Books › Harvard Dictionary Of Music, 1944 › scan 117
Scan 117
Harvard Dictionary Of Music, 1944
16 lines. Read by computer on 18 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1BRATSCH
3Bratsche [G., from It. viola da *braccio]. The German name for the viola. Bratschist, viola player.
5Brautlied [G.]. Bridal song.
7Bravoure [F.], bravura [It., literally "courage"], denotes greatest ease in conquering technical difficulties. Hence, the term aria di bravura [G. Bravur-arie] for an aria in a brilliant, virtuoso-like style.
9Brawl. Old English perversion for *branle.
11Brazil. The first music school in Brazil, the Conservatorio da Fazenda Nacional de Santa Cruz, was founded by the Jesuits, who were the first to educate the natives of this country in European ways. Associated with this school was the greatest Brazilian composer of the Colonial period, José Mauricio Nunes Garcia (1767–1830), a priest who wrote mostly religious music, including an admirable Requiem in D minor, showing the influence of Mozart and Haydn. He was followed by Francisco Manoel (1795–1865), composer of the Brazilian National Anthem, and founder, in 1841, of the Conservatory in Rio de Janeiro which later became the Escola Nacional de Música. The prestige of Brazilian music was greatly enhanced abroad by the success of Carlos Gomes (1836–96), the most famous opera-composer produced by Latin America. He was trained in Italy, and several of his operas, including Il Guarany (1870), were received with acclaim at La Scala of Milan. The overture to Il Guarany is doubtless the best-known orchestral composition to come out of South America. Other operas by Gomes include Fosca, Maria Tudor, Lo Schiavo, and Condor. A pioneer symphonic composer was Leopoldo Miguez (1850–1902), who wrote the first symphonic poems composed in Brazil; he also wrote an opera of Wagnerian tendencies, Saldunes, and a notable Sonata for violin and piano. The Romantic tradition was represented by Henrique Oswald (1852–1931), noteworthy especially for his chamber music, and by Alexandre Lévy (1864–92), a brilliant pianist, author of a Brazilian Rhapsody for piano and orchestra. Alberto Nepomuceno (1864–1920) was the precursor of the modern National school through his utilization of Brazilian elements in such works as his orchestral "Brazilian Suite" and prelude to Garatuja. He also composed many songs which laid the basis for the modern Brazilian lied. Another pioneer of nationalism in music was Brasílio Itiberé (1846–1913), whose orchestral fantasia, "Sertaneja," is based on Brazilian folk themes. In the popular field, the most noteworthy composer was Ernesto Nazareth (1863–1934), creator of the Brazilian tango and author of nearly 500 pieces in popular style.
13Dean of contemporary Brazilian composers is Francisco Braga (b. 1868), who has also distinguished himself as a conductor. He has written symphonic and dramatic works, chamber music, etc. The Brazilian art song has been carried to a high degree of perfection by Oscar Lorenzo Fernández (b. 1897), who is also the composer of a successful opera, Malazarte (Rio, 1941), and of several symphonic works imbued with Brazilian color, such as "Reisado do Pastoreio," "Imbapára," and "Batuque." In his chamber-music output, a trio for piano, violin, and cello is notable. An exact contemporary of Fernández is Francisco Mignone, professor of conducting at the Escola Nacional de Música and composer of numerous orchestral works of brilliant coloring, among them three Brazilian Fantasias for piano and orchestra, and "Maracatú do Chico Rei." Other contemporaries who should be mentioned are Barrozo Netto (1881–1941), Fructuoso Vianna, and, among the younger men, Radamés Gnattali, Luiz Cosme, and especially Camargo Guarnieri, composer of a splendid Concerto for piano and orchestra and other works revealing a powerful creative temperament.
15A place apart must be reserved for the greatest of contemporary Brazilian composers — and probably the most outstanding composer of all Latin America — Heitor Villa-Lobos (b. 1881), amazingly prolific and original creator of some 1400 works, including many characteristic
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.