Naomi Munakata and the record Songs of Brazil!

I was fortunate to be a choir pupil of Naomi at the Municipal School of Music of São Paulo between the years 2008 of 2009. It was a very fertile period for my training as a musician, we sang a lot of German music in classes, they were spectacular and Naomi of a genius artistic sensibility!

Born in Hiroshima, moved to Brazil at the age of two, landing here in December 1957, after 60 days of travel, the conductor tells that his father came to assemble a chorus within the ship "Chisadane" (small boat in Japanese).

Naomi started piano studies at the age of four and at seven began singing in the choir governed by her father, Motoi Munakata. He also studied violin, harp and graduated in composition and conducting at the music Faculty of the Musical Institute of Sao Paulo.

Since 1995 the front of the symphonic Choir of the state of São Paulo, founded in 1994 by Germain Escobar, and headquartered at the old music Free University Tom Jobim (ULM), under the regency of Naomi, the group received the Carlos Gomes Award for Best Choral Group in the years of 1999 and 2001. In 2006, under the name of Osesp Choir, he toured Spain and in 2009 recorded his first album Songs from Brazil.

This disc is a true apotheosis of music, roots, history and Brazilian culture. "Ofuru Loree" by Osvaldo Lacerda written in 1958, is a song of Candomblé collected in 1937 in Bahia by Camargo Guarnieri with accompanying instrumental percussive. The second song "Bom dia" by Gilberto Gil and Nana Caymmi, booed by the public at the III Festival of Brazilian music of TV Record in 1967, has a beautiful arrangement of Pedro Veneziani, with a melodic musical gesture describing the sunrise, the stretching , and the worker's life that of the blood of Sun to sun after his tired sleep.

The next two works, "Sabia, Coração de uma Viola" (1971) and "Flora, Cinco Cnações de Amor" are of the Brazilian composer, and founder of the choir Aylton Escobar (1943). Aylton was a student of Osvaldo Lacerda and Camargo Guarnieri, a great expert in choir music. In "Sabiá" we can easily imagine a remains in a few moments, allied with the rhythmic characteristics present in popular urban music. Already "Flora, five Songs of Love", with lyrics by Flora Figueiredo has an aesthetic that differs from "Sabiá", with a melodic development that values the harmonics construction.

The album follows with the "Suíte Nordestina" written in 1982 by Ronaldo Miranda (1948), a collection of 4 songs, which opens with "Morena Bonita", a beautiful short piece with less than a minute long, followed by the bouncing "Dendê Tapiá", a coco northeast. "Bumba Chora" depicts the sadness of the northeastern puller who is forced to leave his homeland in search of a better quality of life, "Eu vou, eu vou" is the happy work that closes the suite, amusing.

"Jubiabá" by Carlos Alberto Pinto Fonseca (1933-2006), is a tribute to Sandoval Manoel de Abreu (1886-1937), also known as "Pai de Santo Jubiabá", Captain of the Army of Salvador and religious leader of the Candomblé of Caboclo in the Hill of the Cross of Cosme. "Congada" by Francisco Mignone (1897-1986) is an original piece for piano, here we hear the soothing version of its arrangement for three voices. Following the line of composers Sinfonicos the next work "Vamos Aloanda" by Camargo Guarnieri (1907-1993) is a complete work of Brazil in his music and lyrics.

The twelfth track of the album is the Garrafas "Asa Branca" in another beautiful and inventive arrangement of Pedro Veneziani, back to Francisco Mignone, the choir interprets its Cateretê (originally a Brazilian rural dance), written in 1930 and dedicated to Heitor Villa-Lobos.

The next three tracks are very special, Marlos Nobre in his "Cancioneiro de Lampião", set of three works, is composed by an arrangement of the famous "Muié Rendêra", of which the very Virgulino Ferreira da Silva, the "Lampião" would have been the composer, with a letter written in Homage to his grandmother, "Tia Jacosa", which was make rends!

The song became practically a war hymn of the Cangaceiros of the Lantern band, having reports that their attack on the Mossoró in 1927 would have been done with more than 50 Cangageiros singing "Muié Rendêra".

"It's lamp, it's lamp, it's Lampa," the second piece of this set of works, is an original work by Marlos Nobre written in 1980 and inspired by the history of "Lampião". "Muié Rendêra" begins with verses from the previous piece, making a return to the theme of "Muié Rendêra" and finishing the piece in a apotheosis climactic.

The seventeenth piece of this disc is also very special, personally it was the first choir work I fell in love with years ago, "Choros nº 3 - Pica-pau" by Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959), in a master-class with renowned guitarist Fabio Zanon, guitar teacher of Royal Academy of Music of London, it was said that Villa-Lobos was one of the greatest melodistas of the entire twentieth century, surpassing even Prokofiev, is and "Estrela é Lua Nova" are works that makes me strongly to believe it.

The album still follows with the genial Villa-Lobos, with his work Duas lendas Ameríndias em Nheengatu, with "O Iurupari e o Menino" and "O Iurupari e o Caçador" original works for coral with influence of indigenous musical expressions. The last track, is a beautiful tribute to one of our best composers of the popular Songbook, Dorival Caymmi (1914-2008) in the arrangement of Damiano Cozzella.

All the songs that make up the disc are available in Spotify, because this recording is not available in single video on Youtube, I put here only a few videos.

Naomi Munakata conducted the OSESP choir for two decades, in 2013, released a record dedicated to the work of her founder Aylton Escobar, after her resignation in 2015, was director of the Municipal School of Music of Sao Paulo, and today is the regent owner of the Coral São Mário de Andrade , founded by Mario himself. It is here recorded my tribute to this excellent artist, and important figure for concert music in Brazil!

References

https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naomi_Munakata
http://www.japao100.com.br/perfil/427/
http://blogdohenriqueautran.blogspot.com.br/2016/07/a-hora-e-vez-de-naomi-munakata.html
https://podcastosesp.podbean.com/e/galeria-de-musica-osvaldo-lacerda-ofulu-lorere/
http://www.osesp.art.br/paginadinamica.aspx?pagina=CDcancoesdobrasil
http://www.florafigueiredo.com/a-autora
https://docslide.com.br/documents/partitura-sabia-coracao-de-uma-viola-aylton-escobar.html
https://pt.scribd.com/document/330972900/Lacerda-Osvaldo-Ofulu-Lorere
http://earthsongschoralmusic.com/index.php?main_page=product_sheet_music_info&products_id=2478
https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coco_de_roda
https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubiab%C3%A1
https://pt.scribd.com/document/360404370/Mignone-Francisco-Congada-3-Vozes
https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulher_Rendeira
http://www4.unirio.br/simpom/textos/SIMPOM-Anais-2010-GabrielFerrao.pdf