brazil-part2

The INTERNATIONAL HISTORY OF MUSIC EDUCATION Website

A project of ISME’s History Standing Committee

Guido d’Arezzo

Guidonian Hand

BRAZIL - Historical Overview Music Education in Brazil: An Historical Overview (Part 2) By Luciane Wilke Freitas Garbosa and Claudia Ribeiro Bellochio Edited by Robin Stevens For an unedited version of this historical overview of music education in Brazil that includes pictorial images, click on the icon below: BRAZIL BECOMES A REPUBLIC (1889): THE EXPANSION OF MUSIC AND MUSIC EDUCATION After the Proclamation of the Republic of Brazil in 1889, other transformations occurred in the Brazilian cultural context that highlighted the diversity of musical life in the country. The changes that marked the beginning of the twentieth century included the creation of clubs and societies that promoted concerts to their members, although their repertoire was still mostly European. In 1890 the old Imperial Conservatório de Música [Imperial Music Conservatory], which was “the first public and official institution of the Empire which had … music education as its only goal” (GIROTTO, 2007), was now called Instituto Nacional de Música [Music National Institution]. Its director was Leopoldo Miguelez, and it offered professional studies in this field. The French-modeled institution had an important role in the artistic domain and later, along with other societies and clubs, it contributed for the expansion of the Brazilian musical life of that time. The initial phase of Brazilian Romanticism occurred in the first half of the nineteenth century but was marked by very few musical productions. The works were characterized by composers using popular song themes, although still obeying the European structure. Many Brazilian composers sought to include a nationalistic elements in their musical language but remained tied to European compositional conventions. Only Alexandre Levy and Alberto Nepomuceno in the second generation of nationalist composers achieved prominence as did Leopoldo Miguez and Henrique Oswald not only as composers but also because of their pedagogical activities. Oswald was a prestigious teacher of and mentor to many teachers, besides being the director of the Instituto Nacional da Música [Music National Institution] (this appointment had motivated him to return to Brazil in 1903). Miguez was responsible for reorganizing music education in Brazil according to the reforms instituted by the government of the new republic. He was the one who transformed the old Music Conservatory of the Belas Artes Academy into the new Music Institute Nowadays, it is the School of Music from Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro [Rio de Janeiro Federal University]., of which he became its first director. (NEVES, 1981, p. 19) As a result of initiatives by musicians from São Paulo state, Pedro Augusto Gomes Cardim founded the Conservatório Dramático e Musical de São Paulo [Musical and Dramatic Conservatory of São Paulo] in 1906 which laid out a new path for music from that time. Thus, “the popular music that before used to permeate the city begins to restrict itself to the popular culture” (MORILA, 2010, p.95). The first group of teachers was informed by nationally-recognised composers. Luigi Chiaffarelli, Antonio Carlos Ribeiro de Andrada Machado e Silva Junior, João Gomes de Araújo, Giulio Bastiani, Paulo Florence, Felix Otero, Dr. Luiz Pinheiro da Cunha, Dr. Wenceslau de Queiroz, Augusto César Barjona, Hyppolito da Silva were all prominent members of the artistic scene of that time. (ALMEIDA, 1931, p.57) Late in the nineteenth century and at the beginning of the twentieth century, some important developments in music education took place. Four music educators in particular may be mentioned because they created teaching methods influenced by the changes in the educational approaches from that time and by methodologies that developed in Europe. The teachers who contributed specific proposals for the education of this field were João Gomes Júnior, with his Analytic Method (1915); Antônio Leal de Sá Pereira, who created the Music Initiation method (1937); Villa Lobos who contributed to the Orpheonic Movement (1932); and Liddy Chiafarelli Mignone, who created a new course in the Conservatório Brasileiro de Música [Brazilian Music Conservatory] (1952) (ALVARES, 1999). All of them supported group teaching principles and practices that were associated with the child development theories. Carlos Alberto Gomes Cardim and João Gomes Júnior were responsible for the “Methodo Analytico” (see http://caetanistas78.blogspot.com.br/2012/02/maestros-e-canto-orfeonico-na-escola.html) [Analytic Method], published by the Escola Normal de São Paulo [School for Teachers of São Paulo] and edited by Typ Siqueira, Nigel & Comp. This work introduced a new methodology for school music education São Paulo state that was based on the relationship between music and language. Gomes Júnior is acknowledged as a pioneer of orpheonic singing in Brazil. He called it “free choir singing”, and it was based in group teaching approach. As opposed to classical vocal training, his type of singing did not demand an in-depth knowledge of music nor concentrated vocal practice from the singers. The orpheonic singing method in Brazil was introduced in the schools from São Paulo state from 1910 to 1930, when Heitor Villa-Lobos took the leading role in the Orpheonic Movement. Those who were prominent in teaching this style were Carlos Alberto Gomes Cardim, Lázaro Lozano, Fabiano Lozano, João Baptista Julião, e Honorato Faustino (GILIOLI, 2005, p.02). Antônio Leal de Sá Pereira was born in Salvador in 1888 and became a well-known as a composer and music educator. After studying in Europe for seventeen years he returned to Brazil in 1917 and was appointed as a piano teacher and first artistic director of the Conservatório de Música de Pelotas/RS [Music Conservatory of Pelotas/RS] that was established in 1918 (CORVISIER, 2011, 178). Sá Pereira was invited to come to Pelotas by Guilherme Fontainha, who was “the director of the Music Conservatory of Porto Alegre and the creator of the project of inland extension of artistic culture in the state” (NOGUEIRA, 2008, p.49). Then, in 1923, Sá Pereira transferred back to São Paulo and later to Rio de Janeiro. In the latter location he was a teacher in the Instituto Nacional da Música from 1932 to 1955. There he developed the “dalcroziana” approach to music education and developed the first course based in rhythmic gymnastics at the Conservatório Brasileiro de Música in 1937, based on the Swiss Dalcroze methodology. Despite his innovations in music education for children, Sá Pereira was best known for his piano compositions. Liddy Chiafarelli Mignone was a teacher at the Conservatório Brasileiro de Música, Rio de Janeiro (ROCHA, 2010). During the 1930s, she created together with Antônio Sá Pereira the so-called Course for Music Initiation which focused on the initial phase of children’s learning. Music initiation was based on “ludic activities which involved singing practices, playing instruments and body movements” (ROCHA, 2005, p.03). Liddy and Marina Lorenzo Fernandes wrote the book Iniciação Musical: Treinos de Ouvido, Ritmo e Leitura (1947) [Music Initiation: training the ear, rhythm and reading] that included activities specifically developed for the classes using the Music Initiation method. New teaching approaches developed in the central regions of Brazil, mostly in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, as well as in other parts of Brazil that reflected their own distinctive contexts and cultures (UNGLAUB, 2008; DANTAS FILHO, 2007; GONÇALVES, 2007; SCHRADER, 2002; GARBOSA, 2003; GONÇALVES, 1994). MODERNISM AND THE SEMANA DA ARTE MODERNA DE 1922 “Week of Modern Art” of 1922. The first manifestations of modernism in Braziloccurred from the beginning of the twentieth century and culminated in what was called the Semana da Arte Moderna, in 1922. This event represented a radical development for many in the population and changed the cultural life in São Paulo from whence it spread to other parts of the country. Modernism represented a “protest against the academic reigning. It preached the modernization of all artistic languages and the need to have a national character as essence in all works” (NEVES, 1981, p. 30). The modernist movement was lead by Mário de Andrade and together with other supporters including Oswald de Andrade, Menotti del Picchia, Guilherme de Almeida, Agenor Barbosa, Plínio Salgado, Cândido Mota Filho, Sérgio Miliet, Anita Malfati, Di Cavalcanti, Vicente do Rego Monteiro, Victor Brecheret, Graça Aranha, Heitor Villa-Lobos, these musicians sought to promote Brazilian traditions and a truly national art form. After the Semana da Arte Moderna, teachers and musicians advocated for an upgrading of the education of Brazilian musicians. In the meantime, the idea of developing a well-planned program for music education in schools begin to be promoted. In 1928 Fernando Azevedo developed a “music program destined to the education institutions of the Federal District” (in that time, Rio de Janeiro) (FUKS, 1991, p.114). With Law 3.821 promulgated on 23 January1928, it was determined that there should be a specially-designed courses for kindergarten and subsequent school year levels that included music. With support from the teachers Eulina de Nazareth and Sylvio Salema Garção Ribeiro and from the conductor Francisco Braga, music was prescribed in the curriculum of primary and secondary schools “according to the 1st Program of Vocal and Instrumental Music” (JANNIBELLI, 1971, p. 42). Despite the work undertaken by Heitor Villa-Lobos during the 1930s to promote the orpheonic singing method internationally, the first applications of the orpheonic approach in Brazil occurred between 1910 and 1920s, through proponants such as João Gomes Júnior and Carlos Alberto Gomes Cardim in São Paulo city, and the brothers Lázaro and Fabiano Lozano in Piracicaba, São Paulo, who worked for the Escolas Normais. However, it was only during the 1930s that the practice of group singings gained visibility and recognition due to the work of Villa-Lobos. HEITOR VILLA-LOBOS AND THE ORPHEONIC MOVEMENT In the 1930s Heitor Villa-Lobos, who participated in the “Week of Modern Art” begin to put the orpheonic project into practice in São Paulo state with a special focus on nationalism. The first civic orpheonic singing initiative in Brazil, named “Exortação Cívica” (see http://www.museuvillalobos.org.br/villalob/cronolog/1931_40/index.htm) occurred in 1931 with sponsorship by a lawyer João Alberto in São Paulo. It involved some twelve thousand singers including teachers, academics, students, soldiers, workers and other members of society and had considerable influence on music education nation-wide. Reforms introduced by Francisco Campos, Minister of Health and Education, during the government of Getúlio Vargas (1930-1945) represented the first changes to education undertaken at a national level. In 1931, the Orpheonic Music movement was officially prescrined for implementation in Brazilian schools. This reform “was marked by a combination between the ideals of the authoritarian government of Getúlio Vargas and his political-ideological project which were deployed during the dictatorship named ‘Estado Novo’ [‘New Estate’]” (MENEZES; SANTOS, 2002). The Orpheonic Movement was introduced by Heitor Villa-Lobos i from April 1932. It was a broad pedagogical plan that involved professional development for teachers, the production of teaching and learning materials, community orpheonic groups, advertising of educational concerts and cultural symphonic concerts including the “Concertos da Juventude” [Concerts of the Youth] whose the programs consisted of “simple music that were accessible to the thinking of the children, preceded by comments and explanations” (VILLA-LOBOS, 1946, p. 514). In 1932 a course called Pedagogia de Música e Canto Orfeônico [Music Education and Orpheonic Singing] aimed to simplify music theory as well as the technique of orpheonic singing for teachers of “magistério” [Education] (VILLA-LOBOS, 1946, p. 506). In 1933 the Superintendence of Artistic and Music Education was created (SEMA) in the Education Department of the Federal District with the objective of “cultivat[ing] and develop[ing] the study of music in the primary, secondary and professional schools, such as in the other departments of the city” (ibid., p. 507). This organisation was established to guide and supervise the scholarly work in music education and the preparation of the future music teachers. Due to the prospective teachers wishing to have opportunities for developing orpheonic music included in their training, Courses of Orientation to Orpheonic Music and Upgrading of Music Education through Orpheonic Music were introduced to teachers education courses. In accordance with Villa-Lobos’ (1946) principles, the program was divided in four discrete courses: the two first were directed towards primary school teachers and covered the elementary principles of voicing and of the approach generally. The third part was for training specialist teachersand included all subjects for Orpheonic Singing: Conducting, Practical Orientation, Harmony Analysis, Applied Music Theory, Melodic and Rhythmic Dictation, Rhythm, Vocal Techniques, Vocal Physiology, Music History, Music Aesthetics, and Ethnography and Folklore. The fourth course was similar to the third, but also included such specialisms as analysis, observation, program development, and teaching methodologies. These courses were designated as follows: 1st -- Course of Rhythmic Declamation 2nd -- Course of Preparation for Teaching Orpheonic Singing 3rd -- Specialized Course of Music and Orpheonic Singing 4th -- Course of Orpheonic Singing Practice (VILLA-LOBOS, 1946, p. 508) Because of the Law which prescribed the teaching of Orpheonic Singing in the schools, the interest in teacher training courses expanded considerably. Thus, SEMA had to search for solutions to meet the demand. The result was Vacation Courses, developed for implementation in the most important capital cities in Brazil; these lasted for only two months and represented another means through which teachers could qualify for spreading orpheonic singing in rural areas (FUKS, 1991, p.123). In 1942 support for the movement intensified, and the National Conservatory of Orpheonic Singing [Conservatório Nacional de Canto Orfeônico] under the direction of Heitor Villa-Lobos developed and supervised teacher education courses (BRASIL, 1942). After the foundation of the Conservatory, the Ministry of Health and Education decided that no educational authority in the Federal District or in the capital cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo states could have a teacher of orpheonic singing who had not undertaken a specialized course from the Conservatory of Orpheonic Singing [Conservatório Nacional de Canto Orfeônico] or equivalent (SENISE, 1978, p. 9). Villa-Lobos published a Practical Guide to be used by the schools. It comprised selected examples of musical repertoire and produced in six volumes. The repertoire consisted in a compilation of national folkloric songs composed my Villa-Lobos and his co-workers as well as songs that exalted the value of work and rural life. In addition this publication, Villa-Lobos put together a book of solfege and two volumes of Orpheonic Singing [Canto-Orfeônico](1946). According to Souza (1991) the first volume was published in 1937 and contained 41 songs, and the second came after the Second World War in 1951 with 45 songs. Considering the complexity of the orpheonic system, the various actions taken, particularly its extension to country areas and the fact that Villa-Lobos left SEMA in 1943, the orpheonic singing method little by little lost ground. Also, the vacation courses lasted for only a short time and there was no real appreciation of this approach and its musical language. All of these factors led to the decline of the movement, especially after the death of Villa-Lobos in 1959. “And in the moment when all this modernist fever lessened the artistic scenario was already preparing itself for another movement that would break the aesthetics: the emergent creativity of the new and divergent cultural movements” (FUKS, 1991, P. 124). In 1939, at the same time that orpheonic singing was still a significant movement, the Grupo Música Viva was established in Rio de Janeiro and extended its influence to São Paulo in 1944. The leader of the group was the flutist and conductor Hans-Joachim Koellreutter, a German who lived in Brazil. This group was characterized as follows: “They lift the tripod: education - creation - advertising” (KATER, 1992, p. 22). To achieve these goals, the group used the available communication media including radio, movies, audio recordings, and the press to advertise worthwhile music that was both produced in Brazil and produced in the foreign countries. The goal of this group was to encourage music composition by stimulating creativity from the beginning of the learning process in young children. The activities of the group were described as “[a] series of recitals, concerts and auditions, publication of journals and music sheets, courses, conferences and radio channels” (ibid., p. 27). This movement marked a change in aesthetic thinking that occurred at the end of 1950s and involved Heitor Alimonda, Cornélio Hauer, Edino Krieger, Cláudio Santoro, Guerra Peixe, and other Brazilian composers and educators. THE 1960 DECADE: CREATIVITY AND THE LDB - 4.024/1961 CONTEXT Also known as pro-creativity, this movement gained strength during the 1960s, a time of intense creativity and dialogue between different artistic languages. By this time, the Orpheonic Movement in the schools was declining due largely to the absence of Villa-Lobos as the coordinator of the movement. Given the small number of teachers involved, their poor training and an overemphasis on creativity, the period of the 1960s was marked by “free expression” and the gradual decrease of music education in the curriculum. A new form of methodological practice began with its goals being to bring out expression through new pedagogical orientations that emphasized listening and rhythmic development. Fonterrada (1993, 1991) identified two types of musical pedagogical practices in schools after 1960 that were being taught side by side. One set of practices maintained the traditional values while the other centered around new proposals that emphasized the freedom of music expression. It was at this point that the first Law of National Educational Directions and Basis, Law n. 4.024, of 1961 came into being after a process that had begun in 1940. Saviani (1998, p. 9) points out that “the origin of the themes related to the directions and basis of national education point to the Federal Constitution of 1934, the first of our magna letters which determined that the Union had to trace directions for the national education” (Article n. 5, Inciso XIV). The scenario at this time was influenced by economic and development policies, together with nationalist feelings that influenced government actions. Accordingly, technical education came to play a major role in preparing people for work within the commercial sphere. Thus, after thirteen years of debate, the first Law of Directions and Basis of the country was born. The Law was reflected the strong political-ideological arguments that raged between the reformers (educators, intellectuals, militants and “sindicalists”) and the “privatists” (lead by the Church and the private initiatives). In relation to school music education, Queiroz and Marinho (2009) and Queiroz (2012) maintain that, despite numerous publications advocating the mandatory teaching of music education in schools, the text of the Law did not mention music as being part of the curriculum or even as a school activity. According to article 38 in the 6th paragraph of the Law, “high school education will include complementary artistic activities” (BRASIL,1961a). However it was not sufficiently clear whether or not music was present in the school curriculum at that time. However, Decree 51.215, of 21 August 1961 (BRASIL, 1961b) came into force before the law and established “rules for music education in kindergarten grades, Pre-Primary Schools, Primary Schools, Secondary Schools and Teaching Schools in the whole country”. In this context, the decree mentioned “music education” should be included at all school levels whereas the law talked only of “artistic activities”. It is important to bear in mind that a greater part of the 1960s through to the late 1980ss was marked by political instability under dictatorial regimes. This period saw six successive governments. According to Caldeira (1997), the militaries took over power in April 1964 claiming this would lead to national progress. One of its first actions was the “AI-1” which imposed new rules on the political life of the country, and begun a period of violence and torture. During the dictatorship, the music was used as means of protesting against the system—“There was a great creative explosion in the theater, cinema, essays, and especially in popular music, both in the traditional form and in adapting new foreign ideas” (ibid. p. 316). A cultural renaissance occurred in the midst of political and economic repression culminating at the end of 1967 and in the first half of 1968 which was contributed to by young people in north-America, French students and Latin-American guerrillas. This emerging cultural revolution was opposed to the strong dictatorial regime and over time resulted in protests and other forms of intervention (CALDEIRA, 1997, p 318). In 1967 the songs of protest became more forceful and music became an instrument to fight against social injustices and bringing to fruition a new revolutionary movement (ibid., p. 319). Later, Popular Brazilian Music Festivals (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOsXaaW4Pkk) were held and famous songs of protest such as “Pra não dizer que não falei das flores” (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_2Gtz-zAzM) by Geraldo Vandré and “Roda Viva” (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRFw5u5wR4c&list=PL3C9D69FD27FB48E5) by Chico Buarque de Holanda, were prohibited by the regime not long after. In 1968 the AI-5 was put in effect, leaving the country under a crippling dictatorship, censorship and repression. After this order, all forms of protest against the government were prohibited. Politically, the relentless resistance to the military power through songs of protest lead a reaction by the authorities with even more extreme repression and censorship which forced some composers including Chico Buarque de Hollanda and Geraldo Vandré to leave the country whereas others such as Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso were imprisioned (TINHORÃO, 1986, p. 244). At the end of the 1960s, a movement called tropicalismo or tropicália (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKpr2_tAKU0) began in São Paulo in an attempt to rekindle the revolutionary spirit of the Bossa Nova, led by Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, who were both from Bahia state. At the beginning of the 1970s a technocratic approach began to be implemented as a result of alliances with North-American countries which had been developing since 1964 (the MEC-USAID agreements). In this context, Law number 5.692/71 was promulgated and maintained some aspects of Law 4.024/61 affecting middle school and high school education.