Camargo Guarnieri (1907 - 1993)

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After the era of Heitor Villa-Lobos, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Camargo Guarnieri became the best known Brazilian composer. His music is as imbued with the same quality of "Brazilianness" (Brasilidad) as that of his predecessor, and it is not as polyphonically complex. Camargo Guarnieri is particularly noted for his art songs and dance pieces, many of which have also been successful as popular songs.

Camargo Guarnieri's father was a Sicilian immigrant who gave each of his children a name honoring a great composer. At age ten, Camargo Guarnieri began to fulfill the implied promise of his name by beginning musical studies. In 1923, the family moved to São Paolo, where he took piano lessons; to help support the family and to pay for further musical studies he played in silent theater orchestras and in café bands. He also took classes at the São Paolo Musical and Theater Conservatory, studying composition and conducting.

Camargo Guarnieri's work in the popular music field and his contact with the nationalist Brazilian ethnomusicologist Mario de Andrade influenced him to adopt Brazilian popular and folk influences in much of his music. By the time he was 21 he had written his Brazilian Dance and his Canção Sertaneja, highly popular pieces (the dance is his best-known work outside of Brazil) that put him on the road to renown. In 1927, he was appointed to teach piano at the Conservatory. His reputation was bolstered by the appearance of the early installments in his body of songs, one of the most important by any Latin American composer.

In 1935, the city of São Paulo founded its own Department of Culture. Camargo Guarnieri took over its conducting position and gained special esteem as a choral conductor. In 1938 a government fellowship enabled him to study in Paris. He took counterpoint, fugue, composition, and musical aesthetics courses from composer Charles Koechlin, undertook conducting studies with Franz Rühlmann, and, like so many other twentieth-century composers, attended master classes with Nadia Boulanger. His biographers agree that he returned from Paris with greatly increased confidence in his compositional skills, and he began to write larger-scale works. In 1942, his violin concerto was the first prize of the Philadelphia Free Library Fleischer Music Collection. His small symphonic piece Encantamento became especially popular. Early in the 1940s, his first two symphonies were premiered in Brazil and the U.S. The Symphony No. 2 became known as a "Symphony of the Americas."

In 1945, he was appointed conductor of the São Paolo Symphony Orchestra, and in 1960 he became director of the Conservatory.

Most of his music included a variety Brazilian national elements. One of the main differences between Camargo Guarnieri's outlook and that of Villa-Lobos is that Camargo Guarnieri avoids the sense of the mysterious or exotic that is a frequently a trait of his older compatriot's works. His Symphony No. 3 (1952) was dedicated to the 400th anniversary of the founding of São Paolo. Some critics consider his Symphony No. 6 his finest achievement in the form. Aside from opera and other stage genres, Camargo Guarnieri wrote in virtually every genre of classical music. His violin sonatas are particularly well respected among chamber music players, but the crown jewel of his oeuvre is his series of over 200 songs. These adroitly reflect the main currents of Brazilian music: Portuguese, Afro-Brazilian, and Amerindian. Many of them have been adapted by Brazilian popular musicians.

Guarnieri began to adopt 12-tone elements in his music around 1960, but then took time off from composition to reconsider his aesthetic approach. Finally he returned to his established style, if anything increasing the emphasis on national and popular elements. He died in São Paolo just a few weeks short of his 86th birthday.

[Article taken from All Music Guide]

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This composer is recognized as the most original composer to come out of Brazil since Villa-Lobos. The interesting thing is I can hear links between both composer's music. The most glaringly obvious similarity is the last movement of his Symphony No. 1with it's highly charged percussion.

I'm still digging into his music, but I would be interested to know what all the GMG members think about his music. Most Latin American composers are neglected, so it wouldn't surprise me that this thread gets much activity.

[lescamil]

There are complete cycles of both his symphonies and his piano concertos that are worth picking up. I am still exploring and absorbing them, so I cannot say much, other than that he is definitely a composer that puts Brazil's native musical culture on the map, right after Villa-Lobos.

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There are complete cycles of both his symphonies and his piano concertos that are worth picking up. I am still exploring and absorbing them, so I cannot say much, other than that he is definitely a composer that puts Brazil's native musical culture on the map, right after Villa-Lobos.

I own the Neschling/BIS cycle and it is excellent. I'm about to pick up the Naxos recordings of the piano concerti.

[Daverz]

Here is his Choro for Cello & Orchestra - Aldo Parisot, cello; Gustav Meier conducting the Vienna State Opera Orchestra.  From a Music Guild Lp.

http://www.mediafire.com/?gyzjniwm4i5 (74M flac)

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(In the loudest, most sarcastic voice imaginable) Boy, you people really like Latin American music don't you?

This composer barely has one page! Anyway, I've been digging through Guarnieri's symphonic cycle yet again and really enjoying the music. There can be some comparisons made to Villa-Lobos (arguably the most important Brazilian composer of all-time), but they are small similarities. These symphonies are as tight as a drum structurally and incorporate lots of distinctive counterpoint especially in the many vigorous string passages that seem to permeate much of the faster movements in the symphonies. There are also many moments of great lyrical beauty.

For anyone interested in Brazilian classical music, I strongly recommend Guarnieri's symphonies as a starting point. The Neschling BIS series is simply outstanding and I cannot think this man enough for bringing these works to a wider audience.

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The John Neschling Guarnieri symphony series on BIS:



http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2004/Mar04/Guarnieri_symphony1-4.htm



http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2002/Oct02/Guarnieri.htm



http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/Jan05/guarnieri_neschling.htm

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I have symphonies 2 and 3 which I like very much.

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I have symphonies 2 and 3 which I like very much.

You should definitely buy the rest of them, Jeffrey. Symphony No. 6 is outstanding in particular, especially the slow movement.

[vandermolen]

You should definitely buy the rest of them, Jeffrey. Symphony No. 6 is outstanding in particular, especially the slow movement.

Actually in my (unsuccessful) search for the Honegger set tonight I discovered two other BIS Guarnieri symphonies CDs 

I have just played Symphony No 3 (twice) which I have the highest opinion of. There is a lovely, life-enhancing section from 3mins and c12 seconds into the first movement and a great 'triumph over the odds' conclusion to the whole work.  It strikes me John that if you like this you would also like the symphonies 4 and 9 + shorter works by Claudio Santoro (1919-1989) also on BIS. You may know this already.

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Actually in my (unsuccessful) search for the Honegger set tonight I discovered two other BIS Guarnieri symphonies CDs 

I have just played Symphony No 3 (twice) which I have the highest opinion of. There is a lovely, life-enhancing section from 3mins and c12 seconds into the first movement and a great 'triumph over the odds' conclusion to the whole work.  It strikes me John that if you like this you would also like the symphonies 4 and 9 + shorter works by Claudio Santoro (1919-1989) also on BIS. You may know this already.

Ha! Still can't find the Honegger eh? Oh well, you'll find it. Yes, Symphony No. 3 is a great work. I'll listen to it again really soon. Do listen to Symphony No. 6 at some point. I do own that Santoro BIS recording and I've only listened to it once. May be time to dig it back out. Kudos for the reminder!

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Ha! Still can't find the Honegger eh? Oh well, you'll find it. Yes, Symphony No. 3 is a great work. I'll listen to it again really soon. Do listen to Symphony No. 6 at some point. I do own that Santoro BIS recording and I've only listened to it once. May be time to dig it back out. Kudos for the reminder!

Try Santoro Symphony 4.  When the chorus comes in it has a similar life-enhancing quality to the Guarnieri. Yes, I'll try Symphony No 6.

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Try Santoro Symphony 4.  When the chorus comes in it has a similar life-enhancing quality to the Guarnieri. Yes, I'll try Symphony No 6.

I remember Santoro's Symphony No. 4 containing a chorus. The entry is kind of startling at first but it is so uplifting.

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I remember Santoro's Symphony No. 4 containing a chorus. The entry is kind of startling at first but it is so uplifting.

Yes - I agree and the feeling reminded me of that section in the first movement of Guarnieri's Third Symphony.

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Yes - I agree and the feeling reminded me of that section in the first movement of Guarnieri's Third Symphony.

Have you heard any of his piano concerti, Jeffrey? I bought the Naxos recordings earlier today. Look forward to digging into these.

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No opinion of the piano concerti, Jeffrey. Right now, I'm listening to Piano Concerto No. 1. That first movement was like a burst of feral energy. The second movement, the slow movement, is quite beautiful. I look forward to exploring the rest.

[vandermolen]

No opinion of the piano concerti, Jeffrey. Right now, I'm listening to Piano Concerto No. 1. That first movement was like a burst of feral energy. The second movement, the slow movement, is quite beautiful. I look forward to exploring the rest.

Don't have PC John - but intend to listen to Symphony No 6 later today.

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Don't have PC John - but intend to listen to Symphony No 6 later today.

Symphony No. 6 is outstanding. I look forward to hearing your impressions of it.

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I listened to Symphony No 6. I found the first movement a bit too 'busy' and rather dense but liked the slow movement. On first hearing I did not like it as much as No 3, which is a very fine work.  But I want to listen to Symphony No 6 again.

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I listened to Symphony No 6. I found the first movement a bit too 'busy' and rather dense but liked the slow movement. On first hearing I did not like it as much as No 3, which is a very fine work.  But I want to listen to Symphony No 6 again.

Busy and dense. That's the way I like it. The slow movement is really the heart of the symphony with that last climax really taking the breath away.

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Busy and dense. That's the way I like it. The slow movement is really the heart of the symphony with that last climax really taking the breath away.

Will listen again tomorrow.