Abstract: In Critical composers of Brazilian popular music: history, education and culture, Marcos Raddi deals with music critics. Drawing on various documentary and bibliographical sources, the author’s argument gains strength from an interview with Marcos Diniz, of Trio Calafrio, whose members are the authors of many of the sambas “heard around”. A. Gramsci, R. Williams and E. P. Thompson set the tone for the conversations.

Keywords: critical composers; brazilian popular music; working class.

In “Critical Composers of Brazilian Popular Music: History, Education, and Culture,” historian, researcher, and professor Marcos Raddi endeavors to categorize those who make song lyrics a way of expressing their conception of the world and portraying their life experiences. These are composers from the working classes who stand out for their work, which challenges the status quo and, in many cases, denounces the precarious living conditions of a large part of the Brazilian population in the face of capital.

The book attempts to examine the connections between culture, work, and education. It aims to analyze elements that reveal the worldviews expressed in the musical compositions of popular music composers, according to the author. The author suggests that these elements serve as mediations that allow us to perceive social contradictions, such as the division of society into classes, based on the contradiction between work and capital. The result of his master’s research, defended in 2021 in the Postgraduate Program in Education at the Fluminense Federal University, and supervised by Prof. Dr. Lia Tiriba, he deals with a specific category of composers: critical composers. To gain a deeper understanding of this topic, he draws upon the insights of Antonio Gramsci, Raymond Williams, and E.P. Thompson.

Dialectical historical materialism is a guiding principle for Marcos Raddi’s quest to identify composers whose works deal critically with capitalist social relations. He believes that if the worker were to recognize the value of their work, their salary would be worth twice as much. He draws inspiration from the Samba do Operário by Alfredo Português, Cartola and Nélson Sargento, which led him to the concept of “composers-critics.” These are artists who, through their own experiences, observe those who “don’t want to recognize.” He is a slave without being the slave of any usurer. Thus, the authors of the samba suggest that the voice of the oppressed may be drowned out by pain and moaning. It may be challenging to express oneself freely, as work done by one’s hand may lead to feelings of exploitation. Raddi then turns his attention to the musical compositions of Trio Calafrio, a group formed by the samba musicians Barbeirinho do Jacarezinho, Luiz Grande, and others. And Marcos Diniz, all authors of songs that can be heard in the voices of names such as Bezerra da Silva and Zeca Pagodinho, and who performed from the 1990s to the early 2000s. Marcos Diniz, the sole surviving member of Trio Calafrio, was a valuable source of information for Marcos Raddi, providing interviews that, along with other documents, served as sources for the research conducted.

The book begins with a preface and an introduction, which prepare the reader for the four chapters and conclusion that make up the work. In addition to the bibliographical references, there are also discographical and filmographical references cited in the text, as well as links to the interviews conducted and the websites consulted. At the end, there is a short paragraph introducing the author. In the course of the text, Raddi suggests that, particularly in the dictatorial periods—the Estado Novo (1937-1945) and the Military Dictatorship (1964-1985)—the movement of popular music and popular composers may have served as a force and power driving resistance. He also analyzes the composer’s craft, the question of authorship, and the development of class consciousness. Before turning to Trio Calafrio, he discusses compositions from various periods and genres of Brazilian music in a critical tone.

The chapter dedicated to Trio Calafrio shows us the history of the group, while noting the living and working conditions of its members, in contrast to the situation of the working class in general. The life experience of each of them attests to what many studies have shown: the precariousness of the musical profession.

It’s not uncommon for musicians, men and women alike, to need another source of income in order to make a living, in a daily life where seasonality, informal working relationships and low pay prevail. At the same time, it’s worth noting that the music industry, as is well known in the mainstream press, makes millions. One unfortunate consequence of this imbalance is the challenging situation faced by musicians during the pandemic, while the Brazilian music industry was experiencing a period of growth and expansion, with a 24.5% increase in revenue in 2020. The research, conducted during the pandemic, also highlights the difficulties faced by musicians who found themselves without work and without any kind of support during this period. It is worth noting that the period of the pandemic revealed the situation of composers who had and still have their music played in the mainstream media and at live concerts, yet face financial difficulties. This was particularly evident in the case of composer Aldir Blanc.

The theoretical field that underpins Raddi’s work and sets the critical tone is “Labor and Education,” based on Karl Marx’s critique of political economy. With labor as the basic category for understanding the social production of human existence, the concept is taken as an educational principle. From this theoretical perspective, human action, by transforming nature and the human being itself, by producing knowledge—beliefs, art, and science—produces what can be called culture. This suggests that the axis of culture, work, and education is inseparable.

In order to demonstrate this intrinsic link, many of the lyrics of the Trio Calafrio musicians’ compositions are presented and analyzed. Raddi offers the intriguing conclusion that “the work of these composers expresses a certain class culture, which opposes the dominant culture, and has an educational dimension, thus highlighting the link between culture, work and education” (p.207). Raddi’s research suggests that there may be historical ways in which art, when transformed into merchandise, could also turn artistic work into a professional endeavor. This could potentially lead to the kind of work that is necessary to guarantee the minimum conditions for survival. It is possible that the art worker, like any other, may be deprived of their means of production and subjected to the logic of capitalist production.

The author offers a thoughtful and precise conceptualization of critical composers as a group who, in making themselves composers, develop a class consciousness and a working-class consciousness. This fulfills an important objective of establishing links between culture, work, and education in the context studied. We would have liked to explore further the contributions of women composers and their critical compositions, which were unfortunately overlooked due to the silencing and erasure of several women from the craft of lyricist, as well as the limited knowledge about the work of these and other women composers.

Once the authorial justifications have been made, the book can be read by specialists and/or those who are passionate about the history of Brazilian music, as it fulfills the objectives presented in its introduction.

Summary of Compositores(as) Críticos(as) da música popular brasileira: história, educação e cultura

• Prefácio
• Introdução
• 1. “Mora na Filosofia”: fundamentos sobre cultura, trabalho e educação.
• 2. “Meu samba é casa de marimbondo”: história, sociedade, educação e música popular.
• 3. O ofício de compositor(a) e os “Compositores Críticos”
• 4. “Ser poeta é difícil demais”: condições de vida e trabalho do Trio Calafrio e a situação da classe trabalhadora.
• Conclusões
• Referências bibliográficas
• Referências discográficas
• Referências filmográficas
• Entrevistas
• Sites Consultados
• Sobre o autor

Reviewer

Luciana Requião holds a PhD in Education from the Universidade Federal Fluninense (UFF) and a Master’s Degree in Music from the Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO). She is a professor at the Angra dos Reis Instituto de Educação (IEAR/UFF) and at UNIRIO’s Postgraduate Program in Music. She has published, among other works, “Eis aí a Lapa…: processos e relações de trabalho do músico nas casas de shows da Lapa” (São Paulo: Annablume, 2010) e “Festa acabada, músicos a pé!”: um estudo crítico sobre as relações de trabalho de músicos atuantes no estado do Rio de Janeiro” (2016). ID: LATTES: http://lattes.cnpq.br/2687869588131721  ID ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0351-0578; Instagram: lucianareq; E-mail: lucianarequiao@id.uff.br;

To cite this review

RADDI, Marcos. Compositores(as) Críticos(as) da música popular brasileira: história, educação e cultura. Marília: Lutas Anticapital, 2024. 283p. Review of: REQUIÃO, Luciana. The voice of the owner. Crítica Historiográfica. Natal, v.4, n.17, May/June, 2024. Disponível em <https://www.criticahistoriografica.com.br/en/the-voice-of-the-owner-luciana-requiaos-uff-review-of-the-book-critical-composers-of-brazilian-popular-music-history-education-and-culture-by-marcos-raddi/>.

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Crítica Historiográfica. Natal, v.4, n. 17, May/June, 2024 | ISSN 2764-2666.