90th Anniversary of the Semana de Arte Moderna

Next month brings the 90th Anniversary of a seminal event in the cultural history of Brazil: the Semana de Arte Moderna, which was held in Sao Paulo's Theatro Municipal from the 13th to the 17th of February 1922. The music of Villa-Lobos was featured in a series of famous controversial concerts.

The Theatro Municipal will be the scene of some really interesting concerts celebrating this event. Pianist Caio Pagana will perform Carnaval das Criancas and the first book of the Guia pratico. Pablo Rossi will play Momoprecoce. And the 2010 Paris production of Magdalena will be revived with five performances.

Anthropophagism

"A cannibalism scene, by Montanus: signed on year 374 of Bishop Sardinha’s murder, in allusion to the practice of cannibalism, which seduced chronic writers and voyagers of past centuries, the Anthropophagic Manifesto proposes the devouring, without guilt, of all assets of the European civilization." (12.5 x 16 cm) engraving, 1671 from the Map collection of the Ministry of External Relations.

This from the Ministry's excellent Art and Culture website, Anthropophagism, by Walnice Nogueira Galvão. The Anthropophagic Manifesto by Oswald de Andrade (1890-1954) was a key document of Brazilian Modernism, and helped Villa-Lobos to develop his aesthetic of modernism, "indianism", and nationalism. Oswald de Andrade is a key member of the group who arranged the Semana de Arte Moderna in Sao Paulo in 1922; Villa-Lobos was the most important musical participant.

"I asked a man what Law was. He told me it was the guarantee of the practice of the possible. This man was called Galli Matias. I ate him (...)"

It all happened 87 years ago: February 11th to the 18th. In the early 1920s Villa-Lobos was busy devouring, without guilt, all the avant-garde music of Paris. Is Villa the most guilt-free of composers?

Antropofagia Musical

In connection with their new exhibit of art by the great Brazilian modernist painter Tarsila do Amaral, the Fundación Juan March in Madrid is presenting an important musical series entitled "Antropofagia Musical: Tres conciertos con motivo de la exposición Tarsila do Amaral." The three concerts take place on February 6, 11 and 18, 2009.

Oswald de Andrade was, with Tarsila do Amaral and others, a founder of the Brazilian modernist movement. His 1928 Manifesto Antropófago (Cannibal Manifesto) set out the major themes of the modernist agenda. The connection between de Andrade and Villa-Lobos was the latter's involvement in the Semana de Arte Moderna in Sao Paulo in 1923. Villa's modernism, forged in Paris in the 1920s, was the musical highlight of the week, and the performances of his music were the cause of much controversy. Controversy, of course, is the manifesto-writer's dearest wish.

The Antropofagia Musical series thus provides Villa-Lobos pride of place in the programs of the three concerts. On February 6, the featured works are Quinteto en forma de chôros (1928) and Chôros nº 3 (1925 - dedicated to Tarsila do Amaral). Three Villa-Lobos works are included in the February 11th concert, including the late Quintet instrumental (1957). The final concert on February 18th includes various vocal and solo piano works including Suite floral, portions of which were actually played (to the consternation of some audience members) during the Semana.

One of the great things about this series is that those of us outside of Madrid will have a chance to hear these concerts. They're being broadcast live on Radio Clásica, from Radio Nacional de España.

Both of the the excellent but short Wikipedia articles on Oswald de Andrade and Tarsila do Amaral feature a portrait of the former by the latter, noting that the image is copyrighted and unlicensed. Rather than posting it here, I will direct you to the superb site Tarsila do Amaral, which includes a large gallery of images, and lots of background and history relating to this great artist's work.

Instead I offer this image of a poster from February 17, 1922 (87 years before the upcoming series in Madrid) from the Semana de Arte. This is copyright Museu Villa-Lobos, who incidentally allow all of their images to be reproduced for non-commercial use, provided credit is given to the Museum.

Semana de Arte Moderna

Eighty years ago this week in the city of São Paulo a group of revolutionary artists and intellectuals published a manifesto that brought modernism to Brazil. The Semana de Arte Moderna - Week of Modern Art - took place on February 13-17, 1922. The week caused a major stir amongst the conservative, academic critics and audiences who had not yet been exposed to modernism in a big way.

The prime mover of the festival was Mário de Andrade, one of Brazil's great intellectuals. But it was the young Heitor Villa-Lobos who probably made the biggest impression, at a series of concerts that were made up largely of his own compositions. Indeed, the week was called the "Apotheosis of Villa-Lobos".

To comemorate this event, the São Paulo radio station Cultura FM will be presenting a series of programs focussing on the music of the Semana. There is a last chance to hear one of the programs in this series, which is entitled "Juvenilidades Auriverdes - 80 anos da Semana de 22", on Feb. 27 at 21:00 São Paulo time - that's 4:00 p.m. here in Red Deer (MST). This program is repeated the following Saturday, March 3, at 12 noon São Paulo time (7:00 a.m. MST).

You can listen to Cultura FM online on the Windows Media Player, at http://www.tvcultura.com.br/radiofm/radiofm.asx.