Mota G Treatise 2009

THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF MUSIC
THE SONGS FOR VOICE AND PIANO BY RONALDO MIRANDA:
MUSIC, POETRY, PERFORMANCE, AND PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION
By
GISELE PIRES DE OLIVEIRA MOTA
A Treatise submitted to the

College of Music
in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
Doctor in Music
Degree Awarded:
Spring Semester, 2010
Copyright © 2009
Gisele Pires de Oliveira Mota
All Rights Reserved
The members of the committee approve the treatise of Gisele Pires de Oliveira Mota
defended on November 23, 2009.
__________________________________
Carolyn Bridger
Professor Directing Treatise
__________________________________
Matthew Shaftel
University Representative
__________________________________
Stanford Olsen
Committee Member
The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members.
ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to thank God for giving me His strength each day of this journey.
My gratitude to my adviser and piano professor Carolyn Bridger for her dedication,
guidance and support during my studies at Florida State University.
My appreciation to the members of my committee, Dr. Matthew Shaftel, Dr. Timothy
Hoekman and Prof. Stanford Olsen, for sharing their knowledge and artistry with me.
To my dearest friend Deloise Lima who supported me with her friendship and inspired
me with her musical gift.
To my family and friends from Brazil and Orlando for their love and prayers.
To Ana Cláudia Brito and Eurides Brito and for their incentive and support.
A special thanks to the Secretaria de Educação do Governo do Distrito Federal, for the
financial support and for granting me a leave of absence from the Escola de Música de Brasília
in order to come to Florida State University to pursue this degree.
And finally, I would like to express my deepest thanks to my beloved husband, Marcus. I
could never have reached this dream without his love, support, understanding and patience. You
have always been there for everything and I am looking forward to sharing with you all the new
surprises life has prepared for us. I love you more than ever.
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Tables ............................................................................................. v

List of Musical Examples .......................................................................... vi
Abstract ..................................................................................... xii
1. Chapter One: Introduction ...................................................................... 1
2. Chapter Two: Overview of Brazilian Art Song During the Twentieth

Century: Ronaldo Miranda in Context.................................................... 7
3. Chapter Three: General Rules for Brazilian Portuguese Lyric Diction . 13
4. Chapter Four: Songs for Voice and Piano by Ronaldo Miranda ........... 17
Cantares ................................................................................................ 17
Retrato ................................................................................................ 26
Soneto da separação.............................................................................. 40
Segredo ................................................................................................ 55
Três canções simples............................................................................. 71
Visões........................................................................................... 73
Noite e dia ................................................................................... 88
Cotidiano...................................................................................... 97
Desenho leve ........................................................................................ 111
5. Chapter Five: Conclusion ....................................................................... 127
APPENDICES ............................................................................................ 131

A Brazilian Lyric Portuguese Phonetic Chart for Reference........... 131
B Copyright Permission Letter ........................................................ 137
C Musical Scores ............................................................................. 139
Cantares ....................................................................................... 140
Retrato .......................................................................................... 143
Soneto da separação..................................................................... 147
Segredo ........................................................................................ 150
Visões .......................................................................................... 155
Noite e dia ................................................................................... 159
Cotidiano...................................................................................... 162
Desenho leve ............................................................................... 169
BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................... 179
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ..................................................................... 186
iv
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: “Cantares,” form chart .............................................................................. 22
Table 2: “Retrato,” form chart ................................................................................ 33
Table 3: “Soneto da separação,” form chart ........................................................... 47
Table 4: “Segredo”.................................................................................................. 63
Table 5: “Segredo”.................................................................................................. 63
Table 6: “Segredo” ................................................................................................. 63
Table 7: “Segredo,” form chart............................................................................... 64
Table 8a: “Visões,” form chart section A ............................................................... 79
Table 8b: “Visões,” form chart section B ............................................................... 79
Table 9: “Noite e dia,” form chart ......................................................................... 92
Table 10a: “Cotidiano,” form chart section A ........................................................ 103
Table 10b: “Cotidiano,” form chart section B ........................................................ 103
Table 11: “Desenho leve,” form chart .................................................................... 118
Table 12: “Desenho leve,” differences between parts A, B and C ......................... 119
v
LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES
Example 1: “Cantares,” mm. 1-3 ............................................................................ 23
Example 2: “Cantares,” mm. 4-7 ............................................................................ 23
Example 3a: “Cantares,” mm. 12-13 ...................................................................... 23
Example 3b: “Cantares,” mm. 12-13 ...................................................................... 23
Example 4a. “Cantares,” mm. 14-15 ...................................................................... 24
Example 4b. “Cantares,” mm. 14-15 ...................................................................... 24
Example 5: “Cantares,” m. 3................................................................................... 24
Example 6: “Retrato,” mm. 1-4 .............................................................................. 33
Example 7: “Retrato,” mm. 5-6 .............................................................................. 34
Example 8a: “Retrato,” mm. 7-9 ............................................................................ 34
Example 8b: “Retrato,” mm. 7-9 ............................................................................ 34
Example 9a: “Retrato,” mm. 12-14, initial ascending vocal line in section A ....... 34
Example 9b: “Retrato,” mm. 20-22, initial descending vocal line in section B ..... 35
Example 10a: “Retrato,” mm. 3-9, original score................................................... 35
Example 10b: “Retrato,” mm. 3-9, score with suggested phrasing slurs................ 35
Example 11a: “Retrato,” m. 1 ................................................................................. 36
Example 11b: “Retrato,” m. 3................................................................................. 36
Example 11c: “Retrato,” m. 10 ............................................................................... 36
Example 11d: “Retrato,” mm. 13-14 ...................................................................... 36
Example 12a: “Retrato,” mm. 15-20 ...................................................................... 37
Example 12b: “Retrato,” mm. 21-26 ...................................................................... 37
Example 12c: “Retrato,” mm. 12-28 ...................................................................... 37
vi
Example 12d: “Retrato,” mm. 35-40 ...................................................................... 38
Example 13: “Retrato,” mm. 13-14 ........................................................................ 38
Example 14: “Retrato,” mm. 11-12 ........................................................................ 39
Example 15a: “Soneto da separação,” mm. 5-6 ..................................................... 47
Example 15b: “Soneto da separação,” mm. 9-10 .................................................. 47
Example 15c: “Soneto da separação,” mm. 7-8 ..................................................... 47
Example 15d: “Soneto da separação,” mm. 11-13 ................................................ 47
Example 16a: “Soneto da separação,” mm. 21-22 ................................................. 48
Example 16b: “Soneto da separação,” mm. 23-24 ................................................ 48
Example 17a: “Soneto da separação,” mm. 25-26 ................................................. 48
Example 17b: “Soneto da separação,” mm. 27-28 ................................................ 48
Example 17c: “Soneto da separação,” mm. 29-30 ................................................. 48
Example 18: “Soneto da separação,” basic rhythmic pattern ................................. 49
Example 19: “Soneto da separação,” mm. 6-8 and 18-20 ...................................... 49
Example 20: “Soneto da separação,” mm. 28-30 ................................................... 49
Example 21: “Soneto da separação,” m. 1.............................................................. 50
Example 22: “Soneto da separação,” mm. 4-7 ....................................................... 50
Example 23: “Soneto da separação,” mm. 4-7 ....................................................... 51
Example 24: “Soneto da separação,” mm. 13-16 .................................................. 52
Example 28: “Soneto da separação,” mm. 10 and 20 ............................................. 54
vii
Example 29a: “Segredo,” m. 1, whole-tone ........................................................... 65
Example 29b: “Segredo,” m. 24, whole tone ......................................................... 65
Example 29c: “Segredo,” m. 27, whole-tone ......................................................... 65
Example 30a: “Segredo,” m. 2, chromaticism ....................................................... 65
Example 30b: “Segredo,” m. 7, chromaticism ....................................................... 65
Example 30c: “Segredo,” mm. 29-30, chromaticism ............................................ 65
Example 31a: “Segredo,” m. 4, diatonicism .......................................................... 66
Example 31b: “Segredo,” m. 8, diatonicism .......................................................... 66
Example 32a: “Segredo,” mm. 7-8, phrase ending in thirds .................................. 66
Example 32b: “Segredo,” mm. 10-11, phrase ending in thirds ............................. 66
Example 32c: “Segredo,” mm. 20-22, phrase ending in third range ...................... 67
Example 33a: “Segredo,” m. 5, mediant relationship ............................................ 67
Example 33b: “Segredo,” m. 10, mediant relationship .......................................... 67
Example 33c: “Segredo,” m. 12, mediant relationship .......................................... 67
Example 34a: “Segredo,” mm. 18-21, progression by fourth ................................ 67
Example 34b: “Segredo,” mm. 28-31, progression by fourth ................................ 68
Example 35a: “Segredo,” mm. 8-12, ascending movement of vocal line, part I ... 68
Example 35b: “Segredo,” m. 19, ascending movement of vocal line, part II ........ 68
Example 35c: “Segredo,” mm. 23-25, ascending movement of vocal line, part III 68
Example 36a: “Visões,” mm. 1-2 .......................................................................... 80
Example 36b: “Visões,” mm. 19-20 ....................................................................... 80
Example 37a: “Visões,” rhythmic pattern ............................................................. 81
Example 37b: “Visões,” m. 3.................................................................................. 81
viii
Example 37c: “Visões,” m. 27................................................................................ 81
Example 38: “Visões,” mm. 8-11 ........................................................................... 81
Example 39: “Visões,” mm. 26-27 ......................................................................... 82
Example 41a: “Visões,” m. 9.................................................................................. 82
Example 41b: “Visões,” m. 11................................................................................ 82
Example 41c: “Visões,” mm. 28-30 ...................................................................... 83
Example 42a: “Visões,” mm. 7-9 ........................................................................... 83
Example 43b: “Visões,” m. 11................................................................................ 84
Example 43c: “Visões,” mm. 28-29 ...................................................................... 84
Example 46a: “Visões,” mm. 28-31 ...................................................................... 86
Example 47a: “Noite e dia,” mm. 1-2 .................................................................... 93
Example 47b: “Noite e dia,” mm. 18-19 ................................................................ 93
Example 48: “Noite e dia,” mm. 2-9 ...................................................................... 93
Example 49: “Noite e dia,” mm. 8-13 .................................................................... 94
Example 50: “Noite e dia,” mm. 4-5 ...................................................................... 94
Example 51: “Noite e dia,” mm. 13-15 .................................................................. 95
ix
Example 52: “Noite e dia,” mm. 31-34 .................................................................. 95
Example 53: “Cotidiano,” m. 1............................................................................... 105
Example 54: “Cotidiano,” mm. 10-15 .................................................................... 105
Example 56: “Cotidiano,” mm. 5-6 ........................................................................ 106
Example 57: “Cotidiano,” mm. 26-28, set-class 4-23 ........................................... 106
Example 61: “Cotidiano,” m. 9, set-class 3-5......................................................... 107
Example 62: “Cotidiano,” m. 34, set-class 3-5....................................................... 107
Example 63: “Cotidiano,” mm. 16-17, set-class 3-5 ............................................. 107
Example 64: “Cotidiano,” mm. 29-32, set-class 3-5 ............................................. 107
Example 65a: “Visões,” initial rhythmic pattern .................................................... 108
Example 65b: “Visões,” mm. 3-4 ........................................................................... 108
Example 65c: “Cotidiano,” mm. 16-17 .................................................................. 108
Example 66a: “Visões,” mm. 5-6 .......................................................................... 108
Example 66b: “Cotidiano,” mm. 16-17 .................................................................. 108
Example 67a: “Visões,” mm. 28-30 ...................................................................... 108
Example 67b: “Cotidiano,” mm. 38-40 .................................................................. 108
Example 69: “Desenho leve,” mm. 1-2 ................................................................. 119
Example 70: “Desenho leve,” mm. 1-4 ................................................................. 119
x
Example 71: “Desenho leve,” mm. 13-21 ............................................................. 120
Example 74: “Se esta rua fosse minha,” Brazilian folksong ................................ 123
Example 76: “Desenho leve,” mm. 7-10 ............................................................... 124
xi
ABSTRACT
One of the heritages of Romanticism is the concept of song as Lied, a song in which
voice and piano have equal responsibility in conveying the deepest meaning of a poem. Brazilian
classical composers have a particular attraction for this instrumentation. Heitor Villa-Lobos,
Francisco Mignone and Camargo Guarnieri have all demonstrated mastery in the art of song
writing. This tradition of excellence in song composition continues in the art songs of an
important living Brazilian composer, Ronaldo Miranda.
Ronaldo Miranda is one of the leading figures in contemporary Brazilian music. His
musical output includes compositions for piano (solo, piano four-hands and duo pianos),
instrumental solo (flute, cello, harpsichord, guitar, and clarinet), chamber ensemble, and
orchestra, besides numerous choral works, two operas, eight songs for voice and piano and three
pieces for voice with other instrumentation.
The present research focuses on the eight songs for voice and piano by the composer.
Using Jan LaRue’s guidelines for style analysis for an understanding of the music, this study
applies an interdisciplinary approach in a methodological attempt to join poetry and music. The
discussion about the relationship between music and words is based on the studies of Stein and
Spillman in their book Poetry into Song: Performance and Analysis of Lieder. The literary
concept of persona (who is talking in a poem) is the one described by Edward T. Cone in The
Composer’s Voice.
The goals of this treatise are twofold: 1) to provide a performance guide for both the
singer and the pianist on the eight songs for voice and piano by Ronaldo Miranda with
suggestions for shaping interpretive ideas and emphasis on the dramatic role of the performers,
and 2) to promote Brazilian art song by facilitating access to the Portuguese language through
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcriptions. General guidelines to Brazilian lyric
Portuguese and a pronunciation chart for phonetic reference are also provided. Facsimiles of the
composer’s manuscript are included in an appendix.
Through this study it was possible to capture essential information for both performers,
the singer and the pianist, as well as to shape interpretative decisions, offered as suggestions and
as an incentive for creative performance decisions.
xii
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background & Significance

One of the heritages of Romanticism is the concept of song as Lied. In a Lied,
as opposed to non-classical forms of song (such as popular and folk), voice and piano
have equal responsibility in conveying the deepest meaning of a poem. Following this
tradition, the great majority of Brazilian art songs are intended for piano and voice,
with equal importance reserved for each. Indeed, the pianist has an important role in the
performance of art song and Brazilian classical composers have a particular attraction
for this instrumentation. Heitor Villa-Lobos, Francisco Mignone and Camargo
Guarnieri have all demonstrated mastery in the art of song writing. This tradition of
masterful song composition continues in the art songs of an important living Brazilian
composer, Ronaldo Miranda. Although his songs are relatively unknown in the United
States, they are works of great beauty and power.
His works have been performed in many contemporary music festivals in
Brazil, the USA, Spain, Austria, Germany, and Hungary. In addition to teaching
composition at Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), he has also was vice-
director of National Foundation for the Arts (FUNARTE). Although the majority of his
works are instrumental, one of his most important works is vocal, the opera Dom
Casmurro, which shows his profound interest in the vocal genre.
Miranda is “turning out to be among the leading active figures in contemporary
Brazilian music.” 1 He has gone beyond the nationalistic style of composition from the
beginning of the twentieth century, incorporating an eclectic style.2 Nevertheless, he
“seems to capture the essence of Brazilian music without resorting to direct use of folk

1
Vitor Duarte, “Ronaldo Miranda’s Solo and Four-Hand Piano Works: The Evolution of Language
towards Musical Eclecticism,” (DMA diss., University of Arizona, 2002): 10.
2
Eclecticism “was a phenomenon that occurred among composers during the final decades of the
twentieth century. Composers in Latin America broke the purely nationalistic trend and became more
eclectic in their use of form and language as a way to reach a higher level of quality in their music and
gain international acceptance,” Ibid., 11.
1
material.”3 This treatise will provide a closer examination of Miranda’s works for voice
and piano, offering a guide to performance for both singer and pianist.
Ronaldo Miranda has written eight songs for voice and piano: “Cantares”
[Song]4 (also in a version for voice, harpsichord, flute and viola da gamba), “Segredo”
[Secret], Retrato [Picture], “Soneto da separação” [Separation Sonnet], “Desenho leve”
[Light Drawing] and the cycle Três canções simples [Three Simple Songs] (“Visões
[Visions] ,” “Noite e dia [Night and Day],” and “Cotidiano [Daily Life]”). In addition,
he has composed five songs with other instrumentations: Unterwegs, three lieder on
poems by Hermann Hesse for voice and orchestra; “Trajetória” [Trajectory] for
soprano, flute, clarinet, piano, violoncello and percussion; and “Cal Vilma” [Cal Vilma]
for piano, cello and voice.5
Purpose
The intention of this research is twofold: 1) to study the songs of Ronaldo
Miranda for voice and piano in order to provide a performance guide for both the
pianist and the singer, with emphasis on the dramatic role of the performers, and 2) to
promote Brazilian art song by facilitating access to the Portuguese language through
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcriptions.
Survey of Literature
Research concerning Brazilian art song is extremely limited and in-depth
musical studies about the piano parts are even scarcer. Thus, there is a surprising dearth
of material available to assist the performers in the process of preparing and performing
Brazilian art song.
Castro, Borghoff and Pádua note that

3
Ibid., 10.
4
All the translations in this paper are by the author (titles, quotes, word-for-word and idiomatic
translations of poems).
5
The songs with instrumentation other than piano and voice will not be studied in this research.
2
… recent scholarly publications about Brazilian art song are scarce and
many times hard to reach because the databases are often deficient and
difficult to access. Besides that, specialized graduate programs are
limited in the country and there are few performers, singers and pianists
who are experts in Brazilian music.6
One of the first studies in this area explores several of Villa-Lobos’s songs.7
Recent studies of songs by Dinorá de Carvalho, religious songs by Almeida Prado,
Camargo Guarnieri’s Poemas da negra [Poems on Black Woman], and Armando
Albuquerque’s songs investigate only a small part of this vast subject called Brazilian
art song.8
Fortunately, Ronaldo Miranda himself is a scholar. He has written a paper about
his Piano Concerto and a treatise about his compositional process in the opera Dom
Casmurro.9 Besides these significant studies, there are a small number of additional
academic investigations, the majority of which focus on his piano pieces. Vitor Duarte
explores Miranda’s solo and four-hand piano pieces and has identified and described

6
Luciana Castro, Margarida Borghoff, and Mônica Padua, “Em defesa da canção de câmara brasileira”
[In Defense of Brazilian Art Song] PER MUSI: Revista de Performance Musical 8 (2003): 75. Original
quotation: “... publicações acadêmicas mais recentes sobre canção da câmara brasileira são escassas e
muitas vezes de difícil acesso, sendo os bancos de dados disponíveis ainda deficientes. Além disto, são
ainda restritos os cursos de pós-graduação em música no país e poucos os intérpretes, cantores e
pianistas, que se especializam em música brasileira.”
7
Stela Brandão, “The Brazilian Art Song: A Performance Guide Utilizing Selected Works by Heitor
Villa-Lobos” (PhD diss., Columbia University, 1999).
8
Flávio Carvalho, Canções de Dinorá de Carvalho: Uma abordagem interpretativa [Songs by Dinorá de
Carvalho: A Performance Approach] (Campinas, Editora da Unicamp, 2001); Mônica Farid, “A relação
texto-música nas canções religiosas de Almeida Prado” [Text-Music Relationship in the Religious Songs
by Almeida Prado] (master’s diss., Campinas, Unicamp, 1996); Marina Gonçalves, “A influência do
Ensaio sobre a música brasileira de Mário de Andrade no ciclo Poemas da Negra de Camargo
Guarnieri” [The Influence of the Ensaio sobre a música brasileira by Mário de Andrade on the Song
Cycle Poemas da Negra by Camargo Guarnieri] (master’s diss., Goiânia, Escola de Música e Artes
Cênicas da UFG, 2004); Celso Chaves and Leonardo Nunes, “Armando Albuquerque e os poetas”
[Armando Albuquerque and the Poets] PER MUSI: Revista de Performance Musical 8, (2003): 66-73.
9
Ronaldo Miranda, “O Aproveitamento das formas tradicionais em linguagem musical contemporânea
na composição de um concerto para piano e orquestra” [Use of Traditional Forms in Contemporary
Musical Language on the Composition of a Concerto for Piano and Orchestra] (master’s lecture recital,
Escola de Música da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, 1987); Ronaldo Miranda, “Dom Casmurro,
uma ópera. A música no processo de teatralização do romance machadiano” [Dom Casmurro, an Opera.
Music in the Dramatic Design of a Machado de Assis’s Novel] (Doctoral Treatise, Escola de
Comunicações e Artes da Universidade de São Paulo, 1997).
3
his compositional periods.10 In the same vein, Consuelo Soares addresses the
performance of Miranda’s solo piano pieces.11 Harley Raimundo offers suggestions on
how to perform the solo piano piece Estrela Brilhante,12 and Marcelo Thys13 studies
Miranda’s works for four-hand piano.
Method
After the introductory chapter, the second chapter provides an overview of
Brazilian classical music in the twentieth century and will contextualize Ronaldo
Miranda’s life and works. The Brazilian classical music world as well as Brazilian
popular music during the last century will be discussed, in an overview format, in order
to give a better perspective of Miranda’s musical style and work. The third chapter
presents general guidelines for Brazilian Portuguese diction and an explanation of the
choices for the phonetic transcriptions.
Chapter Four discusses Miranda’s eight songs for voice and piano, addressing
their poetry, music, and performance in chronological order. Writings about how to
approach the relationship between music and text, such as in Suzanne Lodato’s article,14
show that there is no definitive and comphehensive methodology that can accurately
and equitably account for both mediums. In this sense, a multidisciplinary subject needs
a multidisciplinary approach. After the musical analysis of the songs, an

10
Vitor Duarte, “Ronaldo Miranda’s Solo and Four-Hand Piano Works: The Evolution of Language
towards Musical Eclecticism” (DMA diss., The University of Arizona, 2002).
11
Consuelo Soares Caporalli, “A obra para piano solo de Ronaldo Miranda: Análise sobre a linguagem
musical utilizada e suas implicações para a interpretação” [The Work for Piano Solo by Ronaldo
Miranda: Analysis of the Musical Language Used and its Implications on Performance] (master’s diss.,
Uni-Rio, Rio de Janeiro, 2001).
12
Harlei Raimundo, “Uma postura interpretativa da obra Estrela Brilhante de Ronaldo Miranda” [A
Performance Approach to the Work Estrela Brilhante by Ronaldo Miranda] (master’s diss., Escola de
Música da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, 1991).
13
Marcelo Thys, “A prática do piano a quatro mãos: Problemas, soluções e sua aplicação a peças de
Almeida Prado e Ronaldo Miranda” [Performing Four-Hands Piano: Problems, Solutions and their
Application in Pieces by Almeida Prado and Ronaldo Miranda] (master’s diss., Uni-Rio, Rio de Janeiro,
2007.)
14
Suzanne Lodato, “Recent Approaches to Text/Music Analysis in Lied: A Musicological Perspective,”
edited by Steve Paul, Werner Wolf and Walter Bernhart, Words and Music Studies: Defining the Field,
(Amsterdam; New York, Editions Rodopi, 1999): 95-112.
4
interdisciplinary approach will be used in a methodological attempt to join poetry and
music. The discussion about the relationship between music and text will be based on
the detailed studies by Stein and Spillman in their book Poetry Into Song: Performance
and Analysis of Lieder.15 The literary concepts of persona and mode of address are the
ones described by Edward T. Cone in the book The Composer’s Voice.16 For a more
accurate understanding of musical data, Jan LaRue’s guidelines for style analysis will
be used.17
In most of the songs, Ronaldo Miranda set poems by very well-known Brazilian
poets, such as Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Cecília Meireles, and Vinícius de
Moraes. Poetic devices and style will be addressed in order to understand the meaning
of the poems and therefore provide a basis for describing their interaction with the
music.
Also in Chapter Four, before the discussion of each song, there will be a
datasheet, following the sample from the Federal University of Minas Gerais – UFMG
(Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais)18. The English translations and a phonetic
transcription19 of the poems will be presented in the following format:
• [International phonetic alphabet transcription in brackets]
• Portuguese text in bold
• Word-for-word translation in italics20

15
Deborah Stein and Robert Spillman, Poetry into Song: Performance and Analysis of Lieder, (New
York, Oxford University Press, 1996).
16
Edward T. Cone, The Composer’s Voice, (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1974).
17
LaRue proposes the investigation of music into five contributing elements: sound, harmony, melody,
rhythm and what he calls growth, which is the sum of all these elements, a broader term for “form.” With
this approach, a better view of each piece and its specific musical features will be achieved since all the
dimensions of each song will be studied. The goal of musical analysis of the songs is to gather data in
order to better understand the interaction between text and music.
18
The UFMG, through the research group “Resgate da canção brasileira” (Rescue of Brazilian Song),
provides a guide for canção de câmara (Brazilian art song) at the address
http://barbela.grude.ufmg.br/musica/cancaoBrasileira.nsf/oguia?openform. For this purpose, there is a
datasheet sample for basic information about each song on the website. That is the format used in this
investigation.
19
All the phonetic transcriptions are by the author.
20
The word-for-word translations will be in lower case and without any punctuation since, in most of the
cases, the words do not make sense as a sentence.
5
• Idiomatic translation
Subsequently, musical and poetic information will be discussed. Persona, mode
of address, and the relationship between music and text will be explained as well. Since
one of the purposes of this research is to clarify the role of the piano in the songs, there
will be a deeper explanation of the songs in which the piano plays a more important
role. Following the discussion of each song there will be performance possibilities
based on the musical, poetic and phonetic data gathered.
The final chapter provides the compositional and performance characteristics of
Ronaldo Miranda in his eight songs for voice and piano. There are also
recommendations for additional research on the composer’s works.
6
CHAPTER TWO
BRAZILIAN ART SONG IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY:
RONALDO MIRANDA IN CONTEXT
At the end of the nineteenth century and beginning of the twentieth century, the
search for national identity generated a musical movement called nationalism in
countries such as Russia (Group of Five), Hungary (Franz Liszt), Bohemia (Bedrich
Smetana and Antonín Dvořák), Finland (Jean Sibelius), Spain (Isaac Albeniz and
Enrique Granados), and Brazil. Composers such as Heitor Villa-Lobos, Francisco
Mignone and Mozart Camargo Guarnieri searched melodies and rhythms in Brazilian
folk music in order to identify a national musical “voice.” Basically, through three
generations of composers, the aim was to give characteristic musical expression to the
cultural traits of the country—as Villa-Lobos used to say, the search for the “Brazilian
soul.”21
In the beginning of the twentieth century, Alberto Nepomuceno (1864-1920)
was the first to encourage and compose art song in Portuguese. As the director of the
National Institute of Music (Rio de Janeiro), he made singing in Portuguese obligatory
in voice lessons. From then on, composers started, with more or less interest, to
compose to Portuguese texts. At that time, it was very common to find Brazilian
composers setting Italian, French, or Spanish poetry, since most of them went to
Europe in order to further their musical education.
According to Vasco Mariz, “We can distinguish two currents in chamber vocal
repertoire [art song] in Brazil: universalist and nationalist . . . The modernist movement
established nationalism in Brazilian music and the choice of poetic texts suffered a
radical change, overshadowing the dominant Romanticism and Parnassianism.”22 Villa-
Lobos was considered the musical speaker of Modernism and the catalyst of the

21
Denis Stevens, A History of Song (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1960), 307.
22
Vasco Mariz, A canção brasileira: erudita, folcórica e popular [The Brazilian Song: Classical, Folk
and Popular] (Rio de janeiro: Editora Civilização Brasileira S.A., 1977), 23. Original quotation:
“Podemos distinguir, no repertório vocal de câmara no Brasil, duas correntes: a universalista e a
nacionalista. O nacionalismo na música brasileira fixou-se com o movimento modernista e a escolha dos
textos poéticos sofreu radical mudança, obumbrados o romantismo e o parnasianismo imperantes.”
7
movement known as musical nationalism. According to Mariz, Francisco Mignone and
Lorenzo Fernandez (among others) are considered to be the second nationalist
generation, and Camargo Guarnieri, Radamés Gnatalli, and Waldemar Henrique, part
of the third generation23. These composers had four stylistic elements in common: 1)
the use of folk tunes or melodies inspired by them, 2) the employment of characteristic
rhythms of afro or Brazilian Indian origin, 3) a preference for modes, such as
Mixolydian, Dorian or other scales with a lowered seventh, and 4) the utilization of
typical counterpoint from the Choro style.24
The German composer and professor Hans-Joachim Koellreutter (b. 1915) and
the group Música Viva (Living Music), who supported the second Viennese school,
represented the universalist trend in Brazil. However, the twelve-tone compositional
style would not have a long life in Brazilian classical music. Brazilian composers such
as Cláudio Santoro (1919-1989) and Cesár Guerra-Peixe (1914-1993) ultimately
abandoned dodecaphonism, starting the post-nationalistic generation of composers,
including Marlos Nobre (b. 1939), Ernest Mahle (b. 1929), Gilberto Mendes (b. 1922),
Lindemberg Cardoso (1939-1989), Jorge Antunes (b. 1942), and Edino Krieger (b.
1928). Their compositional styles are the result of personal empathies combined with
the juxtaposition of two or more of the following: nationalistic elements, modalism and
tonalism, serialism, free atonalism, eletroacoustic, minimalism, and/or aleatoric music.
In order to fully understand Brazilian classical vocal music in the twentieth
century (and in this research, specifically the vocal music of Ronaldo Miranda), it is
very important to comprehend Brazilian popular music, in particular, modinha, choro,
seresta, and bossa nova.
In virtually all song traditions, folksong acts as a predecessor to and inspiration
for art song. Just as mélodie was preceded by chanson and Lied was preceded by
Volkslied, in Brazil, canção de câmara was preceded by modinha. Modinha was
originated in Portugal in the eighteenth century, there named moda, and had a lyric text
as well as popular character. Brazilian modinha was greatly influenced by Italian arias.

23
Vasco Mariz, A canção brasileira: erudita, folcórica e popular (Rio de janeiro: Editora Civilização
Brasileira S.A., 1977), 23.
24
For an explanation of choro, see next page.
8
Even so, it is considered one of the first genuine Brazilian musical since it had
European, African, and Amerindian influence, and for this reason, considered a “hybrid
form.”25 Modinha has a predominance of descending melodic lines, melodramatic text
about love and longing, and simple accompaniment (usually on the guitar). This was
the main musical style in all classes in nineteenth-century Brazil. Modinha was the
basis for two other important popular musical genres that influenced Brazilian art song
composers: choro and seresta, both of them extremely similar .
Choro arose around 1870, in Rio de Janeiro. Joaquim Antônio da Silva Calado
(1848-1880), a virtuoso flautist and popular composer, is considered the most important
figure of the style. The origin of the term choro is still a point of debate among
scholars. Literally, the word means to cry or to weep. A common explanation is that it
came from the nostalgic, sentimental style of interpretation. European styles performed
in upper-class balls and salons in the nineteenth century including polka, waltz and
scottisch were accompanied by percussion instruments, as if playing the African dance
lundu. The chorões, which designated choro musicians, were considered bohemians
and they could be seen serenading and playing on the streets at night. The urban
serenade ensemble generally included the following basic instrumentation: flute
(soloist), cavaquinho (harmony and rhythm), and guitars (melodic and contrapuntal
bass, called baixaria).26 Improvisation was “the basic condition of a good chorão.”27 It
was in the 1930s and 1940s that Alfredo da Rocha Viana Filho, known as Pixinguinha
(1898-1973), established once and for all the most recognizable traits of the style, such
as its instrumental quality (as opposed to vocal); individual virtuosity; the ability to
improvise a melody, either as a soloist or in counterpoint, even within unexpected
harmonic shifts; and sinuous and constant melodic line.

25
Ana Reily Suzel, "Brazilian Musics, Brazilian Identities," British Journal of Ethnomusicology 9, no. 1
(2000): 6.
26
Flute, clarinet, ophicleide, trombone, cavaquinho (a small Brazilian guitar), guitar and a few
percussion instruments (particularly the tambourine) could also be played, given that the main
characteristic was the improvisation.
27
“Choro” in Zuza Homen de Mello, Enciclopédia da música brasileira: Samba e choro. (Brazilian
Music Encyclopedia: Samba and Choro) (São Paulo: Art Editora, 2000): 68.
9
Seresta carries essencially the same characteristics of choro, though the main
differences are its vocal quality and a slower tempo. Especially in the nineteenth
century, the terms chorões and seresteiros were used for the musicians who serenaded
throughout the city.
Bossa nova, probably the most well-known Brazilian style, entered on the
Brazilian popular music scene by the end of the 1950s and the beginning of the 1960s,
also in Rio de Janeiro. The word “bossa” was a carioca28 slang meaning a new “special
ability,” “shrewdness,” “astuteness,” or even a “new flair” or a “new trend.” But a new
trend compared to which style? In this case, compared to samba, with its strong
syncopation and rhythmic stresses by the numerous percussion instruments and guitars
(or cavaquinho), highly exuberant vocal delivery (especially in samba-canção), and
tonal clarity. Bossa nova brought a new role to the singer, since his/her voice was
deprived of “strongly contrasting effects, loudness of voice, fermatas or scream-like
high pitches” because the singing “should flow in a subdued tone almost like the
normal spoken language.”29
Tom Jobim (1927-1994) is considered the father of bossa nova, along with the
singer João Gilberto (b. 1931). Although he had classical training, Jobim was greatly
influenced by the harmony of North American jazz style. José Estevam Gava sees the
following as bossa nova’s main harmonic characteristics:
. . . descending chromatic movements in the high voice; descending chromatic

movements in the bass; chromatic notes between the chords of the same root and
function; chromatic parallelism; high notes as a pedal; individual dominant substitutes;
major seventh chords; alternative harmonic paths creating clichés and chromaticism
always between one or more voices; clichés built on the chromatic notes added: ninth
30
 minor ninth and thirteenth  minor thirteenth.

28
Something or someone from Rio de Janeiro city.
29
Gerard Béhague. “Bossa nova.” In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online,
http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/subscriber/article/grove/music/03663 (accessed
September 15, 2009).
30
José Estevam Gava, A linguagem harmônica da bossa nova [Bossa nova’s Harmonic Language] (São
Paulo: Editora UNESP, 2002), 238. Original quotation: “movimentos cromáticos descendentes na voz
aguda; movimentos cromáticos descendentes do baixo; cromatismos entre notas de acordes de mesmo
radical e função; cromatismos paralelos; notas pedais agudas; dominantes individuais substitutas; acordes
com sétimas maiores; caminhos harmônicos alternativos sempre propiciando clichês e cromatismos entre
uma voz ou mais vozes; clichês construídos sobre o cromatismo de notas acrescentadas: nona  nona
menor e décima terceira  décima terceira menor.”
10
Melodically, the vocal range was reduced, bringing it closer to speech, since the
major attention was to be drawn to the sophisticated harmonic progressions and
rhythmic patterns.
As a student of composition in the late 1960s and early ’70s, Ronaldo Miranda
composed some vocal music: “Soneto da Separação” (1969), “Retrato” (1969), the
popular song “Cantares” (1969/1984), and “Segredo” (1973). He also wrote the Suite nº
3 for piano (1973) and Prelúdio e Fuga for flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon (1973).
Always in attendance at concerts of contemporary music in the Teatro Municipal do
Rio de Janeiro (Municipal Theatre of Rio de Janeiro), Miranda used to think: “How
could I compare my small pieces for voice and piano and timid pieces for solo piano
with the language of the avant-garde that was on stage? That reality, for me, was
unattainable, a world I wanted to belong to, but from which I was light-years away.”31
In 1969, during his formal instruction in classical music, Miranda entered a popular
music competition, sponsored by TV Tupi, with the song “Cantares.” The song was not
selected for the contest but, curiously, is now his most famous and most performed
song, as canção de câmara (art song). From this, Miranda’s close relationship with
popular music can be seen.
His frequent attendance at classical music concerts made him realize how to
find his own compositional voice; as he reasons, “I had to get out of myself and win the
world, finding a language that would effectively house a new idiom in contact with
deep convictions already established.”32 After graduating from college, already twenty-
eight years old, he perceived the “II Biennual of Contemporary Brazilian Music” as a
great opportunity to start his career as a composer. Miranda won the first prize at the II
Biennial of Brazilian Contemporary Music, with “Trajetória,” a piece for soprano, flute,

31
Ronaldo Miranda, “Música e palavra: uma trajetória de quatro décadas,” (Music and Word: A
Trajectory of Four Decades). Poesia sempre no. 29 (Rio de Janeiro: Fundação Biblioteca Nacional,
2008): 199. Original quotation: “Como comparar minhas pequenas obras para canto e piano e as tímidas
peças para piano solo com a linguagem de vanguarda que estava no palco? Aquela realidade, para mim,
era inatingível; um mundo ao qual eu queria pertencer, mas do qual estava a anos-luz de distância.”
32
Ibid. Original quotation: “Era preciso sair de mim mesmo e ganhar o mundo, encontrando uma
linguagem que pudesse efetivamente abrigar uma expressão nova em convívio com profundas
convicções já estabelecidas.”
11
clarinet, piano, cello and xylophone/vibraphone, written in a free-atonal and post-
expressionist style in which the singer and the instrumentalists had to both sing and
speak. Since that time, Miranda has composed a variety of vocal music, including two
operas, Dom Casmurro and A Tempestade (The Tempest); works for voice and
chamber ensemble; and numerous choral pieces.
Ronaldo Miranda’s compositional style fluctuates between atonalism and
nationalism, often employing tonal centers with expanded harmonies and ecclesiastic
modes. In his vocal works for voice and piano, he combines all of the above with
elements from Brazilian popular music, borrowing harmony from bossa nova, melodies
and rhythms from modinhas, and contrapuntal lines from choro and seresta.
12
CHAPTER THREE
GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR BRAZILIAN LYRIC
PORTUGUESE DICTION
Until the end of the nineteenth century, to sing in Portuguese in Brazil was
regarded as unrefined. The Brazilian composer Alberto Nepomuceno was the first one
to promote and compose Brazilian art song in the Portuguese language. In 1937, Mário
de Andrade33 led the Primeiro Congresso da Língua Nacional Cantada (First Congress
of the National Language as Sung)34, resulting in the Normas para a boa pronúncia da
lingual nacional no canto erudito (Norms for the Proper Pronunciation of the National
Language for Classical Singing), which in reality was never embraced by voice
teachers and students.
A later attempt to standardize Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation was in 1956, at
the Primeiro Congresso Brasileiro de Língua Falada no Teatro (First Brazilian
Congress of Spoken Language for Theatre). Marília Álvares observes that “the concern
about the standardized diction for Brazilian Portuguese has been, since that time, more
of a theoretical matter than a practical reality. Schools of singing ignored the Normas
established in the 1937 and 1956 events.”35 Even though there are other important
documents,36 voice teachers, singers and coaches base their practice on personal taste or
on the application of foreign language diction, such as Italian and French, to the sung
Portuguese.
Almost seventy years after the first effort to establish ground rules for Brazilian
sung Portuguese, a group of voice teachers and singers published the article “PB
cantado: normas para a pronúncia do português brasileiro no canto erudito” in the

33
Brazilian poet, novelist, art critic, folklorist, and musicologist, also known as the most important figure
of the Brazilian modernist and nationalist movement.
34
This conference intended to define rules on how to sing properly in Portuguese as spoken in Brazil.
35
Marília Álvares, “Diction and Pronunciation of Brazilian Portuguese in Lyric Singing as Applied to
Selected Songs of Francisco Mignone” (DMA diss., University of Nebraska, 2008): 40.
36
One of these documents is the doctoral dissertation “The Brazilian Art Song – A Performance Guide
Utilizing Selected Works by Heitor Villa-Lobos” by Stela Maria S. Brandão.
13
periodical OPUS37 and its English version “Brazilian Portuguese: Norms for Lyric
Diction” in the Journal of Singing of the National Association of Teachers of Singing
(NATS)38. The document was the result of contributions from a variety of experts, such
as national and international singers, voice pedagogues, phoneticians, linguists, and
other specialists in voice. In this document I will use the phonetic chart proposed in the
article “Brazilian Portuguese: Norms for Lyric Diction” as the basis for phonetic
transcription. 39
Since the phonology of Portuguese is not the main goal of this treatise, this
chapter does not intend to be a comprehensive exposition of every detail on the topic.
Moreover, the goal is to serve as a concise reference for a singer or pianist who wants
to pronounce Ronaldo Miranda’s or any other Brazilian composer’s songs with a basic
knowledge of the language. As in any language, intermediary and advanced level of
diction can only be achieved by an in-depth study of grammar, a prolonged period of
time spent in Brazil, and much practice speaking, reading and singing in the idiom.
Brazilian Portuguese has consonants, vowels, glides and diacritical marks. In
appendix A (p.126), there is a phonetic chart as reference for Brazilian Portuguese
Lyric pronunciation. The chart is presented in four columns: 1) IPA symbol, 2)
Portuguese word as an example, 3) IPA transcription of the given Portuguese word and,
4) an approximate English or other language equivalent, if there is any. If not, the space
will be left blank.

37
Adriana Kayama and others, “PB cantado: normas para a pronúncia do português brasileiro no canto
erudito.” OPUS 13, no. 2 (December 2007): 16-38.
38
Martha Herr, Adriana Kayama, and Wladimir Mattos, “Brazilian Portuguese: Norms for Lyric
Diction” Journal of Singing 65, no. 2 (Nov/Dec. 2008): 195-211.
39
There has been some controversy surrounding the 2007 Norms. Álvares (2008) detected some
deficiencies of a practical nature in the 2007 Norms, especially regarding the phonetic transcription of
nasal vowels and nasal diphthongs.
14
Diacritical Marks
In Portuguese, whenever a syllable has a diacritical mark it becomes the stressed
syllable of the word.
• Grave accent: à [a]
• Acute accent opens a vowel sound, lilás [liˈlas] (lilac), café [kaˈfɛ] (coffe), vovó
[vɔˈvɔ] (grandmother) or indicates a hiatus, saúde [saˈu.ʤɪ] (health), saída
[saˈi.dɐ] (exit)
• Circumflex accent closes vowel sound: gênero [ˈʒe.ne.rʊ] (genre), vovô [voˈvo]
(grandfather)
• Tilde adds nasal quality to the vowel: irmã [irˈmɐ] (sister), põe [põ:ɪ]
In addition, cedilla transforms c before a, o and u in [s]: calçada [kaʊˈsa.dɐ] (sidewalk),
laço [ˈla.sʊ].
IPA Additional Symbols:

[.]: indicates division of a word into syllables
[ˈ]: indicates that the following syllable is stressed
[ː]: indicates the prolongation of the first vowel of a diphthong
General Rules for Word Linking in Brazilian Lyric Portuguese:

1. When a word ends in s and the following word starts with a vowel, the s becomes [z].
• estes olhos [ˈes.t∫ɪ.ˈzɔ.ʎʊs]
• paradas e frias e mortas [paˈɾa.dɐ.zi ˈfɾi:ɐ.zi ˈmɔr.tɐs]
• braços abertos [ˈbɾa.sʊ.zaˈbɛr.tʊs]
• as aves imigrantes [aˈza.vɪ.zi.miˈgɾɐ̃.t∫ɪs]
15
2. When a word ends with r and the following word starts with a vowel, the r becomes
[ɾ].
• amor assim [aˈmo.ɾaˈsĩ]
• por esta [poˈɾɛs.tɐ]
• arremessar o [a.xe.meˈsa. ɾu ]
• renascer outra [xe.naˈse.ɾo:ʊ.tɾɐ]
3. When a word ends on the vowel or sound of o or u (as in final l) and the following
word starts on a vowel, the o or u becomes the glide [w].
• silencioso e branco [si.le.siˈo.zwi ˈbɾɐ̃.kʊ]
• menino ou dois [meˈni.nwow do:ɪs]
• carro amassado [ˈka.xwa.maˈsa.dʊ]
• espuma azul andava [esˈpu.maˈzu:wɐ̃ˈda.vɐ]
4. When a word ends with e or i and the following word also starts on a vowel, the e or
i becomes the glide [j].
• me arrancar [mja.xɐ̃ˈkar] (as in the Italian word aria)
• maldade aos [ma:ʊˈda.ʤja:ʊs]
• me arremessar [mja.xe.meˈsar]
• me embrulha [mjeˈbɾu.ʎɐ]
A phonetic transcription cannot represent perfectly the sound of any language.

Although people from different geographical regions in Brazil have different accents, it
cannot be stressed enough that anyone who wants to sing in Portuguese should hear the
inflection of the spoken language and listen to Brazilian art songs performed by native
singers as much as possible. A number of websites offer videos as an option for
practicing and becoming acquainted with a foreign language. One suggestion is the site
http://g1.globo.com, in which one can find journalistic videos with a neutral (accent-
free) Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation.
16
CHAPTER FOUR
SONGS FOR VOICE AND PIANO
“Cantares” (Canticles)
Datasheet
Date: 1969 and rewritten in 1984

Dedication/Commission: Dedicated to Léa Freitag
Poet: Walter Mariani (n.d.)
Tempo: Moderato q = ±88

Meter: 2/2
Number of measures: 36
Key: G Aeolian – G major
Vocal range: C#4 – F5 (middle C: C4)
Timing: 3 mins 27 s
Edition: Manuscript at the National Library (Biblioteca Nacional), Rio de Janeiro
Recordings:
1. Música coral brasileira contemporânea. Choir “Canto em canto” conducted by
Elza Lakschevitz, compact disc, RioArte Digital, RD 001
2. Liberdade: A música coral de Ronaldo Miranda. Choir “Canto em canto”
conducted by Elza Lakschevitz, compact disc, Oficina Coral do Rio de Janeiro,
CEC 001
3. Todo Tom/UFRJ. Choir “Todo Tom” from UFRJ conducted by Maria José
Chevitarese, compact disc, Tons e Sons/UFRJ, 108.208
4. Canções brasileiras. Sandra Félix (voice) and Scheilla Glaser (piano), compact
disc, Paulus, 005328
5. Trovas e cantares. Carol McDavit (voice) and Maria Teresa Madeira (piano),
compact disc
Additional information: Versions for flute, harpsichord, viola da gamba, and voice, by
the composer, and for voice and guitar, by Sidney Molina
17
International Phonetic Alphabet Transcription, Portuguese Text,
Word-for-Word and Idiomatic Translations
[kɐ̃ˈta.ɾɪs]
Cantares
canticles
[va:ʊ.ter ma.ɾi.ɐ̃.nɪ]
Walter Mariani
[ki ˈve.ɲɐ si t∫iˈvɛr ʤi vi.ɾe.sjaˈmo.ɾaˈsĩ aˈsĩ]
1. Que venha se tiver de vir esse amor assim, assim.

may it come if should come this love like this like this
[ki ˈve.ɲɐ ˈbɾɐ̃.dʊ ˈco.mwa ˈbɾi.zɐɪ.ma.te.ɾjˈa:ʊ da ma.dɾuˈga.dɐ]
2. Que venha brando como a brisa imaterial da madrugada,

may it come softly as the breeze immaterial of dawn
[ˈkaːʊ.mwi sẽːɪ perˈnoːɪ.t∫ɪs]
3. calmo e sem pernoites.

calm and free of nights.
[ma:ɪs ˈfeːɪ.tʊ ʤi aːʊˈɾɔ.ɾɐs ki ʤi ˈnoːɪ.t∫ɪs]
4. Mais feito de auroras que de noites.

more made of sunrises than of nights
18

[ˈve.ɲae siˈle.sjʊ ˈko.mu ˈbar.kʊ des.liˈzɐ̃.dʊ na koˈxe.t∫ɪ]
6. Venha em silêncio como um barco deslizando na corrente,

come in silence like a boat gliding on the flow
[swa.vɪ kõ xeˈka.tʊ]
7. suave e com recato.

smoothly and with modesty
[maːɪs ˈfeːɪ.tʊ ʤi oˈʎar ki ʤi kõˈta.tʊ]
8. Mais feito de olhar que de contato.

more made of sight than of touch

[ki ˈve.ɲɐ ˈpɔ.bɾɪ ˈco.mwaˈza.vɪzi.miˈgɾɐ̃.t∫ɪs sẽːɪ poːʊˈza.dɐ]
10. Que venha pobre como as aves imigrantes sem pousada,

may it come poor like the birds immigrant without lodging
[ˈfɾɐ̃.kʊ i kõˈte.t∫ɪ]
11. franco e contente.

sincere and happy
19
[maːɪs ˈfeːɪ.tʊ ʤi fuˈtu.ɾʊ ki pɾeˈze.t∫ɪ]
12. Mais feito de futuro que presente.

more made of future than present

[ki ˈve.ɲaˈsĩ e.sjaˈmo.ɾa mĩ]
14. Que venha assim esse amor a mim,

may it come like this this love to me
[si vɪˈɛr por si si viˈɛr por t∫ɪ]
15. se vier por si, se vier por ti.

if it comes by itself if it comes through you
1. May this love come, if it should come, like this.

2. May it come softly as the immaterial breeze of the dawn,
3. calm and free of nights.
4. Made more of sunrises than nights.

6. May it come in silence, like a boat gliding in the flow,
7. smoothly and with modesty.
8. Made more of sight than of touch.

10. May it come poor like immigrant birds without lodging,
11. sincere and happy.
12. Made more of future than present.
20
14. May it come to me like this,
15. as long as it comes by itself, as long as it comes through you.
Poetry and Music40

This was one of Miranda’s first songs, and unlike the other two from 1969,
“Soneto da Separação” and “Retrato,” it was intended as a popular song. Walter
Mariani, a poet from Bahia who also worked in advertising, showed Miranda some of
his poems; Miranda chose to set the “Canção do amor puro” (Song of Pure Love).
Years later, in the ’80s, the chamber group Quadro Cervantes asked the composer for a
simple and short piece for voice, viola da gamba, flute, and harpsichord. Miranda
recalled this song and arranged it for them. In his own words: “I noticed that the piece
had a chorus of a neo-Renaissance character and “modinheiras” stanzas, very Brazilian.
It was perfect for the group. I changed the title to “Cantares” and the piece has been
firmly in their repertoire since 1984.”41 Soon after this chamber version, the composer
created a version for voice and piano (the one discussed below) and another for chorus
(SATB).
The poem talks about a person who wants love, but not just any kind of love.
The singer persona wants a love with specific characteristics: soft, calm, shiny, modest,
true, happy, and enduring. It is both idealized and naïve. At first, it seems that this
person is speaking in generalizations, “if it has to come, may it come like this.” At the
very end, however, the speaker reveals his/her feelings, and the audience knows that
he/she has a specific person in mind: “May it come to me like this / As long as it comes
by itself, as long as it comes through you.” The persona takes off the mask and declares
himself/herself to the beloved one.

40
The facsimile of the manuscript of “Cantares” is found on pages 140-142.
41
Original quotation: “Verifiquei que a peça tinha um refrão de caráter néo-renascentista e estrofes
modinheiras, bem brasileiras. Ficou perfeita para o grupo. Troquei o título para “Cantares” e a peça
entrou firme no repertório a partir de 1984.” Interview with the author.
21
The poem is full of smooth imageries such as the “immaterial breeze of the
morning,” and “a boat gliding in the flow.” The idealized inspiration, almost naïve or
childlike, is depicted by the desire of a love “made more of looking than of touching,”
“made more of sunrises than nights,” “and “made more of future than present.”
“Cantares” is set in strophic form with introduction, recurring refrains and
postlude (Table 1).
TABLE 1. “Cantares,” form chart

Introduction Refrain Strophes Refrain Postlude
(lines 1-3)
Measures 1-3 4-11 12-20 21-32 32-36
Subsection Link to refrain: Refrain

19-20 extension:
29-32
Phrase 3 4+4 4 (2+2) + 4+4+ 4
lenght 4 (2+2) 4 (2+2)
Miranda sets this poem by mixing older and contemporary musical styles. His
choice of using the modal G Aeolian for the introduction and the refrain (mm. 1-11)
evokes a neo-Renaissance ambiance, a flavor from another time when love was
somewhat purer and more innocent. In the strophe, for the description of the speaker’s
desired love, Miranda chooses tonal sonorities: G major in the first half of the stanza
(mm. 12-15) and E minor in the second part (mm. 6-19). This minor key later connects
the melodic minor scale to the natural minor (Aeolian), especially during the repetition
of the line (mm. 18-19).
One of the musical characteristics of this song is its modinha influence,
particularly in its descending and undulating melodic lines. The structural downward
melodic movement, embellished by neighbor tones, occurs in the introduction (Ex. 1),
the refrain (Ex. 2), strophe (Ex. 3 and 4), and postlude (like mm. 8-11 of the refrain).
22
EXAMPLE 1. “Cantares,” mm. 1-3
EXAMPLE 2. “Cantares,” mm. 4-7

EXAMPLE 3a. "Cantares," mm. 12-13

EXAMPLE 3b. “Cantares,” mm. 12-13

23

EXAMPLE 4a. “Cantares,” mm. 14-15 EXAMPLE 4b. "Cantares,"mm. 14-15
It is interesting that both of the primary musical characteristics of “Cantares”

are present in the introduction: the descending line (as shown in Ex.1), and the G
Aeolian/G Major change between refrain and strophe. The important change of
modal/tonal palette is anticipated through a Picardy third (Ex. 5).

EXAMPLE 5. “Cantares,” m. 3
In the strophe, the natural anacrustic tendency of spoken Portuguese corroborates the
popular nature of modinha42.
Performance Suggestions
One characteristic of this song is the significant use of neighbor tones, which, in
this piece, usually functions chromatically. This chromaticism functions as a decoration
of the diatonic descending movement of the lines. This embellishment, typical of
Baroque style, can sometimes obscure the primary lines. For this reason, if the singer is
able, it might be better to sing the first phrase in one breath (mm. 4-7), and the second
one in another breath (mm. 8-11). If it is not possible to sing the phrase in one breath,

42
Martha Tupinamba de Ulhoa, “Musica romantica in Montes Claros: Inter-Gender Relations in
Brazilian Popular Song ,” in British Journal of Ethnomusicology 9 (2000): 27.
24
the singer might breathe after the comma in m. 6: “assim, ✓ assim.” These breath
marks will certainly help to build the sense of direction and line during the refrain,
especially for the periodic construction of the phrases (antecedent, mm. 4-7, and
consequent, mm. 8-11).
As Jane P. Clendinning and Elizabeth Marvin write, “In strophic settings, the
performers need to consider how to create a sense of the story’s development despite
the literal repetition of music.”43 Therefore, in “Cantares,” each strophe may have its
own subtle character.
The pianist may play the introduction like an announcement, following the
dynamic mark mf, and timing the arpeggiated chord well in order to keep the melodic
line connected and with direction. The pianist can experiment with different kinds of
dynamic shapes in these measures, such as starting at mf and then decrescendoing or
crescendoing to the second measure, since this is the central chord in this progression,
and then descrescendoing.
In the first strophe, both pianist and singer may keep the same mf from the
beginning. The performers might be aware that now the voice and the piano are almost
constantly in contrary motion, just the opposite from the refrain. The pianist can
provide clarity to the harmonic progression by underlining the bass line. In m. 14,
“Calm and free of nights,” the singer might maintain a legato line even with the large
melodic leaps, holding the vowel during the full length of each pitch. In the verse
“Made more of sunrises than nights,” the performers, especially the singer, may want to
experiment with a brighter color in mm. 16-17, portraying the sunrise, and a slightly
darker sound in mm. 18-19, depicting the night.
In the second stanza, since the text describes the boat gliding, a delicate sound
can be achieved by playing p, with a slower attack in the piano. From m.14 to m. 19,
the pianist may want to bring out the upper notes, in order to keep a lighter color. The
refrain following the second stanza could have dynamic contrast, with the first phrase
in mf and the second in p.

43
Jane P. Clendinning and Elizabeth West Marvin, The Musician’s Guide to Theory and Analysis (New
York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2005): 528.
25
Since the last strophe brings a “sincere and merry” character, it could sound
warmer, with a round bass sound and an additional importance given to the two-note
groups to produce some bouncing. Just a reminder for the pianist: in all strophes, when
doubling the voice, try to play it softly, offering space for the vocal line.
The last refrain (mm. 21-28) is confident and calm since it is the last statement
of the speaker’s desire. The performers can try to sing the refrain extension, mm. 29-32,
in a slower tempo, emphasizing the revealing moment when the persona uncovers that
he/she is singing to a specific person, his/her beloved. In this case, the pianist might go
immediately back to tempo in m. 32 and build to the final climax, reaching a forte with
a rallentando in the last two measures.
Regarding the prosody, there is only one potential problem. In m. 11, the singer
should be aware and prepared to sing this anacrusis with the right stress, “ve-nha em si-
lên-cio,” instead of “ve-nha em si-lên-cio.” This is a reminder that the performers have
to make choices. The suggestions regarding prosody take into account that, in order to
deliver an understandable text, sometimes the singer has the option to honor the natural
inflection of spoken language instead of following the composer’s text setting.
“Retrato” (Portrait)
Datasheet
Date: 1969
Dedication/Commission: none
Poet: Cecília Meireles
Tempo: Moderato q = 72
Meter: 4/4
Key: A Aeolian
Vocal range: C#4 – F#5
Timing: 2 mins 40 s
26
Recordings:
1. Futuros mestres em música. Volume 1. Cilene Fadigas (voice) and Judith
Cardoso (piano), long-play, EM-UFRJ-001
2. XX Compositores brasileiros. Lenine Santos (voice) and Nancy Bueno (piano)
compact disc
compact disc
Additional information: Also set for voice and piano by Osvaldo Lacerda

[xeˈtɾa.tʊ]
Retrato
Portrait
[seˈsi.ljɐ mejˈɾɛ.lɪs]
Cecília Meireles
[eːʊ nɐ̃ːʊ ˈt∫i.ɲɐ ˈes.t∫ɪ ˈxos.tʊ ˈo.ʒɪ]
1. Eu não tinha este rosto hoje∗ ,

I not had this face today
[aˈsĩ ˈkaːʊ.mʊ aˈsĩ ˈtɾis. t∫ɪ aˈsĩ ˈma.gɾʊ]
2. Assim calmo, assim triste, assim magro,

this calm this sad this thin

∗
Original line: “Eu não tinha esse rosto de hoje” (I did not have this face of today).
27
[nẽːɪ ˈes.t∫ɪ.ˈzɔ.ʎʊs tɐːʊ vaˈziːʊs]
3. Nem estes olhos tão vazios,

nor these eyes so empty
[nẽːɪ ˈla.bjwaˈmar.gʊ]
4. Nem lábio amargo.

nor lip bitter
[eːʊ nɐ̃ːʊ ˈt∫i.ŋɐ ˈɛs.tɐs ˈmɐ̃ːʊ sẽːɪ ˈfor.sɐs]
5. Eu não tinha estas mãos sem forças,

I not had these hands without strength
[tɐ̃ːʊ paˈɾa.dɐ.zi ˈfɾiːɐ.zi ˈmɔr.tɐs]
6. Tão paradas e frias e mortas;

so inert and cold and dead
[eːʊ nɐ̃ːʊ ˈt∫i.ɲɐ ˈes.t∫ɪ ko.ɾaˈsɐ̃ːʊ]
7. Eu não tinha este coração

I not had this heart
[kɪ nẽːɪ si ˈmɔs.tɾɐ]
8. Que nem se mostra.

that not even itself show
[eːʊ nɐ̃ːʊ deːɪ poˈɾɛs.tɐ muˈdɐ̃.sɐ]
9. Eu não dei por esta mudança

I not was aware of this change
28
[tɐ̃ːʊ ˈsi.plɪs tɐ̃ːʊ ˈsɛr.tɐ tɐ̃ːʊ ˈfa.sɪːʊ]
10. Tão simples, tão certa, tão fácil:

so simple so inevitable so easy
[ẽːɪ kjesˈpe.ʎʊ fiˈkoːʊ perˈʤi.dɐ]
11. —Em que espelho ficou perdida

in which mirror remained lost
[a ˈmi.ɲɐ ˈfa.sɪ]
12. A minha face?

the my face?
1. I did not have this face I have today,

2. So calm, so sad, so thin,
3. Nor these so empty eyes,
4. Nor this bitter lip.
5. I did not have these weak hands,

6. So inert and cold and dead;
7. I did not have this heart
8. That no one sees.
9. I was not aware of this change

10. So simple, so inevitable, so easy:
11. —In which mirror did I lose
12. My face?
29
Poetry and Music44
I sing because the moment exists
and my life is complete
…
and I know one day I shall be mute
… that is all.45
Like “Cantares,” Ronaldo Miranda composed “Retrato” in 1969 as an exercise
for advanced harmony and analysis class. “Retrato” uses a poem by Cecília Meireles
(1901-1964), widely considered to be the most important female poet in the Portuguese
language.
Loss and solitude characterize Meireles’s life. Three months before she was
born, her father died; her mother died before she was three years old, so her
grandmother raised her. Meireles’s first husband killed himself, leaving her with their
three children. In her own words, “This and other deaths in the family resulted in many
financial setbacks, but at the same time it gave me, from a young age, such an intimacy
with death that I smoothly learned this relationship between the ephemeral and the
eternal… The notion or feeling of the transience of all is the foundation of my
personality.”46 That is how she learned the notion of transitivity, and why the passage of
time became a consistent theme in her poetry.
The main influence on Meireles’s poetic style is the symbolist aesthetic, using
penumbrism and spiritualism, along with an intimate point of view. Another important
characteristic of her work is the use of poetic devices such as assonance, alliteration,
anaphora47, and parallel repetition to generate rich images. These poetic musical devices

44
The facsimile of the manuscript of “Retrato” is found on pages 143-146.
45
This is a quote from the poem “Motivo” (Motive) in the book Viagem (Voyage) by Cecília Meireles.
46
Original quotation: “Essas e outras mortes ocorridas na família acarretaram muitos contratempos
materiais, mas ao mesmo tempo me deram, desde pequenina, uma tal intimidade com a morte que
docemente aprendi essas relações entre o Efêmero e o Eterno… A noção ou sentimento da
transitoriedade de tudo é o fundamento da minha personalidade.” Cecília Meireles in Leila V. B. Gouvêa,
Pensamento e "lirismo puro" na poesia de Cecília Meireles [Thought and "Pure Lyricism" in the Poetry
of Cecilia Meireles] (São Paulo: Editora da Universidade de São Paulo, 2008): 127.
47
Anaphora: “A rhetorical figure of repetition in which the same word or phrase is repeated in (and
usually at the beginning of) successive lines, clauses, or sentences. Found very often in both verse and
prose.” In “Anaphora” The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Chris Baldick. Oxford University Press,
2008. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Florida State University. 31 August 2009
<http://www.oxfordreference.com.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t56.e54
>
30
make her one of the most frequently set Brazilian poets. Her poems often make
reference to music, whether obvious or subtle, in titles such as “Canção do caminho”
(Song of the Way), “Canção do Deserto” (Song of the Desert), “Canção do mundo
acabado” (Song of the Ended World), “Guitarra” (Guitar), “Som da Índia” (Sound of
India), and the book Vaga Música (Vague Music). Due to her musicality and favorite
themes her poems “ . . . often sing or reflect on a place that is neither public, nor
private, neither rural nor urban, neither bourgeois nor proletarian, it is rather ideal and
imaginative.”48 Manuel Bandeira declares that she is “a distinctive voice”49 in Brazilian
poetry, even though some considered her an old fashioned poet who looked back to the
past (symbolism), instead of to the future (modernism).
“Retrato,” one of her most famous poems, is part of Viagem (1939), a book that
launched her into the Brazilian and, ultimately, the global literary scene. It is an
existentialist poem that uses symbols such as the mirror and the portrait. In fact, the
“mirror appears and reappears in her verses as an image that gains the status of a
symbol by repetition—a symbol that represents the passage of time.”50 The lyric
narrative uses the first person to denote its intimate character. One of the central themes
of her poetry, the transitivity of time, “is totally concentrated in this poem [Retrato].”51
It shows a melancholic approach to the passage of time, and delicately and tenderly
depicts the transitivity of life.
“Retrato” features the poetic image of a mirror that exposes the difference
between the image one has of oneself and the actual image reflected in the mirror.
Perhaps this persona is already advanced in age, or maybe this person was just someone
not aware of the changes in the aging process. The poet uncovers the movement of time
by means of a static object, the mirror. The frequent use of verbs such as “to be,” “to
exist” and “to have” depicts one’s concern with existence. The poem reveals external

48
Original quotation: “ . . . canta ou reflete de um lugar que não é público nem privado, nem rural nem
urbano, nem burguês nem proletário, que é, antes, ideal ou imaginário.” Ibid., 67.
49
Manuel Bandeira, Andorinha, Andorinha. (Rio de Janeiro: Editora José Olympio, 1966): 209.
50
Leodegário A. de Azevedo Filho, Poesia e estilo de Cecília Meireles [Poetry and Style in Cecília
Meireles] (Rio de Janeiro: Livraria José Olympio Editora, 1970): 35-36.
51
Ibid.
31
changes, “empty eyes,” “weak hands,” “bitter lips,” and “sad face,” as well as inner
modification, a “heart that no one sees.” In the first two strophes, tension is created
through the intercalation of verses with ideas of negation—“I did not have this face
today,” and “I did not have these weak hands,”52—and descriptions of how the speaker
appears now: calm, sad, and thin face; static, cold, and dead hands. The audience knows
more about the negative attributes the persona has now than the positive ones the
persona thinks it used to have. 53
Gouvêa points out that the triple adjectivization is a “recurrent device” in
Meireles’s poems54, such as in lines 2, 6, and 10, creating an “insistent poetic tension.”55
The commas in lines 2 and 10 and the insertion of the conjunction “and” in line 6,
besides creating a poetic tension, interrupt the flow of thoughts, depicting an instant of
self-discovery, or even sighs between thoughts.
A poetic progression starts in the first strophe, with the image of the face that
zooms into the hands and finally to the heart in the second strophe. This progression
starts with outer signs of the change and ends with an inner representation. In the last
strophe, the persona describes how the change has proceeded: “simple, right, easy.” As
a final thought, the speaker asks herself when she lost the person she used to be. From
the penultimate to the last line of “Retrato,” the caesura “…leaving the word ‘lost’ at
the end of the verse, adds more significance to the word. Often, Cecília Meireles uses
this technical device in her poems, dividing long verses into smaller ones in order to
enhance the poetic word at the end of each verse.”56 This word, “lost,” is the essence of
the poem.

52
Half of the lines start with negation (lines 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 9).
53
This is different from “Sonnet of Separation,” where Vinícius de Moraes tells the audience how happy
and passionate the lovers were and then contrasts it with the sad, dramatic break-up.
54
Leila V. B. Gouvêa, Pensamento e "lirismo puro" na poesia de Cecília Meireles [Thought and "Pure
Lyricism" in the Poetry of Cecilia Meireles] (São Paulo: Editora da Universidade de São Paulo, 2008):
87.
55
Ibid.
56
Original quotation: “…deixando o vocábulo perdida no fim do verso, valoriza a palavra. Não raro,
Cecília de Meireles recorre a esse artifício técnico em seus poemas, partindo versos longos em versos
menores, para valorizar o vocábulo poético que fica no fim de cada verso.” Leodegário A. de Azevedo
Filho, Poesia e estilo de Cecília Meireles (Rio de Janeiro: Livraria José Olympio Editora, 1970): 35-36.
32
Ronaldo Miranda’s musical answer to this poem came through the combination
of ternary form with the modal/tonal palette (Table 2).
TABLE 2. “Retrato,” Form Chart

Section Measures Sub- Phrase Poem Poetic content
section length section
Intro- 1-12 10-12: 1+1+2+
duction cadential 3+2 +3
A 13-20 2+2+ First Awareness of physical
2+2 strophe signs of passage of time
B 21-28 2+2+ Second Awareness of physical
2+1+1 strophe and psychological signs of
passage of time
A 29-36 2+2+ Third Consciousness of past
2+1+1 strophe oblivion and last
remembrance of ideal
(mirror as symbol)
Postlude 36-40 1+3 Sad truth becomes reality
The introduction is built on the expansion of the main melodic theme, an

upward octave leap in eighth notes in the right hand, which creates the feeling of
incompleteness and of searching for something (Ex. 6). Miranda multiplies the motive
by transposing it a fourth, then breaks this pattern in preparation for the climax in m. 7
(Ex. 7), concluding the section with a descending stepwise idea until the arrival of the
tonic (Ex. 8).
EXAMPLE 6. “Retrato,” mm. 1-4
33

EXAMPLE 8a. "Retrato," mm. 7-9

EXAMPLE 8b. “Retrato,” mm. 7-9
The defining vocal gesture in the A and A‘ sections is an ascending octave leap
followed by a descending melodic line. The vocal line in section B inverts the order of
this motive by using a descending melody followed by an upward motion, staying
within the range of an octave (Ex. 9).

EXAMPLE 9a. "Retrato," mm. 12-14, initial ascending vocal line in section A

34
EXAMPLE 9b. “Retrato,” mm. 20-22, initial descending vocal line in section B
The harmony is based on the opposition between A Aeolian and

C-sharp minor. This duality is present in the introduction (m. 1 and m. 7), at the end of
section A (m. 17) which prepares the harmonic progression for section B, and in section
A’ (m. 33). It may represent the poetic duality between real and ideal, the exterior and
interior self-image in the poem.
In the introduction, from mm. 4 to 9, there are no slurs. For this reason, this
researcher provides suggested phrasing slurs based on the anacrustic nature of the
rhythmic and melodic motives (Ex. 10).

EXAMPLE 10a. "Retrato," mm. 3-9, original score
EXAMPLE 10b. “Retrato,” mm. 3-9, score with suggested phrasing slurs
35
Symbolically, the piano may represent the vocal persona seeking his/her
memories, searching unconsciously for an identity until it becomes real, palpable, and
consciousness. Adding notes to the initial melodic motive depicts the gradual
emergence of conscience. In m. 10, the initial motive is now modified, and expanded,
as if the persona was finally recalling everything he/she was seeking (Ex. 11). The
abandoning of the initial melodic motive and the arrival of a new melody (mm. 5-9)
suggests an aspect of negation, as if the persona were trying to forget the verified event,
that is, the passage of time.
EXAMPLE 11a. “Retrato,” m. 1 EXAMPLE 11b. “Retrato,” m. 3 EXAMPLE 11c. “Retrato,” m. 10
EXAMPLE 11d. “Retrato,” mm. 13-14
Section B has faster harmonic rhythm, although this harmonic “march”

(representing perhaps the march of time) already starts in section A (m. 17). From there
foward, Miranda builds a harmonic progression based on the circle of fifths: C#m (m.
16), F#m (m. 18), Bm (m. 21), Em (m. 24), and finally returning to tonic (Am) in m.
26. This harmonic progression is related to the anaphora “Eu não tinha” (I did not have)
appearing once in the first strophe and repeated twice in the second, which represents a
faster perception of the changes in the vocal persona’s identity. This section also brings
a change of rhythm, from straight eighth notes to syncopation (m. 23), in preparation
for the highest note of the song, F#4, at the keyword “dead” (m. 24).
36
The pianist has the opportunity to delineate all the contrapuntal melodic lines,
like dancing around the vocal line. As an aid to ensemble synchronization, the pianist
may mentally sing words referring to the melodic lines in the left hand, written below
the piano staff in Example 12.
EXAMPLE 12a. “Retrato,” mm. 15-20

EXAMPLE 12b. “Retrato,” mm. 21-26

EXAMPLE 12c. “Retrato,” mm. 12-28

37
EXAMPLE 12d. “Retrato,” mm. 35-40
Since the poem is a lyrical self-evaluation, the singer should be aware that
although he/she is singing in front of an audience, the song is not addressed to them; the
audience should feel almost embarrassed to be there, party to such personal revelation,
such psychological exposition. With this in mind, the last verse, the question “In which
mirror did I lose my face?” is a self-question, more as a reflection than with a wish for
an outside answer.
The decrescendi at the end of the vocal lines show exactly the stress of the word
in each phrase through the unaccented ending. Since the melody has two-measure
phrases, one could feel the line as one big pulse per measure in order to maintain the
legato and to have a better sense of the poem (Ex. 13)57.

57
The signs and are used in poetry to mark strong and weak syllables.
38
Measures 22-23 and 31-32 are an exception: here, the anaphora demands more
emphasis through the stress of the third beat as well (Ex. 14).
EXAMPLE 14. “Retrato,” mm. 11-12, two big pulses per measure – poetic enumeration
Since one of the characteristics of this song is the ascending octave leap, one
challenge for the singer is to prepare at the bottom note to ascend to the higher one,
maintaining the legato and the same timbre. One can think about stretching the vowel
in order to maintain the melodic line and start the lower note by using the inner space in
the palate needed for the higher one. In the verse “nem lábio amargo” (nor bitter lip), a
different vocal color may emerge since multiple musical events occur: the phrase goes
to the lowest note in the song, there is a rhythmic augmentation, the key word “amargo”
asks for a dramatic approach, and a decrescendo and pouco ralentando are marked. All
these events indicate the end of a section. Another important place for the singer is m.
33, in which the word “mirror” is highlighted by a high pitch and longer note value.
The suggestion would be to take your time and enjoy such an important keyword. The
same goes for the pianist, but with one reminder: fitting the sixteenth notes to the
singer’s vibrato will result in a tighter ensemble.
Regarding the prosody, there are only two places in which the singer should be
aware of the syllabic stress and especially the shape of the phrase: 1) in m. 17, the word
“estes” has the correct stress; nevertheless, within the verse, the stress could be on
“nem es-tes o-lhos tão va-zi-os” or “nem es-tes o-lhos tão va-zi-os”58; and 2) in m. 29,
almost the same issue occurs: “es-ta” has the right rhythmic stress, but due to the

58
This choice is recommended for two reasons: 1) the poetic importance of the progression eyes-hands-
heart and 2) the lyrical and introspective character of the poem, wherein the speaker is not showing
his/her eyes to anyone, in which case the emphasis on “estes” (this) would be more appropriate.
39
following higher note (B), the instinctive (but not recommended) tendency would be to
stress “es-tas”. With this in mind, the singer should give the right stress “es-ta” and if
necessary, even slightly elongate the “es,” aiming for the more important word of the
phrase (and even of the song), “mu-dan-ça” (change).
“Soneto da separação” (Sonnet of Separation)
Datasheet
Date: 1969
Poet: Vinícius de Moraes (1913-1980)
Tempo: Moderato ♩= 72
Meter: 4/4
Key: F minor
Vocal range: Bb3 – Eb5
Timing: 2 mins 15 s
Recordings: Melodia Sentimental. Olivia Byington (voice) and Maria Teresa Madeira
(piano), long-play, LP 1-01-404-312.
Additional information: Poem also set by Antônio Carlos Jobim (Tom Jobim)
40
[soˈne.tʊ da se.pa.ɾaˈsɐ̃ːʊ]
Soneto da Separação
sonnet of separation
[viˈni.sjʊs ʤi moˈɾaːɪs]
Vinícius de Moraes
[de xeˈpe.ʧɪ du ˈxi.zʊ ˈfeːj.sju ˈpɾɐ̃.tʊ]
1. De repente do riso fez-se o pranto

suddenly from the laughter has become the weeping
[si.le.siˈo.zwi ˈbɾɐ̃.kʊ ˈco.mwa ˈbɾu.mɐ]
2. Silencioso e branco como a bruma

silent and white as the mist
[i daz ˈbo.kɐ.zuˈni.dɐs ˈfeːj.sjaːɪsˈpu.mɐ]
3. E das bocas unidas fez-se a espuma

and from the mouths united have become the foam
[i das ˈmɐ̃ːʊ.zes.paʊˈma.dɐz feːj.sjwɪsˈpɐ̃.tʊ]
4. E das mãos espalmadas fez-se o espanto.

and from the hands flattened have become the astonishment
41
[de xeˈpe.ʧɪ da ˈkaːʊ.mɐ ˈfeːjsju ˈve.tʊ]
5. De repente da calma fez-se o vento

suddenly from the calm has become the wind
[ki duˈzɔ.ʎʊs desˈfeːjza ˈuːw.ʧi.mɐ ˈʃɐ̃.mɐ]
6. Que dos olhos desfez a última chama

that from the eyes dispelled the last flame
[i da paːjˈʃɐ̃ːʊ ˈfeːj.sju pɾe.se.ʧiˈme.tʊ]
7. E da paixão fez-se o pressentimento

and from the passion has become the premonition
[i du moˈme.twiˈmɔ.veːʊ ˈfeːj.sju ˈdɾɐ̃.mɐ]
8. E do momento imóvel fez o drama.

and from the moment motionless has arisen the drama.
[de xeˈpe.ʧɪ nɐ̃ːʊ maːɪs ki de xeˈpe.ʧɪ]
9. De repente, não mais que de repente

suddenly no more than suddenly
[ˈfeːj.sɪ ʤi ˈtɾis.ʧju ki si ˈfeːj.zaˈmɐ̃.ʧɪ]
10. Fez-se de triste o que se fez amante

has become into sad the one who has become lover
[i ʤi sɔˈzi.ɲʊ ki si fe:js kõˈte.ʧɪ]
11. E de sozinho o que se fez contente.

and into lonely the one who himself has become happy
42
[ˈfeːj.sɪ dwaˈmi.gʊ ˈpɾɔ.si.muːu ʤɪsˈtɐ̃.ʧɪ]
12. Fez-se do amigo próximo o distante

has become from the friend close the distant
[ˈfeːj.sɪ da ˈvi.dɐʊ.ma.veˈtu.ɾa eˈxɐ̃.ʧɪ]
13. Fez-se da vida uma aventura errante

has become from the life an adventure wandering
[de xeˈpe.ʧɪ nɐ̃ːʊ maːɪs ki de xeˈpe.ʧɪ]
14. De repente, não mais que de repente.

suddenly no more than suddenly
1. Suddenly the laughter has become sorrow

2. Silent and white as the mist
3. And united mouths have become foam
4. And flat hands have become astonishment.
5. Suddenly the calm has become wind

6. That dispelled from the eyes the last flame
7. And passion has become premonition
8. And from the motionless moment has arisen the drama.
9. Suddenly, no less59 than suddenly

10. The lover has become sad
11. The happy has become lonely.

59
Though this translation option may seem contradictory, the meaning in English of “suddenly, no less
than suddenly” conveys better the intention of a quick change than “suddenly, no more than suddenly.”
43
12. The close friend has become distant
13. Life has become a wandering adventure
14. Suddenly, no less than suddenly.
Poetry and Music60

Composed in 1969, this song is also a composition of Ronaldo Miranda’s
youthful years. Here, however, he set a poem by a very well known Brazilian poet,
Vinícius de Moraes.
Vinícius de Moraes (1913-1980) was a diplomat, a poet, and also “a playwright,
a lyricist, an author of chronicles, a film critic, a defender of Brazilian cultural and
national identity, and an outspoken critic of the military dictatorship.”61 In 1953, he
met Antônio Carlos Jobim and started a very successful musical partnership. Their
compositions marked the beginning of the “bossa nova,” one of the most universally
recognized styles of Brazilian Popular Music (música popular brasileira, MPB) with
songs such as Garota de ipanema (Girl from Ipanema).
Moraes’s poetry begins with youthful poems, such as in the book O caminho
para a distância (1933), concerning the duality between Catholic spirituality and the
pleasure of the flesh, with the use of a pompous and complex verse style.62 He solves
this conflict in the book Forma e exêgese (1935), in which the “infinito-enquanto-dure”
(infinite-while-it-lasts) love for women and the flesh wins over his Catholic heritage.
Themes begin to concern daily life with accordingly simpler verses. Moraes reaches his
poetic maturity in Poemas, sonetos e baladas (1946). Ivan Junqueira considers this
book one of Vinícius’s “higher realizations,”63 and Antônio Cândido declares that this
book is “maybe the moment of synthesis of [Moraes’s] capacities and rhythms,”64

60
The facsimile of “Soneto da separação” is found on pages 147-149.
61
Irwin Stern, Dictionary of Brazilian Literature (Westport, Connecticut: Grenwood Press, 1988): 210.
62
Ibid.
63
Ivan Junqueira, “Vinícius de Moraes: Língua e linguagem poética” [Vinícius de Moraes: Language and
Poetic Language] in Afrânio Coutinho (ed.), Vinícius de Moraes: Poesia completa e prosa [Vinícius de
Moraes: Complete Poetry and Prose] (Rio de Janeiro: Editora Nova Aguilar, 1998): 143.
64
Antônio Cândido in Afrânio Coutinho (ed.), Vinícius de Moraes: Poesia completa e prosa [Vinícius
de Moraes: Complete Poetry and Prose] (Rio de Janeiro: Nova Aguilar, 1998): 113.
44
where the poet returns to a simpler poetry with the use of sonnet form. After leaving his
diplomatic position in 1969, Moraes continued to play and sing in shows throughout
Brazil and abroad. Some of his works, such as his drama Orfeu da Conceição (1965),
reveal a strong concern with Brazil’s social problems.65
Renata Pallotini considers Moraes to be the “restorer of sonnet in the
contemporary Brazilian poetry scene,” 66 since conceptually his sonnets “bring new
problems and suggest new solutions.” 67 “Soneto da fidelidade” (Sonnet of Fidelity) and
“Soneto da separação68” (Sonnet of Separation) are part of the book Poemas, sonetos e
balladas from his mature poetic period.
Ronaldo Miranda set “Soneto da separação” in 1969 as an exercise for his
advanced harmony and analysis class at Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ).
This sonnet is basically built on the repetition of the adverb “suddenly” and the use of
the verb “to do,” in the sense of transmutation69. The poetic persona tells the audience
about a great love which one day was only laughter, unified mouths, calm, and passion.
“Suddenly,” in this case, may mean not only that the changes were fast, but also that the
perception of the change was not felt until it was too late. The poem seems to translate
a specific moment: the perception of deep loss and the remembrance of lost happiness.
The two first strophes (quatrains) start with “Suddenly,” and the verses usually start
with happy images that transmutate into sad ones: the laughter has become sorrow,

65
His play “Orfeu da Conceição” was adapted into a film Black Orpheus, which won an Academy award
for the best Foreign Language Film of 1959, directed by the French director Marcel Camus. It was also
awarded the Palme d’Or at the Cannes International Film Festival and the 1960 British Academy Award.
The movie features a number of songs by Vinícius de Moraes and Antônio Carlos Jobim.
66
Renata Pallotini in Afrânio Coutinho (ed.), Vínicius de Moraes: Poesia completa e prosa [Vinícius de
Moraes: Complete Poetry and Prose] (Rio de Janeiro: Nova Aguilar, 1998): 124.
67
Ibid, 122.
68
Vinícius de Moraes wrote this poem in 1938, on board the Highland Port ship crossing the Atlantic
Ocean to England.
69
“Everything here is extremely simple, because all the rhetorical flow of the poem lies in the repetition
of the verb 'to do', used in that Heraclitean sense of something that is transmuted into another, and that
banal adverb 'suddenly'.” (Original quotation: “Tudo aqui é de extrema simplicidade, pois todo o fluxo
retórico do poema repousa na repetição do verbo ‘fazer’, utilizado sempre naquele sentido heraclitiano de
alguma coisa que se transmuta em outra, e desse banalíssimo advérbio ‘de repente’.”) Ivan Junqueira in
Afrânio Coutinho (ed.), Vinícius de Moraes: Poesia completa e prosa [Vinícius de Moraes: Complete
Poetry and Prose] (Rio de Janeiro: Nova Aguilar, 1988): 154.
45
united mouths have become foam, flat hands have become astonishment, calm has
become wind, and passion has become apprehension. The third and fourth strophes
(tercets) emphasize the human point of view and feelings such as sadness, loneliness,
and the sensation of pointless wandering.
In the first two quatrains, the conjunction “e” (and) functions like a pedal point,
underlining the importance of enumerating the events. In the last two tercets, “fez-se”
(has become) now becomes a kind of pedal point framed by repetition of “de repente”
(suddenly). It is as if the mutation were now more important than what was changed.70
The verb “fez-se” (has become) is repeated at the beginning of each line (except
line 11), giving the impression of a slightly slower rhythmic speed, suggesting a
reticence, as if the past happiness were gradually becoming more distant.
Miranda sets this sonnet in AA’BA” form, beginning and ending each section in
the tonic, F minor, as follows (Table 3).

70
It is notable that in “Sonnet of Fidelity” the first two quatrains have a nasal final rhyme but the last
two tercets use the brighter vowels e and a. “Sonnet of Separation” alternates between nasal and clear
vowels in the two first quatrains, but in the last two tercets Moraes keeps the nasal quality of the rhyme
in every single final rhyme, providing a darker sonority for “separation” than that of “fidelity.”
46
TABLE 3. “Soneto da separação,” form chart
Section Introduction A A' B A''

Poem 1st quatrain 2nd quatrain 1st and 2nd last line
section tercets, and its
without the repetition
last line added by
composer
Measures 1-4 5-12 13-20 21-30 31-34
Phrase 3+1 8 measures: 8 measures: 10 4
length 4 (2+2) 4 (2+2) measures measures:
+2+2 +2+2 4 (2+2) + 6 2+1+1
(2+2+2)
In section A and its variations, the melodic design consists of undulating

phrases that alternate between repeated notes and an appoggiatura at each phrase
ending (Ex. 15).
EXAMPLE 15a. “Soneto da separaçao,” mm. 5-6, EXAMPLE 15b. “Soneto da separaçao,”
final repeated notes mm. 9-10, final repeated notes
EXAMPLE 15c. “Soneto da separaçao,” mm. 7-8, EXAMPLE 15d. “Soneto da separaçao,” mm.
final appoggiatura 11-13, final appoggiatura
In section B, all the phrases end with a descending appoggiatura. The first two
start with the repetition of the same phrase, only with the final appoggiatura a third
above (Ex. 16). Then, mm. 25-30 starts a sequence in which all the phrases end with
appoggiaturas (Ex. 17).
47
EXAMPLE 16a. “Soneto da Separação,” mm. 21-22

EXAMPLE 16b. “Soneto da Separação,” mm. 23-24

EXAMPLE 17a. “Soneto da Separação,” mm. 25-26

EXAMPLE 17b. “Soneto da Separação,” mm. 27-28

EXAMPLE 17c. “Soneto da Separação,” mm. 29-30

The basic rhythmic pattern is the longer note value in the first part of the
measure, a dotted or undotted quarter note (Ex. 18). The subtle change in the melodic
line coincides with the placement of the dotted quarter notes, either in the first beat or
48
in the second, usually connected to the word or phrase stresses (Ex. 19). There is only
one instance in which the dotted quarter note is placed on the third beat, in the word
“adventure,” exactly at the end of the melodic sequence at m. 29 in section B (Ex. 20).
EXAMPLE 18. “Soneto da separação,” basic rhythmic pattern
EXAMPLE 19. “Soneto da separação,” mm. 6-8 and 18-20, rhythmic pattern with dot on second beat
EXAMPLE 20. “Soneto da separação,” mm. 28-30, rhythmic pattern with dot on third beat
In “Sonnet of Separation,” Ronaldo Miranda mixes traditional and popular

harmonies, especially from bossa nova, which was very much in vogue at the time. One
can see chromaticism in the inner voices (passing tones) without changing harmonic
function (Ex. 21), and notes added to chords for a coloristic function as passing tones
(mm. 31-32). For instance, in mm. 5-7 in the piano part, the underlying harmony is in F
minor, but notes such as the fourth (Bb), the seventh (Eb) and the ninth (G) enrich the
sound without changing the harmonic function (Ex. 22).
49
EXAMPLE 21. “Soneto da Separação,” m. 1

EXAMPLE 22. “Soneto da Separação,” mm. 4-7

Such examples show that bossa nova’s influence on Miranda’s music is
primarilly harmonic and not rhythmic, since the sophisticated and syncopated rhythmic
patterns from the style are not present.

It appears in the poem that the poetic persona is not talking to anyone, neither to
the lover nor to an audience. The persona seems to be immersed in its own thoughts,
considering what has happened and pondering the breakup with the lover. The thoughts
come and go as the speaker gets more and more hopeless, as if one could not believe
this separation was taking place. The vocal persona ends the song suspended on the 9th
of the chord, as if in reflection (m. 33).
The phrase structure is very rigid, always in two-bar phrases. Nonetheless, the
song should be performed with some rubato, especially at ends of phrases, since the
rhythms in the verses seem to ask for breaths between them. At the end of each section
50
the harmony always returns to the tonic (F minor), which supports the repetition of
ideas found in the poem in expressions such as “suddenly” and “has become.”
Although there is repetition of text, phrase structure, and harmony, Ronaldo
Miranda shows variety through changes in density of texture, through the use of
melodic counterpoint in the piano part (typical of seresta), and the addition of coloristic
7ths, 9ths, and 11ths in the harmony, typical of bossa nova.
Miranda uses a thinner texture with an upward motion toward the upper register
followed by a descending movement in the piano several times. This depicts different
aspects of the poem each time. In section A, it represents sadness and sorrow and the
pianist might use a delicate sonority, depicting tears, with a fast and precise attack. The
following descending gesture, marked mp, evokes the mist falling silently and softly
and might be played and sung with serenity and a soft sound (Ex. 23).
In section A' the addition of the bass line gives more weight to the sound, and
together with rising eighth notes, evokes the strength of the wind. The pianist may play
the bass notes with a more weighty and rounded attack. In m. 15, b. 2, the pianist might
also want to bring out the triplet since it is a melodic answer to the vocal line (Ex. 24).
51
In m. 18, the note value is diminished (sixteenth notes), providing a sense of

agitation, as a bad “presentiment.” This gesture of acceleration can start slower and get
faster and softer until it reaches the upper register on the third beat of the measure. The
descending line ends on the word “drama,” underlying the confirmation of the bad
“presentiment.” The pianist can take time in the melodic line in measure 20 in order to
stress the word “drama” and conclude the section (Ex. 25).

In section B the ascending gesture emphasizes the word “lover,” along with the
highest note so far in the vocal line. It requires passion and intensity (f) and well-voiced
contrapuntal lines in the piano part supporting the vocal line (Ex. 26).
52
Finally, in section A'', the last upward gesture has an accent on the third beat,
without bass accompaniment, evoking the surprise engendered by the changes of
sentiment in the lover’s history. In m. 32, the arpeggiated chord has an accent and may
be played with a delicate and precise attack, representing a pause in thought, a reticence
and suspenseful punctuation in the poem, in the music, and in the drama (Ex. 27).

It is necessary to pay close attention to dynamic markings, especially in the
descending appoggiaturas, since they show the spoken inflection of the verses and their
unaccented endings. In sections A and A', the phrases have a wave-like dynamic shape,
from a stronger dynamic to a softer one, as seen in the vocal lines in mm. 8, 14 and 26.
In section B, there is a big crescendo to the highest note of the song, at the word “lover”
in m. 24. Subsequently, a melodic sequence begins describing happiness becoming
loneliness, close friends becoming distant, and the summing up of life as simply a
wandering adventure. Here, each phrase of the sequence needs a gradually softer
dynamic level.
53
Another important feature of this song is the contrapuntal role of the piano. The
melodic lines seems to dance around the vocal line, sometimes repeating the same line,
and other times adding commentary. This kind of writing is typical of choro and seresta
styles, in which the accompanist on the guitar adds melodic lines, usually in low and
medium registers. Since Vinícius de Moraes was so connected to Brazilian popular
music, it seems fair to infer that Miranda was inspired by this style. He borrows the
melodic counterpoint in the accompaniment from the seresta and he uses the coloristic
harmony from the bossa nova. Therefore, the pianist might shape and bring out these
lines, underlining the importance of them in the seresta style (Ex. 28).
EXAMPLE 28. “Soneto da Separação,” mm. 10 and 20

In general, the singer can aim for the four-measure phrase, connecting the two-
bar phrase idea in order to complete the sense of the poem, even if a breath is required:
for instance, in mm. 5-8: “Suddenly the laughter has become sorrow / Silent and white
as the mist,” and mm. 17-20: “And passion has become presentiment / And from the
motionless moment has arisen the drama.” Since this song includes many nasal vowels
on half notes71, this issue requires a short explanation for non-native singers. The nasal
sound should be light and unexaggerated. Paraphrasing Thomas Grubb,72 “Over-
nasalization is neither good singing nor good Portuguese.”

71
Some examples include the words [ˈpɾɐ̃.tʊ], [ɪsˈpɐ̃.tʊ], [ˈve.tʊ], [ˈʃɐ̃.mɐ], [pɾe.se.ʧiˈme.tʊ], [ˈdɾɐ̃.mɐ],
[aˈmɐ̃.ʧɪ], [kõˈte.ʧɪ], [ʤɪsˈtɐ̃.ʧɪ], [eˈxɐ̃.ʧɪ], and [xeˈpe.ʧɪ].
72
Thomas Grubb, Singing in French: A Manual of French Diction and French Vocal Repertoire (New
York, Schirmer Books, 1979): 54. “Over-nasalization is neither good singing nor good French.”
54
Normally, a composer tries to fit the music to the poem. Here, however, it
seems that Miranda tries to fit the poem into his melodic phrases. He accomplishes this
mainly by changing the placement of the dotted notes (as noted before). As a result,
there are some problems in the rhythm of some of the phrases that a singer sensitive to
the poem might address. In mm. 16 and 18, it is necessary to attenuate the stress in “E
da pai-xão . . .” and “E do mo-men-to . . .” and conduct the pick-up to the downbeat
where the real stress belongs: “E da pai-xão . . .” and “E do mo-men-to . . .”
Prosodically, an important instance is in section B, in the constant repetition of “fez-se”
(mm. 22, 26, and 28). Again, the singer should soothe the stress on “se” and move it to
“fez” in order to avoid obfuscating the meaning of the text.
“Segredo” (Secret)
Datasheet
Date: 1973
Poet: Carlos Drummond de Andrade (1902-1987)
Tempo: Grave ♩ = 44
Meters: 2/4, 3/4, 1/4, 6/8, 4/4
Key / Tonal Center: A minor
Vocal range: A3 – E5
Timing: 2 mins
Edition: São Paulo: Serviço de difusão de partituras, USP, SDP 200
Recordings: none
Additional information: none
55
[seˈgɾe.dʊ]
Segredo
secret
[ˈkaɾ.lʊs dɾuˈmõ ˈdjɐ̃.dɾa.ʤɪ]
Carlos Drummond de Andrade
[a po.eˈzi.ɐ ɛ i.ko.mʊ.niˈka.veːʊ]
1. A poesia é incomunicável.
the poetry is inexpressible
[ˈfi.kɪ ˈtoɾ.tʊ nu seːʊ ˈkɐ̃.tʊ]
2. Fique torto no seu canto.

stay crooked in your corner
[nɐ̃ːʊ ˈɐ̃.mɪ]
3. Não ame.
do not love
[ˈoːʊ.sʊ ʤɪˈzer kja ʧi.ɾoˈteːɪ.jʊ]
4. Ouço dizer que há tiroteio

I hear to say that there is shooting
56
[aːʊ aːʊˈkɐ̃.sɪ du ˈnɔ.sʊ ˈkor.pʊ]
5. Ao alcance do nosso corpo.

at the reach of our body
[ɛ a xe.vo.luˈsɐ̃ːʊ waˈmor]
6. É a revolução? o amor?
is it the revolution the love
[nɐ̃ːʊ ˈʤi.gɐ ˈna.dɐ]
7. Não diga nada.

do not say anything
[ˈtu.dwˈɛ poˈsi.veːʊ sɔ eːʊ i.poˈsi.veːʊ]
8. Tudo é possível, só eu impossível.

everything is possible only I impossible
[u maɾ tɾɐ̃zˈbɔr.dɐ ʤi ˈpeːɪ.ʃɪs]
9. O mar transborda de peixes.

the sea overflows of fish
[a ˈo.mẽːɪs ki ˈɐ̃.dɐ̃ːʊ nu maɾ]
10. Há homens que andam no mar

there are men who walk on the sea
[ˈko.mʊ sjɐ̃ˈda.sẽːɪ na xuːɐ]
11. como se andassem na rua.

as if they walked on the street
57
[nɐ̃ːʊ ˈkõ.ʧɪ]
12. Não conte.

do not tell.
[suˈpo.ɲɐ kju ˈɐ̃.ʒʊ ʤɪ ˈfo.gʊ]
13. Suponha que um anjo de fogo

suppose that an angel of fire
[vaˈxe.sja ˈfa.sɪ da ˈtɛ.xɐ]
14. varesse a face da terra

swept the face of the earth
[juˈzo.mẽːɪs sa.kɾi.fiˈka.dʊs]
15. e os homens sacrificados

and the men sacrificed
[peˈdi.sẽːɪ perˈdɐ̃ːʊ]
16. pedissem perdão.

asked for forgiveness
[nɐ̃ːʊ ˈpɛ.sɐ]
17. Não peça.

do not ask
1. Poetry is inexpressible.
2. Stay crooked in your corner.
3. Do not love.
58
4. I hear there is shooting
5. That can reach our body.
6. Is it the revolution? Is it love?
7. Do not say anything.
8. Everything is possible, only I am impossible.

9. The sea overflows with fish.
10. There are men who walk on the sea
11. as if they were walking on the street.
12. Do not tell.
13. Supposing that an angel of fire

14. Swept the face of the earth
15. and sacrificed men
16. asked for forgiveness.
17. Beg nothing. 73

Poetry and Music74
What does song want? To rise
in arches over abysses.
What does mankind want? To save himself by
awarding a song.75
Ronaldo Miranda composed “Segredo”(Secret) in 1973 as an exercise for his
composition class (at UFRJ), taught by teacher and conductor Henrique Morelenbau.
For this piece, Miranda set a poem by Carlos Drummond de Andrade, journalist,
literary critic, archivist at the Ministry of Education in Rio de Janeiro, and author of

73
This translation is a combination of the author’s and the version in John Nist Modern Brazilian Poetry:
An Anthology (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1962).
74
The facsimile of the manuscript of “Segredo” is found on pages 150-154.
75
Quotation of the poem “O Arco” (The Arch) from the book Novos Poemas (New Poems) by Carlos
Drummond de Andrade. Original quotation: “Que quer a canção? erguer-se / em arcos sôbre abismos. /
Que quer o homem? / salvar-se ao prêmio de uma canção.”
59
crônicas.76 He is considered one of the most prominent Brazilian poets in terms of
modernist poetry and influence on other poets. Drummond is also well-known outside
of Brazil; he is “the best known and most disseminated Brazilian poet in the United
States.”77
Drummond was born in the small town of Itabira do Mato de Dentro, in the
state of Minas Gerais, which is a very traditional and catholic Brazilian region. He
draws some of his main inspirations from this city and its simple people. After
graduating in pharmacology, but never practicing the profession, he joined poets and
artists such as Mário de Andrade, Manuel Bandeira, and Tarsila do Amaral in the
Modernist movement. In his ironic style he approaches realistic themes such as modern
man, industrialization, sexuality, and religiosity. His poetry is based on dogmas of
Modernism, including the use of free verses (not caring for counting syllables), free
association of ideas, argumentative attitude, nationalistic themes (as opposed to
European), value of daily events and things, humor (“poem-joke”) and the
incorporation of Brazilian spoken manners to literary language,78 always with a strong
poetic personality.
Afrânio Coutinho summarizes Drummond’s poetic periods:
“His first book, Alguma poesia [Some Poetry] (1930), shows the shyness, humility, the
‘gochismo’ of the poet, already evidencing his tendency to communion in the ‘sentiment of the
world’ and elevation of symbol. Later, in Brejo das almas [Swamp of Souls] (1934), arises the
humour, which will be a constant in his poetry (and prose). Sentimento do mundo [Sentiment of
the World] (1940) and A rosa do povo [People’s Rose](1945) testified his reaction against the
collective pain and misery of the modern world, with its mechanism, its materialism, its lack of
humanity.79

76
Crônica is a short fiction-essay genre widely cultivated in Brazil, described as “‘a sketch’ of life, be it
historical, personal, or imaginary.” Irwin Stern, "Dictionary of Brazilian Literature" (Westport,
Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1988), 100.
77
Irwin Stern, Dictionary of Brazilian Literature, “Carlos Drummond de Andrade” (Westport,
Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1988).
78
Ibid.
79
In Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Poesia e Prosa [Poetry and Prose] (Rio de Janeiro: Editora Nova
Aguilar, 1988): XI.
60
Gochismo80 or gauchismo is a reference to his self perception exemplified in the
poem “When I was born, a crooked angel, the kind who live in shadows, said: Go,
Carlos! Be gauche in life.”
The poem “Segredo” comes from Drummond’s second book, Brejo das almas
(Swamp of Souls).81 O’Brien observes that in this book “twenty-four out of twenty-six
poems include this same motif [carnal love].”82 Although this poem does not use this
motif as its main theme, it does bring out the image of a “shooting that can reach our
body / Is it the revolution? / Is it love?” depicting a sudden event that can take someone
by surprise, like passion.
Moreover, “Segredo” is related to Drummond’s yearning to fill the gap between
him and others, a hopeless, nihilistic, and ironic aspect of this specific period of his
poetry. “The idea of the useless human impulse and, as a direct consequence of this
uselessness, a series of desperate solutions in the forms of suggestions, invitations and
commands,”83 is confirmed in verses such as “do not love,” “say nothing,” and “do not
tell.” Gilberto Teles emphasizes Drummond’s struggle with the making of poetry itself:
Drummond himself – who always introduces modifications in his poems – does not hide his
pessimism in the face of significant problems and, in another sign of modernity, there are in all
the books, poems whose content is the representation of a poetic or poem related concept, or the
torturing reference to the struggle for expression. We would say that the poet has his
metalanguage, his metapoems.84
The creative struggle is stated in the first line of the poem, “Poetry is
inexpressible,” and in the eighth line, “Everything is possible / Only I am impossible.”
The construction of the poem reveals the technique of “palavra-puxa-palavra” or

80
This is a Portuguese word that comes from the French word gauche (left). This term is only used in
Portuguese regarding Drummond’s poetry. The poet himself defines his way of being and understanding
the world as awkward and crooked, against the majority, as on the left-hand side of life.
81
Brejo das almas is a little town, also in the state of Minas Gerais, that is now called Francisco de Sá.
82
Mary Patrícia O'Brien, The Theme of Human Communication in the Poetry of Carlos Drummond de
Andrade (PhD diss., Tulane University, 1969): 12.
83
Ricardo Da Silveira Lobo Sternberg, "The Precarious Self: Carlos Drummond de Andrade's Brejo das
Almas" Hispania (March 1982): 45-50.
84
Mary Patrícia O’Brien, The Theme of Human Communication in the Poetry of Carlos Drummond de
Andrade (PhD diss., Tulane University, 1969):179.
61
“word-pull-word” of this work. In this technique, sometimes, there seems to be no
logical order in the appearance of images, but only a semantic or paronomastic
association.85 Garcia points out that
The system consists, in general, of the chain of words, by semantic affinity or

relationship, either by phonetic similarity (paronymy,86 homophony, alliteration, internal rhyme)
and also by the evocation of weird events to the atmosphere of the poem itself (clichés, folk
elements, childhood reminiscences, factual circumstances, waste of reading).
We frequently name this compositional technique here as semantic association—
implicit or explicit—correlation of similar ideas, paronomastic association, word-pull-word
play, semantic chain, and also mechanical association. 87
This explains why the poem has such a kaleidoscope effect: each strophe brings
new poetic images and sounds. The lack of communication, explicit in the verse
“Poetry is inexpressible,” evokes isolation, which can also refer to the lack of love. All
the images are connected by semantic affinity. From the last image, lack of love,
emerges the phonetic similarity “amor-mar” (love-sea). The new picture of the sea
brings two implications: nada (nothing or swim) and the biblical imagery of walking on
the sea. From the meaning of “nothing” arises the duality between everything/nothing
and the possible/impossible. From this biblical imagery arrives the angel of fire,
sacrificed men, and the begging for forgiveness. Drummond’s “word-pull-word”
technique is clearer in the following charts (Tables 4 and 5).

85
Paronomasia: “punning; the term used in ancient rhetoric to refer to any play on the sounds of words”
in The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Chris Baldick. Oxford University Press, 2008. Oxford
Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Florida State University. 31 August 2009
http://www.oxfordreference.com.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t56.e8.
86
Paronymy: “the use of morphologically related words in related senses” in “paronym” The Oxford
Dictionary of English Grammar. Sylvia Chalker and Edmund Weiner. Oxford University Press, 1998.
Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Florida State University. 31 August 2009
http://www.oxfordreference.com.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t28.e10
3.
87
Original quotation: “O sistema consiste, em linhas gerais, no encadeamento de palavras, que por
afinidade ou parentesco semântico, quer pela semelhança fônica (paronímia, homofonia, aliteração, rima
interna), quer, ainda, pela evocação de fatos estranhos à atmosfera do poema propriamente ditto (frases-
feitas, elementos floclóricos, reminiscencias infantis, circunstâncias de fato, resíduos de leitura). A essa
técnica de composição damos aqui, freqüentemente, o nome de associação semântica – implícita ou
explícita, correlação de idéias afins, associação paronomástica, jôgo de palavra-puxa-palavra, cadeia ou
encadeamento semântico e, também, o de associação mecânica. ” in Othon Moacyr Garcia, Esfinge
Clara: Palavra-puxa-palavra em Carlos Drummond de Andrade [Esfinge clara: Word-Pull-Word in
Carlos Drummond de Andrade] (Rio de Janeiro: Livraria São José, 1955): 9.
62
TABLE 4. “Segredo,” word-pull-word technique by semantic and phonetic association
TABLE 5. “Segredo,” word-pull-word technique by phonetic similarity
In this poem, one of the most important rhythmic poetic devices is repetition of
the word “não” (anaphora) presenting the narrator’s attempt to prevent probable and
undesirable behaviors among the audience (Table 6).

TABLE 6. “Segredo”
The alternation of long lines (seven, eight, nine, or even ten poetic syllables)
with very short ones (two syllables) at the close of strophes creates a break in the flow
63
of the verses and makes the final statement of each stanza even stronger. Drummond
uses two sorts of articulation between lines: end-stopped (lines 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11,
12, and 17) and enjambment (lines 4-5, 10-11, and 13-16). Because Drummond uses
mostly end-stopped articulation between lines, the poem acquires a strong voice, with a
very affirmative yet judgmental personality. Therefore, whenever an enjambment
occurs in the poem, they create contrast and gain more rhythmic importance. They are
used mainly for religious images, resulting in continuous flow as the verses unfold. In
the last strophe, the chain of enjambment makes the longest stream, only stopping at the
end. The speed of the lines depicts the velocity of the angel’s extermination and men’s
despair.
In sum, the use of the “word-pull-word” technique, enjambments, and anaphora,
along with a cynical point of view from the poetic persona, exposes some of
Drummond’s main themes: rich imagery, strong use of rhythm as a poetic device, and
the influence (even by negation) of religion and Christian tradition. The structure of the
poem could be outlined as:
• 1st and 2nd strophes: inability to deal with artistic and sentimental
transcendence;
• 3rd and 4th strophes: personal nihilism of miracles and cynical approach to
religion.
Ronaldo Miranda set the four-strophe poem into a two-part song (with
introduction and postlude), using variable phrase lengths in line with the poetic style of
free verse (Table 7).
TABLE 7. “Segredo” form chart

Section A B
Measures 1-15 16-30
Sub-sections 1-3: 4-15 16-28 29-31:

Introduction Postlude
Poem section (lines) 8 lines: 1st strophe, 2nd 9 lines: four lines from
strophe and first line 3rd strophe and the 4th
from 3rd strophe. strophe.
Vocal phrase length (in beats) 3+3 / 3+3 / 3+3 / 3+2 / 4 2+2 / 2+2 / 2+2 +2 / 3
64
The composer admits that “Segredo” was for him “a real tour de force” since
the “modern and difficult text generated a piece that was a little arid . . . even
nowadays, very seldom perfomed.”88 All the musical material used in the song is
presented in the introduction (Ex. 29a, 30a, and 31a). They are the whole-tone,
chromatic, and diatonic palettes (Ex. 29-31).
EXAMPLE 29a. “Segredo,” m. 1, whole-tone EXAMPLE 29b. “Segredo,” m. 24, whole-tone

EXAMPLE 29c. “Segredo,” m. 27, whole-tone EXAMPLE 30a. “Segredo,” m. 2, chromaticism

EXAMPLE 30c. “Segredo,” m. 29-30,

EXAMPLE 30b. “Segredo,” m. 7, chromaticism
chromaticism

88
Ronaldo Miranda, “Música e palavra: uma trajetória de quatro décadas” (Music and Word: a
Trajectory of Four Decades). Poesia sempre no. 29 (Rio de Janeiro: Fundação Biblioteca Nacional,
2008): 197.
65

EXAMPLE 31a. “Segredo,” m. 4,
EXAMPLE 31b. “Segredo,” m. 8, diatonicism
diatonicism
These sonorities occur over a faded tonal structure, based mainly on the
remembrance of tonal functions in arrival points such as E as dominant, in mm.1 and
11, to A as tonic, in mm. 3 and 15; and the progression between A (tonic) in m. 18, E
(dominant) in m. 21, and going back to A (tonic) in m. 26.
Although the song may seem fragmented at first, there are several harmonic and
melodic elements that unify the work, like the intervals of the third and fourth and the
ascending melodic structure. The interval of a third is especially important in this song,
since most phrases end either with a third or within its range (Ex. 32), and the harmonic
relationships are also built on a mediant relationship of keys (Ex. 33).
EXAMPLE 32a. “Segredo,” mm. 7-8, EXAMPLE 32b. “Segredo,” mm. 10-11, phrase
phrase ending in thirds ending in thirds
66
EXAMPLE 32c. “Segredo,” mm. 20-22, phrase ending within the range of a third

EXAMPLE 33a. “Segredo,” m. 5, mediant EXAMPLE 33b. “Segredo,” m. 10, mediant

relationship relationship

EXAMPLE 33c. “Segredo,” m. 12, mediant relationship
In section B, the harmonic progression by or within a fourth assumes particular

significance, especially the progression A-D-A (Ex. 34):
EXAMPLE 34a. “Segredo,” mm. 18-21, progression by fourth
67
EXAMPLE 34b. “Segredo,” mm. 28-31, progressions by fourths
Although the vocal line has mainly repeated notes, the high points of the
melody draw an ascending motion (Ex. 35):

EXAMPLE 35a. “Segredo,” mm. 8-12, ascending movement of vocal line, part I: Bb-B

EXAMPLE 35b. “Segredo,” m. 19, ascending movement of vocal line, part II: C

EXAMPLE 35c. “Segredo,” mm. 23- 25, ascending movement of vocal line, part III: C-C#-D-D#-E
(Complete ascending movement: Bb - B - C - C# - D - D# - E)
Therefore, the macro melodic structure generates a strong unification of the

two parts, since section B starts with the highest note of section A, connecting the two
sections. The tension generated by this ascending structure ends in m. 25, when instead
of an F#4, the expected conclusion of the ascending motion, Miranda suddenly drops
68
the line down, to an F#3, creating an anticlimax by reaching the lowest pitch in the
vocal line.
In “Segredo,” the imperative sentences and the pessimistic point of view from
the speaker, as suggested by “Do not love,” “Do not tell,” and “Beg nothing,” remind
one of someone sitting on a chair and cynically uttering statements about “how things
are” and how one should react to them. The poetic persona addresses the audience as a
self-appointed expert, as someone who has seen and lived something others have not.
The speaker has experimented with artistic frustration (the inexpressibility of poetry),
has lived passion and love (shooting in the body; revolution), has seen and participated
in Christian religious situations (images of sea overflowing with fishes, man walking on
the sea, a fire angel, and sacrificed men), and nevertheless, this character rejects
everything as if nothing was worth accomplishing. Even the verse “Do not tell” has a
double meaning: it could mean “do not tell anyone” or “do not count as miracles (men
walking on the sea),” or “do not count on miracles.”
The use of the imperative tense at the end of each strophe asks the question:
Is the vocal persona advising or giving orders? It does not mean that all phrases
should be either advising, giving orders, or even reflecting, with nostalgia; the
singer and pianist should decide how to perform, and search for the best way to convey
each negative line to the audience. The contrasts can be achieved by changing the speed
of attack or by shifting between legato and a more parlato singing style.
Although basically syllabic, this song has a different vocal style from the
previous ones, which were generally in a cantabile style. Here the composer writes
more repeated notes and small intervals, closer to parlato style. Miranda chose a florid
setting for the text “não conte” and “não peça,” in a diminuendo, adding a lyric
intention to these lines. The initial imperative idea of demands is transfigured
into soft statements in section B. The drop of dynamic level, the change in the piano
register from low to high, and the addition of descending chromatic eighth notes in the
inner voices of the piano demand another, more subtle character. This is when Miranda
69
depicts the poem’s title; the vocal persona tells a secret and the pianist corroborates
this idea.
The piano’s interjections to the vocal line are very well marked by the
composer, such as in mm. 5, 6, 10 12-13, 21, 23, and 25, sometimes answering the
vocal line and other times connecting the phrases. The descending gesture in the piano
characterizes section A. When played staccato (mm. 1-2, 5, 16 and 26), it can have an
ironic and drier attack, depicting the sacrifices made by men, and even the shooting.
The only time it appears in legato (m. 6-7), it can be played in such a manner that
it contrasts with the previous ones, connecting the notes with tenderness since
it is referring to love.
Miranda sets section A with more specific articulation and rhythmic variety,
creating a more incisive and aggressive atmosphere. There are staccatos in one hand
and legato in the other (mm. 5 and 11), tenuti (mm. 5 and 13), eighth notes, sixteenths
notes, triplets, and syncopations (m. 15) conveying the images of revolution and
potential harm to the body. Section B starts with a calmer atmosphere and becomes
increasingly agitated with the ascending vocal line and piano movement, culminating
in the highest note in the vocal line, E5, and followed by a dramatic descent (m. 25),
which arrives at the lowest note for the voice, A-sharp 3. It is as though all the hope and
excitement were meaningless. Even if an angel appears and others ask for forgiveness,
the vocal persona tells the audience, in a melismatic and soft voice, to beg for nothing.
The piano ends the song by recapitulating all the musical materials, now
transformed, without their aggressive character: the diatonicism through neighboring
tones, the chromaticism seen in the harmonic progressions, and a reminiscence of the
whole-tone scale through the use of tritones (mm. 28 and 29 b. 2, r.h. alto voice).
Indeed, even though Miranda is using the same material, the piece ends in a totallydiffe
rent mood and atmosphere from the beginning. It is more reflective, fading in dynamics
and tempo, as corroborating the vocal persona in its advice “do not ask.” The singer
might use a darker sound, even using chest voice (for female singers, of course) and
sing this last statement ironically and skeptically.
There is only one place in which the singer should pay particular attention to the
declamation of the poem. In m. 13, ‘Tu-do_é pos-sí-vel” has a little stress in the
70
syllable “‐do_é” because of the acephalous beat followed by sixteenth notes, instead
of in the syllable “ Tu-do_é.” Again, the singer might make clear the stress on the
correct syllable, “Tu-”.
Três canções simples (Three Simple Songs) 1980-84
Três canções simples (Three Simple Songs) is the only song cycle for piano and
voice by Ronaldo Miranda. The three songs, “Visões” (Visions), “Noite e dia” (Night
and Day), and “Cotidiano” (Daily) are settings of poems by Orlando Codá, Miranda’s
friend from their student days in the Law School at the Universidade Estadual do Rio
de Janeiro – UERJ (Rio de Janeiro State University). Miranda did not graduate, since
neither he nor Codá (who actually graduated but never practiced law) “had anything to
do with that universe.”100 A few years later, Codá studied Literature at Montpellier
University (France). After coming back to Brazil, he worked for the Rio de Janeiro
State Government (Municipal Theater), for publishers such as Nova Fronteira and for
the multinational oil company Shell, in social communication and events areas.
Together, Miranda and Codá created the pieces Trajetória (Trajectory)101 and
Canticum Itineris (for ancient music ensemble and magnetic tape), the cantata Terras
de Manirema (Lands of Manirema, a work for speaker, mixed choir, string orchestra, 2
flutes, piano and percussion with an ecological theme), Três canções simples (Three
Simple Songs), and the opera Dom Casmurro. They also worked together on the play
Bancs publics (Public Banks) for the Theatre de l’Alliance Française and on the
soundtracks for two musicals, Nossa cidade (Our Town) by Thornton Wilder and A
Hora dos ruminantes (The Time for Ruminants), a free adaptation from the
homonymous book by Brazilian writer José J. Veiga. In both musicals, Miranda
observes that “the language was popular music, and in the second case, mainly with

100
Ronaldo Miranda in interview with Gisele Pires Mota (August 5, 2009).
101
“Trajetória” is Miranda’s first piece to receive a First Prize in the chamber music category at the “II
Bienal de Música Brasileira Contemporânea” (II Biennial of Contemporary Brazilian Music), Rio de
Janeiro. The piece was also his first work to receive a professional performance.
71
Brazilian characteristics.”102 Codá passed away in 1996 (Rio de Janeiro), four years
after the debut of their opera Dom Casmurro.
After their successful partnership in 1977 with the prize-winning Trajetória, Codá
started to send Miranda texts for songs. Miranda then chose three poems that he thought
“would form a nice cycle together”103 It took him four years to finish the cycle. There
was no need to rush because they were not a commission; he composed them just for
“the pleasure of doing it.”104
Miranda declares that Codá’s poems attracted him because of their simplicity. In his
own words:
When I look for a text to set, I look for the musicality of its words. I find that in Codá, as well as
in poems by Fernando Pessoa, Manuel Bandeira, and Cecília Meireles. And within this
musicality is implied the concept of simplicity, because the music needs to add something to the
text. There are texts that are too convoluted, too literary. Or hard, or wordy. Or full of long
verses, or full of aggressive words and exotic terms. Or its content has nothing of lyricism, and,
yes, irony, sarcasm, or rigid intellectual construction. Sometimes, wonderful poets, such as
Drummond and João Cabral de Melo Neto, write them. But in these texts, the word is self-
sufficient. The literary form is dense and complex: it is closed on its own texture.105
The poems from Três canções simples are modern, and therefore bring
contemporary themes and focus, but their meaning cannot be underestimated. “Visões”
presents someone at a window, looking at the street and imagining the stories behind
the people who passed by, until the sense of the passage of time overcomes the narrator,
who starts to reflect about life with a touch of irony. “Noite e dia” draws a delightful,
sensual and lyrical personification of chance, but also playful, since the chance itself
dances around the speaker. “Cotidiano” at first may seem to be just an unimportant
picture of modern life, with its imagery of jobs, the gym, a dead car, and the

102
Ronaldo Miranda in interview with Gisele Pires de Oliveira Mota (August 5, 2009).
103
Ibid.
104
Ibid.
105
Ibid. Original quotation: “Quando procuro um texto para musicar, procuro a musicalidade das
palavras. Isso eu encontrava em Codá, como também ainda encontro nos poemas de Fernando Pessoa,
Manuel Bandeira e Cecília Meireles. E nessa musicalidade está implícito esse conceito de simplicidade,
porque é preciso que a música acrescente alguma coisa ao texto. Existem textos que são rebuscados
demais, literários demais. Ou duros, ou prolixos. Ou cheios de versos longos, ou repleto de palavras
agressivas e termos exóticos. Ou seu conteúdo nada tem de lirismo, e, sim, de ironia, sarcasmo ou rígida
construção intelectual. Às vezes são escritos por poetas maravilhosos, como Drummond ou João Cabral
de Melo Neto. Mas nesses textos, a palavra basta a si mesma. A forma literária é densa e complexa:
fecha-se em sua própria textura.”
72
relationship with the neighbor. This last poem of the cycle, however, conveys all the
isolation, solitude, and futility of modern society, in which sometimes only negative
and critical dialogue connects human beings.
Miranda gave the cycle and each song the final title and dedicated the cycle to Carol
McDavit, the singer who also premiered it with the composer at the piano.
”Visões” (Visions)
Datasheet
Date: 1980-84
Dedication/Commission: Dedicated to Carol McDavit
Poet: Orlando Codá
Tempo: Fluente q = 80; Tranquilo q = 52; Fluente q = 80; Eloquente q = 52;
Suplicante q = 40; Fluente q = 80

Meter: 4/4
Key: E Aeolian – E minor
Vocal range: C#4 – F5
Timing: 2 mins 29 s
Recordings:
compact disc
2. Ronaldo Miranda: Trajetória. Carol McDavit (voice) and Ronaldo Miranda
(piano), compact disc, RioArte Digital, 6878876-2
Additional information: First song of cycle “Três canções simples”
73
[viˈzõːɪs]
Visões
Visions
[orˈlɐ̃.dʊ koˈda]
Orlando Codá
[eːʊ vi cõ ˈes.ʧɪ ˈzɔ.ʎʊs]
1. Eu vi com estes olhos

I saw with these eyes
[kja ˈtɛ.xaːa ʤi koˈmer]
2. que a terra há de comer

that the earth will eat
[u ˈo.mẽːɪ ʃoˈɾar baːɪˈʃi.ɲʊ]
3. um homem chorar baixinho

a man crying softly
[ˈto.da.zas ˈla.gɾi.mɐs du nɐ̃ːʊ]
4. todas as lágrimas do não

all the tears of the not
74
[ˈu.ma muˈʎɛr ser beːɪˈʒa.dɐ]
5. uma mulher ser beijada

a woman being kissed
[nu ˈmeːjʊ da ˈmi.ɲɐ ˈxuːɐ]
6. no meio da minha rua

in the middle of my street
[deˈbaːɪ.ʃʊ da ˈmi.ɲɐ ʒɐ̃ˈnɛ.lɐ]
7. debaixo da minha janela

under of my window
[ˈpo.ɾu ˈeːj.zaˈmor kwaːʊˈkɛr]
8. por um ex-amor qualquer…

by an ex-lover any…
[ˈde.sis ki ˈpa.sɐ̃ːʊ cõːʊ u ˈte.pʊ]
9. desses que passam com o tempo

those who pass with the time
[deːɪˈʃɐ̃.dʊ pɾa tɾas ˈdoːɪs xeˈtɾa.tʊs]
10. deixando pra trás dois retratos,

leaving for behind two portraits
[ˈduːas ˈpo.zɪs ˈna.dɐ maːɪs]
11. duas poses, nada mais…

two poses nothing more
75
[eːʊ vi u meˈni.nwo:ʊ doːɪs]
12. Eu vi um menino ou dois

I saw a boy or two
[na kaːʊˈsa.dɐ ko.ʃiˈʃɐ̃.dʊ]
13. Na calçada cochichando

on the sidewalk whispering
[soˈxi.dʊ ʤi bɾi.kaˈdeːɪ.ɾɐ]
14. sorrindo de brincadeira

smiling for fun
[nu ˈpi.kɪ nwesˈkõ.ʤjesˈkõ.ʤɪ]
15. no pique, no esconde-esconde

in the tag in the hide-and-seek
[du ka.xoˈsɛːʊ ˈdɛs.tɐ ˈvi.dɐ]
16. do carrossel desta vida…

of the carousel of this life
[eːʊ vi eːʊ vi eːʊ vi si]
17. Eu vi, eu vi, eu vi sim

I saw I saw I saw so
[a ˈse.pɾɪ ˈmar.ʃɐ duz ˈdiːɐs]
18. A sempre marcha dos dias

the ever march of the days
76
[xe.ko.meˈsar kõ maːɪs ˈfor.sɐ]
19. Recomeçar com mais força

restart with more strength
[i mja.xɐ̃ˈkar du ˈla.bjːʊ u ˈgɾi.tʊ]
20. e me arrancar do lábio um grito!

and from me to pull from the lip a scream
[i sɔ ʤi maːʊˈda.ʤjaːʊs meːʊs pɛs]
21. E só de maldade aos meus pés

and just by wickedness onto my feet
[mja.xe.meˈsa.ɾu teːʊ ˈle.sʊ]
22. Me arremessar o teu lenço…

to me to throw the its handkerchief
1. I saw with these eyes

2. that the earth will one day eat
3. a man crying softly
4. all the tears of rejection
5. a woman being kissed
6. right in my street
7. under my window
8. by a former lover…
9. the kinds that vanish with time
10. leaving behind two pictures,
11. two poses, nothing more ...
12. I saw a boy or two
13. whispering on the sidewalk
14. smiling for fun
77
15. in the tag, in the hide-and-seek
16. of the carousel of this life ...
17. I saw, I saw, I did see
18. The endless march of the days
19. Restart with more strength
20. and pulling a scream out of my lip!
21. And, just by nastiness,
22. throwing its handkerchief onto my feet…
Poetry and Music106

“Visões” is the first song of the cycle and is in free-verse style. The poem uses
first person narration in which the speaker relates the events hesaw.107 It is divided into
three sections by the anaphora “Eu vi…” (I saw); the last one is reinforced by the
repetition “Eu vi, eu vi, eu vi sim” (I saw, I saw, I did see) in line seventeen. The
speaker seems to be by the window, looking outside and observing a man, a woman,
and children. All these events outline the opposition between the adult’s and the child’s
worlds. While he sees a man crying due to rejection and a woman kissed by an ex-lover
from a meaningless relationship, he also sees boys laughing and playing. At that
moment, he starts to think about life, and how quickly time passes. At the end,
ironically, the “march of days” (a personification), throws him a handkerchief, so that
he can calm the despair that took him by surprise. Although they are present in the
scenery, the speaker does not empathize with the characters; he is more concerned
about his own feelings and thoughts about life. It is an individualist point of view; from
the lives of those outside the window, the narrator sees his own life and the passage of
time.
Miranda set the poem in two equal parts, the first one about adults (lines 1-11),
and the second one about children and the final opinion on the passage of time (lines

106
The facsimile of the manuscript of “Visões” is found on pages 155-158.
107
Although the song cycle was composed for and dedicated to a soprano, in the discussion of the three
songs of the cycle I will refer to the poetic persona as “he.” Assuming that all three songs are narrated by
the same persona, in “Cotidiano,” line 15, the gender of the speaker is revealed in the sentence “Me, your
poor neighbor” since the poet uses the word vizinho (masculine) as opposed to vizinha (feminine).
78
12-22). Faster subsections (“Fluente”) and slower subsections (“Tranquilo”) alternate
within the two bigger sections (Table 8).
TABLE 8a. "Visões," form chart section A

Section A
Measures 1-18
Sub- a b a' c
sections 1-7 8-11 12-14 15-18
“Fluente” “Tranquilo” transition “Tranquilo”
(fluent) (calm) (calm)
Poem 1-4 5-8 (piano 9-11
section interlude)
(lines)
Vocal 4 (1+1+1+1) 4 (piano 4
phrase (1+1+1+1) interlude) (1+1+1+1)
length
Poetic Presentation of the scene: Transitory nature of love: woman kissed
content speaker by the window and a by ex-lover
rejected man
TABLE 8b. “Visões,” form chart section B

Section B
Measures 19-38
Sub- a'' b' c' a'''
sections 19-25 26-31 32-33 34-38 Coda:
“Fluente” “Tranquilo” transition: “Fluente”
(fluent) (tranquil) “Suplicante” (fluent)
(supplicant)
Poem 12-15 16-20 21 22
section
(lines)
79
TABLE 8b. “Visões,” form chart section B (continued)
Vocal 4 5 1 1
phrase (1+1+1+1) (1+1+1+1+1)
length
Poetic Children as Consciousness of Life’s irony Nostalgia:
content methaphor for passage of time remembrance
innocence and and appearance of of the past
happiness despair
Miranda alternates between modal sections, such as Dorian and Aeolian, and
tonal sections without clear tonal progressions. Modal sections, for instance mm. 1-7,
19-25 and 34-38 (coda), have the same rhythmic movement in the piano part (Ex. 36)
and a syncopated rhythmic motive in the vocal line (Ex. 37).

EXAMPLE 36a. "Visões,"mm. 1-2, dotted and syncopated rhythmic movement of modal section
EXAMPLE 36b. “Visões,” mm. 19-20, dotted and syncopated rhythmic movement of modal section
80

EXAMPLE 37a. "Visões," rhythmic pattern
EXAMPLE 37b. “Visões,” m. 3 EXAMPLE 37c. “Visões,” m. 27
In the tonal sections, the rhythm acquires more fluid lines through the use of
triplets and sixteenth notes. The piano’s sixteenth-note ostinato ceases, giving way to
chords in long note values for harmonic support (Ex. 38).
EXAMPLE 38. “Visões,” mm. 8-11
In section B, mm. 26-30, Miranda juxtaposes dotted figures from the vocal line
of sub-section a and chords in the piano from sub-section b (Ex. 39). Moreover, he then
starts a melodic sequence juxtaposing the triplets and sixteenth notes, which in sub-
section b always comes one after the other and in sub-section a generates the rhythmic
ostinato (Ex. 40).
81
EXAMPLE 39. “Visões,” mm. 26-27, juxtaposition of dotted figure from a and long value chords
from b
EXAMPLE 40. “Visões,” mm. 28-30, juxtaposition of triplets and sixteenth notes

Melodically and harmonically, the most important element in the song is the
interval of the fourth. The vocal line exposes the perfect fourth as its melodic feature
(Ex. 41).
EXAMPLE 41a. “Visões,” m. 9 EXAMPLE 41b. “Visões,” m. 11

82
EXAMPLE 41c. “Visões,” mm. 28-30
Likewise, harmonically, the fourth delineates the bass-line progressions (Ex. 42)
and the nature of the chords, in quartal harmony such as the tritone fourth chord, a
chord built with a tritone and a fourth interval (Ex. 43 and 44).
EXAMPLE 42a. “Visões,” mm. 7-9, progressions in the bass by a fourth and tritone

EXAMPLE 42b. “Visões,” mm. 14-17, progressions in the bass by a fourth and tritone
83
EXAMPLE 43a. “Visões,” m. 9 EXAMPLE 43b. “Visões,” m.11

EXAMPLE 43c. “Visões,” mm. 28-29
EXAMPLE 44a. “Visões,” EXAMPLE 44b. “Visões,” mm. 30-31

m. 27
As Duarte observes, “tritone fourth chords and major seventh chords linked by
pulling half steps are a constant characteristic in Miranda’s atonal language.”108
Although “Visões” is not atonal, it is in this song that Miranda begins to use the tritone
fourth chord more consistently, anticipating the last song of the cycle, “Cotidiano,”
where this chord will have more structural importance.

108
Vitor Monteiro Duarte, Ronaldo Miranda's Solo and Four-Hand Piano Works: The Evolution of
Language Towards Musical Eclecticism (DMA treatise, Universiy of Arizona, 2002): 49.
84
Miranda sets the poem with a variety of temporal and dynamic changes. At the
end of each section, he asks for a rallentando followed either by a 1) a slower tempo,
usually within a section (mm. 7, 14, 25, and 27) or 2) a faster tempo, usually marking
the end of the big sections (mm. 17 and 32). Performers should pay attention to the
adjustment of timing in arpeggiated chords, basically in the pianist’s left hand. Pianist
and singer may take some time before b. 3 of m. 7 in order to keep the ensemble
together for two reasons: 1) it takes some time to arpeggiate the chord (a reason why
the pianist should start it earlier) and 2) since the vocal phrase is within the range of an
octave, the singer may want to regulate the vocal register change in order to reach the
highest note, E4. Interpretatively, another reason would be to highlight the rejection
suffered by the persona, underlined through timing the word “não” (no). Most
importantly, the singer must be aware that the pianist will probably need more time
before b. 3 of m. 7.
In order to achieve an organic rallentando in the ascending gesture of mm. 17-
18, the pianist may think about feeling the last two beats of m. 17 as written (one pulse
each) and the following one (m.18) as if the pulse were an eighth note. In other words,
start subdividing the tempo in m. 18; in b. 1, feel the eighths, and in b. 2, the sixteenth
notes (see rhythmic annotation in Ex. 45).
EXAMPLE 45. “Visões,” mm. 17-18, rhythm subdivision as aid for the performance of rallentando
85
In terms of ensemble, there are a few places to be especially sensitive. In m. 25,
b. 4, the pianist is responsible for the “cedendo” (pulling back), since the piano part has
the fastest rhythmic figures (the performers can use again the rhythmic subdivision
device). In m. 31, the pianist only needs to take a little time in the fermata, since it
occurs over an eighth-note rest and after an affretando. In the climax of the song, mm.
28-31, both performers should be aware of the relationship between their melodic lines.
The singer starts the melodic sequence and the piano connects and continues the same
line (Ex. 46).
EXAMPLE 46a. “Visões,” mm. 28-31, melodic interrelation between vocal line and piano right
hand as written
EXAMPLE 46b. “Visões,” mm. 28-31, explicit melodic interrelation between vocal line and piano
right hand
In order to maintain the two different tempi consistently throughout the

respective sections, the pianist and singer may want to practice by starting all the
sections in “Fluente” and then all the parts in “Tranquilo” successively. Since both the
“Fluente” and “Tranquilo” sections recur, the performers should explore the different
aspects of the poem and change the character of each appearance. For instance, the
“Fluente” sections may be approached thus:
1. Measures 1-7: presentation of the scenery. May be performed in a more
unpretentious manner, as the speaker starts from a detached point of view and
becomes more involved in the happenings, corroborated by the mp dynamic that
grows to a f.
86
2. Measures 12-14: transition. Musical connection between the images of
unimportant love and passage of time. Perform mm. 12-13 with a trivial
character and then m. 14 as if searching in one’s memory for events from the
past with nostalgia, and with more use of the sustaining pedal, especially in m.
14.
3. Measures 19- 25: the performers may experiment with a lighter character and
sound color since the poem’s imagery is about children playing.
4. Measures 34-38: coda. Here is where the nostalgic aspect of the poem is
explicated through the soft dynamic level, the voice’s vocalizing, and the fading
out of the general sound level, as if the “march of days” is now gradually more
and more distant.
Several general suggestions are offered for the singer. Since the vocal line
frequently has syncopations and phrases with a wide range, it may be worthwhile to
sing them as legato as possible in order to keep the line flowing. Especially in
descending lines, experiment singing them with a crescendo to the bottom in order to
keep the intensity and uniformity of the sound. In m. 27, the singer may choose
between the written suggestion (sing without any break): “Eu vi, eu vi, eu vi sim” or
instead, add a caesura (not a breath) for emphasis: “Eu vi, ✓ eu vi, eu vi sim,” since this
is the third time the anaphora appears.
In m. 9, the natural stress of the line would be “No me-io da mi-nha rua” (in the
middle of my street), but Miranda sets it as “No me-io da mi-nha rua.” In order to
attenuate this uncomfortable setting, the singer can slightly stretch the syllable “me”
creating the illusion of the correct emphasis. Likewise, in m. 23, the stress of the word
“co-chi-chan-do” (whispering) is displaced to “co-chi-chan-do.” My advice is to stress
the syllable “chan” anyway, rendering the word as it is usually spoken.
Equally important are the verses in which there is no prosody problem in the
words themselves, but some deviation from the organic way of speaking the phrases, a
displacement of the natural stresses of them (similarly to previous songs, where there
were stresses on unstressed syllables within a phrase). For instance, in line 2, m. 5, a
natural way of saying the phrase would be “Que_a ter-ra_há de co-mer” (that the earth
will one day eat) or “Que_a ter-ra há de co-mer.” “Há de” is an idiomatic expression in
87
which the following word is necessarily a verb in its infinitive form, which means the
action presented by the infinitive will inevitably happen. Miranda sets it as “Que_a ter-
ra_há de co-mer,” misplacing the natural stress of the idiomatic expression “há de.”
One option for the singer is to give a little weight to the musically weak, unstressed last
eighth note of m. 4, giving it the intention of a longer and heavier sound of [a], like
doubling it [aa].
“Noite e dia” (Night and Day)
Datasheet
Date: 1980-84
Poet: Orlando Codá
Tempo: Muito expressivo um pouco “rubato” q = ±69

Meter: 3/4
Key: B minor
Vocal range: C#4 – G#5
Timing: 1 min 58 s
Recordings:
1. Canções brasileiras. Sandra Félix (voice) and Scheilla Glaser (piano), compact
disc, Paulus, 005328
3. O Trompete na música brasileira. Paulo Mendonça (trumpet) and Maria Teresa
Madeira (piano), compact disc, ABM Musical, AA0001000
Additional information: Second song of the cycle Três canções simples (Three Simple
Songs)
88
[ˈno:ɪ.ʧi:i ˈʤi:ɐ]
Noite e Dia
night and day
[orˈlɐ̃.dʊ koˈda]
Orlando Codá
[ˈnoːɪ.ʧiːi ˈʤiːɐ waˈka.zʊ mi paˈseːjɐ]
1. Noite e dia o acaso me passeia

night and day the chance me walks
[i mjeˈbɾu.ʎɐẽːɪ ˈmeːjwaːʊs ˈga.ʎʊs]
2. e me embrulha em meio aos galhos

and me wraps in the middle of the branches
[ˈdɛs.ta ˈar.vo.rɪ fɾõˈdɔ.zɐ]
3. desta árvore frondosa

from this tree leafy
[i mi deˈfɔr.maːa ˈsõ.bɾɐ]
4. e me deforma a sombra
and me bends the shadow
89
[poːɪs ˈde.ljeːʊ soːʊ bɾiˈke.dʊ]
5. pois dele eu sou brinquedo…

because of it I am toy
[ˈnoːɪʧiːi ˈdiːɐ a ˈvaːʊ.sɐ ma.le.moˈle.ʧɪ]
6. Noite e dia a valsa malemolente

night and day the waltz lazy/sensuous
[ʤju paˈsa.dʊ xeˈse.ʧɪ de xeˈpe.ʧɪ]
7. de um passado recente, de repente

from a past recent suddenly
[mi kõˈvi.daːa ˈoːʊ.trʊs ˈbɾa.sʊs]
8. me convida a outros braços

me invites to other arms
[mi ˈlɐ̃.sɐ ˈnoːʊ.tɾɐs terˈnu.ɾɐs]
9. me lança noutras ternuras

me launches to other tenderness
[xo.do.piˈɐ̃.duːu meːʊ ˈkor.pʊ]
10. rodopiando o meu corpo

twirling the my body
[ˈko.mʊ si ˈfo.sja võˈta.ʤɪ]
11. como se fosse a vontade

as if it were the yearning
90
[ʤjeːʊ xe.naˈse.ɾoːʊ.tɾɐ ves]
12. de eu renascer outra vez…

of I rebirthing again
1. Night and day, chance walks me

2. and wraps me in the middle of branches
3. of this leafy tree
4. and bends my shadow
5. because I am its toy.
6. Night and day the lazy and sensuous waltz
7. of a recent past suddenly
8. invites me to another arms
9. launches me to another tenderness
10. twirling my body
11. as if it were my yearning
12. of rebirthing again...
Poetry and Music109

A persona in the first person narrates “Noite e dia.” The speaker seems to be
delightfully absorbed by the personification of chance and a waltz. Chance evokes the
idea of surprises that happen every day, either night or day, that can mold or deform
plans, since it transforms the person into a “brinquedo” (toy). The image of a “valsa
malemolente” is important in the song. “Malemolente”110 is very difficult to translate
since it evokes something not concrete but a way of being, with “molejo” (springiness).
It refers to a sensual, lazy, relaxed, malicious, but sometimes, ingenuous way of
behavior. Several Brazilian composers, such as Guarnieri and Mignone, use this term
when such character is needed. The understanding of this concept is critical in order to
establish the right mood in the song. Probably, “valsa malemolente” was the idea-seed

109
The facsimile of the manuscript of “Noite e dia” is found on pages 159-161.
110
Do not confuse this with the Portuguese word “malevolente” and its English translation “malevolent.”
91
for the choice of musical elements, such as the waltz meter (3/4) and the undulating
contour of melodic lines. This undulating nature is present in the poem by the image of
chance and the lazy-sensual waltz that surround the speaker, playing and dancing
around him as in the verses “e me embrulha em meios aos galhos” (and wraps me in the
middle of branches), and “rodopiando meu corpo” (twirling my body). In addition, the
dance imagery underlines the sensual character of the poem.
Another important theme in the poem is nostalgia. The remembrance of a dance
from the recent past throws the persona to other arms, twirling his body, and erupting
the will of a rebirth, the renewing of oneself. Moreover, the images of night and day
give rise to the idea of time passing, confirmed by the images denoting the present time,
as in “chance walks me,” and the past, as in the lazy-sensuous waltz from the recent
past that launches him into another tenderness. All these images also recall the
Portuguese word “saudade” (longing) and the feeling of lacking something or someone,
once more returning to the nostalgic atmosphere.
This song has two parts that can be understood as either A-B or A-A’, as in a
modified strophic setting (Table 9). Both parts are distributed equally into 18 measures
each, although the poem is delivered differently. Since the A section carries five lines
and B has seven, the lines that seem to be missing in the first section are completed by
the piano interlude (mm. 14-18).
TABLE 9. “Noite e dia,” form chart

A B
Measures 1-18 18-36
Subsection Introduction Strophe Interlude Introduction Strophe Coda

(measures) (1-2) (3-13) (14-18) (18) (19-34) (34-36)
Phrase length 2 1+2+4 1+1+2 1 1+2+4 3
2+2 2+2+2+2
At the end of the A section, there is an elision between the end of the piano
interlude and the measure regarded as a second introduction, for the B section (m. 18).
92
Such elision is apparent through the augmentation of the meter in m. 18, from 3/4 to
5/4, matching the number of beats in mm. 1-2, the introduction (Ex. 47).
EXAMPLE 47a. “Noite e dia,” mm. 1-2 EXAMPLE 47b. “Noite e dia,” mm. 18-19
The phrase length at the beginning of each strophe in this song (mm. 2-9, 18-25)
contains an interesting symmetry, since each phrase is multiplied in the proportion
1:2:4 measures (Ex. 48). This gives fluency to the melodic line and leads directly to the
climax of each section.
EXAMPLE 48. “Noite e dia,” mm. 2-9

All the phrases have a weak ending, since the last word of each line has an
unstressed final syllable: “di-a,” “pas-se-ia,” “fron-do-sa, “som-bra,” “brin-que-do,”
“ma-le-mo-len-te,” “re-cen-te,” “bra-ços,” “ter-nu-ras,” “cor-po,” and “von-ta-de.”
Miranda follows this word stress pattern, given that all the melodic phrases close with
an unaccented ending. The only deviation from this pattern is in the last line: “ou-tra
vez.” Such a gesture emphasizes the confirmatory nature of the end of the poem and
song. After all the dancing and twirling, within the persona arises the desire to be born
again, to reinvent himself.
93
Miranda mixes elements from classical and popular music in this song. From
bossa nova, he uses chords with added 7ths, 9ths, 11ths, and 13ths. Also, the composer
seems not to be worried about doubling these added notes in the chords. He also writes
progressions very common in popular music, such as II-V-I. However, with his
harmonic craftsmanship, Miranda instantly converts the tonic into a new II, creating a
chain of secondary dominants, a circle of fifths sequence (Ex. 49).
Miranda shifts to distant keys without any preparation, as in mm. 4-5 when he
goes directly from B minor to B-flat major (Ex. 50); in mm. 13-15, when he moves
from C minor back to E minor (Ex. 51); and in mm. 31-33, when he shifts from E-flat
major to B minor (Ex. 52). Such unexpected changes allude to the poetic image of
molding and deforming that chance brings to the persona in the poem.
94

Melodically, “Noite e dia” evokes all the tradition of seresta and modinha in its
undulating lines, melodic dialogue with the accompanying instrument, and large leaps.
This song also recalls the famous “Valsas de esquina”111 of Francisco Mignone, with the
use of a rather simple harmonic structure and double-note melody in the piano’s upper
register (r.h.).
As stated by the composer at the beginning of the song, one of the main
character indications is the expressive marking “um pouco rubato” (“a little rubato”).
This marking is directly connected to the “malemolente” idea of laziness. Both

111
“Valsas de esquina” (Corner’s Waltzes) are an important contribution by Francisco Mignone to the
nationalistic movement, since he believed that Brazilian soul was better represented by this kind of waltz.
95
performers can exploit this idea, playing and singing without rushing, and taking time
to start and end phrases. The pianist should be sensitive to the large leaps in the vocal
line in mm. 11-12, 12-13, 26-27, and 28-29, since the singer might need time to prepare
the change of register.
Miranda asks for a crescendo and affretando in mm. 22-23; however, he does
not indicate where to go back to the first tempo. My suggestion is to keep pushing the
tempo until the climax of the section—the high G-sharp in m. 25—and then start
gradually relaxing the tension as the dynamic level decreases and the descending
sequence ends (mm. 27-31). The performers may keep in mind the idea of losing the
perception of the real world after the persona was thrown in the past by the “malemonte
valsa.”
If Miranda had followed the same harmonic progression as in section A (the
sequence of secondary dominants) in m. 31 there should have been a C minor chord.
That is not what he does, however—the progression goes instead to E-flat major,
creating a surprising sonority. The pianist can exploit this new ambience by changing
the color of the sound, producing a clear and almost impressionistic sound by a faster
attack into the keys and the prolongation of the piano resonance by the activation of the
of sustaining pedal throughout mm. 31-32. This sonority will once more reinforce the
interruption of the dream-like state felt by the speaker. Both performers can create a
story about the narrator: who is this person and what is it that he longs for? It is always
useful to have specific images in mind, such as the other tenderness that the persona
recalls and the image of something ethereal dancing around the speaker.
In m. 30, the word stress is on the first syllable “co-mo” (as if) and in the song
is “co-mo.” The singer simply needs to emphasize the first eighth note in order to
deliver the text more clearly and stress the first syllable, “co.” The singer should also be
aware that in m. 6, the natural design of the line would be “e me_em-bru-lha_em me-
io.” Like previous songs, the stress within this phrase seems unusual; if the singer were
to sing it with the predictable stresses of the ternary meter, it would sound like “e
me_em-bru-lha_em me-io.” Another instance of the same type occurs in m. 24, in
which the phrase should go to “con-vi-da” (invite) with the strong beat of the measure
falling on the reflexive pronoun “me.” The singer might stress the syllable “vi” of “con-
96
vi-da,” because in addition to enhancing the deliverance of the text, it also can be used
as an impulse for the ascending passage, like an aid to unify the lower and higher
register of the voice within this phrase. Equally important, in mm. 28-29, is to sing the
proper stress on “ro-do-pi-an-do meu cor-po” instead of “ro-do-pi-an-do meu cor-po.”
In this case, the singer may sing a crescendo to E4 (m. 28, b. 3), thereby providing a
better blend of the high and low registers, besides helping with the natural flow of the
phrase.
“Cotidiano” (Daily Life)
Datasheet
Date: 1980-84
Poet: Orlando Codá
Tempo: Obsessivo q = 100; Calmo q = 40; Obsessivo q = 100; Reflexivo q = 56;
Obsessivo q = 100
Meter: 2/4; 4/4
Key: E (tonal center)
Vocal range: Bb3 – G5
Timing: 2 mins 16 s
Recordings:
4. Trovas e Cantares. Carol McDavit (voice) and Maria Teresa Madeira (piano),
compact disc
Additional information: Last song of the cycle “Três canções simples”
97
[ko.ʧi.diˈɐ̃.nʊ]
Cotidiano
daily life
[oxˈlɐ̃.dʊ koˈda]
Orlando Codá
[bõ:ʊ ˈʤiːɐ vɪˈzi.ɲʊ]
1. Bom dia, vizinho!

good day neighbor
[ˈkõ.mʊ vɐ̃ːʊ as ˈkoːɪ.zas]
2. Como vão as coisas?

how are the things
[a tuːɐ ˈbar.bɐ cɾeˈseːʊ]
3. A tua barba cresceu?

the your beard has grown
[oːʊ seˈra kjesˈtoːwẽgɐˈna.dʊ]
4. Ou será que estou enganado?

or maybe that I am mistaken
98
[u teːʊ xeˈʒi.mja.kaˈboːʊ]
5. O teu regime acabou?

the your diet has ended
[tu pɐˈɾas.ʧɪs kõa ʒiˈnas.ʧi.kɐ]
6. Tu parastes com a ginástica?

you quit with the gymnastics
[mi kõˈta.ɾɐ̃ːʊ du aːʊˈme.tʊ]
7. Me contaram do aumento,
to me they told of the raise
[du ˈvɛ.ʎʊ ˈka.xwa.maˈsa.dʊ]
8. do velho carro amassado

of the old car crumpled
[ki u ˈʤiːɐ.ẽfe.xuˈʒoːʊ]
9. que um dia enferrujou

that one day it rust
[i ˈnɐ̃ːwɐ̃ˈdoːʊ ˈnu.kɐ ˈmaːɪs]
10. e não andou nunca mais…

and it not ran anymore
[mi ʤɪˈsɛ.ɾɐ̃ːʊ ki aˈgɔ.ɾɐ]
11. Me disseram que agora

to me they told that now
99
[tu tɾaˈba.ʎɐs ʤi ˈnoːɪ.ʧɪ]
12. tu trabalhas de noite

you work at night
[mas kjaˈkɔr.dɐs ˈmuːɪ.tʊ ˈse.dʊ]
13. mas que acordas muito cedo

but that you wake up very early
[sɔ pɾa mi cõ.tɾa.ɾiˈar]
14. só prá me contrariar

just to me oppose
[eːʊ ki teːʊ ˈpɔ.bɾɪ vɪˈzi.ɲʊ]
15. Eu que, teu pobre vizinho,

I that your poor neighbor
[ʤi ʤiːɐ nɐ̃ːʊ ʧi ˈpɔ.sʊ ver]
16. de dia não te posso ver

by day not you can see
[sɔ a ʒɐˈnɛ.lɐ seˈxa.dɐ]
17. Só a janela cerrada

just the window closed
[ju ka.ʤiˈa.dʊ na ˈpor.tɐ]
18. e o cadeado na porta

and the lock on the door
100
[ki nẽːɪ nu te:ʊ ko.ɾaˈsɐ̃ːʊ]
19. que nem no teu coração…

like in your heart
1. Good morning, neighbor!

2. How are things going?
3. Has your beard grown?
4. Or am I wrong?
5. Are you done with your diet?
6. Have you quit the gym?
7. I was told about your raise
8. about the crumpled old car
9. that one day rusted
10. and died for good…
11. I was told
12. you are working at night now
13. but wake up very early
14. just to oppose me
15. Me, your poor neighbor,
16. who can not see you during the day
17. just the closed window
18. and the lock on the door
19. just like your heart…
Poetry and Music112

Miranda chose to end the cycle Três canções simples in a very contemporary
style, underscoring the loneliness of modern times. Like “Visões,” this poem starts in
an unpretentious way, as an everyday chat between neighbors, and eventually arrives at
an unexpected utterance of the certainty of distances and solitude. The poem, as in all

112
The facsimile of the manuscript of “Cotidiano” is found on pages 162-168.
101
three songs, is in the first person, which highlights the lyrical character of the text. It
seems the persona in “Cotidiano” is talking to someone he knows but for some reason
he no longer has contact with him. Both characters in the poem, the speaker and his
neighbor (whether or not present in the scene), were friends, or even lovers. The
persona knows about his job (“I was told you are working at night now”), that his car
died for good, and about his professional life (“I was told about your raise”). The
speaker is even aware of his neighbor’s sleeping habits. All this information comes
second-hand: he only “hears” about him, it was not a result of intimacy. What seems to
be a dialogue of simple questions reveals it to be just a monologue, since there are no
answers. Codá uses this awkward moment to depict the real essence of modern times:
solitude among people. The neighbor does not seem to be in a good situation since it
appears his beard has grown, he has gained weight, his car has died, and he is working
at night. However, the distance between both is still obvious given that the only contact
they have is the early morning noise, which irritates the speaker. At the end of the
poem, Codá makes clear that the problem is neither economic nor aesthetic and neither
about the night job nor the morning noise. The problem is within people. It is the
locked heart that does not allow the others’ entrance.
The poem, which began superficially, ends with a deep picture of modern times.
In “Visões” one is by the window and is taken by surprise by thinking about the
fugacity of time. In “Noite e dia,” the speaker seems to be playing and allowing himself
to be molded by chance and dance when, at the end, a wish for rebirth arises within
him. Finally, “Cotidiano” closes the song cycle with what begins as a banal
conversation and ends with a surprising declaration. Therefore, the cycle brings
together the ordinary and the astonishing, the expected and the unexpected.
This is the longest song in the cycle. Regarding form, it shares some
characteristics with “Visões” which is in binary form with alternation between fast and
slow sections and with recurrence of the introductory material in the middle and end.
“Cotidiano” is in binary form, with four subsections for each part. The subsections are
determined according to their musical material. Though highly sectional, the principal
sections maintain an approximate symmetry, typical of Miranda’s songs: forty-nine
102
measures in section A, and forty-two measures in section B. Calm sections are rather
short and the “obsessive” character dominates the piece (Table 10).
TABLE 10a. "Cotidiano,"form chart, section A

Section A
Measures 1-49
Sub-sections a b c d
1-10 23-36 37-44 45-49
11-22 (35-36: (43-44: “Calmo”
“Obsessivo” transition) transition) (calm)
(obsessive)
Musical material Whole-tone Pentatonic / Whole- Diatonic
Quartal tone / (Tonal)
harmony Diatonic
Poem section (lines) 1-2 3-6 7-10 11-14
Vocal phrase length in 2+2 6 (4+2) 4+4 3+3
measures 6 (2+4)
TABLE 10b. “Cotidiano,” form chart, section B

Section B
Measures 50-92
Sub-sections a' e f a''

50-59 74-80 81-83 84-92
60-73 “Reflexivo” quotation “Obsessivo”
“Obsessivo” (reflexive) of “Visões” (obsessive)
(obsessive)
Musical material Whole-tone Quartal Diatonic Whole-tone
hamony
Poem section (lines) 15-16 17-19
Vocal phrase length in 2+2 4+3+2 4+4 3+3
measures
“Cotidiano” also carries the poem’s meaning through the use of contemporary
compositional techniques. It is the most universalist of Miranda’s songs (as opposed to
nationalist) and one can see many international musical influences in this last song of
the cycle. From the Russian school, especially from Prokofiev, the composer uses an
ironic, sarcastic and highly rhythmic style. From French Impressionism one can see the
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preference for whole-tone and pentatonic scales. Finally, from the Second Viennese
School, one can find the use of free atonalism through highly symmetrical pitch-sets.
Although he uses post-tonal materials, especially whole-tone and pentatonic scales, this
song sounds quite different from “Segredo,” in which he had also used these musical
materials. It is now clear that this is a mature composer comfortable with his language.
The use of the whole-tone palette, pentatonic and diatonic scales, together with quartal
harmonies sounds organic and idiomatic for the composer.
Since each object demands the tools for its revelation, in this song tools other
than those provided by functional harmony are required. For this reason, Allen Forte’s
set-class theory (described in his book “The Structure of Atonal Music”)113 is used for a
better understanding of the musical organization of the song. Joseph N. Straus asserts
that
Composers of post-tonal music often use certain large sets of pitch material. By
drawing all or most of the smallest sets from a single large referential set, composers
can unify entire sections of music. By changing the large referential set, the composer
can create a sense of large-scale movement from one harmonic area to another. Many
large collections are available, but four in particular have attracted extensive
compositional and theoretical attention: the diatonic, octatonic, hexatonic and whole-
tone collections.114
Miranda mainly uses the quartal harmony of diatonic and whole-tone

collections in “Cotidiano.” At the beginning, the tetrachord 4-25 (a sub-set of the
whole-tone collection set-class 6-35) opens the song, exposing the first whole-tone
material (Ex. 53).

113
Allen Forte, The Structure of Atonal Music (New Haven, Yale University Press, 1973).
114
Joseph N. Straus, Introduction to Post-Tonal Theory, 3 ed. (Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson
Prentice Hall, 2005): 140.
104
EXAMPLE 53. “Cotidiano,” m. 1

The whole-tone collection is highly symmetrical for both transposition and
inversion. Such symmetry can be seen in the transposition of the whole-tone pentachord
5-33 (Ex. 54 and 55).
EXAMPLE 54. “Cotidiano,” mm. 10-15

Symmetry is indeed one of Miranda’s compositional characteristics. It can be

seen in the length of the phrases, the size of sections and the use of rather traditional
forms, although generally modified. In “Cotidiano,” measures 5-6 are examples of
105
horizontal and vertical symmetry. Both vertices use the set-class 4-18 (a diatonic triad
plus an additional semitone) as the basis for the musical gesture (Ex. 56).

Another feature of this song is the quartal harmony. It can be found in the
harmony of sections b and b' (Ex. 57 and 58) and in pentatonic sets (Ex. 59 and 60).
EXAMPLE 57. “Cotidiano,” mm. 26-28,

pentatonic set-class 4-23


106
One of Miranda’s favorite chords, the tritone-fourth, set-class 3-5 (016), is
present in the harmony and in the melody as an element of unification (Ex. 61-64).
EXAMPLE 61. “Cotidiano,” m. 9, set-class 3-5 EXAMPLE 62. “Cotidiano,” m. 34, set-class 3-5
EXAMPLE 63. “Cotidiano,” mm. 16-17, EXAMPLE 64. “Cotidiano,” mm. 29-32, set-class 3-5
set-class 3-5
As a song cycle, Três canções simples starts and ends with the same tonal
center, E (Dorian and minor). Although they contrast one another, there are common
musical and poetic elements unifying the cycle. “Visões” and “Cotidiano” have much
in common: they contain the same initial rhythmic pattern (Ex. 65), descending octave
gesture in r.h. (Ex. 66), and melodic sequence based in fourths (Ex. 67).
107

EXAMPLE 65a. Initial rhythmic pattern in “Visões” and “Cotidiano”

EXAMPLE 65b. “Visões,” mm. 3-4 EXAMPLE 65c. “Cotidiano,” mm. 16-17

EXAMPLE 66a. “Visões,” mm. 5-6 EXAMPLE 66b. “Cotidiano,” mm. 16-17

EXAMPLE 67a. “Visões,” mm. 28-30

EXAMPLE 67b. “Cotidiano,” mm. 38-40
Finally, Miranda further unifies his song cycle by quoting an excerpt from the
piano part of “Visões” at the end of “Cotidiano” (Ex. 68).
108

EXAMPLE 68. “Cotidiano,” mm. 81-83: piano part excerpt from the song “Visões”

The tonal section of “Cotidiano” (mm.45-49) recalls the popular and melodic
character of “Noite e dia.” Poetically, one can see the passage of time as a constant in
the cycle. It is present in the “endless march of days,” in the nostalgia and desire to “be
born again,” and in changes that occur when one is apart from a former friend. The
passage of time makes stronger the lack of, the longing for, and the absence of a
presence.
Knowing that Miranda is thinking about musical palettes, such as whole-tone,
chromatic and diatonic, provides tools for a different approach to the song. Instead of
trying to find dominants and other labels from functional harmony, the performers may
want to find other types of sound patterns and change the color, attack and pedaling
among them, according to and beyond the composer’s indications. In addition, it is
useful to recognize the logic behind the sequence of blocks of chords (as in m. 5-8),
which may help to prepare the hand position. Finally, the transposition of the musical
idea that employs the same symmetric relationship among the notes, as in mm. 11-15
and 16-20, demonstrates how unified the harmonic structure can be, providing a tool for
understanding links between music and text, as well as for memorization and cohesive
performance.
Another feature of this song is its rhythmic character, with strong accents and
syncopation. For this reason, special attention must be drawn to pedaling and
articulation. In general, Miranda writes very few pedal indications, leaving it to the
discretion of the pianist. He usually writes it only when he wants a special pedal effect,
109
such as in “Visões,” m. 31. This is why in “Cotidiano” there is no pedaling indication.
However, since the character of this song is very rhythmic, reminiscent of Prokofiev,
the pedal should be sparkling and not cloud the richness of the articulations. In the
slower (and usually tonal) sections, “Calmo” (mm. 45-49) and “Reflexivo” (mm. 74-
80), pedal can be used more generously. The same pedaling applies to the quotation of
“Visões” (mm. 81-83) and the end of section c (mm. 41-44) when the voice needs
sound support from the piano since it is in ff. This section is also a tonal transition to d.
The vocal style is parlato at the beginning and changes to legato in slower
sections. The singer must base the fast sections strongly on speech patterns and must
know how to “say” the text with the contour of spoken Portuguese so it can sound as
natural as possible. In addition, another new effect Miranda adds to this song is the
glissando for the voice and piano. In the piano, it gives a playful and sarcastic quality.
In the voice it lends two kinds of emotions: nervousness in mm. 23-26, and a lamenting
and weeping tone in mm. 75-76 and 78-79. The singer may have difficulty finding a
logical place to breathe in mm. 37-43. The sixteenth notes are constant and the
deliverance of text at that speed makes this section unique. There are at least two
options for breathing: m. 40, after the eighth note, and m.41, after the high G. The latter
seems more musical since it is the end of the melodic sequence. Either way, the singer
has to be comfortable given that it depends on technical skills and personal preference.
Miranda gives an ironic, humorous and obsessive quality to the song. If we
understand the indication “obsessive” at the beginning as a character mark, we can
imagine that the speaker, during the introduction, is looking at his neighbor, perhaps
behind the curtains, observing his habits, exercising his curiosity toward his now ex-
friend. Throughout the introduction the singer may have this image in mind, and since
the music begins softly and crescendos until reaching ff in m.10, the singer can portray
the suddenness of being caught unexpectedly with the sudden drop of dynamic level
(surprise effect). Then, the speaker pulls himself together and starts talking to this
former friend: “Good morning, how are you…” This idea can give the singer a sub-text
during the introduction and give a humorous yet obsessive beginning to the song. The
speaker seems to be nervous and starts to talk without much control. He becomes
overly excited, as in mm. 24 at the high F (Has your beard grown?”), or m. 32, on the
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high F-sharp (“Are you done with your diet?”). Rapidly, the speaker comes back to
“normal,” apologizing for himself: “Or am I wrong?” (mm. 28-29), “Have you quit
gymnastics?” (mm.33-34). In the slower section, the persona seems to be calmer, but
the singer may add a light touch of irritation, using the rallentando, in the verse “just to
oppose me” (mm. 49-50). In section B (mm. 50-92), it seems the friend is going away
(piano interlude) and the speaker begins to reflect on the locked door, just like his
friend’s heart. The piano closes with the same “obsessive” character with which it
began. Miranda then adds his final joke: after an ascending glissando in ff, he ends the
song with an unexpected mp in staccato sixteenth notes, as if saying, “c’est la vie.”
Regarding prosody, Miranda sets the text in very close relation to natural
speech. However, there are three phrases that may sound uncomfortable for the singer
and audience: mm. 38, 40 and 80. In 38 and 40, the stress on the word “ve-lho” (old) is
displaced to “ve-lho,” and “an-dou” is displaced to “an-dou.” Seeing that these two
instances are results of the melodic sequence of fourths, it is very difficult to imagine
any alternative other than simply attempting to stress it properly. In m. 80, an
acceptable stress would be, “Que nem no teu co-ra-ção.” In the song, the rhythm
makes it sound like “Que nem no teu co-ra-ção,” displacing the word stresses. Here the
singer should give the proper inflection of the sentence, which should not be difficult
because of a slower tempo in the music coupled with a rallentando.
Desenho leve” (Light Drawing)
Datasheeet
Date: April 2003
Dedication/Commission: Dedicated to Inácio Nonno. Comissioned by the Centro
Cultural Banco do Brasil – CCBB (Cultural Center of Bank of Brazil). Premiere at the
CCBB at Rio de Janeiro, in May 2003, by Inácio Nonno
Poet: Cecília de Meireles (1901-1964)
Tempo: Leve e fluente ♪ = 84; Apaixonadamente ♪ = 76; Leve e fluente ♪ = 84; Suave
♪ = 72; Apaixonadamente ♪ = 76; Leve e fluente ♪ = 84; Muito suave ♪ = 60; Leve e
111
fluente ♪ = 84
Meter: 4/8
Key: D Dorian – D minor (tonal centers)
Vocal range: B2-F4
Timing: 4 mins
Recordings: none
Additional information: none

[deˈze.ɲʊ ˈlɛ.vɪ]
Desenho Leve
drawing light
[seˈsi.ljɐ mejˈɾɛ.lɪs]
Cecília Meireles
[ˈvi.ɐ.sɪ moˈxe.ɾwaˈmor]
1. Via-se morrer o amor

it could be seen to die the love
[ʤi ˈbɾa.sʊ.zaˈbɛr.tʊs]
2. de braços abertos.
with arms open
112
[ˈu.ma esˈpu.maˈzu:wɐ̃ˈda.vɐ]
3. Uma espuma azul andava

a foam blue walked
[na.zaˈɾe.jas deˈzɛr.tɐs]
4. nas areias desertas.

in the sands desert
[nuz ˈga.ʎʊs ˈfɾe.skʊs daˈzar.vo.ɾɪs]
5. Nos galhos frescos das árvores,

in the branches fresh of the trees
[xe.se.ʧɪˈme.ʧɪ korˈta.dɐs]
6. recentemente cortadas,
recently cut
[meˈni.nas ˈto.daz ʤi ˈbɾɐ̃.kʊ]
7. meninas todas de branco

girls all in white
[si ba.lɐ̃ˈsa.vɐ̃ːʊ]
8. se balançavam.
themselves swung
[u ˈɛ.kʊ parˈʧi.aʊ baˈɾa.ʎʊ]
9. O eco partia o baralho

the echo cut the deck of cards
113
[ʤi ˈsu.ɐs xiˈza.dɐs]
10. de suas risadas.

of their laughter

[ʤi ˈmɐ̃ːʊ.zis.teˈʤi.dɐs]
12. de mãos estendidas.

with hands outstretched
[ˈu.mɐ ˈlu.a sẽːɪ meˈmɔ.ɾjɐ]
13. Uma lua sem memória

a moon without memory
[ˈpe.lɐˈza.gwɐs tɾɐ̃s.paˈɾe.ʧɪs]
14. pelas águas transparentes

through waters transparent
[a.xaˈsta.vɐ sɛ:ʊs vesˈʧi.dʊs]
15. arrastava seus vestidos.

dragged its dresses

114
[ʤi so.lɪˈdõ:ɪs serˈka.dʊ]
17. de solidões cercado.

of loneliness surrounded
[ˈvi.ɐ.si:i ˈʧi.ɲɐ.sɪ ˈpe.nɐ]
18. Via-se e tinha-se pena

it could be seen and there was pity
[sẽːɪ si poˈder faˈzer ˈna.dɐ]
19. sem se poder fazer nada.

without being able to do anything
[ˈjɛ.ɾu.mɐ ˈtar.ʤɪ ʤi ˈlu.ɐ]
20. E era uma tarde de lua,

and it was an evening with moon
[cõ ˈve.tʊ ˈpe.la.ziˈstɾe.lɐ.zi.skeˈsi.dɐs]
21. com vento pelas estrelas esquecidas.

with wind through stars forgotten
[ja:ʊ ˈlõ.ʒɪ ˈxi.ɐ̃:ʊ.sɪ as kɾiˈɐ̃.sɐs]
22. E ao longe riam-se as crianças:

and from afar laughed the children
[nu pɾiˈsi.pjʊ du ˈmu.dʊ]
23. no príncipio do mundo,

at the beginning of the world
115
[nu ˈxej.nʊ da iˈfɐ̃.sjɐ]
24. no reino da infância.

in the kingdom of the childhood
1. Love could be seen dying

2. with open arms.
3. A blue foam walked

4. in desert sands.
5. In the fresh branches of trees,
6. newly cut,
7. girls all in white
8. swung.
9. The echo cut the deck (of cards)
10. of their laughter.

12. with outstretched hands.
13. A moon without memory

14. through clear waters
15. dragged its dresses.

17. surrounded by loneliness.
18. It could be seen and there was pity
19. without being able to do anything.
20. And it was a moonlit evening,

21. wind blowing through forgotten stars.
116
22. From afar children laughed:
23. at the beginning of the world,
24. in the kingdom of childhood.
Poetry and Music115

“Desenho leve” is Miranda’s most recent song for voice and piano. Once again,
he sets a poem by Cecília Meireles, a Brazilian poet with a sophisticated, delicate, and
kinesthetic style.
The poem conveys three atmospheres or images. The first carries a
personification of love. A poetic progression makes explicit the death of the feeling:
love starts with open arms (lines 1-2); love is seen with outstretched hands (lines 11-
12); then surrounded by solitude (lines 16-17); and finally, love could be seen, and
“there was pity,” but nobody could do anything (lines 18-19). This poetic progression is
built by a large gesture that shrinks due to inertia: open arms – outstretched hands –
solitude – nothing. The second ambiance evokes solitude. It depicts natural elements
filled with a touch of loneliness: desert sands (line 4), a moon without memory
dragging its dresses through clear waters (lines 13-15), and the wind blowing through
forgotten stars (lines 21-22). The third image recalls childhood, youthful years and
regeneration—just the opposite of the first character. It brings images of “fresh
branches of trees / newly cut” (lines 5-6), girls all in white swinging and laughing (lines
7-10), and a “kingdom of childhood” (lines 24-25).
The speaker seems to tell the audience a story from another time, since the
whole poem is in the past tense. The narrator is not a figure in these events, but an
observer. The poem talks about love, but it is not a love poem. In Portuguese grammar,
there are several types of subjects besides the simple subject, the agent in the sentence.
One kind is the undetermined subject, in that the subject of the sentence is not
specifically defined. This is the case in the refrain: “Via-se morrer o amor.” It seems
the narrator was there, that he/she has seen love dying, girls laughing, he/she felt the
moonlit afternoon and heard children from afar. All these descriptions evoke a sense of

115
The facsimile of the manuscript of “Desenho leve” is found on pages 169-178.
117
nostalgia, as if the narrator is recalling something unpleasant (the death of love) but at
the same time recalling the naïveté and innocence of the surroundings, i.e., children
laughing and playing. It is the opposition of death/life, beginning/end, unreal/real and
night/day. At the same time love gradually dies in the poem, the sound of children
seems to be fading in the passage of time as well.
The composer sets this highly symbolic and image-rich poem by Meireles in a
combination of binary and rondo forms, resulting in a hybrid work. There are two big
sections, each comprised of three musical parts, A, B and C. The three parts circle
amongst themselves, generating the following formal design: ABA’CB’A”C’ A”’. Such
a form can be understood as a two-part song with Rondo elements, in which the first
and second half seem to be somewhat inversely mirrored (Table 11).
TABLE 11. “Desenho leve”

Section 1 2
Measure 1-44 45-95
Part ABA'C B''A''C'A'''
Three elements corroborate the Rondo form: 1) the song is clearly sectional,
having the presentation of a refrain and its restatement (A) alternating with episodes (B
and C); 2) the presence of at least two episodes; and 3) the return of the refrain (A) at
the end, in this case fused with a coda. Clearly this is not a classical idea of a
symmetrical rondo such as ABACA, ABACADA or even ABACAB'A. As a twentieth-
century composer, Miranda uses this traditional form with freedom, taking structural
liberties and harmonic independence from the traditional scheme of the form.
Although all parts begin and end in the same tonal center of D, each one has its
own harmonic and melodic characteristics (Table 12).
118
TABLE 12. "Desenho leve," diferences between parts A, B and C
Part (Measure) Melody Harmony Poetic
content
A Sixteenth notes in D Dorian / D
(1-9; 24-27[A’]; 66- open 5th and 4th. minor
68[A”]; 87-92 [A”’])
B Stepwise with D minor; Love dying
(10-23; 46-57[B’]; descending 5th leap; sequence and nature
58-65 [B”]) melodic sequence over a circle expressing
of 5ths solitude
C Repeated notes; D Dorian / Childhood,
(28-45; 69-86[C’]) phrases within a non- innocence
small range functional
tonality /
D minor
The introduction, which for this song will be called the “refrain,” seeds
important melodic elements for the whole song: the intervals of the fifth and fourth, the
repetition of the notes A-B as a center of the ostinato (Ex. 69), and the rhythmic
augmentation of the ostinato produced by notes A-E-B in the left hand (Ex. 70).
EXAMPLE 69. “Desenho leve,” mm. 1-2

119
In the same way as in “Soneto da Separação,” the harmony has a circular
character since all the sections start and end in a center of D, either minor or Dorian.
Section B has a stepwise contour ending in a descending leap of a fifth. The melodic
outline also has a descending motion starting in m. 13 (notes E, D, C, B-flat, A), with
the circle of fifths guiding the harmonic progression (Ex. 71).
Section C uses the interval of a second—central notes in the refrain—as phrase

endings and as guides for the descending movement of the melody (Ex. 72).
120

Especially important is section B''. The harmonic progression circles through
fifths as in B and B' and then borrows the interval of a second as a phrase ending from
sections C and A. Moreover, at the end of the poetic progression (line 19, m. 63) the
melody and rhythm draw a singular contour with intervals of diminished fifth,
diminished fourth, and rhythmic syncopations. These elements underscore the
particular event of the death of love (Ex. 73).
Even though nostalgia is not explicit in the poem (it is more a feeling evoked
than exposed), Miranda skillfully finds this thread that weaves throughout the poem.
Nostalgia is depicted and conveyed in the refrain by the piano only. Leon Stein points
out that in a rondo, “The melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic character of the theme
establishes not only its individuality but is also a clue to the character of a movement or
a composition. It is chosen or constructed not only for its own inherent character but
121
also on the basis of its potentiality for further utilization and development.”116 The
refrain of “Desenho leve,” besides containing the fifths used in section B and the
seconds used in section C, is indeed a clue to the character, the longing atmosphere.
One could surmise that at some point, the sixteenth-note ostinato might have brought to
the composer’s memory the remembrance of Brazilian folksong, a children’s melody
usually sung as a lullaby. This song surely recalls childhood for any Brazilian.
The song “Se esta rua fosse minha” (If this street were mine) represents at once
infancy, the impossibility of love and the sad character of the passage of time, since it
permeates Brazilian people’s memory as a sweet reminiscence of youthful years
(Ex. 74). The song is quoted at the end of section C’, just before the last return of the
refrain (Ex. 75).
EXAMPLE 74. “Se esta rua fosse minha,” Brazilian folksong117

116
Leon Stein, Strucure and Style: The Study and Analysis of Musical Forms (Evanston, IL: Summy-
Birchard Company, 1962): 85.
117
This is the main melodic line. Small melodic variations can be found in different regions of the
country. English translation: “1. If this street, if this street were mine / I would demand, I would demand /
to be tiled / With sparkling, with sparkling small rocks / Only for my, for my love to pass. / 2. This street,
This street has a forest / Which is called, which is called loneliness / There, there, an angel lives / Who
stole, who stole my heart. / 3. If I stole, if I stole your heart / You stole, you stole mine as well / If I stole,
if I stole your heart / It is because, it is because I care about you.”
122
EXAMPLE 75. “Desenho leve,” mm. 82-85, paraphrase of “Se esta rua fosse minha”

The quotation connects the image of “kingdom of childhood” with the nostalgic
ambiance of the refrain, making the final correlation between both. The folksong is a
modinha, and carries its typical theme, romantic love. The poem depicts lovers who for
some reason are not together. The first lover talks about solitude, and in the last stanza
the other one explains why he/she stole her/his heart. Although rhythmically modified,
it is clearly recognizable. Miranda unites both songs creating a unique and special
closure for “Desenho leve.”
Some questions might arise when a pianist sees this song: “How do I make my
solos interesting?” “What do my piano solos have to do with singer’s part?” “I know
there is a folksong quotation at the end, but how could I play it differently from the rest
of the song?” Likewise, the singer may feel a lack of control in the song since he/she is
not singing the whole time. Questions might arise as well: “What should I do while the
piano is playing solo?” “What should I think while I am not singing?” “How do I keep
the audience connected to the poem since I am just standing there, not singing?” Such
doubts, from both performers, are fair and pertinent. The answers to all these
performance questions will depend on the technical level, musical maturity and
creativity of both performers. However, there are some possible solutions to these and
other issues that will give performers ideas and can feed creativity.
Of great importance is varying the refrain. Assuming that both performers agree
that it conveys nostalgia, the refrain may have a clear but simultaneously tender
character. For this reason, the refrain can be divided into two parts: mm. 1-6, the non-
stop sixteenth-note ostinato in D Dorian, and mm. 7-10, the cadential segment, already
in D minor (Ex. 76).
123

In the opening (A), this sonority might be achieved by a sharp attack and a
crescendo and decrescendo every four bars, the sixteenth-note ostinato suggesting the
passage of time and reflecting ideas presented in the poem. In mm. 3-4, in the left hand
the pianist may use a fuller sound with bell-like quality (“death-bells”) since they might
evoke the feeling of love dying, like anticipating the poetic progression arms-hands-
loneliness-inertia. In the cadential segment, is important to aim for the authentic
cadence in m. 9 and execute the rallentando and diminuendo only in m. 10, preparing
the voice entrance. In A', the second appearance of this theme (mm. 24-27), there are
no death-bells, only the passage of time and nostalgia and the cadential segment.
Observe that both are condensed into two bars each. This is a transitional section and
this time there are two rallentando marks, in m. 26 and in m. 27. This transition leads to
the first appearance of children in the poem. Using the staccatos in mm. 26 and 27 b.3-4
will lighten up the character, without shortening the duration of the eighth notes too
much. The third manifestation occurs in mm. 66-69 (A''), once again without the death-
bells and as a transitional passage. There is an important variation however: the
appearance of a G-major chord in the cadential segment (m. 68). If the pianist holds
slightly the first note of this chord and plays it with a crystal-clear sound, evoking
innocence, he/she can achieve a special and whimsical moment in the song. Its last
occurrence, A''' (mm. 87-95), contains the nostalgia, the passage of time, and the
death-bells, but no cadential segment. The pianist can create a dream-like atmosphere
with a soft dynamic level (mp), without a crescendo and decrescendo as intense as in
the opening, fading away until reaching the Etéreo (ethereal). In this final extension of
A (mm. 93-95), the death-bells are present, although without the fifths and fourths, and
provide subtlety to the final statement.
124
Before A''', a magical moment occurs in the piano at the quotation of the
children’s song “Se essa rua fosse minha.” In order to prepare this entrance, the pianist
could move slightly ahead in mm. 79-80 (reminiscent of the cadential segment) and
start holding the tempo on the first two beats of m. 81 in order to highlight the entrance
of the folksong. The pianist may sing mentally the lyrics of the folksong while playing
(mm. 82-84) and experiment with the clear sound and cantabile line, aiming for the
creation of an ambiance detached from the rest of the song, as if the persona were now
in another dimension, absorbed in his/her own memories. Measure 85 brings a well-
known style, hitherto not used in the song, the bossa nova, made clear by the repetition
of the same note in the upper voice along with the descending chromatic line in the
bass.118 It is as if the persona is passing through childhood (folksong), youthful years
(bossa nova) until reaching the nostalgic age (ostinato). The same as the pianist, the
singer might (should) think and follow mentally each melody and small section, always
aware of its significance.
The vocal style changes from part B to part C. In B, the melody is much more
cantabile, and the singer can actually show the melodic contour by singing more legato.
On the other hand, part C requires a more parlato/recitative style because of the
repeated notes. This part evokes the speech quality of the language. The persona seems
to be talking to himself/herself, remembering past events. With this idea in mind, the
singer must maintain this same character during the piano part in mm. 39-42 (arrival at
tonic). Since mm. 42-45 is the cadential segment, the singer might gradually change his
inner feeling from childhood (C) to love-death (B').
Dramatically, the singer can connect his line and the piano’s, keeping the
audience attention simply by being aware that the piano line is not disconnected from
the musical content. The pianist follows the sequential pattern started by the voice and,
if the singer repeats mentally the verses while the pianist is playing, the focus will be on
the musical sequence. Thereby, the audience will probably do the same. Knowing
where the sequence starts and where it ends (mm. 14-21 and 49-57), as well as the

118
Antônio Carlos Jobim uses this bossa nova cliché in songs including “Desafinado” (Out of tune),
“Águas de março” (Waters of March), and “Passarim” (Little Bird).
125
melodic answers the piano provides for the vocal line (mm. 34-37, 38-39119, 40-42, and
77-78), may facilitate this aspect of the performance.
Regarding the prosody, the main problem in this song is the placement of the
“se” in mm. 11, 46, 58 and 63. The singer must be especially careful when singing the
refrain line, “Via-se morrer o amor” each time it appears. In this sentence, this particle
“se” carries neither morphological nor syntactic value, but is a mark of the
undetermined subject. Because of this, it should not be stressed. In fact, “via-se”[viaˈsi]
has no meaning in Portuguese. The stress should be placed on, and even elongated in
the syllable “vi.”

119
In m. 38, l.h, instead of , read .
126
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION

Following the tradition of Brazilian art song started by Heitor Villa-Lobos and
pursued by Francisco Mignone and Mozart Camargo Guarnieri (among others),
Ronaldo Miranda also demonstrates mastery in the genre. He has become one of the
leading figures in contemporary Brazilian music. His output includes compositions for
piano (solo, piano four-hands and duo pianos), instrumental solo (flute, cello,
harpsichord, guitar and, clarinet), chamber ensemble, and orchestra. Miranda’s interest
in vocal music spawned numerous choral works and two operas, in addition to eight
songs for voice and piano and three pieces for voice with other instrumentation. The
present research focused on the eight songs for voice and piano by the composer. The
goal was to study these songs in order to provide a performance guide for the pianist
and the singer, with emphasis on the dramatic role of the performers, and to promote
Brazilian art song by facilitating access to the Portuguese language through IPA
(International Phonetic Alphabet) transcriptions.
This paper has presented an overview of Brazilian classical and popular song in
order to contextualize Ronaldo Miranda’s art songs as well as general guidelines for
Brazilian Portuguese lyric diction as an aid for non-native speaking performers.
Musical analysis and performance suggestions follow the phonetic transcriptions,
idiomatic translations and explanations about the poems and poets.
Ronaldo Miranda himself divides his style into four periods: the first, before
1977, with the use of whole-tone scale, modalism and parallel fourths; the second, after
1977, applying free atonal, tritone fourth chords, and thicker textures; the third period is
determined by the use of previous compositional devices exposing however a mature
language; and, the fourth, with the consolidation of eclecticism, “Fluctuating from one
piece to another, and even in the same piece, atonal, neotonal, and tonal are terms for
which Miranda no longer concerns himself in his compositions.”120

120
Language Towards Musical Eclecticism (DMA treatise, Universiy of Arizona, 2002): 91-95.
127
Since Miranda’s songs for voice and piano span a range of three decades and
they are basically a decade apart, the groupings of them represent three phases of his
compositional journey. In the first, which can be called youthful years (as a student),
Miranda composed “Cantares,” “Soneto da separação,” “Retrato,” all in 1969, and
“Segredo,” in 1973. The song cycle Três canções simples (1980-84) belongs to a
second period, exposing a mature language and employing a variety of musical
languages (popular, free atonal, modalism and tonalism). His most recent song,
“Desenho leve” (2003), exemplifies his eclectic style and freedom in the use of any
material, as long it seems appropriate to his intentions.
There are some musical elements that show the growth of Miranda as a
composer such as the increase of independence of the piano part and more precise and
numerous indications of musical character (mood) and dynamics. Additionally, there
are many recurrent elements in these eight songs that may be considered as Miranda’s
compositional characteristics in art song:
• Use of piano introduction, interlude and postlude
• Crossing of hands in the piano
• No indication of pedal unless for special effect
• Dynamic and agogic marks revealing the musical form particularly at the
beginning and end of poetic/or musical sections
• Clear dynamic indications for voice and piano, ensuring good balance
between performers
• Syllabic setting
• Anacrustic setting of the text in the vocal line following the natural tendency
of spoken Portuguese
• Symmetry in phrases and sections length
• Undulating melodic lines
• Preference for middle-range in the voice
• Preference for lyric poems, that means, predominance of poem in the first
person
• Use of contemporary themes and poets
• Overall prominence of musical ideas over text setting
128
• Preference for minor keys
• No indication of key signatures (exception are two erlier songs, “Cantares”
and “Soneto da separação”)
• Never abandoning a key center even in partially atonal songs (“Segredo”
and “Cotidiano)
• Influence of Brazilian popular music: sinuous and lyric melodies from
modinha, harmony from bossa nova and contrapuntal lines from seresta and
choro
• Expansion or modification of traditional forms, such as strophic, binary and
rondo
As Vitor Duarte points out, Miranda is not concerned “ . . . with the polemic
between nationalism and other ideologies,”121 although the “Brazilian soul” is more than
present in his songs for voice and piano. His songs exemplify the artistic and aesthetic
concept of the end of the twentieth century: a hybrid musical language that can mix
serious, popular and folk music.
As a recommendation for other research on Ronaldo Miranda’s vocal repertoire,
I would like to suggest the investigation of his compositional style in choral works, the
construction of characters in his two operas Dom Casmurro and A Tempestade, and
particularly the relation between analysis and performance in his three compositions for
voice with other instrumentation: Unterwegs, three lieder on poems by Hermann Hesse
for voice and orchestra; “Trajetória” [Trajectory] for soprano, flute, clarinet, piano,
violoncello and percussion; and “Cal Vilma” [Cal Vilma] for piano, cello and voice.
The songs for voice and piano by Ronaldo Miranda are full of beauty, variety
and deep poetical content. Inexperienced as well as professional singers can perform
these songs, as they offer different levels of musical and technical difficulty. They can
be the starting point to investigate and perform Brazilian art song since they carry
important elements from Brazilian classical and popular music traditions. Even though
there are not many Brazilian vocal coaches in the United States, these songs can serve

121
Language Towards Musical Eclecticism, Doctoral Treatise (DMA treatise, Universiy of Arizona, 2002):
101.
129
as an introduction to the language, in addition to being important to the comprehensive
language skills of a singer. Surely, these pieces offer to artists of any level a window to
a new culture with which they might not be familiar, providing an unusual musical and
literary experience.
130
APPENDIX A
BRAZILIAN LYRIC PORTUGUESE PHONETIC CHART
FOR REFERENCE
131
IPA Symbol Portuguese IPA Approximate English or
Example Transcription other Language
Equivalent
Plosive Consonants
(In Brazilian Portuguese, as well as in Italian, these plosive consonants must be un-
aspirated)
[b] bela (beautiful) [ˈbɛ.lɐ] ball, bell
[p] pato (duck) [ˈpa.tʊ] palace, pen
[d] dúvida (doubt) [ˈdu.vi.dɐ] danger, dollar
[t] tudo (everything) [ˈtu.dʊ] tale, tell, dito (Italian)
[g] garota (girl) [gaˈro.tɐ] go, gallon, figura (It.)
[k] caro (expensive, dear) [ˈka.rʊ] call, cure, encore

(French)
Fricative Consonants
[v] vir (to come) [vir] vine, vow, Welt (German)
[f] futuro (future) [fuˈtu.rʊ] favor, final, enfant (Fr.)
[∫] chama (flame) [ʃɐ̃.mɐ] shine, chanson (Fr.),
schnell (Ger.), lascia (It.)
[z] mesa (table) [ˈme.zɐ] zebra, così (It.)
[s] saúde (health) [saˈu.ʤɪ] sale, son, sempre (It.)
[ʎ] espelho (mirror) [esˈpe.ʎʊ] scallion, gli (It.)
[ʒ] anjo (angel) [ˈɐ̃.ʒʊ] leisure, measure, pigeon

(Fr.)
[x] recato (modesty) [xeˈka.tʊ] hot, house, hoch (Ger.)
132
IPA Symbol Portuguese IPA Approximate English
Example Transcription and / or other Language
Equivalent
Lateral Consonant
[l] lua (moon) [lu.ɐ] late, long, ballet (Fr.)
Vibrant Consonants
flipped [ɾ] aurora (sunrise) [aːʊˈɾɔ.ɾɐ] body (American), terrible
(Fr.), aurore (It.)
trill [r] barco (boat) [ˈbar.kʊ] rapide (Fr.), hart (Ger.)
Nasal Consonants
[m] amor (love) [aˈmor] name, Mond (Ger.)
[n] nada (nothing) [ˈna.dɐ] manner, neige (Fr.)
[ɲ] suponha (supose) [suˈpo.ɲɐ] onion, gnocco (It.)
Affricative Consonants
[ʤ] dia (day) [ˈʤiːɐ] jump, judge, giusto (It.)
[t∫] distante (distant) [ʤɪsˈtɐ̃.ʧɪ] champion, cielo (It.)
Portuguese Vowels
[i] imigrante (immigrant) [i.miˈgɾɐ̃.ʧɪ] seek, heat, finir (Fr.)
[ɪ] árvore (tree) [ˈar.vo.rɪ] six, bit, ist (Ger.)
[e] ternura (tenderness) [terˈnu.ɾɐ] way, maid, nome (It.)
[ɛ] velho (old) [ˈvɛ.ʎʊ] pet, gelida (It.), des (Fr.)
[a] galhos (branches) [ˈga.ʎʊs] car (British), brighter,

Paris (Fr.), cara (It.)
133
Example Transcription and/or other Language
Equivalent
[ɐ] cerrada (closed) [seˈxa.dɐ] father
[ɔ] olhos (eyes) [ˈɔ.ʎʊs] fought, kommen (Ger.),

dormire (It.)
[o] fogo (fire) [ˈfo.gʊ] obey, mot (Fr.),
[ʊ] grito (scream) [ˈgɾi.tʊ] book, foot, Buch (Gr.)
[u] bruma (mist) [ˈbɾu.ma] gloom, boom, musica

(It.)
Glides or Semi Vowels
[j] lábio (lip) [ˈla.bjʊ] yet, yearning, miei (It.)
[w] quando (when) [kwɐ.dʊ] quick, wet, qui (Italian)
Nasal Vowels
[ĩ] assim (like this) [aˈsĩ] sing (without the silent g
of the [ŋ])
[ẽ] vento (wind) [ˈve.tʊ] bend
[ɐ̃] branco (white) [ˈbɾɐ̃.kʊ] run (appr.);

un (Fr.)
[õ] contente (happy) [kõˈte.ʧɪ]
[u] um (one, a) [u]
Diphthongs
[aːɪ] debaixo (under) [deˈbaːɪ.ʃʊ] buy, high, mai (Italian)
[aˈi] (hiatus) saída (exit) [saˈi.dɐ] Aïda
[aːʊ] calmo (calm) [ˈkaːʊ.mʊ] now, house

ao (to the) [aːʊ]
134
Equivalent
[aˈu] (hiatus) saúda (he greets) [saˈu.da] paura (It.)
[eːɪ] beijada (kissed) [beːɪˈʒa.dɐ] bay
[eˈi] (hiatus) veículo (vehicle) [veˈi.ku.lʊ]
[ɛːɪ] anéis (rings) [aˈnɛːɪs] lei (Italian)
[eːʊ] eu (I) [eːʊ]
[ɛːʊ] céu (sky) [sɛːʊ] help

carrosel (carousel) [ka.xoˈsɛːʊ]
[iːɐ] dia (day) [ˈʤiːɐ]
[iˈa] (hiatus) cadeado (lock) [ka.ʤiˈa.dʊ] Lucia (It.), magia (It.)
[iːʊ] viu (saw) [viːʊ] few

Brasil (Brazil) [braˈziːʊ]
[oːɪ] noite (night) [ˈnoːɪ.ʧɪ] ohimè (It.), voi (It.)
[oˈi] (hiatus) egoísmo (selfishness) [e.goˈiz.mʊ] gioire (It.)
[oːʊ] outros (other) [ˈoːʊ.trʊs] no, cold
[ɔːɪ] anzóis (hooks) [ɐˈzɔːɪs] boy, toy, Doyster
[ɔːʊ] sol (sun) [sɔːʊ]
[uːɐ] lua (moon) [luːɐ]

sua (yours) [suːɐ]
[uˈa] (hiatus) suado (sweat) [suˈa.dʊ]
[wa] qualquer (any) [kwaːʊˈkɛr] why (without final

diphthong), voix (Fr.)
135
Equivalent
Nasal Diphthongs
[ɐ̃ːɪ] mãe (mother) [mɐ̃ːɪ]
[ɐ̃ːʊ] não (no) [nɐ̃ːʊ]
andaram (walked)
[ɐ̃ˈda.rɐ̃ːʊ]
[eːɪ] nem (neither) [neːɪ]
[õːɪ] corações (hearts) [ko.raˈsõːɪs]
[õːʊ] bom (good) [bõːʊ]
136
APPENDIX B
COPYRIGHT PERMISSION LETTER
137
138
APPENDIX C
MUSICAL SCORES
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
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Online Resources:
Chris Baldick. “Anaphora” The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms.

http://www.oxfordreference.com.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main
&entry=t56.e54 (Acessed August 31, 2009).
Chris Baldick. “Paronomasia.” The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms

Gerard Béhague. “Bossa nova.” Grove Music Online

http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/subscriber/article/grove/music/03
663 (Accessed September 15, 2009).

Gerard Béhague. “Choro.” Grove Music Online
http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/subscriber/article/grove/music/05
679 (Accessed September 15, 2009).

Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Carlos Drummond de Andrade.”
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/172101/Carlos-Drummond-de-Andrade
(accessed August 18, 2009).

Sylvia Chalker and Edmund Weiner. “Paronym.” The Oxford Dictionary of English
Grammar.
Walter Castelli Junior. “Modernismo e idiossincrasia na poesia de Carlos Drummond

de Andrade .” www.unicamp.br. April 2002.
http://www.unicamp.br/iel/site/alunos/publicacoes/textos/m00010.htm (Accessed
October 21, 2009).

Musical Scores:
Miranda, Ronaldo. 1969/1980. Cantares. Score. Biblioteca Nacional. Rio de Janeiro.
____. 1969. Retrato. Manuscript. Biblioteca Nacional. Rio de Janeiro.
____. 1969. Soneto da Separação. Manuscript. Biblioteca Nacional. Rio de Janeiro.
____. 1973. Segredo. São Paulo: Universidade de São Paulo, Escola de Comunicações
e Artes, Serviço de difusão de partituras.
____. 1980/1984. Visões. Manuscript. Biblioteca Nacional. Rio de Janeiro.
____. 1980/1984. Noite e dia. Manuscript. Biblioteca Nacional. Rio de Janeiro.
184
____. 1980/1984. Cotidiano. Manuscript. Biblioteca Nacional. Rio de Janeiro.
____. 2003. Desenho leve. Manuscript. Biblioteca Nacional. Rio de Janeiro.
185
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Originally from Brasília, Brazil, Gisele Pires Mota started her musical training
at the age of six with Ms. Dejanira Rossi. She continued her training with Professor
Elza Kazuko at University of Brasilia, where she received her Bachelor’s degree in
Music and Art Education in 1999. She was awarded a Master of Music degree in Piano
Performance from the University of Goiás in 2005 under the musical and academic
supervision of Dr. Lúcia Barrenechea. In 2006, she came to the United States as a
scholarship student at The Florida State University College of Music where she was
awarded Graduate Assistantships in Accompanying and Opera.
She joined the faculty of the School of Music of Brasília as a piano teacher and
accompanist in 2000, and was granted a leave of absence in order to pursue the doctoral
degree. A multi-talented musician, Dr. Pires Mota also served as choral conductor,
vocal and instrumental arranger, and composer. She has had extensive performance
experience as a soloist and collaborative artist, including recitals with singers and
intrumentalists, chamber ensembles, baroque ensembles (as harpsichordist), and opera
productions in the United States and Brazil.
Dr. Pires Mota’s deep interest in Brazilian art song resulted in a Master’s
dissertation on Francisco Mignone’s “Quatro Líricas” on poems by Manuel Bandeira,
and the present dissertation on Ronaldo Miranda’s songs for voice and piano. Her
academic approach to these songs brings an important contribution to the field in that it
connects musical analysis and performance in a balanced manner. She has participated
in important music conferences and seminars, and has had papers published both in
journals and in the book, “Palavra Cantada: Ensaios sobre Poesia, Música e Voz”
(Lyric Voice: Essays on Poetry, Music and Voice), released in 2008. Under the
direction of Dr. Carolyn Bridger, she received the Doctor of Music in Piano
Performance: Chamber Music and Accompanying in 2010 at The Florida State
University.
Dr. Pires Mota lives in Brasília with her husband and has resumed her
professional work at the School of Music of Brasília as the head of the Accompanying
department.
186

Mota G Treatise 2009

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THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

THE SONGS FOR VOICE AND PIANO BY RONALDO MIRANDA:

MUSIC, POETRY, PERFORMANCE, AND PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION

GISELE PIRES DE OLIVEIRA MOTA

A Treatise submitted to the

List of Tables ............................................................................................. v

1. Chapter One: Introduction ...................................................................... 1

2. Chapter Two: Overview of Brazilian Art Song During the Twentieth

3. Chapter Three: General Rules for Brazilian Portuguese Lyric Diction . 13

5. Chapter Five: Conclusion ....................................................................... 127

APPENDICES ............................................................................................ 131

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................... 179

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ..................................................................... 186

Table 1: “Cantares,” form chart .............................................................................. 22

Table 2: “Retrato,” form chart ................................................................................ 33

Table 3: “Soneto da separação,” form chart ........................................................... 47

Table 6: “Segredo” ................................................................................................. 63

Table 7: “Segredo,” form chart............................................................................... 64

Table 8a: “Visões,” form chart section A ............................................................... 79

Table 8b: “Visões,” form chart section B ............................................................... 79

Table 9: “Noite e dia,” form chart ......................................................................... 92

Table 10a: “Cotidiano,” form chart section A ........................................................ 103

Table 10b: “Cotidiano,” form chart section B ........................................................ 103

Table 11: “Desenho leve,” form chart .................................................................... 118

Example 1: “Cantares,” mm. 1-3 ............................................................................ 23

Example 2: “Cantares,” mm. 4-7 ............................................................................ 23

Example 3a: “Cantares,” mm. 12-13 ...................................................................... 23

Example 3b: “Cantares,” mm. 12-13 ...................................................................... 23

Example 4a. “Cantares,” mm. 14-15 ...................................................................... 24

Example 4b. “Cantares,” mm. 14-15 ...................................................................... 24

Example 5: “Cantares,” m. 3................................................................................... 24

Example 6: “Retrato,” mm. 1-4 .............................................................................. 33

Example 7: “Retrato,” mm. 5-6 .............................................................................. 34

Example 8a: “Retrato,” mm. 7-9 ............................................................................ 34

Example 8b: “Retrato,” mm. 7-9 ............................................................................ 34

Example 10a: “Retrato,” mm. 3-9, original score................................................... 35

Example 11a: “Retrato,” m. 1 ................................................................................. 36

Example 11b: “Retrato,” m. 3................................................................................. 36

Example 11c: “Retrato,” m. 10 ............................................................................... 36

Example 11d: “Retrato,” mm. 13-14 ...................................................................... 36

Example 12a: “Retrato,” mm. 15-20 ...................................................................... 37

Example 12b: “Retrato,” mm. 21-26 ...................................................................... 37

Example 12c: “Retrato,” mm. 12-28 ...................................................................... 37

Example 13: “Retrato,” mm. 13-14 ........................................................................ 38

Example 14: “Retrato,” mm. 11-12 ........................................................................ 39

Example 15a: “Soneto da separação,” mm. 5-6 ..................................................... 47

Example 15b: “Soneto da separação,” mm. 9-10 .................................................. 47

Example 15c: “Soneto da separação,” mm. 7-8 ..................................................... 47

Example 15d: “Soneto da separação,” mm. 11-13 ................................................ 47

Example 16a: “Soneto da separação,” mm. 21-22 ................................................. 48

Example 16b: “Soneto da separação,” mm. 23-24 ................................................ 48

Example 17a: “Soneto da separação,” mm. 25-26 ................................................. 48

Example 17b: “Soneto da separação,” mm. 27-28 ................................................ 48

Example 17c: “Soneto da separação,” mm. 29-30 ................................................. 48

Example 18: “Soneto da separação,” basic rhythmic pattern ................................. 49

Example 19: “Soneto da separação,” mm. 6-8 and 18-20 ...................................... 49

Example 20: “Soneto da separação,” mm. 28-30 ................................................... 49

Example 21: “Soneto da separação,” m. 1.............................................................. 50

Example 22: “Soneto da separação,” mm. 4-7 ....................................................... 50

Example 23: “Soneto da separação,” mm. 4-7 ....................................................... 51

Example 24: “Soneto da separação,” mm. 13-16 .................................................. 52

Example 25: “Soneto da separação,” mm. 17-18 .................................................. 52

Example 26: “Soneto da separação,” mm. 23-24 .................................................. 53