Alberto Nepomuceno (Brazil, 1864-1920)
BIOGRAPHY
Composer and pianist
Considered the “Father of Brazilian Music,” Alberto Nepomuceno was a leading composer in Brazilian concert music in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He received his musical training from his father, an organist, before receiving formal musical training in Brazil and Europe. Nepomuceno became the leader of the Rio de Janeiro Conservatory in 1906 and served as composition teacher to other notable Brazilian composers, including Heitor Villa-Lobos. An ardent Brazilian nationalist, Nepomuceno utilized elements of popular and folk music as the basis for many of his compositions including O garatuja, Série Brasileira, and A jangada. He has also written over 50 art songs in Portuguese despite opposition from critics, stating, “Those who do not sing in their language have no homeland.”
FEATURED RECORDING
This recording of Air from Alberto Nepomuceno's Suite Amiga was performed by Arnaldo Cohen, Distinguished Professor of Music at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and is available through Media Collections Online to authorized users.
Alberto Nepomuceno: "Air" from Suite Amiga, Op. 11 (Media Collections Online)
MUSICAL WORKS
This selection of scores from the Latin American Music Center available at the William and Gayle Cook Music Library at Indiana University-Bloomington represents the stylistic diversity of Nepomuceno's output, as he composed in various genres and instrumentations.
Artemis (one-act opera)
Batuque: no. 4 da Série Brasileira (excerpt from string quartet)
Prelude from O Garatuja (symphony, for orchestra)
Xácara (songs for low voice and piano)
Improviso op. 27, no. 2 (for piano)
Noturno op. 33 (for piano)
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Works List
DISCOGRAPHY
This selection of recordings encompass Nepomuceno's most well-known works, including Série Brasileira and String Quartet no. 3. These works exemplify Nepomuceno's desire to develop a quintessentially Brazilian style while composing in typical classical forms. Recordings of Nepomuceno's works are available through the Latin American Music Center Collection at the William and Gayle Cook Music Library and select databases to authorized users and on YouTube.
String Quartet No. 3: "Brazilian"
- Nepomuceno, Alberto, and Claudio Santoro. Quartet No. 3, D Minor: ("Brazilian") / Alberto Nepomuceno. Quartet No. 4 / Claudio Santoro. Venutura, Calif.: Educo, 1970. (Esterhazy String Quartet of University of Missouri-Columbia: Eugene Gratovich, Ruth Melcher Allen, violins ; Ulrich Dannemann, viola ; Carleton B. Spotts, cello). (Media Collections Online) (IUCAT)
Sinfonia em Sol menor
- Nepomuceno, Alberto. Sinfonia em Sol menor (1893). Video, 33:08. (Orquestra Sinfônica Municipal de Campinas ; Benito Juarez, conductor) (YouTube)
Noturno op. 33
- Nepomuceno, Alberto. Noturno op. 33. June 2nd, 2017. Video, 6:21. (Claudio de Brito, piano) (YouTube)
Série Brasileira
- Nepomuceno, Alberto. Série Brasileira. April 4th, 2013. Video, 23:24. (Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira ; Souza Lima, conductor) (Recorded in 1969) (YouTube)
Cantigas
- Nepomuceno, Alberto. "Cantigas." A Carnival of Songs. Recorded January 1, 2000. Claudio Records, 2000, streaming audio. (Alexander Street Press)
Offertoire
Additional Sound Recordings
Canções de Nepomuceno
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Some resources are only available to authorized users through Indiana University-Bloomington.
Articles
- Brandão, Dolores Castorino. “A formação do acervo da Biblioteca Alberto Nepomuceno da Escola de Música da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro.” Revista Brasileira de Musica 31, no. 1 (January 2018): 81–96.
- Teixeira, Thiago Plaça. “Anjos e pastores: tópicas e intertextualidade no oratório de Alberto Nepomuceno.” Opus 25, no. 1 (January 2019): 1–39.
- Vermes, Viviana Mônica. 2010. “Alberto Nepomuceno e o exercício profissional da música.” Música em Perspectiva: Revista do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Música 3 (1): 7–32.
Books
- Appleby, David P. The Music of Brazil. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 1983. (IUCAT)
- Béhague, Gerard. The Beginnings of Musical Nationalism in Brazil. Detroit: Information Coordinators, 1971. (IUCAT)
- Corrêa, Sérgio Alvim. Alberto Nepomuceno: catálogo geral. Rio de Janeiro: Fundação Nacional de Arte, 1996. (IUCAT)
- Pereira, Avelino Romero. Música, sociedade e política: Alberto Nepomuceno e a República Musical. Rio de Janeiro: Editora UFRJ, 2007. (IUCAT)
- Pignatari, Dante. Canto da língua: Alberto Nepomuceno e a invenção da canção brasileira. São Paulo: Edusp, 2015. (IUCAT)
Dissertations
- Riggs, Rawlianne. The Brazilian Art Song and the Non-Brazilian Portuguese Singer: A Performance Guide to Nine Songs by Alberto Nepomuceno. DMA Diss., University of North Texas, 2019. (ProQuest Theses and Dissertations)
Encyclopedias
- Béhague, Gerard. "Nepomuceno, Alberto." Grove Music Online, 2001. Accessed 30 Sep. 2020. (Oxford Music Online: Grove Music Online)
Student Papers
- Thompson, Anne. The Life and Work of Alberto Nepomuceno, Summer 1975. Student Papers Series, Juan Orrego-Salas Legacy Collection, LAMC 2011 Orrego-Salas, Latin American Music Center, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, United States.
For additional works on Alberto Nepomuceno available at IU Bloomington Libraries, click here.