VIOLA ENLUARADA, CAPOEIRA & A PANDEMIC

In my earlier days as Phaedrus, I encountered someone in September 1999, who was in a formative stage of her journey, although she was wise beyond her years. She performed with her flute, and was always searching to use the beauty of her musicing to take her to solitary paths in search of enlightenment. When we met, she somehow intuited that I should meet Rilke, the German poet that I knew only through some of his poetry serving as texts for composers. To introduce me to Rilke, she presented me with his book Letters to a Young Poet.

Her gift of this book reminded me of my professor and mentor Doc Hemmle, who while I was under his guidance as a freshman at Texas Tech University, was often gifting me with whatever he was reading. When I first walked into the music building, I met him in the hall where he was reading a book called The Art Spirit. He held up the book and asked, Have you read this?" I said I hadn't and he put it in my hands, and said, "Take it... you may think at first it is about painting, but you will see it is all about the music of life."

Celina's gifting of Rilke began an adventure with a poet of the flute who has collaboratively made music around the world since those days of 1999, as a new century unfolded. The book had a profound effect on me, leading to an identity of Phaedrus...and that is a different story. But now we are at NOW, and I am embarked upon a journey retracing the steps of "THEN."

I was indelibly connected with the emergence and growth of the internet, and in my process at the university, I was surrounded by young people caught up in the transformation of the world as the electrical grid was transformed into a connection of nodes all over the world in an emerging digital consciousness. We are talking about the late 60s, and in 1968 there was a pandemic that overtook the world.

This pandemic spread from Hong Kong to the United States, arriving December 1968, and peaking a year later. The pandemic was caused by an influenza A (H3N2) virus comprised of two genes from an avian influenza. An estimated one million deaths occurred worldwide with about 100,000 in the United States. Most excess deaths were in people 65 years and older. H3N2 continues to circulate worldwide as a seasonal influenza virus. The world did not engage in lockdown as a defense.

1968 was a banner year for me, as I had the premiere of my multimedia opera ROTATION, and came in contact with Dr. Jerrold Ross, who had recently effected the merger of the New York College of Music with the music department of what was to become the Steinhardt School. Ross had heard of me through David Simon, the Registrar of the New York College of Music, but more importantly an American composer with whom I studied composition. Ross had heard of my vision for a music department of the future based on the emerging technologies. He invited me to join the department to build a a department with a new vision and mission. 

The economy dealt with the virus by continuing to operate in the midst of widespread fear. But if we had come to lockdown in 1969, I would never have met Jerrold Ross and Woodstock would not have occurred.

We have no way of knowing what cultural and economic devastation and deprivation is now being caused by a political response to a virus, that is deadly, but might have been detained if we responsibly protected our elderly population. We may learn from this shutdown and control of people's lives around the globe that the economic fallout may result in far more tragedies than COV-19.

I point this out, because had there been a lockdown in 1969, it is likely that I would have never met Celina Charlier, this remarkable Muse of the flute. I might have not learned of the deep musical structure of Brazilian Portuguese, and might never have discovered Capoeira--- a Brazilian practice that disguised the learning of martial arts through musical movement against a regime that oppressed its population. As a Muse, she introduced me to the rich musical fabric of this music and practice through a song, "Viola enluarada". She meticulously translated the text, the poem of this remarkable song that is at the same time a call to arms against oppression and a love song.

Deeply engrossed in the beauty and depth of the text and music of the song “Viola enluarada” composed by Marcos Valle and his brother Paulo Sérgio Valle, I hear this song as a personal call for liberty, while slowly but surely those who would control our lives and our comings and goings, ---through facial recognition and drone surveillance ---use the opportunity to take away our liberty, and divide us as a people through digital isolation and enslavement --- all for the public good.

In Brazil, viola refers to the acoustic guitar. Violas are used for serenades, to accompany songs at parties, and other musical occasions. It is part of the soul of Brazil and contributes in unique ways to the musical culture. Viola enluarada was composed in the 60s in the context of Bossa Nova but transcends the genre to become a classic statement of the human spirit. Enluarada has no real English equivalent but means “moonlightened.”

Bathed in moonlight we can see the world differently, intuiting that the challenges of life are not as sharply etched as we might think. Love, music, liberty, life and death embrace us in the breath of a single moment. Listening to this recording brings a rebirth and renaissance as we realize that no matter what we face, the freedom of the human spirit triumphs over all the claims of power and destruction. This has been the experience of the Brazilians, and the rise of Capoeira (martial art, dance, and music) as a response to slavery and brutality, attests to the resiliency of a people who have suffered much adversity and yet remain full of hope, as well as being among the most innately musical beings of our species.

Here is a literal translation of the Portuguese as revealed to me by Celina. The texture and resonance of the words are inseparable from the music, and Marcos Valle’s phrasing will astonish you with its subtlety and sensitive stretching of time that lives in counterpoint to a simple but eloquent harmonic commentary.

The version that never fails to bring tears to my eyes is Marcos Valle from Bossa Entre Amigos.…so simple and elegant, his phrasing is impeccable. Follow this link below to hear this remarkable
performance in another window, while you read this poem and its translation (courtesy Celina).


Marcos Valle- "Viola Enluarada"

a mão que toca o violão 
In the hand that plays the guitar

Se for preciso faz a guerra 
if needed [(it) notes the war

Mata o mundo, fere a terra 
kills the world, hurts the earth

Na voz que canta uma canção 
In the voice that sings a song,

Se for preciso canta o hino if needed, (it) sings the anthem,

Louva à morte 
praises death

No sertão é como espada 
in the countryside, it’s like a sword,

Viola e noite enluarada 
moonlight viola, moonlight night

Esperança de vingança hope of revenge.

No mesmo pé que dança o samba In the same foot that dances the samba

Se preciso vai à luta if needed, (it) goes to fight

Capoeira 
Capoeira

Quem tem de noite a companheira 
(the one) who lies, at night, his companion (fem.)

Sabe que a paz é passageira 
knows that peace is transitory

Prá defendê-la se levanta 
To defend her (peace/companion)

E grita: Eu vou! 
(it) stands up and shouts: I go (I will)

Mão, violão, canção, espada 
Hand, Guitar, Song, Sword

E viola enluarada 
and Moonlightened Viola

Pelo campo, e cidade 
through the country-side and the city

Porta bandeira, capoeira 
Porta bandeira, capoeira

Desfilando vão cantando
in the parade (refers to carnival) they sing

Liberdade 
Freedom 

Liberdade, liberdade… 
Freedom, Freedom