School of Music and Dance Capstones and Terminal Projects

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Browsing School of Music and Dance Capstones and Terminal Projects by Author "Andrade da Fonseca, Alessandro"

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    Camargo Guarnieri: The Composer’s language and style and analysis of selected piano works
    (University of Oregon, 2021-05) Andrade da Fonseca, Alessandro;
    What defines a music genre? How composers develop their style and how this can affect the way performers (and listeners) will perceive their music? These questions came to my mind when researching and exploring the music of Camargo Guarnieri, a Brazilian composer of the 20th century. In the early 20th century, H. Villa Lobos was the main name of Brazilian music, and that fame remains up to our days. Camargo Guarnieri was not well known internationally (despite achieving great things in his career) by the general public, as Villa Lobos. Now, in the early 21st century, Villa Lobos is still the big name of Brazilian Music for those outside South America. Despite these facts, the music of Camargo Guarnieri reveals great artistry, a technique in his compositional style, and a unique feature as an exponent of Brazilian Nationalism. His piano music is incredibly rich in texture and characteristics of good pianism, playing with timbre, colors, and many other details. To understand the music of Guarnieri we shall go deep into his style, what made him develop his ideas as a composer, and how these elements will guide the performer in achieving a successful performance of his music. The rich textures in his piano music require great attention to details by the pianist. By understanding his compositional ideas, the performer can achieve the most from his music. In this work selected piano pieces by Guarnieri will be analyzed, helping understand their context and thus enabling an informed performance. The music of Guarnieri embodies a substantial part of the development of formal Brazilian Nationalism. This led to an element named later as Brasilidade, or in English translation, Brazilianness. To understand this in context, it is inevitable to comprehend the development of Brazilian Music History and its social context, to understand how its path developed through multiple elements that helped to shape the idea of Brazilian music, the lineage that evolved, and how some traditions lead to the path that Guarnieri took.