Abul”, in 1913, on a libretto of his own, based on a novel by

Herbert Ward.

Artemis was premiered at the Teatro São Pedro de Alcântara.

Nepomuceno used an orchestra of Wagnerian proportions,

something still little known to Brazilian audiences. It is a one act

opera with a non interrupted action, faithfully following the model

of Wagner. There are purely instrumental passages in the opera, but

the music fits beautifully with the dramatic action. The plot of the

opera presents Helios, a Greek sculptor, Hestia, his wife and Delia,

their daughter. It takes place in ancient Greece, where the scene

shows the sculptor before his greatest creation, the sculpture of

Ártemis. All the drama revolves around the artist's fascination about

his work and the madness that is taking over him. He forgets

everything, while his wife, Hestia, desperately attempts to bring

him back to reality. He hears voices saying that if he sacrifices his

own daughter the image of Artemis will come to life. He does it. A

piercing scream is heard and in sequence, Helium appears with the

heart of the little one in his hands to offer it to the statue.

He embraces the pedestal of the statue and when Hestia approaches

in panic, he gets scared and drops the image of Artemis, smashing it

to the ground. Completely out of his mind, the artist tries to

reconstruct the shards, kissing them wildly. Hestia, annihilated by

the pain goes away in the opposite direction while the mysterious

voices are becoming increasingly present. The use of only three

characters and an invisible choir, backed by a large orchestra,

brings to mind the solution found by Wagner in Siegfried, but with

an action far more succinct, since Artemis lasts less than one hour

and Siegfried, around four hours! At the time of the premiere, the

first two performances were conducted by the composer himself

and the following four ones, by Leopoldo Miguéz.

In 1900, he made an appointment with the then director of

the Vienna Opera, Gustav Mahler, in order to negotiate the staging

of Artemis there, but he fell heavily ill, retiring to Bergen for

recovering, at the house of his friend Edvard Grieg.

In recent times, in the 1980s and 90s, some performances

of this opera took place at the Municipal Theater of Rio de Janeiro,

conducted by Isaac Karabitchevsky and at the Winter Music Festival

of Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, conducted by Sergio Dias .

Nepomuceno´s second opera , Abul is a legendary action in three

acts. The opera was premiered on June 30, 1913 at the Teatro

Coliseo in Buenos Aires. In Brazil it was premiered on September

10, 1913 at the Municipal Theater in Rio de Janeiro, followed by the

Municipal Theatre of São Paulo, in October the same year. The

European premiere was held in Rome at the Teatro Constanze on

April 15, 1915. This opera is one of the composer‘s most significant

works. It was very well received by critics both in Brazil and abroad.

Initiated in 1899, shortly after Artemis, and finished in 1905. The

work, according to Luiz Paulo Sampaio and Bruno Furlanetto,

highlights the best features of the composer´s style: the proper

balance between the vocal and instrumental parts, and especially

the refined and advanced orchestration for its time. The original

libretto in Portuguese, also written by the composer, has an Italian

version as well, used for presentations outside Brazil (12)

Although it describes a well elaborated Naturalistic short story, the

libretto´s text is very uneven. Certainly Nepomuceno did not have

the same skills as a playwright as he had as a composer. References

to a Wagnerian world are well evident, especially to the "Ring of the

Nibelung" and maybe "Parsifal". Just like in "Artemis" the action of

"Abul" happens in ancient times, this time in the city of Ur, in

Chaldea.

The opera follows the grand opera tradition divided into three acts,

as follows.

Act one

At dawn, Terak´s home and workshop can be seen. A statue of the

idol Hurki can also be seen. Terak and his wife Shinah anxiously

wait the return of their son Abul, coming from a long pilgrimage.

Abul is warmly welcomed, but when his father leads him to worship

the idol, Abul refuses. Terak warns his son that King Amraphel

punishes with the death sentence anyone who refuses to worship

the god Hurki. Shinah informs her son that on that day Iskah, the

new priestess, will sacrifice an innocent child. Abul, as he hears the

name of the new priestess remembers the pure girl, who now

commits a cruel crime. The father hardened by Abul´s accusations,

expels him from home.

Act Two

In a garden, we hear the song of the priestesses entering following

Iskah; she shows herself in distress for having to make the

sacrifice she abhors. At some point she remembers Abul, he comes

into play and they sing a duet together talking of their disgust for

Hurki. Iskah gets fascinated by the intensity of their words, but

continues with the service and does not want to break her sacred

vows. The time for the sacrifice approaches and the priestess goes

to the temple, where the statue of Hurki is sculpted by Terak.

Third act

At his camp, Abul is greeted by his followers as an icon of holiness

when the cry of a group of women is heard, for a soldier of the king

has kidnapped a child for a new sacrifice to the god Hurki. Abul´s

companions besiege the soldier, wanting to do justice, but being

prevented by Abul who asks for the release of the soldier and allows

him to take the child. All find Abul´s decision strange. He comforts

the mother of the child saying that heaven will protect the child. The

final scene takes us to the temple of Hurki where the sacrifice cult

happens with prayers and dances. It comes the moment for the

sacrifice. When Iskah is about to begin the terrible act, Abul and his

companions invade the temple and prevent the cruel act, and Iskah

is amazed by his attitude. The king and his guards flee. The opera

ends with Iskah in the arms of Abul and everyone, including the

priests singing in chorus to the glory of Abul.

On the occasion of Alberto Nepomuceno first centenary, the

then called National University of Brazil Music School, now the

School of Music of UFRJ, published the opera’s libretto and

promoted a concert version of Abul, on July 5, 1964 . (13)

The last Brazilian composers who perhaps have been most

influenced by the ideas of Wagner were Francisco Braga (Rio de

Janeiro, 1868-1945) and Joaquim Manuel de Macedo (Cantagalo, RJ,

1847 - Cataguazes, MG, 1925).

Antônio Francisco Braga began his musical studies in 1876 and

graduated in clarinet with Antônio Luís de Moura in 1886 and was

also a student of Carlos Mesquita (harmony and counterpoint). In

1890, he participated in the official contest to choose the new

Brazilian National Anthem. As he ranked among the top four places

and, therefore, he was granted a two-year scholarship to study in

Europe. He then went to Paris, where he studied composition with

Jules Massenet and later settled in Dresden, Germany. Braga was

the composer who closest lived the music of Wagner, in Germany,

and was also the first to try to use a theme of a Brazilian nationalist

character associated with the Wagnerian aesthetics.

In his opera "Jupyra", of 1899, on a libretto by Luiz Gaston

Escragnolle Doria (Italian version of A.Menotti-Buja), based on a

novel by Bernardo Guimarães (Ouro Preto, MG, 1825-1884), the

composer makes use of a dense orchestration for a short opera in

one act, to create a drama very close also to the verismo / realism

so trendy at that time in Italian opera. Back in Brazil, in 1900, he

conducted the opera for the first time in the Lyric Theatre of Rio de

Janeiro, during the 4th. Centennial of Brazil’s celebrations. While in

Europe, he wrote symphonic pieces very close in character to Franz

Liszt's symphonic poems and the orchestral works of Wagner's

operas. The symphonic poem Cauchemar (Nightmare), composed in

1895, brings direct allusions to "Der Fliegende Holländer"’s

overtrure. The opera’s title is often translated into Portuguese as

"The Ghost Ship", as a loan from the French title, "Le Bateau

Fantôme". In this work, Braga quotes as an epigraph on the score, a

verse from “Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare: “I

have had a dream, past the wit of man to

say what dream it was” (14). Francisco Braga’s symphonic poems

are often brief and concise, in contrast to those of Leopoldo Miguéz.

Other works of that kind by Braga are Paysage (1892), Symphonic

Episode (1898), inspired by devotional verses of Gonçalves Dias,

Marabá (1898) and Insomnia (1908). In "Marabá", he introduces

for the first time a theme of folk origin in an attempt to approximate

the Wagnerian musical fantasy world with the aims of a national

identity that began to be discussed in the aesthetic movements of

the time. During his stay in Dresden, both "Paysage" and

"Cauchemar" were presented at the Theater Gewerbehaus in 1897.

The enthusiasm of Braga with Wagner's music can be perceived

through his letters to some Brazilian friends, during his trips to

Bayreuth. The composer undertook two trips to Dresden, one in

1896 and another in 1897 with the specific purpose of attending the

performance of Parsifal (15). After his stay in Germany, he left for

the Isle of Capri, Italy, and remained there until 1899, where he

practically concluded "Jupyra". The composer also wrote many

orchestral small works, such as fantasies, preludes and variation

cycles, always in a consistent style balancing the orchestral forces

available to him in Brazil. His latest and most ambitious composition

with evident Wagnerian influence was the cantata "The Peace -

Parade," for chorus and orchestra, on a poem by Escaragnole Doria ,

composed in 1919 in honor of the then President of the Republic,

Epitácio Pessoa, who returned from Paris after his participation in

the Peace Conference. On the occasion, a concert under the

thematic trilogy "War-Victory-Peace" took place. It was left to the

young Villa-Lobos to write "The War", his 3rd. Symphony, to J.

Octaviano Gonçalves, today a completely forgotten composer, to

write a work for "Victory" and Francisco Braga created this cantata,

"Peace." The composer was inspired directly by the weak peace

exaltation occasion verses by Dória, which, incidentally, were the

inspiration for all the works in the concert. (16) The cantata "Peace

- Parade" goes back, even if distantly, to the chorus of the Guest

Greetings from Tannhäuser. Despite the admiration and advocacy

throughout his life of Wagner’s music, Braga’s music never failed to

have a certain French taste, as if he wanted to make a transition

between a more conservative taste that was dominant within his

milieu for something more modern and transformative. Two years

after his return to Brazil, he was appointed professor at the National

Institute of Music in Rio. In 1905 he composed the Hymn to the

Flag, whose verses are by Olavo Bilac. His compositions always

show a formal rigor that reflects his French academic background.

In 1908 he composed from original folk and popular music themes,

the incidental music for the play "The Diamonds Contractor," by

Afonso Arinos. And in 1909, at the inauguration of the Municipal

Theater in Rio de Janeiro, his symphonic poem "Insomnia" was

given its premiere. In 1912 he took part in the founding of the

Symphonic Concert Society, of which he became the artistic director

and conductor, staying ahead of the orchestra for twenty years. He

was the perpetual president of Pro-Musica Society and founder of

the Musicians Union. His activity as both a conductor and concert

promoter was essential for the final settling of symphonic music in

Brazil, which was by then heavily dominated by opera and practices

of sacred music which still prevailed in an essentially Catholic

nation.

The opera "Jupyra" is based on a novel by Bernardo Guimarães, and

to enable it to be transformed into an opera, it was transcribed into

a libretto by Gaston D'Escragnolle Doria –a prominent figure in Rio

de Janeiro’s cultural life of at the time. The brief and tragic plot is

set in the nineteenth century, the region of the “Vila de Campanha

do Rio Verde” in the center-south state of Minas Gerais. The plot

unfolds as follows: - The initial chorus announces that love is

voluble; it changes like the moon and the wind. Jupyra a humble

Indian girl is in love with Carlito, with whom she has an affair.

However, Quirino declares himself to Jupyra, and for her love he

would be capable of anything. But Jupyra does not correspond to

Quirino’s wishes and feels happy for loving Carlito, imagining that

her love is corresponded. Carlito, however, is already sick of

Jupyra´s love and wants to get rid of her, but he does not want to

embarrass her. And so he disguises her. Asked by Jupyra if he still

loves her, Carlito replies dryly: "Ask my friends." Carlito meets

Rosalia, a very pretty girl, and there's a whole love scene between

the two, with romantic vows. The encounter is witnessed by Jupyra

who panics and asks Quirino to kill Carlito. Seeing Carlito's body

floating in the Rio Verde, she throws herself off a bridge to her

death.

Quoting Rubens Ricciardi, "Just as in the libretto there is a

confrontation between characters of different ethnic origins that

made up Brazilian identity, so Braga’s music also evokes songs that

recall the phrasing of Brazilian popular songs, the unmistakable

“dolce” in the theme of the overture later repeated in the final coda.

But that typical late 19th century discussion about the national

character of Brazilian music was not yet solidified, this was

something to be left to the following generations. Braga’s style

therefore is a synthesis of several contemporary European romantic

musical trends that go back to the direct influence of his teacher

Massenet. There are also elements of Italian operatic verismo as

well as traces of Wagnerian symphonic counterpoint. "(17)

Braga also wrote, from 1912 to 1922 the opera Anita Garibaldi, about which there is so far, no further information available.

Joaquim Manuel de Macedo was a prominent figure of

the Brazilian musical life active in Europe. Born in Cantagalo, he was

the nephew of the writer Joaquim Manuel de Macedo, an important

figure in Rio de Janeiro in the 19th century. His family was wealthy

and could send him to Europe to study. He spent much time in

Brussels, where he studied at the Royal Conservatory. Later, he

perfected his skills with Joseph Joachim (1831-1907) and Charles

Auguste de Bériot (1802-1870). Through a recommendation of

Vieuxtemps, he became the Covent Garden Theatre Orchestra’s

concertmaster, in London. Upon his return to Brazil in 1871, he was

appointed Professor at the already moribund Imperial Chapel. Even

so, he was very active in the musical life of the Rio de Janeiro. In

1883, he settled permanently in the then “province” of Minas

Gerais, and began dedicating himself exclusively to composition. His

output was immense and has not been properly evaluated, yet.

Reportedly he wrote more than 200 works from piano pieces,

chamber works with the most diverse backgrounds, including eight

concertos for violin and orchestra, and a symphonic poem originally

titled "Floriano Peixoto," with the indication of "Opus 160" for an

orchestra of Wagnerian proportions, which includes effects of

cannon fire. A version for two pianos of this work was published by

Casa Bevilacqua, in Rio de Janeiro and later by M. Dreissig in

Hamburg, entitled simply "Poema Symphonico". The whereabouts of

the original version for orchestra is unknown, but through the

reduced version for two pianos it is possible to evaluate the

grandiloquence of this work, very close to the tone poems of

Leopold Miguéz. The work has three movements: 1.Allegro

maestoso; 2.Marche Funeral; 3.Apotheose.

Macedo’s most important project was, however, the opera

"Tiradentes". He started composing it in 1897, on a libretto by

Augusto de Lima. It is a drama in four acts, which it is undoubtedly

the largest project undertaken by a Brazilian composer for the

theater. This opera was never staged its total conception. Only in

1992, on the occasion of the Minas Gerais Conspiracy’s

(Inconfidência Mineira) Bi-centennial that a joint effort took place

among the State of Minas Gerais cultural institutions, in Belo

Horizonte. It was performed in an abridged version like an oratorio,

at “Palácio das Artes”, that state’s largest concert hall. The work of

bringing that opera back to light was carried out by Prof. and

Musicologist Sandra Loureiro de Freitas Reis, who located the score,

reported missing for many years, in 1986, while she was Head of

the Federal University of Minas Gerais Music Department. Attracted

by the republican cause and the nationalist uprising that occurred in

Vila Rica (now Ouro Preto), at the end of the 18th century, and its

main character, Tiradentes, Macedo wrote an opera on a libretto

constructed on dense iambic verses by Augusto de Lima. The total

duration of the opera is approximately 4 hours. The composer

finished the orchestration work in Belgium, with the support of the

Brazilian government at the time, with the intention of seeing it

possibly staged at "La Monnaie" Theater, in Brussels.

On the occasion of the International Exhibition of Brussels, Alberto

Nepomuceno conducted some parts of the opera before a selected

audience, which included King Albert of Belgium. The local critics

were very about the new work. According to some chroniclers of the

time, Macedo had received proposals from various European

theaters to produce the complete opera in the following years.

However, it all happened soon after the First World War. All

European economies were exhausted and such proposals could only

guarantee the assignment of spaces. All production costs should be

run by either the composer or the Brazilian government. As that

was not a possibility, as the composer was already in serious

financial trouble, Macedo returned to Brazil already ill, in 1925,

dying soon thereafter. The opera "Tiradentes" is very similar to

Wagner’s first operas, Lohengrin and Tannhäuser and, like those it

included several choral numbers. The oratorio version presented in

in Belo Horizonte, conducted by Roberto Duarte, was prepared by

the Italian conductor Sergio Magnani, who spent most of his life in

the state capital city(18). He was educated within the Italian

"Risorgimento" movement, Magnani was a pupil of Alfredo Casella

(1883-1947). To him, interfering on other composers’ works was

something very natural, especially the Brazilians ones. Therefore, it

is difficult to have a deeper understanding of how the opera would

sound really, as we do not know how much changed from the

original score for that occasion was done.

Finally, we must remember that the musical environment

that fostered the emergence of Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) was

quite marked by the cult of Wagner's music with respect to the

world of concert music of the time. The idea that the early Villa-

Lobos would have been influenced by Wagner is a thesis defended

by musicologists and historians. However, such influence was very

quickly dismissed by Villa-Lobos personal multicultural, which

enabled him to create later on an absolutely original music.

English version:

Harry Crowl and

Rosemari Enns Crowl

Notes

(unless otherwise indicated, all in Portuguese)

(1) – Richard Wagner – Wikipedia, português. Consultada em

11/05/2013, às 14h09.

(2) – Brito Chaves Junior, Edgard – Wagner e o Brasil (Rio de

Janeiro). Emebê Editora Ltda, Rio de Janeiro. 1976. Pág.1.

(3) – Idem. Pág.2.

(4) - Correia de Oliveira, Luiz Heitor – 150 Anos de Música no Brasil

(1800 – 1950). Livraria José Olympio Editora, Rio de Janeiro. 1956.

Pág.97.

(5) - Brito Chaves Junior, Edgard – Obra citada. Pág.24.

(6) - Cernicchiaro, Vincenzo – Storia della Musica nel Brasile (1549-

1925). Edit. Fratelli Riccioni. Milano. 1926. Pág.257-258. In Italian.

(7) - Melo, Guilherme de - A Música no Brasil. Desde os tempos

coloniais até o primeiro decênio da República. Imprensa Nacional,

Rio de Janeiro. 1947. Pág.297.

(8) - Almeida, Renato – Compêndio de História da Música Brasileira.

2ª. Edição. F. Briguiet & Cia. Rio de Janeiro. 1958. Pág.90.

(9) - Cernicchiaro, Vincenzo – Obra citada, pág. 327.

(10) – Nepomuceno, Alberto – Wikipedia em português. 2013.

Consultada em 18/06/2013, as 11h45.

(11) - Brito Chaves Junior, Edgard – Obra citada. Pág.36

(12) – Sampaio, Luiz Paulo e Furlanetto, Bruno, in: Kobbé,

Gustave/Conde de Harwood (org.) – O Livro Completo da Ópera.

Tradução: Clóvis Marques. Jorge Zahar Editor, Rio de Janeiro. 1991.

Pág.548.

(13) – Nepomuceno, Alberto – Abul. Ação lendária em três atos e

quatro quadros, inspirado num conto de Herbert c. Ward. Original

em vernáculo e música por A.Nepomuceno. Edição Escola Nacional

de Música da Universidade do Brasil. Rio de Janeiro. 1964.

(14) – Ricciardi, Rubens – Francisco Braga e sua ópera Jupyra.

Encarte do CD. Selo BIS CD-1280 Digital. BIS Records AB. Suécia.

2002. Pág.10.

(15) - Giannetti, Ricardo, in: Teixeira Lopes, Eliane Marta (org.) –

Richard Wagner e Tannhäuser em Paris/Charles Baudelaire. Edição

Bilíngüe. Tradução: Eliane Marta Teixeira Lopes. Editora Autêntica.

Belo Horizonte. 2013. Pág.167-176.

(16) – A Paz

“Dores e prantos, cessai!

Risos e cantos, brotai!

Sigamos a paz.

Tem messe de flores,

Rosas sobre os mortos e sobre os vivos

Da paz é a flor de ouro da esperança.

Dores e prantos, cessai!

Risos e cantos, brotai!

Sigamos a paz.

Calai-vos, trombetas!

Sede perfume, vozes de mulheres,

Sede cristal, vozes de crianças.

Morrei, dores e prantos!

Nascei, risos e cantos!”...

(17) - Ricciardi, Rubens – Ob.cit. Pág.8.

(18) - Reis, Sandra Loureiro de Freitas – A Ópera Tiradentes de

Manuel Joaquim de Macedo e Augusto de Lima. In: Latin American

Music Review/Revista de Música Latinoamericana. Vol.14 no.1.

Spring-Summer 1993. University of Texas Press. Austin. 1993.

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Edição Bilíngüe. Organização e tradução: Eliane Marta Teixeira

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Brito Chaves Junior, Edgard – Wagner e o Brasil (Rio de Janeiro).

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Cernicchiaro, Vincenzo – Storia della Musica nel Brasile (1549-

1925). Edit. Fratelli Riccioni. Milano. 1926. In Italian.

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