Uta Heidemann
Teilnehmerin der Vorlesungsreihe "Musik in der Begegnung der Kulturen", Univ. Köln

I. Introduction

Prof. Robert Günther begins the introduction of his book "Die Musikkulturen Lateinamerikas im 19. Jahrhundert" by stating:
"Kaum verständlich und von Lateinamerikanern zu Recht beklagt ist das Desinteresse und die Gleichgültigkeit, die Europa den beachtenswerten Leistungen, aber auch Problemen lateinamerikanischer Musikkulturen gegenüber an den Tag legt. Selten ist ein europäischer Interpret bereit, die Werke eines lateinamerikanischen Komponisten in sein Repertoire aufzunehmen, und nur wenige Verlage haben bisher hierzulande die Herausgabe und Verbreitung musikalischer Quellen und Forschungsbeiträge jenes sechsten Kontinents übernommen und so zu mehr Information und besserem Verständnis unter den Völkern beigetragen."

Considering the abundance and variety of the music of Brazil, it is surprising how meager the German secondary literature on this topic still is to this day.

Before concentrating on the secondary literature, I would like to briefly name some German-language authors who have travelled to Brazil and have written down their experiences. In this context one has to distinguish between ethnologists who have fixed their attention on the musical instruments and music of for example the Indians and travellers who noted all their impressions.

This second type of travel journal is usually written in novel-like style, is not given methodical treatment, but is in part illustrated with many pictures and photos, which is partly interesting for musicology.

The journalist Erich Wustmann published five books between 1959 and 1963 describing the lifestyle of different Brazilian Indian tribes, for example "Xingú. Paradies ohne Frieden" and "Crao. Inianer der roten Berge".

The ethnologist Fritz Krause includes in his report of the Leipziger Araguaia Expedition of 1908 a detailed account of dance ceremonies, musical rituals and musical instruments. Georg Schünemann carried out his South America expedition of 1927 - 1929 with the purpose of investigating the musical instruments of the Indians. In his essay "Musikinstrumente der Indianer", which was published 1936 in "Archiv für Musikwissenschaft", he describes the features of the Indian musical instruments supported with many pictures.

Also in the 30’s, the musicologist Emil Heinrich Snethlage gathered interesting information on musical instruments during his one and a half year trip to twelve Indian tribes of the Guapore region.

II. The German-language secondary literature

1. Reference Books

General reference books offer less information on Brazilian music. The article "Brazilien" in "Brockhaus Enzyklopädie" for example describes various aspects of the country extensively, but leaves out its music.

While the "Brockhaus Riemann Musiklexikon" does not include an article on Brazilian music, but offers a bibliography on this subject, the German edition of "Großen Lexikon der Musik" by Marc Honegger and Günther Massenkeil includes a short article on Brazilian music.

In the 1949-1979 edition of "Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart" there is no special article on Brazilian music, but there are articles on specific latinamerican music forms and single Brazilian composers.

The new edition of 1994-1998 already includes 29 columns on the subject. The bibliography on the article "Brasilien" contains three German-language publications only.

2. Surveys

There are only few German-language surveys on the subject of Brazilian music, and most of these are of a popularized nature, as for example the book "Musica Latina. Musikfolklore zwischen Kuba und Feuerland" (1982) by Claus Schreiner.

Another book "Brasilien", published 1986 by Schlott Verlag, also sees itself as an introduction to the musical traditions of Brazil. An exception is the study "Panorama der musikalischen Volkstraditionen" of Dulce Martins Lama, which was published 1989/1990 in "Musices Aptatio".

3. Publications on Specific Topics

The number of German language publications on specific aspects of Brazilian music is comparatively large and is increasing steadily.

Important studies were written by the outstanding Austrian musicologist Erich Moritz von Hornbostel. His systemization of musical instruments in his essay "Über einige Panpfeifen aus Nordwestbrasilien" of 1910 was an important achievement.

I ought to mention Ernst Mehlich. Living in São Paulo as a German conductor he had many thoughts on Brazilian music. In his paper "Brasilianische Folklore" published 1950 in the periodical "Melos", he reflects on the situation of folk music in Braszil.

In his essay "Musik vom anderen Planeten"" Juan Allende Blin writes about the beginnings of the new music in Latin America and devotes a large section to the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos.

Antonio Alexandre Bispo studies the music of Brazil and its mutual relationship to Europe. His doctoral thesis "Die katholische Kirchenmusik in der Provinz São Paulo zur Zeit des brasilianischen Kaiserreiches (1822-1889)" was published in 1980.

The almanacs "Musices Aptatio" of the "Institut für hymnologische und musikethnologische Studien e.V. Köln, Arbeitsstelle Maria Laach" regularly publishes historical and ethnologiscal essays concerning Brazilian music. The edition of 1981 includes besides other essays on specific topics a study on the composer José Mauricio Nunes Garcia written by Guilherme Schubert. The volume 1989 is a report on the second international symposion "Musica sacra und brasiliansische Kultur", which was organized in Bonn and Maria Laach in 1989.

The "Leichlinger Musikforum", a periodical published by the music school of Leichlingen, studies the musical relationships between Europe and other continents. In the third volume of 1984 Antonio Alexandre Bispo analysis the "Missa Solemnis sub titulo Sancti Francisci" of Sigismund Ritter von Neukomm. In the fourth voume of 1985 was published the essay "Fortleben und Entwicklung verschiedener europäischer Traditionen auf dem amerikanischen Kontinent".

1992, Christian Walger published the article "Olodum-A Banda do Pelo" in the "Neue Zeitschrift für Musik". It examines the relationship of Brazilian music and politics.

In his 1993 paper "Kämpferischer Tanz - tänzerischer Kampf", Herby Neumann analyses a specific dance, the Capoeira.

The brass band music of today is subject of two articles by Horst Schwebel in the periodical "Clarino" 1998.

III. Closing Remarks

Even though, as I stated at the beginning of this talk, there are still many aspects of Brazilian music which have not been studied in the German language area, there is a growing interest among German musicologists concerning Brazilian music and the number of publications is increasing.

A phenomenon can be observed which applies to the whole of musicology: there is a trend moving away from general surveys towards more thorough treatments of specific topics which are generally published as papers.

It was impossible to cover all German-language publications sufficiently in this short talk, but I hope to have given you an outline of the situation of the secondary literature in the German-language area.