Projects

With the sponsorship from CNPq (Edital Universal) and FAPESP (Young Reseacher), a significant part of the group has been dedicating itself to the project “A canção das mídias: memória e nomadismo” (n.t.: The song in the medias: memory and momadisms) and “Trago o fado nos sentidos: Memória e significado nos trajetos de uma canção nômade” (n.t.: I bring the fado in the senses: memory and meaning of the routes of a nomad song), both with the collaboration of specialist renowned internationally. In 2008, some project results taken to the scientific community were the launching of the book “Canção d’Além-Mar: o fado e a cidade de Santos” (Editora Realejo/ CNPq), “Canção d’Além-Mar: o fado na cidade de Santos, pela voz de seus protagonistas” (CNPq; FAPESP). In 2009, it was launched the hypertext “Canção d’Além-Mar: o fado na cidade de Santos: sua gente, seus lugares” (FAPESP/ Realejo Livros). Since July 2009, MusiMid has been involved in a new Project, financed by CNPq (Edital MCT/CNPq 02/2, Human, Social and Applied Social Sciences) called “Trago o fado nos sentidos”: Memória e significado nos trajetos de uma canção nômade”.

"The song of the medias: memory and nomadism"

Divided into three modules, this project, which received financial support from CNPQ (Edital Universal) and FAPESP (Young Researcher), is divided into three parts: 1. Canção d’Além-Mar; 2-. "Donde estás, corazón? O tango no Brasil; o tango do Brasil"and 3. “Da suave e morna batida dos corações ardentes aos corpos pulsantes”

1. Canção d’Além-Mar (n.t.: Songs from overseas): had, a book as a final result, written by the musiMid participants and guests; a documentary and a hypertext, containing information about Lisbon musical genre that found roots in the city of Santos (São Paulo). This project was concluded in September 2009.

"Canção d' Além - Mar: O fado e a cidade de Santos"
(n.t.: Songs from Overseas: The fado and the city of Santos)
(Book)

Although the fado is considered to be the Lisbon sound postcard, it was in fact born in Brazil, as dance, in the 19th century, to gain territory in Portugal, as song, by the end of the 19th century. As nomad song, the fado establishes roots in Brazil, in the first decades of the 20th century, building an imaginary bridge that links the Portuguese to their country of origin.

It is also where Portuguese artists come to Record their records (The first Amália Rodrigues Record was made in 1945, in Rio de Janeiro). Contrarily, by the end of the 20th century, Brazilians immigrate to Portugal and Portuguese along with their descendents return to their country; but not necessarily definitively.

We can imagine that the coming and going of people implies in nomadism in the musical genre. However, this remains as a statistical truth: The biggest population contingent of foreigners in the city of Santos is from Portuguese origin and this city is the one that hosts proportionally, the biggest number of Portuguese immigrants in the country.

A study focusing the presence of Portuguese music and, in particular, the fado, contributed to provide a deeper knowledge about themes, such as: In what way is the mechanism of mouvance (Zumthor) processed, so as to support the permanence of this musical genre? How are the relations among reception, aesthetics taste, and listening habits? Through which mediations/negotiations do listeners attribute senses to the songs they listen to? The bonds between the imaginary, from the land of origin, in a time when the frontiers are dissolved with the predominance of a global culture, supported by ‘majors’ and the big corporations.

Participants of the project: Heloísa Valente, Diósnio Machado Neto, Marcos Júlio Sergl, Mônica Rebecca F. Nunes, Luiz Henrique Portela Faria, Susana Ventura, Teresinha Prada, Simei Paes, Alexandre Matis, Gabriel Henrique Laudino, Marcos Santos. Guests: Flávio Viegas Amoreira, Rodrigo Tavares, Eduardo Teixeira.

"Canção d'Além-Mar: O fado na cidade de Santos, através de seus protagonistas"
(n.t.: Songs from overseas: The fado in the city of Santos, through its protagonists)
(Documentary )

Since the city of Santos is the one that has the biggest percentage of Portuguese immigrants, MusiMid interviewed some of the most significant people in the area: broadcasters, musicians, singers, besides social agents, who have all contributed and still contribute to the permanence of this musical genre that does not circumscribe, necessarily, to a bond with the population in whose culture it originated. Here, the fado is understood as a musical genre that consolidates the most significant sound postcard from Lisbon, and by association, from Portugal, but which is possible to be assimilated by the whole Portuguese community, in the context of local sound landscape.

Researchers involved: Heloísa Valente, Susana Ventura, Gil Nuno Vaz, Alexandre Matis, Gabriel Henrique, Marcos Santos, Simei Paes.

"Canção d'Além-Mar: O fado na cidade de Santos- sua gente; seus lugares"
(n.t.: Songs from overseas – The fado in the city of Santos – its people, its places)
(Hyertext)

This hypertext includes three kinds of information: written texts, a radio program, a data bank and an image bank. They all refer to the places in the city where the fado used to be played, especially Vila Mathias district, the “fadista” district in Santos, according to the veteran broadcaster Manoel Ramos. As sources, we considered the information provided by the testimony given by people who were sought at the centers of documentation and in the personal file Manoel Ramos and Lídia Miguez.
Researchers involved: Heloísa Valente, Luiz Henrique Portela Faria, Marta Fonterrada. Guest: Vera Lúcia Nagib Bittencourt.

2. "Donde estás, corazón? O tango no Brasil; o tango do Brasil"
(book ) (n.t.: The tango in Brazil; the tango from Brazil)

When we talk about Brazilian tango, the figure of Ernesto Nazareth is promptly reminded and associated to a musical instrument. The tango is, in reality, a music genre doted with a great mouvance, allowing it to transfigure, expand in its nomad forms.

In Brazil, the tango portenho arrives around the 1920s. The ears open themselves to the sung tango and, above all, to the voice of Carlos Gardel. The Argentinean tango starts to be translated, adapted, impersonated in our country, transplanting itself as a nomad tango. As a matter of fact, it is curious to observe that, in the process of territorializing, the tango was assimilated in several ways and it had an enormous repercussion: either as Argentinean tango in original version, or translated to Portuguese. Besides the original versions and the adapted ones, some composers came to compose several “Argentinean tangos” (nomads) that became famous in the voice of Nelson Gonçalves: "Carlos Gardel"; "Hoje quem paga sou eu"; "Vermelho 27"; "Estrelas na lama".

In this part of the project, we will study the relations between the poetic text and musical text and their semantic implications, taking into consideration not only the relationship music-lyrics, but also the variations of the performance. Yet: an analysis of how the musical language characterizes itself, either in the portenha position, or in the nomad (Brazilian) version: formal aspects, instrumentation, ongoing process, dynamics, etc. Because it is a genre which lyrics passes through several idiomatic translations, the several adaptations will also be ("La cumparsita", "Pañuelito/Lencinho querido", "Yuyo verde/ mato verde" etc.)

The publishing, in phase of edition by Via Lettera/ CNPq, includes unprecedented text in Portuguese, from Ramón Pelinski, called: “Tango: metáfora da globalização”, "Donde estás, corazón? O tango no Brasil; o tango do Brasil", by Heloísa Valente, , XXXXXXX, by Susana Ventura, XXXXXXXXX, by Ricardo Santhiago and “Américo Jacomino, o Canhoto (1889-1928) e o violão sul-americano”, by Sérgio Estephan

Researchers involved: Heloísa Valente, Leandro Quintério, Ricardo Santhiago, Susana Ventura. Guests: Ramón Pelinski, Sérgio Estephan.

3. “Da suave e morna batida dos corações ardentes aos corpos pulsantes”
(n.t.: From the soft and warm burning heart beats to the pulsating bodies)

Although having been born in Cuba, the bolero popularized itself as a Mexican “canción romántica”; assuming, also, the variant ranchera, close to the folklore tradition. From the 1920s, the success has been growing, highlighting names such as Guty Cárdenas (1905-1932) and Augustín Lara (1897-1970). According to the researcher Jairo Severiano, with the premier of the film Santa, it was opened what we call process of “Mexicanization” in the Brazilian culture, which seems to exist until nowadays. This stage of the research intends, thus, to study:

1) Particular traces of the culture mechanism that enabled the implantation and stabilization of the bolero, as a central genre of the so-called romantic song;

2) the borders and margins that put side by side two distinct universes: the one of the romantic song and the one of the dance (rock);

3) analyze the phenomenon of revival as a mouvance modality – which allows, thus, the memory of musical genres. A procedure that is more and more frequent in the global culture, the techniques of production of the musical revival do not limit themselves to the different arrangements, embalmed in the fashionable musical arrangement.

As a result of the work, a book will be prepared, containing texts covering the relations between musical text and verbal text (music and lyric), taking into account the translated or adapted versions from Spanish to Portuguese, the variants in the conception of instrumentation, arrangement and performance.

Researchers involved: Heloísa Valente, Edwin Pitre, José Sidney Ferraz Jr., Maria Rita Brandão Machado, Marcos Júlio Sergl, Ricardo Santhiago, Simone Luci Pereira. Guests: Martha T. Ulhôa, Cláudia Neiva de Matos, Sílvio Mehry.

Trago o fado nos sentidos: Memória e significado nos trajetos de uma canção nômade:
(n.t.: Bring the fado in the senses: Memory and meaning in the routes of a nomad song)

This project gives continuity to the researches that have been being held about the fado. This new stage intends to bring up particular aspects, through subprojects conducted by MusiMid participants. Our starting point was that the “medias song” is a fundamental element in the culture: understood as communicational process, hereby adopted by the musical language. In its process of transformation, or “nomadism” (Zumthor), so as to maintain itself in the sound landscape (Schafer), the express song, informs, corroborates, presents traces of the culture to which it makes reference and to which it bonds itself.

The fado, in the media, (record and radio, as priorities) reveals itself as a privileged element of analysis, which can answer to questions of diverse nature, in its interfaces. Having as initial basis the discography repertoire broadcasted in selected radio programs, we intend to analyze aspects such as:

1) the relations between the audience and memory, from the repertoire executed in radio programs;

2) the impact of the permanence of Portuguese fadistas in Brazil and the incorporation; creation of a “Brazilian” fado by the Portuguese;

3) The fado as a constituting element of the histories of life and of the daily life of the emigrated Portuguese in Brazil and in the Portuguese-descendants. Considering an investigation in international collaboration with researchers from the Institute of Ethnic musicology – Center of Studies in Music and Dance – INET, it is proposed as results, among others:

1) the creation of a data bank containing the most representative discography of fado in Brazil, so as to allow a comparative analysis with the Portuguese one;

2) the promotion of a scientific meeting, whose final results will be published in a book or special issue of specialized journal.

Participants involved: Heloísa Valente, Marta Fonterrada, Mônica Rebecca F. Nunes, Ricardo Santhiago, Susana Ventura.