Cantos, cantiga e lamento: sincretismo religioso e brasilidade em quatro obras para violoncelo e piano de José Siqueira

Abstract

Besides writing two sonatas for cello and piano, the Paraíba born composer José Siqueira (1907-1985) also composed a set of works for this same instrumentation. This includes an Elegia (1934), the Cantiga de Cego e Choro (1949); an instrumental version based on the same titled song Rei é Oxalá, Rainha é Iemanjá (1949); and the Três Cantigas para Iemanjá

(1963). Works linked to different musical periods of his life, which carry, as thematic- compositional nature, forms of expression, manifestations, and languages present in the cul- tural plurality of Brazil, as well as his earlier compositional style, based on the aesthetics of

the late European romantic music. Hence, a repertoire that has certainly captured his overall artistic development. Thus, the present research deals with Siqueira ́s short pieces for cello

and piano above mentioned, at the same time that seeks to point out the presence of those el- ements—through aesthetic and interpretative approaches—that capture the development of his

concepts regarding the use of the Trimodal and Pentatonic Systems (Siqueira, 1981a, 1981b). This is associated to the oral traditions of the Brazilian Northeast, as well as to the musical universe present in the religious rituals of African origin found in that part of the country. By producing both a critical and a performance edition of these works, we aim to disseminate Siqueira's work and compositional legacy for the cello, notably rescuing works that had been either lost or forgotten and therefore absent from concert programs. Regarding interpretative possibilities within this repertoire, we have based our discussion on the concepts of Starker (2004), Epstein (1995) and Cone (1968), as well as the Metric Expressivity Theory developed by Aquino and Aquino (2021) and Aquino (2024). Thus, interpretative questions have been

raised through discussions that associate Siqueira's compositional language to other compos- ers who have covered the same musical genres. In addition, to generate new possibilities for

representing this composer's cello music, we aim to bring the idiomatic language of the in- strument closer to cultural elements of Brazilianness and religiosity, in a way that highlights

its relevance and a few aspects of a language that is so uncommonly explored in the cello lit- erature.