Choro Music: Yamandú Costa - Tocata À Amizade

Yamandú Costa (Photo: Anderson Silva)

The New CD by Yamandú Costa - Tocata À Amizade (Biscoito Fino) is a splendid example of a deliberate smoothing of the boundaries between classical art music and popular tradition. Generally, in the Western tradition erudite musical composition has enjoyed primacy of popular traditions, while it has not been pronounced in Brazilian music culture.Among other aspects, this means that improvisation or free musical expression has been severely limited within the framework of traditonel Western classical art music, although previously rudiments to consider improvisation as an essential aspect of musical expression have been applied to sudden musical forms. These include for the type of compositions, which are known as toccatas.

Sheet book front

The encyclopedia definiton of a toccata reads: Toccata (from Italian toccare, "to touch") is a virtuoso piece of music typically for a keyboard or plucked string instrument featuring fast-moving, lightly fingered or otherwise virtuosic passages or sections, with or without imitative or fugal interludes, generally emphasizing the dexterity of the performer's fingers.This msusical form has been developed since the late Renaissance and its best known example probably is J.S. Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (BWV 565). His toccatas for organ are improvisatory compositions, and are often followed by an independent fugue movement. You can read more about this musical form and are further able to listen to examples, here

CD front: Tocata À Amizade (Illustration by Elifas Andreato)

According to the info at the Biscoito Fino website, the new CD by Yamandú Costa pays tribute not only to musicians he admires, but also to the art of playing an instrument. Quote: "We, who play popular music, have this custom of meetings, evening parties, in which we exchange information, learn new songs. In this CD I wanted to make an allusion to this very common and very natural practice among us." The idea of recording the CD came from an invitation that Yamandú received from the Louvre Museum Auditorium in Paris. "They ordered me a piece, I wanted to show some of the popular music of Brazil, so I wrote the suite “Impressões brasileiras”, for about four years." The suite opens the CD and consists of four parts: 1-Choro-tango, 2-Valsa, 3-Frevo-canção and 4-Baionga. The suite is followed by two new compositions by Yamandú: Negra Baiarina and Boa Viagem, both are examples of informal toccatas. Next follow two compositions paying tribute to two major figures in Brazilian guitar tradition, Pedra do Leme by Raphael Rabello/Toquinho and Graúna by João Pernambuco. The CD closes with a reading and interpretation of Radamés Gnatalli's 'Suite Retratos' in four parts, named after the composers in Brazilian tradition each of them portrays: Pixinguinha - Ernesto Nazareth - Anacleto de Medeiros - Chiquinha Gonzaga. Yamandú explains: "In my view, this cousin of Radames' work perfectly portrays the dialogue between schools of classical music and popular. (...) We rehearsed a lot to get this much free result that is on the disc." The CD thus underlines the dialogue between classical and popular music in Brazilian tradition, and the title Tocata À Amizade further points to the fact that this dialogue is not with the intention of provoking a polite audience, but to emphasize the friendship between two equal musical expressions and further the friendship between the musicians who perform the music at the CD.In truth, a musical project based on fixed frames which allow for free expression and improviasation, a well known and respected approach within choro music and related, popular Brazilian genres.

Yamandú Costa Quartet in performance (photo by Paulo Cartolano)

All tracks of the CD were recorded in a quartet setting, and Yamandú (violão de 7 cordas de naylon) brings together musicians Rogerio Caetano (violão 7 cordas de aço), Luis Barcelos (bandolim de 10 cordas and arrangements of “Suite Impressões brasileiras” ) and Alessandro Bebê Kramer on accordion. - To give you an impression of the music featured at the CD, I'll insert some uploaded examples from previously recorded live performance by the quartet. Here is first a live presentation of Radamés Gnatalli's 4º movimento Retratos (Chiquinha Gonzaga) from the Suite Retratos