Abstract: “Aspectos sobre a valsa no Rio de Janeiro no longo do século XIX: de folhetins, música de salão e serestas”, by Martha Tupinambá de Ulhoa, explores the waltz’s integration into Rio’s musical culture, examining its social and economic aspects. The work, well-structured and rich in sources, is essential for music history scholars. It addresses overlooked foreign influences in Brazilian music.

Keywords: Waltz History, Brazilian Music, and Rio de Janeiro.

Aspectos sobre a valsa no Rio de Janeiro no longo do século XIX: de folhetins, música de salão e serestas”, by Martha Tupinambá de Ulhoa (Editora Foglio Digital, 2022, 255 p.), is the result of extensive research on musical practices related to entertainment in Rio de Janeiro, with a particular focus on the waltz. The book aspires to present: (1) A general contextualization of the waltz in Rio de Janeiro society in the mid-19th century through 19th-century periodicals; (2) A preliminary study of the world of salon waltz based on the profile of Geraldo Horta and his surroundings; “(3) a study on the adaptation of the waltz into modinhas in triple meter by street musicians in the last decades of the 20th century through early-century recordings available in the online collection of the Brazilian Discography of the Moreira Salles Institute” (p. 20). According to musicologist Maria Alice Volpe, who wrote the preface, “this book will surprise you!” (p.13).

In their pursuit of a national identity, Brazilian intellectuals have often focused on the traits of Brazilian culture, often neglecting artistic genres based on foreign influences. This book aims to fill this gap by presenting the transitions of a musical typology of German origin in Rio de Janeiro. The author’s background, as a pianist originally from Montes Claros/MG, with a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Florida and a Ph.D. in Musicology from Cornell University, who works as a professor in the graduate music program at UNIRIO, specializing in historical musicological studies, provides her with the qualifications to address the proposed theme comprehensively.

According to the author, the book is comprised of an introductory text, five chapters, and a postscriptum that can be read independently. The introductory chapter presents a bibliographic review of the study’s theme and the concepts that guide the work. The researcher defines her project as “falling within the field of popular music studies from a musicological perspective, considering both the recurrent stylistic musical elements of the waltz and its cultural and affective predicates” (p. 39). Her most important research source was data collection in the periodicals of the Brazilian Digital Hemeroteca (National Library), focusing mainly on the Diário do Rio de Janeiro in its first phase (1821-1858) for methodological reasons. The researcher sought to explore the waltz as a form of urban and cosmopolitan entertainment music. This musical genre is often understood through the lens of the erudite/popular dichotomy. The researcher’s study encompassed the waltz as a dance and salon music (mid-19th century) and as a song in triple meter adapted by choro groups (late 19th and early 20th century). The author suggests that the waltz arrived in Brazil with the Royal Family and was initially confined to the salons of the imperial court. It was later adopted as salon music by the urban middle and upper classes. Gradually, its instrumental form reached the streets as a song, with its triple rhythm incorporated into the modinha repertoire. In this way, the waltz was nationalized. It is thought that around this time, a “network of sociability” was established, composed of “composers, editors, instrument and sheet music sellers, teachers, in short, a world involved with amateur artistic practice and the emerging entertainment industry” (p.35).

The author divides Chapter Two into four parts. The first presents a historical synthesis of the development of musicology. The second deals with musicological studies based on the process of musical listening. The third part of the chapter discusses listening competence as a field of meaning of the sound object from a multiplicity of factors. The researcher discusses the autonomy of music and sound enjoyment, aiming to compose approach strategies for studying the waltz. In the last segment, the author describes an experiment on listening to the waltz conducted with her postgraduate music students.

Chapter Three deals with using periodicals as a research source, highlighting the nuances of using hemerographic records to understand a musical practice. This action involves integrating resources and methodologies from various fields to build a more comprehensive and integrated musicological knowledge. The author presents the practical journey of her research in periodicals since 2001, when her data collection began with in-person consultations in microfilmed archives. She then describes the creation of the Brazilian Digital Hemeroteca in 2012 and the present-day state of her research. She suggests that choosing keywords used in consultations is important, and that this choice can affect the results of searches, leading to what are known as “false positives” and “false negatives.” She proposes that open-access repositories containing not only the final research results but also their primary foundational data could be beneficial, as this material could support new works within the academic community. In this regard, she would like to bring to the public the database “Music in 19th-century Periodicals” (http://musica-sec-xix.unirio.br/). This database was created to organize her research team’s internal work on the study’s theme. Currently, this repository also houses the data collection used in seven other projects, with diverse themes coordinated by other researchers.

In Chapter Four, the author presents the presence of the waltz in feuilletons and other 19th-century literatures, also addressing some musical characteristics of the genre under study. The author establishes three phases in the history of the waltz in Brazil: “An initial period post-1808, with the adoption of the waltz in the salons of the emerging urban society; its popularization in the second half of the 19th century; and, in a third phase, at the beginning of the 20th century, the consolidation of the waltz with lyrics as a love song” (p.112). The author presents this historiography by revealing the social buzz caused by the couples’ close body contact in the waltz dance within a context of female repression.

Chapter Five is dedicated to pianist, piano teacher, and salon waltz composer Geraldo Antonio Horta (1835-1913), a musician highlighted in the journalistic notes collected by the author. Thirty-five of his works have persisted over time, including 23 waltzes. The writer presents characters and forms of sociability that were established in the emerging 19th-century music market in Rio de Janeiro through the biography of the musician. The text covers themes such as the musical press, the printing and commercialization of sheet music, and conceptualizations of biography. As an appendix to the chapter, there is a list of this musician’s compositions and reproductions of two of his sheet music (A moreninha and A violeta).

In Chapter Six, we present the modinha Nas horas mortas da noite (recorded by Mario Pinheiro in 1906) to illustrate the stylistic and prosodic characteristics of this musical genre. We selected this example because it offers insights into the circulation and reception of the modinha in different times and performance locations. For her authorial research, the author relied on the Brazilian Discography collection of the Moreira Salles Institute. Some links from this repository regarding “waltzed modinhas recorded by Mario Pinheiro between 1904 and 1906” are indicated for listening at the end of the chapter.

 

“Nas horas mortas da noite” – Mário Pinheiro – Piano (1906) | Image: Canal Som em Bom Tom

The final chapter presents the researcher’s personal experience regarding the themes of competence and musical listening. She suggests that her work is the result of musicology derived from musical listening/reception, which, supported by tools from the humanities, aims to grasp the meaning of repertoires related to various musical genres. She also suggests that research in periodicals presents itself as a rich field for arts research.

The originality of the study’s theme and its approach, discussing issues such as “popularity,” “Brazilian” music, and “popular Brazilian” music, are valuable contributions for reconsidering other cultural objects still underestimated in our compendiums. It is not an entertainment book for the general public. It is intended for academic intellectuals. For this reason, there would be room for more theoretical and analytical depth.

By presenting aspects of the Brazilianization of musical elements of the German waltz, a movement established through the serenade songs of the 19th-century chorões, and the influences of their modinhas on the German genre, which would consolidate into the so-called “Brazilian waltz,” the author suggests that the artistic transitions that consolidated national musical culture may have occurred in this way. In this sense, the author has succeeded in transcending the dichotomy that previously kept some widely disseminated musical genres apart from Brazilian musical canons.

The book in question fulfills the author’s proposed objectives and allows readers interested in national art to delve into the historiography of a musical genre that is still prevalent in our songbook today. It is a significant work, of interest to those who wish to gain a broader understanding of the Brazilian musical artistic panorama and its agents throughout the 19th century. For these reasons, we would like to suggest that you consider reading it.

Summary of Aspectos sobre a valsa no Rio de Janeiro no longo do século XIX: de folhetins, música de salão e serestas

• Agradecimentos
• Prefácio
• À guisa de introdução – entre o relatório de pesquisa e o ensaio.
• 1. Prelúdio ao estudo de gêneros musicais do passado
• 2. A “prova e o motivo do crime”. Uma introdução à pesquisa com periódicos
• 3. Nos volteios da valsa. Música, gênero e sociedade nos folhetins de rodapé do    Diário do Rio de Janeiro (1821-1858)
• 4. Geraldo Horta. Pianista, professor de piano e compositor de valsas de salão.
• 5. Da valsa à modinha. A trajetória das Nas horas mortas da noite.
• Post-scriptum. Avaliando o processo

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Reviewer

Anne Meyer holds a doctorate in Documentation and History of Music and a master’s degree in Interpretive Practices from the Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO) and a bachelor’s degree in Music (Singing) and Business Administration from the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). She is a member of the Grupo Estudo, Cultura, Trabalho e Educação, from the Universidade Federal Fluminense (GECULT-UFF), a retired employee of the Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional (IPHAN) and a PhD candidate in Art History at UERJ. She has published, among other works: A construção musical da feminilidade na ópera Il Gurany (Carlos gomes) e Vera Janacopulos – A arte da interpretação.  ID LATTES:  http://lattes.cnpq.br/5827133540969330; ID ORCID:  https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5499-5275; Site: www.annemeyer.com.br / Email: annemey@hotmail.com.

To cite this review

ULHOA, Martha Tupinambá. Aspectos sobre a valsa no Rio de Janeiro no longo do século XIX: de folhetins, música de salão e serestas. [Rio de Janeiro]: Foglio Digital, 2022. 255p. Review of: MEYER, Anne. Shall we waltz? Crítica Historiográfica. Natal, v.4, n.17, May/June, 2024. Available at <Waltz History, Brazilian Music, Rio de Janeiro, 19th Century.>.

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