1993 - borem henrique oswald the music review-libre

7/26/2019 1993 - BOREM Henrique Oswald the Music Review-libre

1/14

ISSN:0027-4445

THE

MUSIG REVIEW

August/November, 993

Gontr ibutors

Virginia

Oakley

Beahrs:

FaustoBorm:

StuartCampbell:an Garter:PaulConway:

Catherine

Dale:Lyn Henderson:

Mara Parker:


2/14

Henrique

Oswald:

A biography

and a selected ist of works

of a

forgotten

Brazilnn

master

BY

FAUSTo oRNa

Henrique Oswald

(r852-I93t)

has

been recognized

as the

most accomplishedBrazilian

composerbefore

Heitor Villa-Lobos

(t887-t959).

Trained in

Europe,

Oswald wrote

for

almost every

genre

and

was

the

leading

pioneer

of chambermusic n Brazil. JosEduardo

Martins

(b.

tg:8), the leading expert on the

composerand the

person

esponsible or

the

recent ediscovery f Oswald'smusic, affirms that Oswald

composed

he most refined

piano

music n thehistory of Brazilian music-a viewpoint sharedby eminentcomposers uchas

FranciscoMignone

t8qZ-tq86)

andJoode

Souza

Lima

(t898-1982).'

Nevertheless,is

music ell

into

oblivion,

especiallyafter

he

nationalistic

Brazilian manlfestoSemana .e

Arte

Modernaof

r9zz. No scholarlyworks n English,

and ew in Portuguese, oncemingOswald

or his music currently exist.

HenriqueOswaldJosPedroMaria CarlosLuiz Oswaldwasborn n Rio deJaneiroon

r4th

April, r85z of a Swiss-German

ather

and

an Italian mother. n the early r85os


3/14

240 THE MUSIC

REVIEW

. . . the ship andedn Genoa,he Oswald amilywenton a quick our n Florence m[m

planning

o staya few days, nd hereHenrique

Oswald emained ntil 1895 /

Oswald ived for about

hreedecadesn Florence,

wherehis most mportant eacfum'

was GiuseppeBuonamici

(r846-t9r4).

Buonamici

had studiedwith Hansvon Btilsrn

at the

Munich

Conservatory, herehe ater

aught

piano.s

The Italian

musicalscene

the

late nineteenth

century was almost

entirely

dominated by

melodram,nx;l*

Buonamici'spreferenceor chambermusic wasexceptionaland strongly nflueryso

Oswald's

musical

output.According o Martins,

Oswald'scharnbermusic

producuon

in the ate r 87os

probably

surpassesn number

hat of any other talian

composer

l

nfirm

same ime-span.lo

HenriqueOswaldmarried he talian

singerLaudomia

Gasperini n r 88 . Thel fod

five

children.Oneson,Alfredo

Oswald,

pursued

n nternational areerasa

pianl*

mrdl

eventually became

a teacher at Peabody

Conservatory n Baltimore, Mary1

,

Another, Carlo Oswald,becameone of the pioneersof metal engraving n Bra.ai

At Buonamici's

houseOswaldmet

many mportant

musical igures suchas rro

Liszt and Johannes rahms. n

r886, the

year

of his

death,

Liszt visited Buonamin

nr

Florence.On this occasion

Oswald was introduced

o and spentsome ime

u-i

rfu

legendary

pianist

and composer:

t

z3rd,Saturday-Henri pent he night

with Buonamici

n order o

get

o know e

gmmm

master iszt.Hewas ortunateo hear implay;hewasenchanted.4th,Sunday-Hem hd

lunchwith Liszt who

wantedo hear hree

of Henri's

compositions,fterwhich.

n

ruuml*,

Liszt

played

our of his ownworks.Henri

spenthe

great


4/14

HENRIQUE

OSWALD

Oswaldmet Camille Saint-Sansor the

first time on

5th

July, r899, in

So

Paulo

when

hey

performed

Saint-Sans's cherzo or two

pianos,

nicknamedTheBat.r4The

next

day Saint-Sans

eardsomeof

Oswald's hamberworks.Saint-Sans'seaction

showshis recognitionof the closeness

f

his

compositionalstyle to Oswald's:

This

s of

superb eauty . .

the

ending

f

yourquartet

piano

Quartet,

p. z6] wouldmake

[sic.,

made]me

happy.Today, t is

a very difficult

thing o conclude

work well. The

Russians,ollowingLiszt, end o useallthenotes f thechromaticcale ut he onic,or else

they inishabruptly; ut here

s no

question

or me:one

should nd hematicallynd

on he

tonic.This

s

t, this s t.

Bravo

. .

I

see

ou

employ

heminormode

in

Romanceor

violin

and

pianol

withoutalteringhesixth

andseventh egrees.agreewith that.rs

Oswald

met

Saint-Sans

second ime

n

Rio

in r9o4. Together, hey

gave

a recital or

two

pianos

hat

ncludedSaint-Sans'

Africa Fantasy nd

Scherzo.16

Oswald

scheduled second our

of

Brazil

in r9oo. This time,

the

tour was a

completesuccess.Newspapers f the time, such as A Platia, Jornal do comrcio,

Dirio

de SoPaulo,Revtstaartstica andTribuna de

Sao

Paulo,

praised

Oswald

bo

as

a composer

nd

a

pianist,

especially

or his

performances

f

his

piano

Concertoand

one of the wo violoncellosonatas

rom

Beethoven's

pus

5.17

In

order o havemore

ree

ime

to

compose

nd

practise

he

piano,

Oswaldaccepted

the

position

of Chancellor

n

the

Brazilian

Consulaten Paris n r9oo.18After

one

year

he attempted

o

resign,

owing

to the

great

deal of time spent n bureaucraticwork.

Instead, he Brazilian President,CamposSales, ransferredhim to Genoa,where he

could havemore ree ime and

ive

closer o his family.le The

opera e

fate

(tgoz)

and

24r


5/14

1^ a

THE MUSIC

REVI EW

the

Instituto

Nacionalde Msica n Rio de

Janeiro.The Institute,

however,

was

going

through an administrativecrisis. Friction betweenOswald and other administration

officials was nevitable.

Oswald's

ntrospective

emperament asof no help.z2

Oswald

unsuccessfullysubmitted his resignation

wice between r9o3 and t9o6.23As the

situation

worsened,

he took a leave of absence

or severalmonths,during which he

prepared

or

a

recital in

Germany.This

dbut was

perhaps

conceivedas a way of

resolving the feeling

of

rejection

Oswald was encountering n Brazil.

Oswald's

subsequentecital

n

the Munich Museum n

19o6wasa complete uccess. e reported

in his personal otes:

I am inally happy.

cansay hat his was

he most

mportant

uccessf

my life.

I could

perform

n anycity n

Germany,

eain hat

wouldbe appreciated.'"

The

conce

in

Munich boostedOswald's

self-esteem:

I did not ell anyonehat would

give

a concert

n a German ity,because,

rankly,

confess

to

you

hat was

cared

o death

fthe

possibility

f

tsbeing iasco; have een odespised

bymycoun{ymenhat cameo believehat wasworthnothine . . the ellow-countrymen

werewrong.--

After finally resigning rom

the Instituto Nacional

de

Msica in 19o6,

Oswald

movedback o Europe o dedicate imself

o composing.He would not return o Brazil

until r9r r.26

When Oswald

irst

left for Europe, here

were no significant orcesstruggling or

a national

anguage

n the arts

n Brazil.

Not

surprisingly,

his music was

essentially

European n style. Although

Oswald

was

an admirer of Richard Wagner, he was

greatly

nfluenced

by themoreconservative rench

composers. uring a tour

n

Brazil,


6/14

HENRIQUE

OSWALD

Martins speculates bout he influenceof Russianmusic n someof Oswald'sworks

such as the

Molto

adagio

from the

piano

Quintet,

op.

18

of 1887:

In August f 1875,Henrique

swald ncounteredRussianamily

. .

They

musthave

had

a reasonablenowledge f music .

.

In

this

ormative

eriod,

he

possible erusal

f

works

by

Russian

omposers-couldexplainertainnqredients

xistingn worksby Oswald,

hich

couldnothave ome rom his talian

eachers.''

DariusMilhaud moved o Brazil

in t9ry. The

young

French

composer nd

violinist

soon becamean habitu at the Oswalds.

Despite his anti-Romanticvein, Milhaud

recognized he worth as a composer

of the 65-year-old

Oswald:

I

admire

particularly

he impeccable

orm of this Trio

[work

not_specifed],

he

exact

sense

of its

proportions

and the always

perfect

balanceof

its

sonority.r'

But it was the Brazilian urban popular

music3l that

provided

Milhaud with

".

. .

new

materials al ien to the saturated and

crisis-ridden European repertory".32

When back

in

France in t9zo, Milhaud regretted

how Brazilian composers

neglected the

richness of

native music:

It is regrettable hat all works by Brazilian

composers . . Nepomuceno

and Oswald

...

reflect

the

different

periods

that

developed

n

Europe . . .

when

a

popular

theme or a dance

rhythm s used n a musicalwork . . . is deformedbecausehe authorsees t thr-oughheeyes

of Wagneror Saint-Sans,f he

is

sixry

years

old, or

Debussy,

f he is thirty.rr

243


7/14

244 THE MUSIC

REVIEW

The"f Oswaldwouldhaveadhered . ."35viewpoint shared y most critics caused n

underestimation

f

the composer's mportance

o Brazilian music.

Oswald

was

not hostile o Brazilian musical

nationalism.While

he

did

not

embrace

the nationalist ause,

e

envisagedhe emergence

f a truly

indigenousmusic n Brazil:

"As

our

musical

environment

gradually

develops,we will have an

art basedon our

popular

songs,on

the vast musical folklore

of

greater

Brazil".36 t was his student

Lorenzo Femandez

r8gZ-Ig+8)

who wrote

Malazarte

(rggg),

the first successful

nationalistopera. Other important compositionstudentsof Oswald were Luciano

Gallet

(I893-193r),

Walter Burle

Marx

(b.

rgoz)

and

FrutuosoViana

(r896-1976),

who were significantly nfluencedby Brazilian

musical nationalism.3T

Oswald

was

awreof the

popular

music rends

n

Brazil

and

highly

appreciatedhe

music

of

Emesto

Nazareth

1863-1934),38

ho

still

is consideredhe most nfluential

Brazilian

popular

composerof

the

twentieth century.3eDuring his stay in Rio de

Janeiro n 1927,Ottorino Respighivisited

Oswaldand collectedsome

nformation

on

Brazilianpopularmusic.ao

Cuban

writer

and

critic Alejo Carpentier

b.

r9o4), who wrote extensivelyon the

emergence f nationalmusic dioms in

the

first

half of the twentiethcentury,stated:

That s why heuse f a olk-themes not

enougho achieve national tyle. t is heelements

of style

execution

echniques,nstrumentation,nflections,

oundextures)hatdifferentiate

thenational haracterrom music n

general.ar

This viewpoint can apply to the few works in which Oswald experimentedwith

Brazilian

musical

dioms.a2

'.


8/14

HENRIQUE

OSWALD

245

.. . describes

his intimate

life, his triumphs,

and the intrigues

that led him

to resign

the

direction of the Instituto [the National Institute of Music], the battles and the heroic

resign4tion

to have to

begin life all over

past

the

age of

5o

The

Symphony,

which has

characteristic

passages

fgenuine Brazilian

music

when depicting

popular

dances

and songs

to

symbolize

the indifference

of the surroundings,

he real

life

going

on without

reference

o

the artist's

life,

ends

wi

a very

pllfual

movement,

a supreme

aspiraon

o serenity,

peace

and maximum

happiness

n eah.*

Henrique

Oswald was

geatly

admired

by Heitor

Villa-Lobos,

the leading

exponent

of musical nationalism in Brazil. In a letter dated tgzg Villa-Lobos wrote to Oswald

from

Paris: "An

affectionate

hug from

your

great

friend

and admirer".as

After

the

composer's

death, Villa-Lobos

wrote

to

Oswald's widow:

Well, it is

the

"Orpheo"

community

who

should regret t

[Laudomia

missing

a concert],

because,when

a woman of

such

qualities

as

yourself,

and above

all, the widow

of the most

mourned

and admirable

composerof

this

country, all Brazilians

should

hold

you

in

the

highest

and noblest everence

.

. I

avail myselfof this opportunity o communicatehat weshouldperform the last Missa de Rquiem,by Maestro Oswald n

the third

concert

of our

series,

o which ntent we request

oui

gracioui

consent, ogetfier

with

the score

and he

parts

of

the work.a6

Martins

suggests

that Oswald's rae

attempts

to incorporate

Brazilian

idioms

in his

music

may have resulted

more from

conversations

with Milhaud

rather

than with

Brazilian

composers

converted

to the

nacionalisma

such

as Alberto

Nepomuceno

(1864-19zo) and his student Luciano Gallet (r893-193r).47

Towards

the end of his life

Oswald

enjoyed

some wider

recognition

of his music.


9/14

246

THE MUSIC

REVIEW

pleasant

nd

pure

smile hathaseverappeared

n

Brazilianips.

.

.48

On

the occasionof Oswald's death,

however,

Andradeexpressed n entirely different

view:

Oswald ame rom a terrible

generation,

ith no

drama,

o to speak. mergingrom the

second alf of the nineteenth entury, he

popular

elements f

Romanticism ere

put

together,ompiled

nd

stylized;

omp.osers

verdidhesubtlety,n a constant

reciosity

hat

influenceden e manner f

living.""

Henrique Oswald

ocusedon

sacred

music

in the latter

part

of his

life-a

direct

influence from his son Alfredo, who settled

n the United States

n tgzo. In t9zz,

Alfredo becamea

piano

teacherat the Peabody

Conservatory

n Baltimore, wherehe

taught or eight

years.s0

n e

late

rgzos Alfredo

and

his wife Beatriz ook Jesuitand

CarmeliteOrders,

espectively.Henrique

Oswald's Requiem n E minor, Mass n C

minor and several

other sacred

pieces

were

a responseo their taking

holy orders.5l

Oswald rarely expressed is opinions on new musical trends of the twentieth

century.

An

exception

wasmade n

an

nterview

with the newspaper orreio da manh

of

r3th May, 19o6, in which he showed

admiration for the use of atonality and

unconventional

hythms

Maestro

Vladimir

vanovich]Rebikoff

t866-I9zo]

is a musical evolutionary.

e

briefly

explainedis heorieso

me:

music hould implybe

heexpression

f the eelings:eelings

do

not have onalityor rhythm;music, swell,

should ot have hythmor tonality . .

This

composer'smusic is alwaysso original . . . revealinga richnessof harmonyand

rhvthms.t'


10/14

HENRIQUE

OSWALD

247

HenriqueOswald's hree

most mportant

honoursas a

composer

how

hat he

was

recognizedmore in Europe han in Brazil In rgzo he received he Medaille du Roi

Albert from the Belgian

govemment,5a

nd

in r9z8

the Palmes acadmiques

or

serviceso

the Frenchmusic

public

schoolsystem.ss

n r93r

Oswald

was nominated

to receive he Chevalierde

la lgion d'honneur,

but

he

died

sixteendays before he

ceremony.s6

n the name

of France,

he Consul, Count

Dejean,

paid

him a

final

tribute:

Deathcame oo early-but the memoryof Oswald,whomFrance lorifies onight,will

remain hroughhebeauty

f his ownworks,a

paragon

f Brazilian rt."

A commemorative oncert

or the centenary

f

HenriqueOswald's birth was

held

in Rio in

ry52.

Despite the efforts

to

make

it a successful ribute

to the Brazilian

master, he eventattracted

ittle attention.A review

of the ime

gives

an accountof

the

neglectof Oswald's

music

n his

own country:

The

young

Brazilian chool f

symphonic

nd hamber usic

was n its irst

steps,

nd t was

expectedo be

based n he ime-honoureduropean

raditions

. . thesymphonic

orksof

Oswald

erformed

n the

opening

eremony

f theevent

Nacional

e arte

n honour f the

master's

entenaryave heirmeritsandauthority,

but]

we couldnotcall hem

Brazilian"

. . .

lthey]

have alent, motional

ower,

master's and . .

in

the

pages

f thisBandeirante

[an

early

pioneer

n

the

settlementf Brazil]whowas

preparing

the

ground]

or Villa-Lobos

and

Camargo]

uamieri .

.

Unfortunately,

ew

attended

if

Oswald

asnamed

Oswaldosky

. . . ) . r

Henrique Oswald

died on

9th

June, r93r, in Rio

de Janeiro,

a few days

after two


11/14

248

THE

MUSIC

REVIEW

the Arquivo

Nacional,

currently

available

literature, previews,

programme

notes and concertprogrammes.- It does not include Oswald's large-number oi riinor piano pieces.6l

The

publishers

of Oswald's

music include

the following

among others:

Genezio

Venturini

and

Ricordi in

Italy;

Carisch

& Janichen and

Jurgenson

n

Germany; Durand

in France;

Boston

Music co. in

the

u.s.A.; and.Bevilacqua,

icordi,

Arthur.Napoleo,

ieira

Machado,

Mangioni

and Mello Abreu

in Brazil.62

Chamber Music

Andante, or

violin

and

piano

Berceuse, or

cello and

piano

or violin

and

piano (1898)

Berceuse, or cello

and

piano

(r9zr)

Canto

elegaco,

or violin

and

piano

(r9o4)

Deux Romances,

p.

3j,

for

violin

and

piano

Duas

pginas

d'lbum,

for cello

and

piano

Elegia,

for

cello

and

piano (r897)

Piano Trio, op.9 G88g)

Piano Trio,

op. z8

(1897)

PianoTrio,

op.38

(a.

rgrr)

PianoTrio,

op.

45

@.

r9r5)

Serrana,

piano

nio

(r9r8)

Piano

concerto,op. ro,

transcribed

or

piano

quintet

by the

composer

Piano

Quaet,

op. z6

(t898)

Piano

Quintet

Picollo,

op.

5

PianoQuintet, p. t8

Romance, or cello

and

piano

Romanza-Berceuse,

or

violin

and

piano


12/14

HENRIQUE

OSWALD

Bluettes

(1888) (Muguet,

Miozotis, Bouton

d'or, Paquerette,

Bruyre, Pierce-neige,Coquelicot,

l'

i olette, Bluet, P ervenche\

Caprice

Chansonette

Deta

nocturnes, op.6

De*r valses

caprces, op. tt

Deux valses,

op.

z5

Douze

Machiettes, op. z

(La

Campane

della sera,

Scherzo, Valzer lento,

Canzonetta, Ninna-

Nanna, Marcia, Romanza, Seconda Gayotta, Pastorale, Minuetto, Sarabanda, La caccia)

En

nacelle

Estudo

(posthumous

edition)

Erude pour

la main

gauche

(tgzt)

Fogli

d'Album, op.3

G88

(Prlude

Sognando,Impromptu,

In

Hamac, Romanza,

Scherzo)

Folha

d'lbum

Feuilles

d'Album, op. zo

(lnquitude,

Chansonette, Feux Follets,

Dsir Ardent)

Gavotta

(1883)

i l neige . .. (r9oz)

Impromptu,

op. tg

Lento ed

espressivo

(1887)

.V

ar c a r e i

g

osa

(r87

3)

Marchons

Molto

allegro

Mazurka

(t872)

Mazurka

(posthumous

work)

Nocturne

Menuet,

op.9no. z

(r882)

Menueto

(t883)

249


13/14

250

THE

MUSIC

REVIEW

Tempo

di

walzer

(c.

Tres

Estudos,

op.

4zTriste

rgo2)

(r9o6-t9rz)

Trois

romances.

p.

7.eg7.g)

Bonheur,

girato,

La

Houle

or

La

plante, )

T::,,'.:1:::1y,;f

ys:y,'ptixL-,i"t"u")

rots

morceaux,

op.

23

(Menuet,

Romance,

Vas)

'

Un

Rve

Valsa

lenta,

op.

25

no.

r

Valse

impromptu,

op.

t4no.

5

vatse,

op.4

no.

I

V9lse,op.6 no. r (rgg6)

Valse,

op.8

no.

r

lgl1e,

op.

r

no.

z

(r8g7)

Valse,

op.

zz

V_ariabs

obre

um

tema

de

Barroso

Neto

Vivacissimo

r88:)

Organ

Music

Preldio e FuRa

Sonata

r925-193r)

Tantum

ergo

Orchestral

Works

B_b

endorl,

for

string

orchestra

Elegia

Fesra symphonic oem.)

Il

neige .

.

.,

transribed

or

orchestra

y

the

composer

Invocao

Arte


14/14

HENRIQUE OSWALD

25r

-{r'e, or voice andpiano

.|re Maria,

for

solo

voice

-|re

Maria, for soprano and

piano

Cantigabomia

c.

19r5)

Le

ate,

for voice and

piano

Hino da

amlia

Oswald unida

(t9o7)

Invocao

arte,

for choir and orchesna

r9r7)

Memorare,

or

four

female voices

Minha

estrela

c.

t9t5)

Mass n C minor, for choir, stringsand organ(t925)

RequiemMass

n E minor, or S.A.T.B.

1925)

Oflia, song

cycle

for

voice

and

piano

(c.

Igor-I9o4)

O Salutare

hostia, for female or

male choir,

or

voice

and

piano

Pater

noster.

or S.A.T.B.

Sinos

c.

r9r5)

Tantum

ergo,

for three male

voices

Veni,

SancteSpiritus,

or threemale

voices

Acknowledgement

The foregoing article has

already been

published

in Vol. 15 No. t of Latin American

Music Review and

is reproduced here

by

kind

permission

of Dr. Gerard Bhague,

the

Editor of that

journal.

1993 - borem henrique oswald the music review-libre

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