Edino Krieger's Solo Piano Works

Copyright
by
Alexandre Saggin Dossin
2001
Edino Krieger’s Solo Piano Works from the 1950s: a Dialectical
Synthesis in Brazilian Musical Modernism
by
Alexandre Saggin Dossin, M.F.A.
Treatise
Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of
the University of Texas at Austin
in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements
for the Degree of
Doctor of Musical Arts
The University of Texas at Austin
August 2001
UMI Number: 3023548
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UMI Microform 3023548
Copyright 2001 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company.
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300 North Zeeb Road
P.O. Box 1346
Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346
To my wife, Maria,
To our daughter, Sophia,
To my mother, Marlí,
with love.
Aknowledgments
I would like to express my gratitude to the following persons:
to Professor Gerard Béhague for his expertise and guidance,
to Professor Saloméa Gandelman for her help in finding valuable research material,
to Professor Leslie O’Bell for reading the draft and making important suggestions,
to Maestro Edino Krieger for his active participation in this project,
and above all for his music.
v
Edino Krieger’s Solo Piano Works from the 1950s: a Dialectical
Synthesis in Brazilian Musical Modernism
Publication No. ____________
Alexandre Saggin Dossin, D.M.A.
The University of Texas at Austin, 2001
Supervisors: Gerard H. Béhague
Gregory D. Allen
It is possible to identify a dialectic of disparate elements in tension during the
search for a Brazilian national aesthetics: on the one hand there is the regionalismo
(emphasis on regional characteristics, a term taken from a literary tendency of the
1910s and 1920s), which still uses standard techniques, at the other extreme there are
cosmopolitan movements such as the dadaism or futurism. One should also mention
the nationalistic primitivism of Mário de Andrade’s Macunaíma and Oswald de
Andrade’s Manifesto da Poesia Pau-Brasil and contrast it to the “universal,” “high-
tech” twelve-tone technique of the 1940s. In my opinion, one of the syntheses that
vi
resulted from this dialectical process was the neo-classicism of the 1950s, especially
that of Edino Krieger, whose work forms the basis of this discussion.
I first pay attention to Edino Krieger’s place in the aesthetic-historical context
of Brazilian musical nationalism. By way of introduction, this work traces the origins
of this cultural trend as it emerged from earlier examples of Romantic Nationalism,
with reference to works by Brasílio Itiberê, Alexandre Levy and Alberto
Nepomuceno, still based on European models. I then review the advent of the Week
of Modern Art in 1922, and finally the musical experiments of the 1940s, represented
mainly by the group Música Viva. All these elements are interrelated and together
form Edino Krieger’s background.
In my opinion, Edino Krieger’s piano works from the 1950s found a perfect
compositional balance and can be considered one of the highest achievements in
twentieth-century Brazil. Modal elements in the varied Brazilian folk traditions are a
consequence of Gregorian chant used by the Jesuits during the colonization of Brazil.
The modal language used by Krieger connects us therefore not only with Brazilian
folk sources, but also with early music history. Krieger’s polyphonic treatment of the
Brazilian material can be compared to Villa-Lobos’ great cycle Bachianas
Brasileiras. While Villa-Lobos mastered a perfect union of two completely different
musical cultures, one may also conclude that Edino Krieger mastered an original
synthesis of the music created since the early periods of history, combined with
Brazilian elements.
vii
Table of Contents
Chapter One: Historical Overview............................................................................... 1
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 2
The Beginnings of Musical Nationalism .............................................................. 6
The Week of Modern Art, 1922 ......................................................................... 10
Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) ........................................................................ 13
Música Viva....................................................................................................... 20
Neoclassicism in Brazil: an Overview................................................................ 22
Open Letter to the Musicians and Music Critics of Brazil .................................. 26
Chapter Two: Musical Analysis.................................................................................. 32
Sonata no. 1, 1953-54 ........................................................................................ 33

Prelúdio e Fuga, 1954 ....................................................................................... 48
Sonata no. 2, 1956 ............................................................................................. 55
Sonatina, 1957................................................................................................... 65
`Chapter Three: Edino Krieger’s Piano Works......................................................... 73
Overview........................................................................................................... 74
Easy and Intermediate Pieces............................................................................. 76
Twelve-Tone Pieces .......................................................................................... 78
Neoclassical Works ........................................................................................... 79
Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 82
Appendix I: Interview with Edino Krieger (March, 2001) ....................................... 86
Appendix II: Open Letter to the Musicians and Music Critics of Brazil.................. 94
Bibliography .............................................................................................................. 101
Vita ............................................................................................................................ 103
viii
Chapter One: Historical Overview
Introduction
The Beginnings of Musical Nationalism
The Week of Modern Art, 1922
Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)
Música Viva
Neoclassicism in Brazil: an Overview
Open Letter to the Musicians and Music Critics of Brazil
1
Introduction
My first contact with the piano music of Brazilian composer Edino Krieger
dates back from 1987, when I was preparing for the First Edino Krieger National
Piano Competition. This competition was held in 1988 in the composer’s birthplace,
Brusque, in the Brazilian southern state of Santa Catarina, to commemorate Edino
Krieger's 60th birthday.
His music attracted me from the very beginning by its freshness. I had played
Brazilian music before that event, but his music seemed different in the sense that it
combined Brazilian and modern compositional techniques.
During the competition, among other pieces, I performed his Sonatina. It was
very rewarding to receive the first prize from the composer’s hands and two special
prizes for the best performance of his and his father's (Aldo Krieger) works. From
that time on, we kept in touch and since then I have performed his music in several
countries.
2
This treatise deals with Edino Krieger's piano works, putting special emphasis
on the neoclassical pieces of the 1950s. However, before addressing a composer’s
work we should first consider his or her background as an artist and as a person.
In this regard it is very important to place Edino Krieger in the aesthetic-
historical context which inevitably must include Brazilian musical nationalism. By
way of introduction, this study traces the origins of this cultural trend as it emerged
from earlier examples of romantic nationalism. I deal first with works by Brasílio
Itiberê (1846-1913), Alexandre Levy (1864-1892) and Alberto Nepomuceno (1864-
1920), works still based on European models, then with the advent of the Week of
Modern Art in 1922, and finally with the musical experiments of the 1940s,
represented mainly by the group Música Viva. All these things are interrelated and
together form Edino Krieger’s background.
The composer responsible for the musical part of the “Week of Modern Art”
was Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959). Still in his thirties at that time, Villa-Lobos was
already a mature composer. When he went to Europe for the first time in 1923 it was
to perform his music, not to learn. His “teacher” was the immense country where he
was born, its people, and its nature.
With Villa-Lobos, it is possible for the first time to speak about a Brazilian
national music no longer based on European models. Villa-Lobos’s example was
followed by many composers such as Camargo Guarnieri (1907-1993), Oscar
3
Lorenzo Fernandez (1897-1948), Francisco Mignone (1897-1986), and others. Their
works represent the mainstream of musical nationalism in Brazil during the first half
of the twentieth century.
In the late 1930s, twelve-tone music was introduced into Brazil by German
composer H. J. Koellreutter (b. 1915). Koellreutter arrived in Brazil in 1937 and
immediately gathered around him young composers attracted by this new technique.
Koellreutter’s students became important names in Brazilian music during the second
half of the century: Cláudio Santoro (1919-1989), Eunice Catunda (1915-1985),
César Guerra-Peixe (1914-1993) and Edino Krieger (b. 1928), to mention only a few.
Young Edino Krieger was particularly interested in the twelve-tone technique and
wrote award-winning compositions in that style during the 1940s.
One of the most important debates in the history of Brazilian music developed
around the conflict between the so-called “nationalists” (Guarnieri) and the “anti-
nationalists” (Koellreutter). This conflict, already present during the 1940s, climaxed
in the notable “Open letter to the Musicians and Music Critics of Brazil,” written in
1950 by Camargo Guarnieri. To my knowledge this letter was never translated into
English, so I have included a translation in Appendix II.
This passionate letter strongly criticized twelve-tone technique and its use by
young Brazilian composers. It became the starting point for a balanced synthesis in
Brazilian national music. To my mind, Edino Krieger’s solo piano works from the
4
1950s (two Sonatas, Prelúdio e Fuga, Sonatina) present a perfect synthesis: they are
national, with a strong Brazilian atmosphere, yet at the same time they speak a
“universal” language, adapting European models to the needs of a new Brazilian art
music.
5
The Beginnings of Musical Nationalism
National elements are found in Brazilian piano music as early as 1869 in
pieces like A Sertaneja, composed by Brasílio Itiberê da Cunha (1846-1913). This
kind of Romantic nationalism was driven by a conventional use of rhythmic formulas
and by the use of attractive Brazilian titles. The works themselves were based on
European forms and followed the basic European practices. Gerard Béhague reflects
on the aesthetic importance of such composers:
The composers of this transitional period (ca. 1880-1920)
continued to be essentially academic; their ideals were geared largely
to European romantic and post-romantic music, including the universal
Wagnerian influence. Although their attitude toward “genuine”
Brazilian music which emerged around the same time was not negative
(for Europe itself had made it fashionable to compose on folk-popular
themes), the difficulty lay in their ignorance of it (Béhague, 1971, p.
9).
6
Brasílio Itiberê was an amateur musician. He lived in Europe for many years
as a diplomat and became acquainted with some of the leading composers of the time,
among them Franz Liszt and Anton Rubinstein (Béhague, 1971, p. 11). Béhague
analyzes Brasílio Itiberê’s beginnings as a composer in the light of the successes of
American pianist and composer L. M. Gottschalk in 1869:
Eighteen hundred sixty nine was the year of Gottschalk’s triumphs in
Rio de Janeiro as well as in all the large provincial cities. The example
of Gottschalk must have deeply impressed the young Itiberê, for the
practice of introducing popular elements in art music was certainly not
the tendency at this early period (Béhague, 1971, p. 12).
It is not possible to speak of romantic nationalism in Brazil without
mentioning the names of at least two other composers: Alexandre Levy and Alberto
Nepomuceno, both born in 1864. Alexandre Levy died very young, in 1892.
However, he composed works that would become symbols of a nascent Brazilian
musical nationalism: the Suite Brésilienne and Tango Brazileiro, both written around
1890. Commenting on the nationalistic aspects of Levy’s Tango Brazileiro, Gerard
Béhague affirms:
7
Although there is no quotation of folk or popular melodies, the
typical sentimentality of the modinhas has inspired the thematic
material. The melody of the main theme, ornamented by passing tones,
échappées, and neighboring tones, contrasts with the syncopated
accompaniment, by its regular rhythmic division, alternating binary
and ternary divisions (Béhague, 1971, p. 21).
Alberto Nepomuceno (1864-1920) was born and raised in Brazil’s
Northeastern states, but went to Europe in the 1890s. One of his most significant
contributions to Brazilian music comes from the fact that he was the first composer to
write art songs in Portuguese. His motto was, “The people who do not sing in their
own language do not have a fatherland” (Béhague, 1971, p. 39), which reflects his
interest in the development of Brazilian music. Alberto Nepomuceno’s most
characteristic work, the Suite Brasileira, represents the composer’s best achievement
(Béhague, 1971, p. 37). As Béhague writes, “It is clearly indicative of this transitional
period of musical nationalism in Brazil, in which conventional European procedures
were combined with the incipient assimilation of popular musical forms.” Referring
to the last movement of Suite Brasileira, entitled Batuque, Béhague continues, “The
piece is indeed symptomatic of the discovery of the rhythmic primacy of popular
8
music, prefiguring similar accomplishments in subsequent twentieth century
compositions” (Béhague, 1971, p. 37).
9
The Week of Modern Art
Modernism in Brazil was ready to emerge during the first two decades of the
20th century. During this period, as most Brazilian “romantic” artists were passing
away, a new generation felt the necessity to seek new trends: Oswald de Andrade
returned from Europe decidedly converted to futurism, and the painter Anita Malfati
had her first polemical exhibition in 1917, an exhibition strongly criticized by the
conservative artistic establishment. Writers such as Mário de Andrade, Oswald de
Andrade, Menotti del Picchia and poet Manuel Bandeira were enthusiastic supporters
of modern trends in painting and literature, and soon gathered together an active
group of writers, painters, sculptors and architects who later organized the Week of
Modern Art (Semana de Arte Moderna) in 1922.
The Semana de Arte Moderna was held in the conservative and traditional
Teatro Municipal de São Paulo. The organizers selected the year 1922 for a reason:
to celebrate one hundred years of the country’s independence (declared on September
7, 1822) and to rethink the true nature of Brazilian culture for the modern age. The
week involved three performances on February 13, 15, and 17. Seeking support for
the event, a group of intellectuals and artists visited Rio de Janeiro; as a result, a
10
musician who was being criticized just as savagely as the painter Anita Malfati
agreed to take part in the Semana: this was Heitor Villa-Lobos.
Villa-Lobos was responsible for most of the musical events of the week. His
works were performed to a shocked audience side by side with pieces by Debussy and
Satie. Some of the compositions presented by Villa-Lobos (Sonata no. 2 for violin
and piano, String Trio no. 2, Symbolic Quartet for flute, saxophone, celesta, harp and
hidden women’s choir), are still “post-romantic” (Neves, 1981, p. 37). Nevertheless,
the public and critics, in their aesthetic blindness, could not understand their real
importance.
The week also presented literature and visual arts events, which provoked
both curiosity mixed with disdain. The consequences of the festival, however, were
fundamental for the future of Brazilian arts. The native characteristics of such a large
and varied country, the character of its people, its natural beauty - everything was an
inspiration for the artists.
Mário de Andrade, the intellectual leader of the modernists, summarized the
goals of the movement in the following way:
• to confirm and disseminate the talents of the new generation of
Brazilian artists
• to assert the right of aesthetic inquiry and experimentation
• to create a Brazilian way of thinking and doing
11
• to avoid the old European models and external influences but adopt
new modern techniques (Neves, 1981, p. 37).
Part of the success achieved by the Week was attributable to the presence of
pianists such as Ernani Braga and particularly Guiomar Novaes. Guiomar Novaes was
already a famous pianist performing worldwide. This was an interesting moment,
because the most radical members of the modernist movement criticized the so-called
“pianolatria” (Wisnik, 1977, p. 77), the cult of the pianist-virtuoso as the most valued
artist (probably on a par with the prima-donna in opera). Fortunately, a piano star like
Guiomar Novaes used her talent and prestige for a good cause. As an established
virtuoso she could not avoid performing as one of several “encores” pieces like
Vallon’s “L’Arlequin.” This work, which Wisnik calls “a piece without ambitions, a
typical encore” (Wisnik, 1977, p. 71) was followed by the more impressionistic and
exotic “Au jardin du vieux Serail,” by E.R. Blanchet. By this programming Novaes
showed her keen sense for the diplomatic presentation of new and old styles in such a
way that modernism was tempered by being made part of a more traditional aesthetic
experience.
Considering the extreme importance of Villa-Lobos’s participation in the
Week of Modern Art and his strong influence on the subsequent history of Brazilian
music, it is necessary to present an overview of his life and works.
12
Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)
The artistic output of Heitor Villa-Lobos is impressive not only for its prolific
quantity (over seven hundred opus numbers), but also for the brilliant imagination
which the composer lavished on the creation of new genres. Works like his series of
Bachianas Brasileiras or Choros give us first European-related compositions with a
Brazilian accent (Bachianas) and then a purely Brazilian genre (Choros). Villa-Lobos
also explored the most varied combinations of instruments, from solo pieces and
duets for groups such as flute and bassoon to works for large orchestra and chorus. So
beyond the creation of new genres, the composer used the endless possibilities of
instrumentation.
The music of Villa-Lobos was extremely suitable to the new aesthetic
positions. The lack of academic studies (Villa-Lobos was self-taught) helped to avoid
European “intrusion” in the creative process. His individuality, love for everything
that was Brazilian and the courage to experiment with new media were exactly the
characteristics being sought by the modernists.
Raul Villa-Lobos, the composer’s father, played the violoncello. A music
lover, Raul Villa-Lobos would gather with friends at his house and play chamber
13
music for the most varied ensembles. These musical evenings made a strong
impression on the young Villa-Lobos, and violoncello was his first musical
instrument. He also cultivated (somehow in secret) a love for the urban music
ensembles called chorões (serenaders), and learned to play the guitar. Villa-Lobos’s
immense curiosity for everything Brazilian led him to become a real explorer of
Brazilian music. Despite being an avid reader, at age eighteen he did not hesitate to
sell some of his father’s rare books to finance his own first trip to the northern regions
of his country.
In that trip and others that would follow Villa-Lobos drank from the sources
of Brazilian tradition. He went to small villages, places no other professional
musician had ever visited, and absorbed their natural culture. The Guia Prático (a
didactic collection of 137 folksongs) is one of the results of his work as a collector
and transmitter of genuine Brazilian sounds. His work as a whole reflects Brazil, not
only due to his onomatopoeic usage of imitation elements and musical quotations but
principally owing to his understanding of the aesthetic foundations of Brazilian
music.
After the Week of Modern Art, Villa-Lobos received a grant to travel to
Europe. This was his first visit to the old world, and thanks to his earlier contact with
Darius Milhaud (secretary to French minister Paul Claudel), several concerts were
14
scheduled in Paris. As the composer was always proud to say, he did not go to Europe
to learn, but to show what he had composed.
His first stay in Paris (less than 18 months) proved to be successful, and the
performances of his music established his authority among the modern composers. As
Gerard Béhague affirms, in his book Heitor Villa-Lobos: The Search for Brazil’s
Musical Soul: “From the viewpoint of the development of his creative activity, his
first Parisian experience undoubtedly served to reinforce and to confirm the
suitability at the international level of his previous aesthetic tendency” (Béhague,
1994, p. 17). So it seems that his first Parisian trip was not only a good showcase
platform for his art, but also a confirmation that Villa-Lobos’s intuitive compositional
process was on the right track.
At the beginning of 1927, Heitor Villa-Lobos returned to Paris, again with
Arthur Rubinstein’s artistic and “diplomatic” support. The great Polish pianist used
all his contacts to help Villa-Lobos with his travel expenses, housing, publishing, and
other needs. This second Parisian period extended until May 1930, with a brief visit
to Brazil in the middle of 1929. After this stay, Villa-Lobos
had thus attained a preeminence in Paris unequaled by any other Latin
American composer. This acclaim resulted essentially from the
freshness of his creation, grounded in the folk and popular music of
Brazil, radically new for most European listeners, together with

15
decidedly up-to-date and modernistic technical procedures (Béhague,
1994, p. 20).
The greatest performers of that period gave their support to Villa-Lobos’s new
creations. Names such as Arthur Rubinstein, Vera Janacopulos, Souza Lima and
others were constantly present in the concert announcements. Béhague concludes:
“At that time he seemed to have come to the end of his search for an identity as a
composer, with the strongly persuasive confirmations of his European acceptance and
success” (Béhague, 1994, p. 20).
In 1930, back in Brazil, Villa-Lobos made a proposal to the State Secretariat
for Education containing his ideas and plan of action for music education in public
schools throughout the country. In November of that year Getúlio Vargas came to
power through a revolution and became Brazil’s president for the next fifteen years.
His government had far-right ideals, sometimes compared to fascist ideologies.
Nationalism, a fundamental part of that ideology, was in Villa-Lobos’s veins anyway,
so he did not think twice about his decision after being invited to assume the
Superintendence of Musical and Artistic Education for the State of Rio de Janeiro.
Gerard Béhague, in his recent article on Villa-Lobos (New Grove Dictionary
for Music and Musicians, 2001) reflects on the effects of this period on Villa-Lobos’s
professional life:
16
Politics notwithstanding, Villa-Lobos’s work in music education only
enhanced his reputation as a composer in Brazil, where his own
compositions had not had as much exposure as in Europe. He became
an “official” composer, and though this change in status in no way
affected his prolific creativity, nor an essentially free approach, his
manner became less experimental than in the 1920s (v. 26, p. 615).
After Villa-Lobos’s first visit to the U.S. in 1944, his international career
developed to its maximum. Villa-Lobos became a composer renowned worldwide,
and his concerts were considered important musical events. From that period until his
death in 1959, Villa-Lobos conducted top orchestras and had his compositions
performed by the best artists.
Villa-Lobos’s piano works have an impressive variety of forms and genres.
His creativity seems unlimited, and despite the fact that the composer was not a
professional pianist himself, his works are extremely well written and exploit the
possibilities of the instrument to its limits. From simple textures such as the ones
found in some of the Brinquedos de Roda (1912) to the high virtuosity of Rudepoema
(1921-1926), Villa-Lobos’s pieces display an enormous range of emotions. His
creativity was expressed not only in the use of new, original genres (such as the
Choros or Bachianas Brasileiras already mentioned). Villa-Lobos also created a new

17
compositional method: the so-called Melodia das Montanhas (Melody of the
Mountains), which generates melodies based on topographic images of landscapes. In
1939, Villa-Lobos wrote a piano piece called New York Skyline expressing on the
piano the photographic image of New York’s skyscrapers.
Béhague (New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2001) gives a
detailed description of Villa-Lobos’s contribution to piano music and his enormous
variety of compositional methods:
Although Villa-Lobos was not himself a very accomplished pianist, his
contribution to 20th-century piano literature is remarkable for its range
of expression, the techniques used and the sheer quantity of different
works. Of the earlier works the Prole do bebê no.2 stands out: the nine
movements which comprise the piece portray toy animals, but are in
essence a set of “transcendental studies” (Souza Lima, 1969). O
boisinho de chumbo (The Little Lead Ox), for example, calls for fast
scale passages in different intervals, diatonic and chromatic glissando
figurations, large intervallic skips and the use of extreme ranges of the
keyboard, rhythmic layering and accentuation of some complexity and
up to three simultaneous dynamic planes. The final grandiose section
with its massive chordal blocks across the registers clearly depicts the
18
eponymous ox. However, despite an at times violent and atonal
harmonic vocabulary, the melodic invention, associated with Brazilian
children's tunes, is quite tonal. Some original folksongs are quoted
with few alterations, for instance Fui no tororó in the second part of A
baratinha de papel (The Paper Bug), which at the start also exhibits a
typical habañera ostinato pattern and a theme whose flexible contour
and rhythm underlines the Brazilian spirit. The ostinato reveals an
ingenious treatment in the alternation of black and white keys: in the
first group of semiquavers the first, third and fourth notes are on white
keys, with the second note on a black key; in the second group, the
second and third notes are now white, and the first and fourth black
(Béhague, New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2001, v.
26, pp. 616-617).
19
Música Viva
In Brazil, the 1920s and 1930s were, as already noted, years of new
nationalistic aesthetic movements. The Week of Modern Art of 1922 blazed the way
for new artistic forces in Brazil. In the years before World War II, Brazilian
composers became involved in the new techniques brought to Brazil by Koellreutter.
The nationalism sought in the Week of Modern Art was no longer considered the goal
of a work of art. Rationalism, form and structure were the new paths followed by a
new generation of composers. In 1939, followers of Koellreutter founded the Grupo
Música Viva. Cláudio Santoro was the first member of this group, soon followed by
Guerra-Peixe, Eunice Catunda and later Edino Krieger.
It is worth reading the guidelines proposed by the group in the May 1, 1944
issue of Revista Música Viva (its official journal):
The Música Viva Group appears as an open door to modern
musical production, participating actively in the evolution of the spirit.
Musical work, as the highest organization of human thought
and emotions, is the center of Música Viva’s artistic endeavor.
20
Música Viva will show that in our modern times there is music
that expresses our lives, music that reflects a new way of thinking
about the world.
The modern spiritual revolution will be reflected in music.
These changes are the reason for the lack of understanding related to
our new music.
However, our ideas are stronger than the prejudice that follows
them!
Therefore, Música Viva will fight for new ideas, believing in
the creative power of the human spirit and in the art of the future
(Neves, 1977, p. 94).
Koellreutter, an avid adherent of twelve-tone music as well as the founder and
leader of Música Viva, made every effort to establish that technique as the normative
compositional process of the group.
Nationalism was no longer considered as leading to a descriptive art based on
imitation of Brazilian elements but with a European accent. Composers wanted to
express a deeper understanding of their culture, without having to make explicit
musical comments. The twelve-tone technique, however, proved not to be the best
form to express nationalistic music.
21
Neoclassicism in Brazil: an Overview
The modernist movement in Brazil was, in a sense, iconoclastic. Young artists
wanted to launch on a new path, and tried to break away completely from “classical
traditions” and “academically accepted practice.” However, nationalistic feeling also
led these artists to search not only for a new way, but also a Brazilian way. The use of
European avant-garde techniques was already a step forward, but the real challenge
was to integrate them with aesthetic elements intrinsic to Brazilian culture.
It is possible to identify a dialectic of disparate elements in tension during the
search for a Brazilian national aesthetics: on the one hand there is the regionalismo
(emphasis on regional characteristics, a term taken from a literary tendency of the
1910s and 1920s), which still uses standard techniques, at the other extreme there are
cosmopolitan movements such as the dadaism or futurism. It should also be
mentioned the nationalistic primitivism of Mário de Andrade’s Macunaíma and
Oswald de Andrade’s Manifesto da Poesia Pau-Brasil and contrast it to the
“universal,” “high-tech” twelve-tone technique of the 1940s. In my opinion, one of
the syntheses that resulted from this dialectical process was the neo-classicism of the
22
1950s, especially that of Edino Krieger, whose work forms the basis of this
discussion.
During the 1950s, Edino Krieger composed four important piano works: two
Sonatas in 1954 and 1956, the Prelúdio e Fuga in 1954, and Sonatina in 1957. The
titles themselves speak of a dialectical return to previous models. Nationalistic titles
such as Tango Brasileiro or Samba, (Alexandre Levy, 1890s), contrast with abstract
titles from the 1940s: Música 1945, Música de Câmara (Edino Krieger). Returning to
classical forms was a natural step for composers living in the post-World War II
period.
With the advent of the twelve-tone technique and its introduction into Brazil
by Koellreutter in the late 1930s, many young composers attempted to create a
Brazilian music once more in accord with European models. Edino Krieger was one
of Koellreutter’s students, and his musical language during that decade involved
mainly serial techniques.
As expressed in Gerard Béhague’s book Music in Latin America: an
Introduction (1979, p. 285), “the decade of the 1950s represented in some ways both
the end of an era and the point of departure of another.” The relationship between
Latin America and North America/Europe definitely changed after the war.
23
The social and intellectual conditions before World War II had
reflected a clear dependence on Europe and North America; the
resulting need for national identity had pointed to musical nationalism
as a path often considered inescapable. But, although political and
economic dependence continued during the 1950s and 1960s, cultural
dependence lessened considerably. Beginning around the mid-1950s
Latin America oriented herself, at least in the larger cities, towards a
more cosmopolitan world (Béhague, 1979, p. 285).
The iconoclastic tendencies in vogue during the 1920s (beginning with the
Semana de Arte Moderna and continuing in the 1930s and 1940s with the advent of
twelve-tone technique) gave place to more balanced aesthetic positions:
Foreign cultural elements continued to prevail but were deliberately
assimilated within a new frame of reference. Numerous composers felt
that in the process of assimilation a natural qualitative selection would
take place, followed by an imitation, re-creation and transformation of
the foreign models according to prevailing local conditions and
individual needs (Béhague, 1979, p. 285).
24
Edino Krieger’s piano works of the 1950s fit perfectly Béhague’s words
quoted above: “transformation of the foreign models according to prevailing local
conditions and individual needs.” Even a work written in London (Sonata no. 2, from
1956) reflects Brazilian sources, and could easily be entitled Saudades do Brasil or
Saudades das Selvas Brasileiras (to refer to two works written in Europe but inspired
in Brazil, by Darius Milhaud and Heitor Villa-Lobos respectively). The period
between the wars and after the Second World War brought significant aesthetic
changes. The challenges created by “ultra-romantic” composers such as Strauss,
Reger or Wolf could not be solved linearly. It seemed that there was no return from
the chromatism presented by Wagner. Tonality was under scrutiny, and everything
was moving towards radical changes.
25
Open Letter to the Musicians and Music Critics of Brazil
Música Viva as a movement was active at the same time as nationalistic
composers such as Camargo Guarnieri, Lorenzo Fernandez and Francisco Mignone. It
was inevitable that these two completely different aesthetic movements would clash.
The conflict became official with the 1950 Carta Aberta aos Músicos e Críticos do
Brasil (Open Letter to the Musicians and Music Critics of Brazil), written by
Camargo Guarnieri. This letter, dated November 7, 1950, was sent to composers,
conservatories and music schools and was published by Brazilian newspapers.
Guarnieri’s extreme views created the greatest polemic ever in the history of
Brazilian music. Never before had journals and newspapers written in such detail
about classical music. Both sides of the discussion passionately defended their
positions, and a compromise was out of the question.
Guarnieri’s main concern was that the twelve-tone technique did not permit
the true expression of Brazilian art. He began his letter by explaining the reason for
making such a pronouncement:
26
I write as someone deeply worried by the present direction that the
music of our young composers has taken, composers who, under the
influence of erroneous ideas, have adopted the twelve-tone technique,
a formal trend that will eventually debase the character of our national
music.
Guarnieri’s love for everything Brazilian was well described: “Our country
has one of the richest folk arts in the world, arts almost completely unknown to many
composers.” He becomes even poetic when states: “They deliberately ignore the fact
that we have an Amazon of folk music – the living expression of our national
character – waiting to be studied and developed [by us] to the greater glory of
Brazilian culture.” His letter was filled with strong expressions such as, “They prefer
to import and to copy baneful new foreign trends like monkeys, vulgar imitators, or
creatures without principles, and pretend that in doing so they are ‘original,’ ‘modern’
and ‘advanced’.” He also declared:
The twelve-tone technique is, generally speaking, a product of
old and decomposing cultures. It is an affectation of jaded
intelligences, dry souls who do not believe in life anymore. It is an
addiction of half-dead, mediocre composers, who turn away from their
27
homeland and are incapable of feeling, loving and expressing anything
that is new, dynamic and healthy in our people’s spirit.
This letter certainly could be considered one of the most important documents
in recent Brazilian music history.
It is clear that Guarnieri’s views were radical and his letter revealed a very
personal and rather ideological understanding of twelve-tone music. He believed that
the twelve-tone technique (like all the other forms of [foreign]
contraband that we have imported and assimilated one after the other)
is a characteristic political expression of cultural degeneration. It is a
branch of the dangerous cosmopolitanism that menaces us with its
deforming darkness and has as its hidden goal the slow and pernicious
work of destroying our national character.
He explained why it took so long for him to write such a letter and the reason
for being so personal and passionate:
I was waiting for favorable conditions that might allow a collective
pronouncement from those responsible for our music regarding this
28
important problem, one which involves intentions graver than might be
imagined at first thought. But unfortunately, these conditions did not
materialize, and I feel around me a silence that is both embarrassing
and suspicious. I myself think that our silence is, at this moment, a
form of collusion with the twelve-tone imposture. This is the reason
why this document has taken such a personal character.
Despite Guarnieri’s relative youth (he was forty-three at the time the letter
was written), he did not seem to be open to new ideas. Contrary to Schoenberg’s
original ideals, twelve-tone music had not turned out to be the one and only new
technique of musical composition. It became, however, a valid technique when used
as a means, not as an end. Nationalist composers from other cultures, such as Arno
Babadjanian (1921-1983), from Armenia, proved that it is indeed possible to compose
nationalistic music using twelve-tone technique. Some of his works for piano,
especially Kartiny (Pictures), in fact use that technique to display the rich Armenian
folk music.
Edino Krieger, one of the youngest composers of Música Viva, proved to be
well prepared to defend his ideas in a series of articles published in Rio de Janeiro’s
most influential newspaper Tribuna da Imprensa in 1950. His articles had clear
arguments, were not personal and used musical terminology in a logical way.
29
Krieger’s main complaint regarding Guarnieri’s letter concerned the letter’s confused
understanding of terminology such as style, language, technique and aesthetics
(Neves, 1977, p. 131).
It is worth observing that, despite his well-balanced answer to Guarnieri’s
pronouncement, it was in the 1950s that Krieger changed his style from the non-
orthodox twelve-tone pieces to a more nationalistic and neoclassical style. When
asked about his change of position despite his defense of Koellreutter’s ideas, Krieger
explained:
Before the Open Letter, when I was a student at The Juilliard School, I
had already decided to quit the twelve-tone technique, at least for a
while. I felt that I began to compose in this technique too early in my
career, without a deeper understanding of the major forms. Some
compositions from my New York years, such as Melopéia a 5 and
Contrasts for orchestra are not twelve-tone pieces. I came back to a
free, non-orthodox twelve-tone technique in Música 1952 and Choro
for flute and strings. From 1953, with the Sonata for piano, four hands,
I began a neo-classical, nationalist period. It is possible that the
debates on nationalism v. universalism had some influence on my
change, but as I said earlier these changes began to occur prior to
30
1950. When I contested Guarnieri’s letter, I was not defending the
twelve-tone technique, but rather defending the freedom of creation
against what I felt was an equivocal position (Krieger, interview,
March 2001).
At first an adept of the new twelve-tone ideas (seen in piano works like
Miniaturas and Epigramas, as well as in other chamber and orchestral pieces),
Krieger continued his development towards a modern language and eventually
achieved the right balance in his neoclassical works.
31
Chapter Two: Musical Analysis
Sonata no. 1, 1953-54
Prelúdio e Fuga, 1954
Sonata no. 2, 1956
Sonatina, 1957
32
Sonata no. 1, 1953-1954
There is a sense of tonal ambiguity in Edino Krieger’s music. It is indeed
possible to identify some kind of tonal center. However, in most cases his works
begin and end in a different key. Examples of this can be found in his Sonatina,
Prelúdio e Fuga and both Sonatas, his most important tonal/modal piano works.
Modal influence is one of Edino Krieger’s main traits. In the Sonatina, for example, a
minor is assumed as the key until the appearance of F#; when we may assume the key
of e minor, with the first measures analyzed as a subdominant beginning. However,
this is an analysis done a posteriori. Music exists in time, and in the actual process of
listening we perceive a minor as the key, and the appearance of F# in m. 5 makes
one analyze the theme in the a Dorian mode . The ends of the first and second
movements are in e minor, thus confirming the non-tonic beginning of the entire
piece. Prelúdio e Fuga has implied a minor (Prelude) and d minor (Fugue)
beginnings, but both end in a different key. The Prelude ends on an empty C, 3
octaves apart, with an upper G as appoggiatura; the previous measure implies c
minor. The Fugue ends unexpectedly in an ambiguous F#, without the third. In both
33
sonatas, it is not possible to analyze tonal relations in the “classical” understanding of
the term: a strong tonal center (the tonic), confirmed by its dominant. In Krieger’s
piano sonatas, the beginning key is never the ending key. With the exception of the
second movement of Sonata no. 2 (a Major/minor mode mixture in F combined with
a Lydian scale), all movements are tonally continuous (they begin and end in different
keys), as is the work as a whole.
Sonata no. 1, written between December 1953 and May 1954, is an example
of a work that cannot be analyzed “classically” in terms of form and tonal
construction. This sonata has three movements: Andante, Seresta (Homenagem a
Villa-Lobos), Variações e Presto. The second movement was the first to be written,
and is often performed separately. Thematic material from the first movement comes
back in the third, giving this work a more cyclical overall form than that of Sonata no.
2. The main idea of the first movement is typically Kriegerian: simply a broken
seventh chord. This melodic-harmonic idea will be the basis of the whole work.
ANDANTE ( q = 58 )
œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
&œ œ œ œ œ œ .. œ nœ œ œ
3
œ. œ # œœ œ # œ œ œ œ
. Ÿ~~~~~~~~~
œ œ œ # œœ . œ #œ
?‰
3 ≈ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ.
Ex. 1: Sonata no. 1, first movement, mm. 1-2.
34
The second movement, composed before the others, uses slightly different
compositional material: 4ths and 5ths form most of the melodic material in this
movement.
The seventh chord, in its several possible forms (Major-Major, minor-minor,
half-diminished, Major-minor) is what could be called the compositional basis of this
sonata and gives it a solid sense of unity.
For contrast, Krieger chooses two of his typical features: repeated notes and
parallel thirds. The repeated notes give rise to a melodic 9th chord with the 7th
omitted. Considering the basic tonal center as a minor, the F# gives this theme a
Dorian flavor.
Allegro Enérgico
4 #œ
& 8 ≈ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ. œ. . ® œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ® œ œ œ.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F a tempo
j œœ œœ œ œœ
? 48 œ œœ # œœ >œ œœ
œ > > > > > >
As stated in an article written by Father José Geraldo de Souza (“Contribuição
Rítmico-Modal do Canto Gregoriano para a Música Popular Brasileira,” “Rhythmic
35
and Modal Contributions of Gregorian Chant to Brazilian Popular Music,” Revista
C.B.M [Conservatório Brasileiro de Música], 1962), Gregorian chant was an
important element in the formation of Brazilian musical arts. In the above article, the
author quotes Andrade Muricy (Jornal do Comércio, Rio de Janeiro, 1951): “The
initial influence on [Brazilian] music was Gregorian chant brought by the Jesuits and
Franciscans; this was taken deep into educational life, as an agent of easy persuasion
and doctrinal assimilation” (Souza, 1962, p. 18). Even though the theme shown in ex.
2 is not a direct quotation from folk sources, the Dorian mode lends a sense of
Brazilian popular music. Combining this theme with parallel thirds, Krieger shows
another of his strengths: polyphony. This work (and his piano work as a whole) is
extremely polyphonic, and even the movement called Variations (the third
movement) has a fugal beginning and uses imitation techniques throughout. The
parallel thirds come back every time the second idea appears, and in an inventive
inverted counterpoint become a new idea near the end of the first movement.
Considering the pitch A the tonal center in this section, this episode uses the Lydian
mode. Lydian mode and parallel thirds are typical in the folk music of the
Northeastern states in Brazil.
36
& ≈ # œœ # œœ # œœ # œœ ≈ œœ ≈ ‰ . # œœ # œœ # œœ œ œœ
R #œ # œœ ≈ œœ ≈ ‰ . # œœ
R
p
& ®œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ® œ œ œ œ ‰ ® ®
œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ.
..... .... .. .. . . . .
Parallel thirds will be the main dynamic material of the final Presto and create
the most difficult passages in this sonata. The quartal-quintal melodic shape from the
second movement is also present in the first theme of the first and third movements.
The basic requirement of the so-called “sonata principle” (what was stated in
the dominant should be restated in the tonic), valid for most sonatas during the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, does not apply to Krieger’s sonatas. There are no
dramatic moments, tonally speaking, as would be usual in classical and romantic
sonatas. Krieger employs instead a rich melodic and harmonic structure to create his
culminating points. Counterpoint is used throughout this sonata, and when added to
the unity created by the use of repeated melodic motives, this creates a sense of
closure for each movement and for the work as a whole.
The first movement has a rondo-like structure (disguised under a sonata-form
basis), but it cannot be analyzed as either a sonata-form or a rondo in the textbook
understanding of such, although it appears to be conceived sectionally. The first
37
section (mm. 1-26) is a self-contained small ternary form; the main melodic-harmonic
idea comes back almost unchanged, and serves as a bridge to the second section (mm.
27-60). This section is what one would call the secondary theme in a sonata form, and
is also stated in a ternary form, but with a reprise a step up. This feature will be
developed further in the beginning of the third movement, as explained below. After a
measure of what could be labeled a “call,” or a leitmotiv, the first theme is back. This
“call” appears first in m. 11, is modified in mm. 25-27 and returns in mm. 61 and 95.
It is developed polyphonically in mm. 113-115 and is also present throughout the
second movement. It appears in augmentation in the third movement, mm. 194-196.
& [‰ ] ‰ Œ [Œ]
>
? [ ‰ # ]œ œ b Jœ œ b œ œ œ
nœ
Ex. 4: Sonata no. 1, first movement, m. 11.
Here is when one gets the strong impression that the form is rondo. This
section (mm. 63-95) corresponds to a development in a sonata-form and is the
culminating point of this movement. Both thematic ideas (or all three, if we consider
the parallel thirds as a separate element) are polyphonically stated in a three-voice

38
texture. After a sudden stop in m. 94, the first theme is restated, but not before the
“call” is again heard (m. 95). This brief restatement of the first thematic idea could
hardly be analyzed as a recapitulation, especially bearing in mind that what follows is
an ostinato figure based on the second thematic idea, and not the recapitulation of the
second theme. This section (mm. 96 to the end) is better analyzed as a coda. It
introduces new material, based on the parallel thirds motive. As a whole, this
movement resembles rondo-sonata form, and it could be roughly described as
follows:
Refrain (A): 1-26
Episode (B): 27-60
Refrain (A): 62-c. 69
Episode (C): c. 70-95
Refrain (A): 96-101
Episode (B): 102-c. 125
Refrain (A): c. 126-134
This analysis can not be completely accurate, since in this sonata Krieger used
a free formal structure. It is clear that the composer did not want to make his music fit
a pre-established form, but rather left intact the rhapsodic aspect of his creative
process. The circa before measure numbers indicate gray areas, where the exact
points of structural change are not clear.
39
The second movement is called Seresta (Homenagem a Villa-Lobos) and was
included in a collection of pieces dedicated to Villa-Lobos. This collection was called
Homenagem a Villa-Lobos and was organized by Professor José Eduardo Martins
(Gandelman, 1997, p. 108). The title expresses the composer’s desire to communicate
a sort of music typical in early twentieth-century Brazil: the Seresta. Best translated
as Serenade, this musical genre is typically accompanied by a guitar and cavaquinho
(a string instrument similar in shape to the guitar, but usually with only four strings; it
uses two different tunings, one of which is the same as the violin). The soloist could
be a flutist or a singer.
The intervallic composition is basically formed by fifths and fourths that
create a very angular melodic line. Krieger uses one of his favorite formal features:
the transposition of sections to other keys. This feature is used in the very beginning
(mm. 1-4 are transposed in mm. 10-13), and in a bigger picture by the end, when mm.
24-38 are literally transposed down a third in mm. 63-77.
40
œ œœœ œœ
&2‰ œ œ œ bœ bœ bœ œ
p
?
2 & ˙
˙
&
œ œ bœ œœ
? nœ œ bœ
nœ nœ bœ bœ bœ
œ ‰
p œ
Ex. 5: Sonata no. 1, second movement, mm. 1-4, 10-13.
After the fermata in mm. 38 and 77 (a flat vii2 of f minor and d minor
respectively), the next eight measures are identical in both sections, ending in b-flat
minor. It is possible to think of mm. 63-77 as a thematic reprise, although not a tonal
one. This movement is composed of an introduction (mm. 1-23), where the basic
thematic ideas are presented, the main theme (mm. 24-38), a short modulatory
development section (mm. 47-62), and the thematic reprise (63-77).
This movement (with the exception of most of the introduction) is very
polyphonic. The texture is denser than in the outer movements and includes
polyrhythmic moments such as in mm. 30-31 (transposed in mm. 69-70), where four-
voice writing of duple and triple meters presents considerable difficulty for the
41
performer. This texture is often found in Villa-Lobos’s music, and its presence here
may be a sign of Edino Krieger’s homenagem a Villa-Lobos described in the subtitle.
The third movement, entitled “Variations and Presto,” begins as a fugue. A
10-bar theme is stated and then, transposed up a whole step, appears combined with a
counter-subject rich in fourths and fifths.
LENTO ( q = 48 )
œ . œ # œ œ œ # œ œ ‰ # Jœ œ #œ œ #œ #œ
& j œ. œ œ œ œ ‰ œ #œ œ
2 œ œ œ œ
p com simplicidade
?2 ‰ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑
#œ. œ ≈ bœ œ
& #œ #œ #œ œ bœ œ bœ œ ∑
bœ bœ bœ
? ∑ ∑ ∑ b˙ œ
b˙ œ
Ex. 6: Sonata no. 1, third movement, mm. 1-10.
The theme is stated in a minor, but quickly modulates, ending in b-flat minor.
The first variation (m. 11) begins in b-flat minor, quickly modulating to b minor. The
second variation (m. 22) begins in c minor, and basically stays in c minor until m. 35;
a brief ostinato rhythmic pattern (based on the second thematic idea of the first
movement) brings d minor for the third variation (m. 38), a three-voice texture.
42
œ œ œ œ œ œ
j œ. œ œ œ
& Œ ‰ œ
J
f legato
œ œœ œ œ œœ
? œœœœ œœœœœœ œœœœ œœœœœœ œœœœœœ
Ex. 7: Sonata no. 1, third movement, mm.37-38.
A small codetta (mm. 46-52) ends this first section. It is worth observing
Krieger’s highly inventive variational process: the thematic motive e-a (m. 1)
becomes f-b flat (m. 11), then g-c (m. 22) and finally a-d (m. 38), a fourth above the
initial theme. By m. 53 we have three changes in tempo marking: Lento (m. 1),
Moderato (m. 21) and Andantino (m. 53).
The Andantino section (mm. 53-95) is itself a ternary form, with a reduced
recapitulation (Lento, m. 85) that raises more questions than it provides answers to:
punctuating fermatas give a sense of searching or longing and the whole section ends
on a minor-minor ninth-chord.
43
bœ œœ bœ œ
Andantino
3 œ bœ œ. bœ œ œ
& 8 J œ. nœ bœ œ œœ
nœ. bœ œ. œ bœ bœ
a tempo
bœ. œ b œ b œœ . b œ n œ œ .n œ bœbœ œ œ
3
ten
?n œ
& 8 ≈ bœ œ
b œ b œ b œœ b b œœ b œ n œ œ œ . b œb œ
œ
The rests and lack of final cadences undermine the feeling of reprise. It could
be considered the fourth variation because of the inverted fourth that resembles the
beginning of the main theme. But it could also be analyzed as an intermezzo. In this
section one can observe the parallel thirds from the first movement. In m. 96 one
more tempo marking (Andante) brings us back to the theme in its original key. The
theme stated here is basically the same (from a minor to b-flat), with a few melodic
and rhythmic changes. The texture is again (as in the third variation) highly
polyphonic three-part writing.
Measure 115 begins with a new tempo marking: Allegro scherzando. This
section is also intermezzo-like, bringing back motives from the entire sonata without
using the third movement theme. The seventh-chord (in its minor-minor form)
appears in cross-hand technique (mm. 117-118), and the melodic fourths and fifths
from the second movement become harmonic, creating rhythmic ostinato chords. The
44
triplet figure that appeared in m. 115 will be the new impulse for one more variation
(m. 128), and this section ends with a mirror reprise of the intermezzo measures.
The presto begins in m. 156 with an angular unison figure based on fourths
and fifths. Parallel thirds are built little by little until they reach their climax in the
most challenging measures of this work (mm. 206-210). Two of the most difficult
techniques in piano performance (parallel thirds and octaves) are combined in
contrary motion, creating a virtuosic moment for the performer.
bœ b œ b œ bœ œ √
bœ bœ nœ bœ œ bœ œ
bœ bœ
bœ bœ bœ
bœ bœ bœ bœ
bœ bœ œ bœ nœ bœ nœ bœ œ bœ œ
& b œ œ bœ nœ
n b œœ n b œœ b œœ n œœ b œ œ
& b œœ b b œœ b œœ b œœ b œœ œœ œœ œœ b œœ b b œœ b b œœ b b œœ b b œœ b œœ b œ œ
?
œ b œ b œœ b œœ
b œ bœ
The rhythmic pattern used in the culminating point of the development in the
first movement (mm. 71-75) reappears (mm. 186-193), and it is combined with the
main motive of the first movement. This and the dramatic appearance of the grace-
note motive from the first movement (enhanced by a change of tempo marking to
Grave) help to create a cyclical perception of the work as a whole.
45
Grave U
& ˙ j Œ
œœ bœ. œ
? ˙ U
œœ bœ. œ n ˙
bœ. œ n˙
J ◊
≈ œœ œœ œœ
n œœœ œœœ œ œ œ
& ≈ #œ #œ œ œ ≈ œ œ
œ œ
bœ.
≈ œ bœ
? ≈ #œ
& b œœ œœ b œœ œœ œœ ? ≈ œ œ bœ. œ œ bœ bœ œ
#œ œ œ b œœ œœ œœ œ bœ œ
The marking presto in measure 196 returns us to the first theme of the sonata
polyphonically combined with the parallel thirds. The whole work ends with the
rhythmic pattern of the culminating section from the development of the first
movement.
This sonata marked Edino Krieger’s first experience in a large-form
composition for solo piano. Though still in his twenties, Krieger proved to be already
46
a mature composer, with great knowledge of the form and ready to express himself in
a very original way.
47
Prelúdio e Fuga, 1954
Villa-Lobos’s great series of the Bachianas Brasileiras, written from 1930 to
1945, had an important influence on the compositional process of younger
composers. The ingenious idea of combining Bach’s high Baroque style with
elements of Brazilian life was followed, if not literally, at least in principle by most
Brazilian composers in the 1940s and 1950s. Post-war aesthetics called for a
cosmopolitan, unified artistic experience. “Beginning around the mid-1950s Latin
America oriented herself, at least in the larger cities, towards a more cosmopolitan
world” (Béhague, 1979, p. 285). With the Bachianas Brasileiras, Villa-Lobos proved
that the solution to finding a real nationalism was not in taking an iconoclastic
approach, but in the assimilation of the wonderful works of the past in the light of a
new aesthetics.
Edino Krieger’s Prelúdio e Fuga, written in 1954, falls into this category:
with his combination of imitative counterpoint and Brazilian rhythmic-melodic
elements, Krieger achieved an exciting and new artistic synthesis. That Krieger was
inspired by Villa-Lobos’s Bachianas is evident in his parenthetical subtitles, (the
same feature Villa-Lobos had used in his series, giving first the baroque name and
48
then the Brazilian title of the same): Prelúdio (Cantilena) e Fuga (Marcha-Rancho).
Cantilena could be translated as song, and Marcha-Rancho is a march-like folk
dance, as the name states.
The prelude begins with a descending line played by the left hand thumb. This
line, combined with ostinato sixteenth-notes creates a typical Kriegerian feature:
parallel thirds.
œ. nœ œ œ œ
&2 œ
œ. œ œ. œ
& 2 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ . œ œ œœ # œœ . œ œ œœ
p
Ex. 12: Prelude from Prelúdio e Fuga, mm. 1-2.
These thirds are inverted in mm. 14-17, and the descending melodic line is
switched to the fifth finger. The form of this prelude is ABA’ (A’ is compressed), and
the main unifying element is a rhythmic ostinato, in both A and B.
A: mm.1-28
B: mm. 29-68
A: mm. 69-81
49
The melodic line that begins this piece is languid, melancholic and song-like
with wide leaps.
œ œœœœ œ œ
œ. nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ
&
Angular melodic elements abound in Krieger’s piano music (for example, the
second theme in the first movement of Sonata no. 2, or the opening theme of the
second movement of Sonata no.1). This melody is treated contrapuntally, appearing
in different voices. The texture is mostly three-part, sometimes four-part.
The rhythmic motive present throughout part B is characteristic of the
northeastern Brazilian dance baião. This motive is marked by accents and occurs
within a frame of constantly moving sixteenth-notes (mm. 29-57).
j j œœ
POCO PIU MOSSO
bœ. œ bœ
& œ bœ œ œœ œ b œœ œ œ œ
(>) (>) (>) segue
&
≈ # n œœœœ ... œœœœ ... œœ
œœ ≈ # n œœœœ ... œœœ ..
œ.
œœ
œœ
J J
50
A variant of this rhythm appears in m. 58. This section is the culminating
point and could be considered the retransition to A. This is one of the most
demanding sections in this piece because of the inventive use of inverted counterpoint
in a three-part texture combined with polyrhythm.
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ. œ œ
œ
& ..
œ œœ œœ œœ œœ . œ b œ œœ œœ œ œœœ œ
œœ œ œ œ œ œ
? œœœœ œ œ œ bœ œ œ œ
3 3
Tonality, as usual in Krieger’s piano music, is ambiguous. The beginning key
is a minor, but the Prelúdio ends in c minor. The Fuga has a different key signature
(one flat), beginning in d minor. However, it ends unexpectedly on an f# chord
without the third, thus leaving the mode unclear. The texture is three-part.
It is possible again to speak about angularity in the fugue’s theme. It is
composed of a two-measure descending melodic sequence.
51
& b c œ œ
3
j ˙ jœ #œ œ ˙
? c ‰ œ #œ œ #˙ ‰ n œ # œ n˙
b 3
Ex. 16: Fugue from Prelúdio e Fuga, mm. 1-4.
This thematic construction could make possible a true kaleidoscopic tonal
presentation of the main idea. However, Krieger keeps the d minor tonality quite
present, with important arrival points in g minor (m. 38 and m. 45) and d minor (m.
52). Beginning with m. 57, D major becomes apparently more important, thus
implying an ending on the “picardy third.” A conclusive cadence in b minor, ff (mm.
63-64) announces the beginning of the coda. However, instead of staying in the D
Major/b minor tonal sphere, Krieger modulates to C major/a minor (parallel thirds
section, mm. 69-74). The modulation makes that section easier to perform on the
piano, since all the parallel thirds are played on the white keys. This fact, combined
with the dynamic marking (piano), makes this section easier to perform when
compared to the coda from Sonata no. 1, third movement.
52
# œœ # œœ œ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ n œ œœ n œ œ œ . œ œ œj
& œ nœ œ œ #œ œ
f
œ œ #œ ˙
3
? J œ #œ œ
œ œ #˙ ˙
œ #œ œ #˙
J
√ j n œœ œœ œœ œ œ
œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ n œœ œœ œ œj œœ œ
& b ‰ J œ œ n œ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œj œ
œ J œ œ œœ œœ
œ
p
j j
? ˙ ‰ œœ n œœ œœ n œœ œœ œœ œœ n œ œj œœ œœ œœ n œœ œœ œ œ j œ j
b & œœ œ œ œœ n œœ œ œœ
In a recent interview, Krieger stated, when asked about the importance of
form when composing: “In my work form is a result of an almost intuitive musical
thought. In the fugue (from Prelúdio e Fuga) the theme returns more times than in a
textbook fugue. It just happened…” (Krieger, interview, March 2001).
There are many features in Edino Krieger’s music that are not faithful to
textbook form. In the same interview, he continues to comment on his compositional
methods:
53
My work could be divided into 50% intuition and 50% rationality. In
the tonal-modal works I did not have a concrete plan for tonal centers,
bitonality or polytonality. The harmonic and melodic structures derive
from the intuitive musical flow. In general, I believe that music itself
should be above questions of forms and compositional techniques. I do
not use a form as an inhibitor or determinant in the musical thought,
but only as a possible organization of sounds, through previous study
and after I have it back on an unconscious level (Krieger, interview,
March 2001).
However, Krieger’s piano works are always concise and have a logical
structure. His intuition is well balanced with rationality, and this gives his music a
unique and well-defined aesthetic feeling.
54
Sonata no. 2, 1956
Edino Krieger’s Sonata no. 2 was composed in England during his studies
with Lennox Berkeley in London. Written in 1956, this sonata keeps the same basic
tonal/modal characteristics already analyzed in the first sonata. But Sonata no. 2 is
considerably more difficult technically than no. 1: Krieger’s polyphonic writing is
combined with leaps, parallel octaves (m. 26), a canon-like right hand with left-hand
parallel octaves (m. 65), and trills within octaves (mm. 85-86). These are only a few
examples of the technical difficulties the performer may expect in this work.
Krieger’s typical piano features are present here as well: parallel thirds, trills,
unison and angular melodies. The first movement is based on a triadic motive (m. 1)
in f# minor, repeated up a step (m. 12), in g minor. As already discussed in the
analysis of the first sonata, this work has no fixed tonal center; the first movement
begins in f# minor and ends in c# minor. This sonata has a greater structural contrast
between its two thematic elements. The triadic first theme is contrasted to the angular
melodic figure that forms the second important element. This thematic material itself
is built on the juxtaposition of seconds and big leaps (m. 17), followed by its
combination with one of Krieger’s musical signatures: parallel thirds. The thirds are
55
polyphonically combined with melodic intervals in the right hand giving a first hint of
the polyphonic texture that will be developed later.
The sonata-form in this movement is treated with more dramatic flair, as
compared with Sonata no. 1. There is real conflict between the main thematic ideas,
and this conflict is partially resolved by the end of the movement. In this sonata, the
two main thematic elements create a dialectic tension throughout the entire first
movement.
The first theme states a triadic motive based on an f# minor chord:
Ÿ
Allegro ( q = 120 ) F #˙.
& 45 #œ œ #œ œ
44
#œ œ œ. #œ
Œ #œ œ #œ œ œ œ #œ œ #œ œ #œ #œ
Ó
J π
F
œ #œ œ œ #œ œ œœ # œœ # œœ œ
? 45 # œ . 4 œ . Œ #œ Œ Œ ‰ #œ #œ
#œ. œ #œ #œ œ 4 #œ
J & # œ œ
p
This motive is contrasted with left-hand parallel thirds and trills sustaining
long notes, both typical traits in Krieger’s piano music:
56
Ÿ Ÿ
# # ˙œ . œ œ
Œ
œ #œ #œ ˙
# # # œœ # œ œœ # œ
& œ # œ œ œ
f
Ó ‰ œ #œ
# œ # œœ
& # œœ # # œœ œ Œ Œ ‰ œ œœ œ
# œ #
#œ J
Another characteristic effect appears in m. 12: the main theme is transposed
up a half step.
5 bœ œ œ 6 j
& 4 œ œ œ 4 bœ.
nœ. bœ œ œ
π
? 45 œ bœ œ œ œ
nœ. bœ œ œ 46 b œ . œ
J
At this point, parallel thirds do not return and a new idea is stated: a very
angular melodic line in sixteenth-notes, with the harmony based on g minor.
57
4 œ bœ œ œ œ œ
& 4 ≈ œ #œ œ œ bœ œ œ œ œ
p
? 44
w &
w
Ex. 22: Sonata no. 2, first movement, m. 17.
This idea (like the main theme) is again contrasted with parallel thirds in both
hands. The first culminating point appears quite early, in m. 24-27. The second
melodic idea is combined with two-part texture in the left hand. This two-part texture
is highly rhythmic and the lower voice states a melody in the Dorian mode.
œ #œ bœ œœ œœ œ œœ œœœ œœ œ #œ
bœ œ œ œœ œ œœ œ bœ œ
6 4
& 4 4
œ œ œœ œœ œœ
? 6 œ. b œœ œœœ œ b œ œ œ . œ œœ œ œ œ œ. œœœœ 4 œ
4 œ œ œ bœ œ œ œœœ œ œ. œ œ œ œ œ 4 œ.
œ œ.
The return of the first theme at the beginning of the development section
(usual in Krieger’s approach to sonata-form) is based on the c# minor triad. The
58
development section is extremely polyphonic. From short imitations to four-part
textures this section poses musical and technical challenges to the performer.
œ œ œ b˙ j
& ‰ b œ b œ b œ˙ b œ b œ b œ b œœ . b œ b œ ‰
Ó ‰ bœ bœ œ
j j
? n b œœ œ
‰ œ. bœ bœ bœ bœ bœ. j ‰
œ œ. bœ bœ bœ bœ bœ. bœ ˙
bœ ˙
j 3 j j j
b b œœ œœ œœ œ b œ œ n œœ b b œœ œœ œ b œ œœ œ
œ b b œ
œ œ
œ œœ b b œœ œ n œœ b b œœ b œœ œ œ
#œ n œ œ œb œ œ œ œ
& ‰ J J J
3
3 3
f destacando a mao
3 3 3 3
~ esquerda
> > >
& œœ b œ œ b œ œœ b œ œ b œ b œœ b œ œ b œ b b œœ ∫ œ b œ n œ
œ bœ bœ bœ
It is not easy to identify a formal recapitulation. Measure 125 states the main
theme in d minor, in what could be called a thematic, although not tonal,
recapitulation. Since this structural point is very close to the end of the movement, it
59
could also be labeled the beginning of a coda. In m. 134 the main theme is stated in c
minor, but the texture changes completely from unison writing to octaves, played by
both hands in canonic imitation.
>œ b>œ œ œ bœ œ
œ œ bœ bœ œ
& Œ ‰ ‰ bœ œ œ œ œ bœ
bœ >
>
f
>œ b >œ b >œ >œ >œ
sub. e marcato
? œ bœ œ œ bœ
> œ œ
bœ œ bœ œ & bœ bœ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ œ
Beginning from the marking presto in m. 140, all the thematic elements are
stated and then fade away. This movement ends with a compressed and varied
statement of the main theme in c # minor.
Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ
#˙. œ #w #w #w # ˙ .. #œ
#œ œ œ œ #œ
4 Ó‰ œ J ‰Œ Ó
&4 # œ # œœ œœ Ó Œ
# œœ ‰ # # œœ ‰ Œ
p π
˙. œ
? 4 ˙. j
4 Œ Ó Œ ‰ Œ œ Ó
# j‰ Œ Œ ‰ # œ ‰Œ Ó
#œ #œ #œ œ œ #œ
◊ F #œ #œ #œ
J π
60
The second movement begins with the mode mixture F Major-f minor-Lydian.
This variety of sounds is combined with a syncopated rhythm typical of Brazilian
music.
Andantino moderato e con motto
& 42 œœ . œ œ bœ œ. œ œ. œ œ œ œ.
œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ # œ
p
? 2
4 œ- . b œ- œ œ- œ- . - bœ œ œ bœ œ.
b œ- œ b œ œ. œ
Ex. 28: Sonata no. 2, second movement, mm.1-4.
This rhythm is present throughout the first movement and will be important in
the third movement. It could be considered one of the unifying elements in this work.
In the introduction to the score, Ronaldo Miranda compares this movement to the
Andante movements in Guarnieri’s woks: “The second movement – Andantino –
suggests the Brazilian Northeast with its subtle harmonic treatment, reminiscent of
the ease and ‘savoir-faire’ of Guarnieri’s Andantes. The text develops a dense
pianistic language before coming back to the beauty of its beginning atmosphere.”
The beauty of this main idea is indeed impressive. As Saloméa Gandelman describes
this movement: “[it evokes the] atmosphere of Prokofiev, the swing of a ‘cantilena’
through the constant movement in sixteenth-notes and use of syncopation”

61
(Gandelman, 1997, p. 110). This comparison with a cantilena is especially suitable
with respect to the Prelude (subtitled Cantilena) from the Prelúdio and Fuga. This
work was composed earlier and indeed uses the constant movement of sixteenth-notes
combined with syncopation. Despite the polyphonic treatment used by Krieger
throughout the movement, we still can feel the melodic importance of the main
theme, and the overall idea remains lyrical and quiet.
This will be contrasted with the last movement’s toccata-like texture. Vivace
molto e con spirito is the tempo marking. The use of vivace combined with con
spirito is usual for pieces with a fiery character, fast tempo and impressive texture.
All these elements are present in this movement. The main idea is composed of two
contrasting elements: alternated perfect fifths, staccato and accented, and a legato
unison melody, reminiscent of the first movement.
Vivace molto e con spirito

4 nœ
& 4 #œ œ
œœ œœ œœ ‰ ≈ n œ # œ n œ n œ b œ b œ n # œœ œœ œœ œœ n n œœ œœ œœ œœ # œ œ
œœ œœ
J
? 44 #œ nœ nœ bœ bœ #œ œ #œ œ œ
# œ ≈ nœ #œ nœ # œ œ # œ œ œ
The similarity with the first movement becomes even more apparent in mm.
5-6, when this element is combined with parallel thirds. The exact return of the main
62
theme (not varied or transposed, as usual in Krieger’s approach) in m. 27 marks the
beginning of a development section. This section will state an important theme in the
mixolydian mode.
√
bœ. œ. j bœ
œ. œ. œ œ œ œ œ
bœ. œ. œ. œ œ bœ œ œ œ
& > > > >. œ
2 2 2
œ œ œ œ œ bœ œ œ bœ
& œ. œ. œ. œ. bœ œ. œ œ. œ œ œ. œ
√
œ bœ œ. bœ. œ
œ. œ
bœ bœ bœ nœ nœ bœ œ . b œœ ..
œ.
œœ .. b œœ ... œ ..
œ
& œ. J
ß ç ç
œ . b >œ . >œ . j
>œ >œ . œ œ bœ œ bœ œ .
& œ . b œœ .. œœ ... b œœ .. œ. bœ œ b œ n œ œ.
This theme is based on the Brazilian northeastern dance forró. Krieger, during
a recent interview, commented on his use of modes: “The use of modes in my music
is almost always intuitive. However, my use of the characteristic modes of
northeastern Brazil has been conscious and intentional” (Krieger, interview, March
63
2001). In answer to my question regarding the use of northeastern modes and motives
in his music despite his southern origin he said:
The presence of northeastern modes is very frequent in the music of
southern composers: Guarnieri, Osvaldo Lacerda and others in São
Paulo as well as Radamés Gnatalli in the Rio Grande do Sul, make
extensive use of melodies based on the northeastern modes. My
interest in these elements came spontaneously beginning back in the
1950s: the final frevo of Sonata no.1, the northeastern motives from
the final movement of Sonata no. 2, the Brasiliana for viola and
strings (the only work where I used quotations from a folk theme),
several canons from Rondas Infantis and also in many recent works,
such as the Te Deum, Concerto for Two Guitars and Strings, and the
Cantata A Era do Conhecimento, written this past year (Krieger,
interview, March 2001).
This movement is more conventional regarding tonal/thematic relationships.
There are two exact returns of the main idea: in m. 27 (already mentioned) and in m.
109, this time with a real sense of recapitulation. The northeastern motive comes back
in mm. 144-145, ending the piece in a virtuosic way.
64
Sonatina, 1957
Edino Krieger’s Sonatina was composed in 1957, after his studies with
Lennox Berkeley in London. The title reflects not only the conciseness of the piece,
but its simpler pianistic texture, when compared to both sonatas previously written. It
has only two movements (while the sonatas have three), Moderato and Allegro.
Almost without exception, Krieger prefers to give Italian tempo markings, instead of
the “nationalistic” tempo markings in Portuguese often chosen by other composers.
This reflects his preoccupation with a broader understanding of his music and the
apparent paradox that most of his work exemplifies: a truly Brazilian work with an
international breadth.
The Sonatina begins with a placid a minor broken triad. Bar-lines cross
groups of four eight-notes, to make clear the real rhythmic construction of the piece.
œ œ œ œ œ
3
Moderato œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ #œ œ
& 4 ∑ ∑
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
? 3œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
4
p legato
Ex. 31: Sonatina, first movement, mm. 1-2.
65
The b natural that appears in m. 3 makes the a minor key less clear, and an F#
in m. 5 gives the impression of an e minor piece that began in the subdominant.
Looking ahead, we notice that both movements end on e, so the “subdominant
beginning” is a plausible theory. Since music exists in time, and bearing in mind that
the ideal listening or performing processes should always be “as if the first time,” the
illusion created by Krieger at the beginning of this piece is successfully achieved.
An important element in this work is the use of trills. Sonata no. 2 already
developed trills as acoustic counterparts of the pianistic texture. However, in the
Sonatina trills become more prominent. Saloméa Gandelman, in her book “3 6
Brazilian Composers” comments on Krieger’s trills as related to Baroque
ornamentation: trills used with the main purpose of sustaining a long note (as usual in
the harpsichord repertoire), instead of the more dynamic use of trills during the
Romantic period. Indeed, in this piece trills appear to be related to sustained long
notes throughout the first movement. The first one appears in m. 14 and lasts for 3
measures:
Ÿ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#œ ˙ ˙. ˙. ˙. #œ #œ
#œ
&
? #œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ œ #œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ
œ . œ œ . œ œ . n œ œ .b œ b œ
cresc.

66
This trill not only keeps the high C# sounding, but also connects the first
section (Moderato) with the second (Più mosso). This section (from m. 18 to 29)
brings a rhythmic and melodic motive that Gandelman and Barankovski believe is
based on Krieger’s early training as a violinist (Gandelman-Barankovski, 2000, p.
29).
>œ Più mosso

. . >˙
J ? #œ œ
œ
& Œ ‰
œ. œ. >œ
f
? nœ ‰ œ œ #œ œ œ #œ œ #œ œ
n œ
#œ œ œ #œ œ #œ œ
nœ
œ œ
Ex. 33: Sonatina, first movement, mm.18-19.
The use of fourths and fifths in Krieger’s piano music could indeed be related
to his early knowledge of the violin. However, in a recent interview, the composer
affirmed that “melodic and harmonic 4ths are more related to Hindemith than to my
beginnings as a violinist” (Krieger, interview, March 2001). In this specific case, the
rhythmic motive of m. 18 in fact recalls a typical feature of violin technique known as
“ricochet.” This motive will be an important element of the musical texture
throughout the entire first movement. The tonal relationship between both musical
ideas in this movement seems “classical”: a first theme in e minor, the secondary
67
theme in b minor. However, the secondary theme does not appear in the tonic, except
for a “ghost” appearance at the very end of the movement.
.
#œ Œ Œ Œ œ œ œ œ œ. œ. œ
œ œ # œœ œ
œ œ
& œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ J ‰ Œ
œœ
œ # œ œ œ # œœ Œ Œ
‰
œœœ œ œœ œœœ œ œ œ œ œ œ
? œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ #œ œ ‰ œ œ j ‰ Œ
smorz.
. . œ.
As observed during the analysis of other pieces with “classical” titles, the
main idea returns at almost each structural point, revealing a latent rondo form. In the
Sonatina, the appearance of a new section (from m. 82 to m. 124) after the “false
return” of the main theme (ex. 35), gives this movement a more sectional structure
than the two sonatas.
Poco meno mosso

œ œ œ œ œ bœ œ œ œ œ œ bœ œœ œ j
3 œ œ œ œ
&4
‰ b œœœ œœœ œœœ œœœ œœœ ‰ b œœœ œœœ œœœ œœœ œœ ‰ œœ
œ œ
œœ œœ
œ œ
œœ
œ
œœ
œ
?3 . ˙.
4 b˙ ˙.
b˙. ˙. ˙.

68
This section has a tempo indication in Portuguese (Animado, instead of the
Italian Animato), which is unusual in Krieger’s piano music. This section seems to
have a developmental character, and one can observe the rhythmic motive of m. 18
being rewritten melodically.
#œ
#œ œ œ œ #œ bœ œ
#œ
bœ œ œ bœ
& œœ œ œ
j # >œœ œœ. # >œ .

b œœ n œœ b œœ n œœ
j
& œœ œœ # œ œœ œ
> œ > . >
The trill present in the main idea is also used:
Ÿ~~~~~
œ œ. œœ
3 2
& 4 œ 4
poco rit.
3 2
& 4 œ #œ œ œ œ œ 4
œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ
Ex. 37: Sonatina, first movement, m. 87.
69
In general, this work is less contrapuntal than Krieger’s other piano pieces.
However, in the second section (beginning at m. 42) a passage of inventive three-part
writing creates a canon.
>
‰ß # œ œ ‰
& œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œœ œœ # œœ œ œ œ œ
j j
? #œ
œ œ #œ œ œ œ #œ œ ‰ œ œ #œ
œ œ œ œ >œ #œ œ
œ œ
#œ
Ex. 38: Sonatina, first movement, mm.59-61.
The second movement is based on two ideas. Its conciseness derives from the
ostinato pattern of sixteenth-notes throughout the movement. At the beginning, the
ostinato figure is divided between the two hands, in a two-part texture.
Allegro
2
&4 œ œ œ #œ. œ
p fluentemente e sempre legato
œ œ #œ. œ œ œ bœ
? 2 œ # œ œ œ # œœ # œ . n œ œ œ œ # œ n œ œ œ .
4 œ œ.
œ.
Ex. 39: Sonatina, second movement, mm. 1-3.
70
In m. 16, this two-part writing is played by the left hand alone, with the right
hand playing the decisive, angular theme.
>
& œ œ
>
? n œ # œ œ œ # œœ œ . n œ œ œ # œ œ œ # œœ œ . n œ œ # œ œ œ # œœ # œ . n œ œ
nœ. œ. œ.
3
>œ œ # œœ œ . œ œ
& œ. œ œ œ
Œ
cresc.
? # œ œ œ # œœ # œ . n œ # œ œ œ # œœ # œ . n œ
œ œ
œ. œ.
These two main ideas are not developed in the sense of a traditional sonata-
form development section. The two elements rather interact in an obsessive manner,
and are inverted at the culminating point:
71
œ #œ œ œ #œ #œ nœ œ œ #œ œ œ #œ #œ nœ œ œ #œ œ œ #œ #œ nœ œ œ #œ œ œ #œ #œ nœ œ
&
ƒ
> > . 3. . >
#œ
? Œ œ œ œ. ?
Œ œ œ œ˙ # œ . œ
œ & ˙˙ œ & ˙
˙ ˙
˙ ˙
One can observe in this movement the use of one of Krieger’s signatures: the
seventh chord in its various forms. When the second idea appears in m. 16-17, a
minor-minor seventh chord in e minor is outlined. In the next few measures, this
chord is restated in the dominant, and later (mm. 25-26) in the subdominant. It is also
possible to observe a certain cyclical treatment in the Sonatina as a whole. The
ostinato element of the second movement could be related to the accompaniment
texture of the first movement. In the same way, the angular second theme of first
movement could be compared to the second idea of the second movement.
This work shows Krieger’s masterful conciseness of form. It also displays
musical awareness that is both national and universal.
72
Chapter Three: Edino Krieger’s Piano Works
Overview
Easy and Intermediate Pieces
Twelve-Tone Pieces
Neoclassical Works
Conclusion
73
Overview
Without being a pianist, Edino Krieger has composed piano works that display
the instrument’s possibilities in very expressive ways. The performing difficulties are
mainly derived from the fact that the composer almost never employs the piano for
composition. Therefore, his piano music fits well in different versions (Sonata no. 1
and the Fugue from the Prelúdio e Fuga were transcribed for string orchestra, and the
Sonata for piano, four hands was transcribed for Woodwind Quintet). During a recent
interview (March, 2001), Edino Krieger affirmed:
I normally do not use the piano when composing – this may be
because I did not have a piano at the beginning, my first instrument
was the violin. For this reason, I had to compose away from the piano.
I generally tried out my piano pieces on some available piano (most
times at the Radio MEC, where I worked for 30 years).
Edino Krieger’s piano music is extremely eclectic and can be divided into
three clear groups:
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- Easy and intermediate pieces (Valsa Antiga, Choro Manhoso, Estudo
Seresteiro, Valsa Nina, Três Invenções a Duas Vozes): they can be played by
amateurs or intermediate students, helping to fill the gap between the method books
and more advanced repertoire.
- Twelve-tone pieces (Miniaturas, Epigramas): these are pieces for admirers
of twelve-tone technique, but they are not orthodox, “textbook” pieces. These pieces
indeed offer a very successful approach to the twelve-tone technique with a Brazilian
flavor. There is also an avant-garde piece called Elementos that requires random use
of clusters and other modern techniques.
- Neoclassical works (the two Sonatas, Prelúdio e Fuga and Sonatina): this
group is the most difficult (especially the Sonatas), but these works provide a
rewarding aesthetic experience both for the performer and the public.
This chapter intends to provide general information about each piece,
primarily from a performance viewpoint, thus giving performers and educators the
possibility of selecting the right piece for performance and/or educational purposes.
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Easy or Intermediate Pieces
Valsa Antiga (1954) has a very simple texture, using the typical guitar-like
bass movement of the first measure throughout the d minor piece. It is Krieger’s
easiest piano piece, offering no technical difficulties.
Três Invenções a Duas Vozes (Valsa, Chorinho and Seresta, 1955) are
polyphonic works in the style of Bach’s two-part inventions, offering basically the
same technical challenges of Bach’s pieces: two independent melodic lines with a
strong harmonic support. The wide leaps that form the melodies of Valsa and Seresta
are typical Kriegerian features and need special practice in order to achieve a good
legato. Chorinho is a moto-perpetuo piece, and the constant movement of sixteenth-
notes adds extra challenges to the polyphonic writing.
Choro Manhoso (1956) is a wonderful example of Brazilian popular music at
the beginning of the twentieth century. It is impossible to mention this genre without
recalling Ernesto Nazareth’s (1863-1934) works. Krieger’s approach again displays
his typical melodic writing: wide leaps balanced by stepwise motion, requiring a
well-organized fingering. The left hand should keep a steady but not metronomical
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rhythm, always following the bass-line motion. The short left-hand melodic lines
present in three measures are very idiomatic of the genre and should be emphasized.
Estudo Seresteiro (1956) is also in d minor, but it uses the left hand as the
leader throughout. It is a clear relative of the Seresta from Piano Sonata no. 1: its use
of low register melodic line with big leaps expresses the main traits of the Seresta, a
serenade. Here also a good fingering will be the key for a complete legato in the left
hand.
Valsa Nina (1997), his most recent solo piano work, recalls the atmosphere of
late nineteenth and early twentieth-century waltzes in Brazil. Inspired by the great
Ernesto Nazareth, many Brazilian composers wrote in this genre. Edino Krieger also
had the inspiration and model of his father, Aldo Krieger, a violin teacher and
composer. Aldo Krieger’s waltzes are extremely melodic and use a fairly simple
pianistic texture. Valsa Nina offers slightly more advanced compositional technique,
and the three and sometimes four-part writing presents considerable difficulties for
this level. The three-measure introduction is a rather brilliant display of virtuosity,
exploring several octaves of the keyboard. Krieger uses parallel fourths and fifths
throughout the piece, combining them again with wide melodic leaps, creating
considerable technical difficulties. Flexible but active fingers are necessary to keep
the legato in these passages.
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Twelve-Tone Pieces
The Epigramas (1947) are five very short pieces (around twenty measures)
that carry a single idea: the idea may be rhythmic (nos. 1 and 4), melodic contrast
between two parts (nos. 2 and 3) or polyphonic (no. 5). As short as literary Japanese
hai-kais, these pieces need to convey one mood, almost as “character pieces.”
Três Miniaturas (1949-1952) are small pieces (less than fifty measures) that
use the twelve-tone technique in a non-orthodox way. Dynamic and articulation
contrasts, and quick repetition of chords are the main technical difficulties of these
pieces. These characteristics are found mainly in the first piece, the most difficult of
the group. The second and third pieces are more polyphonic, requiring a different
approach, closer to the neoclassical group and the Três Invenções a Duas Vozes.
Elementos (1973) is an experimental piece that is not characteristic of Edino
Krieger’s pianistic writing. In this piece, Krieger suggests fourteen elements to the
performer. These elements include external piano techniques such as hand on strings,
or nails on strings to produce glissando. In his final instructions for the performer,
Krieger writes: “The sequence of the proposed elements, their order, repetition,
dynamics, articulation and rhythm, should be determined by the performer.”
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Neoclassical Works
Since the pieces from this group were analyzed in chapter two, I will furnish
only a brief description of each piece.
The Prelúdio e Fuga (1954) offers a wonderful aesthetic experience
combining baroque style with Brazilian rhythmic and melodic inflections. The main
technical challenges are the polyphonic texture throughout both parts, and parallel
thirds in both hands of the fugue. One may also point out that the Prelúdio e Fuga
requires an advanced control of sound and polyphonic voicing, which will convey
both the melodic and rhythmic aspects of this work.
Sonata no. 1 (1953-1954) is a three-movement work that uses the best from
classical traditions (thematic coherence, contrast, development and polyphony),
combining this with Krieger’s personal musical language. It is a difficult piece,
offering technical and musical challenges such as the end of third movement,
polyrhythmic measures in the second movement and octave passages in the
development of the first movement.
Sonata no. 2 (1956) is technically more challenging than Sonata no. 1. It also
has three movements (fast-slow-fast), but it explores the possibilities of the
instrument further in rhythmic, melodic and textural aspects. In the first movement,
the second thematic idea (wide leaps combined with small intervals) is developed in
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contrary motion, exploring five octaves in one measure. This same idea is
transformed in left-hand octaves accompanied by right-hand parallel fourths, again
over several registers in the keyboard. The texture is at times so extended that three-
staff writing is necessary in the first movement. The third movement’s main
challenges are the fast tempo and repeated chords.
Finally, the Sonatina (1957) offers a simpler approach to a neoclassical form,
in a very condensed two-movement piece. One finds here several trills, some
contrapuntal sections, but this piece is considerably simpler when compared to the
two sonatas.
When attempting to perform any of Edino Krieger’s piano pieces from this
group, a pianist should keep in mind their polyphonic texture and practice certain
sections in the same way one practices a fugue by J.S. Bach. Separate voices should
be completely independent, especially remembering what is characteristic for
Kriegerian melodic writing: his melodic lines are often based on disjunct intervals,
with leaps of fourths or fifths being the main melodic texture. This typical element
becomes very difficult to perform in three or four-part writing.
In general, one should point out that in Edino Krieger’s piano music there are
many polyrhythmic sections, especially in development passages. This is a common
element in Brazilian music, found in most works by Heitor Villa-Lobos, Camargo
Guarnieri or Cláudio Santoro. There are even rhythmic challenges, such as parts of
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the second movement in Sonata no. 1, sections from Prelúdio e Fuga or in the Sonata
no. 2. But in Krieger’s music, rhythm is almost never the most prominent element in
the musical texture.
The use of parallel thirds in both hands is definitely one of the most difficult
traits in Krieger’s piano music. As stated in the analysis chapter, the coda of Sonata
no. 1 (third movement), and the end of the Fuga are instances of technical challenges
for the performer. Again, these difficulties do not form the main feature of each
specific work. In fact, the listener may not be aware of the difficulties, since Edino
Krieger’s works are never technically showy.
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Conclusion
Edino Krieger’s piano pieces reflect the composer’s eclecticism present
throughout his work: “jingles” for television commercials, songs written together
with Brazilian poet Vinicius de Moraes and film scores for popular “teenager” movies
contrast with “serious” works for symphony orchestra. In every piece he composes,
Krieger keeps his melodic and harmonic characteristic traits, always creating works
of the highest quality.
Edino Krieger’s “easy or intermediate pieces” can fill a gap for students who
are not yet ready for more advanced compositions, providing a different aesthetic
experience for pianists at that level. The twelve-tone and neoclassical pieces deserve
to be present more often in recital programs, enlarging the perception of Brazilian
music.
The complex process of searching for a Brazilian national aesthetics will
never stop. Composers, painters, writers will be always in search for a better way of
self-expression. Edino Krieger believes that he is now in a third period: “In this piece
[the Toccata for piano and orchestra, 1973] (I consider it the beginning of a third
period), I use some serialism, together with a less traditional language” (Krieger,
interview, March 2001). As one can observe, Edino Krieger’s process of composition
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grows from his previous aesthetic experiences and always represents his search for a
music that is both national and universal.
The controversy “national v. universal,” so passionately discussed by
Camargo Guarnieri in his “Open Letter,” was analyzed from the wrong perspective. It
seems a paradox, but there is no need for a discussion about “national v. universal,”
because national and universal can coexist.
Edino Krieger’s piano works from the 1950s (especially the neoclassical
pieces) are indeed Brazilian and international. Krieger’s musical language expresses
deep understanding of Brazilian folk elements without having to use musical
quotations (according to the composer, the only piece in which he used an original
folk theme was the Brasiliana for viola and strings).
This treatise aimed at an aesthetic-historical analysis of Edino Krieger’s
neoclassical piano works. I believe that the study of Brazilian musical modernism,
considering its different historic periods, allows one to understand and perform more
convincingly the musical works created in that country during the twentieth century.
Based on the interpretation of the most important landmarks in the history of
Brazilian musical modernism (Week of Modern Art, Villa-Lobos’s life and work,
Música Viva Group, and the “Open Letter to the Musicians and Music Critics of
Brazil”), one may conclude that the first half of the twentieth century was the starting
point of the dialectic process for a Brazilian modernism in music.
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It is time for us, living in a globalized twenty-first century, to learn from the
past and create art that keeps its personal, national characteristics and yet at the same
time communicates with a broader audience.
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Appendices
Appendix I – Interview with Edino Krieger
Appendix II – Translation of the Open Letter to the
Musicians and Music Critics of Brazil
(Camargo Guarnieri, 1950)
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Appendix I – Interview with Edino Krieger
Translation of the interview conducted by the author, in Portuguese (March 2001).
A.D. Do you compose directly on the piano or first without it? Your pianism is very
personal, your individual signature is very perceptible. How did you achieve this?
E.K. I normally do not use the piano when composing – this may be because I did
not have a piano at the beginning, my first instrument was the violin. For this reason,
I had to compose away from the piano. I generally tried out my piano pieces on some
available piano (most times at the Radio MEC, where I worked for 30 years).
Regarding my “signature,” in the piano pieces, this may well be due precisely to the
fact that I am not a pianist. Anyway, this is something natural, not consciously
worked out.
A.D. Your piano output is not large. Is there a specific reason for this?
E.K. My work in general is not large. This is probably due to the fact that I began
very early to work in administrative positions in order to earn my living. These
activities were very time-consuming, leaving little time for composition. My piano
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production could be divided into two periods: at the beginning, during the years I
participated in the Grupo Música Viva in the 1940s, I experimented with serialism in
small forms, as well as short piano pieces to be performed by member pianists during
the recitals organized by the group. From 1953, I decided to give up serialism and
study more traditional [musical] forms and languages. From the 1960s on, I received
frequent commissions to compose chamber and orchestral music, and thus had even
less time for piano music. The only piece I wrote for piano and orchestra was a recent
Toccata. In this piece (I consider it the beginning of a third period), I use some
serialism, together with a less traditional language.
A.D. The Seresta, from Sonata no. 1, was written before the other movements. It is
possible, however, to observe harmonic-rhythmic cells present in the entire sonata.
What was the significance of the second movement within the sonata?
E.K. The Seresta was indeed composed as an isolated piece and added to the first
Sonata later. The presence of common harmonic-rhythmic cells in all movements is
probably due to the characteristics of my musical thought present in the work of that
period. Some of these traits are indeed found in works of mine from different periods
and musical idioms: the frequent use of 4ths, 5ths or 7ths or certain melodic cadences
based on minor 2nds.
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A.D. Most of your tonal-modal works for piano don’t have a clear tonal center.
What is the proportion between inspiration and elaboration in your compositional
process? What is your opinion regarding such issues as bitonality, polytonality and
pan-tonality?
E.K. My work could be divided into 50% intuition and 50% rationality. In the
tonal-modal works I did not have a concrete plan for tonal centers, bitonality or
polytonality. The harmonic and melodic structures derived from the intuitive musical
flow. In general, I believe that music itself should be above questions of forms and
compositional techniques.
A.D. The Seresta was an homage to Villa-Lobos (as stated in the subtitle); Prelúdio
e Fuga has subtitles in Portuguese, as in the Bachianas Brasileiras. Could one say
that Villa-Lobos was (or still is) one of your models of national music? Are there
other composers that inspired your piano works?
E.K. The Seresta was an attempt at approaching a melodic expression typical of
Brazil. The “Homenagem a Villa-Lobos” was added later, because I had achieved an
expressive almost dramatic quality, often found in Villa-Lobos’s Serestas. I was not
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“inspired” by Villa-Lobos or by any other Brazilian composer. I had, indeed, many
influences, especially Hindemith, Bartók and maybe Prokofiev and Villa-Lobos,
always in a spontaneous and unconscious way.
A.D. Is it possible to conclude that the use of modes in several of your works was
related to the expression of Brazilian folk music, though without direct quotations?
E.K. The use of modes in my music is almost always intuitive. However, my use of
characteristic modes of Northeastern Brazil has been conscious and intentional.
A.D. You were born in a Brazilian southern state, of German ancestors. However,
it is possible to feel northeastern influences in some of your works (the middle section
of the Prelúdio, the beginning of the secondary theme in the Sonata no. 1, first mov.,
as well as measure 108 from the same work). In your biography there are no
references to any extended travel and/or residence in the northeastern regions of
Brazil. Where did this inspiration come from?
E.K. The presence of Northeastern modes is very frequent in the music of southern
composers: Guarnieri, Osvaldo Lacerda and others, in São Paulo, as well as Radamés
Gnatalli, in the Rio Grande do Sul, make extensive use of melodies based on the
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northeastern modes. My interest in these elements came spontaneously beginning
back in the 50s: the final frevo of Sonata no.1, the Northeastern motives from the
final movement of Sonata no. 2, the Brasiliana for viola and strings (the only work
where I used quotations from a folk theme), several canons from Rondas Infantis and
also in many recent works, such as the Te Deum, Concerto for Two Guitars and
Strings, and the Cantata A Era do Conhecimento, written this past year.
A.D. The Sonatina, Prelúdio e Fuga and Sonata no. 1 begin with a minor triads
(considering that the pitch F# at the beginning of the Sonata no. 1 and Sonatina
creates a tonal-modal ambiguity a Dorian, e minor). Sonata no. 2 begins with f#
minor triads. Such triadic beginnings are not common in your remaining piano
works. Is there any relationship between the triadic beginnings and orthodox forms?
E.K. I will leave this answer to musicologists and researchers. When composing, I
do not think about the structure of the ideas – except for serial works or specific
works such as Estro armonico, based on pan-intervallic vertical structures.
A.D. In your two sonatas and in the Sonatina it is possible to observe the return of
the main theme at important structural points, as in a rondo form. Why did you
choose rondo elements for these works?
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E.K. Again, in my work, form is a result of an almost intuitive musical thought. In
the fugue (from the Prelúdio e Fuga) the theme returns more times than in a textbook
fugue. It just happened… I do not use a form as an inhibitor or determinant in the
musical thought, but only as a possible organization of sounds, through previous
study and after I have it back on an unconscious level.
A.D. Sonata no. 1 frequently uses sequences of melodic 4ths. Is it possible to
consider this a result of your beginning as a violinist?
E.K. Melodic and harmonic 4ths are more related to Hindemith than to my
beginning as a violinist.
A.D. The Sonata no. 1 and the Fugue from the Prelúdio e Fuga were freely
transcribed for string orchestra. What is your goal when working with transcriptions
of works previously composed for the piano?
E.K. The Sonata no. 1 was transcribed for strings to participate in a composition
contest, due to my lack of time for a composition of another original work… Since at
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that time the Sonata had not been premiered, I arranged a version – more than a
simple transcription – for strings.
A.D. Your answer to Camargo Guarnieri’s Open Letter to the Musicians and
Critics of Brazil (1950) was a strong and well-written defense of the twelve-tone
technique. Nevertheless, already in 1953 were composed your first neoclassical
works. Could we consider these works a synthesis in the dialectic conflict between
Guarnieri’s musical nationalism and Koellreutter’s cosmopolitanism? After more
than fifty years of this polemic, what are your memories regarding your active
participation in such an important landmark of the Brazilian history of music?
E.K. Before the Open Letter, when I was a student at The Juilliard School, I had
already decided to quit the twelve-tone technique, at least for a while. I felt that I
began to compose in this technique too early in my career, without a deeper
understanding of the major forms. Some compositions from my New York years,
such as Melopéia a 5 and Contrasts for orchestra are not twelve-tone pieces. I came
back to a free, non-orthodox twelve-tone technique in Música 1952 and Choro for
flute and strings. From 1953, with the Sonata for piano, four hands, I began a neo-
classical, nationalist period. It is possible that the debates on nationalism v.
universalism had some influence on my change, but as I said earlier these changes
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began to occur prior to 1950. When I contested Guarnieri’s letter, I was not defending
the twelve-tone technique, but rather defending the freedom of creation against what I
felt was an equivocal position.
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Appendix II – Open Letter to the Musicians and Music
Critics of Brazil (Camargo Guarnieri, 1950)
(Translated by the author)
I have decided to write this open letter to the musicians and music critics of
Brazil bearing in mind the great responsibilities I have as a Brazilian composer before
my people and generations of music-makers to come. I write as someone deeply
worried by the present direction that the music of our young composers has taken,
composers who, under the influence of erroneous ideas, have adopted the twelve-tone
technique, a formal trend that will eventually debase the character of our national
music.
Through this declaration, I want to warn you about the enormous dangers that
deeply menace the whole of Brazilian musical culture in our times, a culture to which
we are so closely bound.
These dangers come from the fact that many of our young composers, either
by thoughtlessness or by ignorance, are being seduced by false progressive theories in
music, and are orienting their works, from the very outset, in a direction opposite to
the true interests of Brazilian music.
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The twelve-tone technique, which was introduced into Brazil a few years ago
by persons from countries whose musical folklore has been impoverished, found a
warm welcome here from unwary spirits.
Shielded by its baneful prestige, daring and talented young composers such as
Cláudio Santoro and Guerra-Peixe wrote music. Fortunately, these composers have
now found their right path after going in this wrong direction for a while and have
been able to break free of it and return to the true path of music-making, which is one
based on the study and artistically educated use of our folklore. Other young
composers, however, are still overwhelmed by the twelve-tone wave since this trend
has unfortunately received support and sympathy from many confused people, with
the result that they suffocate their talent, lose contact with Brazilian reality and
culture, and create a cerebral and fallacious music that is completely divorced from
our national character.
This situation grows worse every day, endangering our music from its very
foundation. So it is time to cry out and thwart this disgraceful and anti-Brazilian
formalistic intrusion, which, if received with tolerance and complacence, will bring
great harm to the development of Brazilian national music.
It is necessary to tell these young composers that the twelve-tone technique in
music corresponds to abstractionism in painting, to hermeticism in literature, to
existentialism in philosophy and to charlatanism in science.
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Therefore, the twelve-tone technique (like all the other forms of [foreign]
contraband that we have imported and assimilated one after the other) is a
characteristic political symptom of cultural degeneration. It is a branch of the
dangerous cosmopolitanism that menaces us with its deforming darkness and has as
its hidden goal the slow and pernicious work of destroying our national character.
The twelve-tone technique is, generally speaking, a product of old and
decomposing cultures. It is a brain exercise, anti-nationalistic, anti-popular, and given
to extremes. It is chemistry, architecture, mathematics, anything you will – but not
music! It is an affectation of jaded intelligences, dry souls who do not believe in life
anymore. It is an addiction of half-dead, mediocre composers, who turn away from
their homeland and are incapable of feeling, loving and expressing anything that is
new, dynamic and healthy in our people’s spirit.
It is understandable that this kind of music might be accepted in countries
with decadent cultures, where folklore is dying (as is true with some European
countries). We can understand it when this deformed technique takes root in such
societies, but not here, in our native America, and especially in Brazil, where a young
and culturally rich people has a brilliant national future to build with its own hands! It
is a national crime to import such a technique into a country like Brazil. This
technique is a caricature of music, brain contortionism, totally inartistic; it has
nothing to do with the specific characteristics of our national temperament; it is
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directed only to the depraved taste of an affected and paranoid elite. This is indeed an
offense to the creative powers, as well as the patriotism and intelligence of Brazilian
musicians.
Our country has one of the richest folk arts in the world, arts almost
completely unknown to many composers. Inexplicably, they would rather addle their
brains to produce music following the apparently innovative principles of a strange
and false aesthetics.
They prefer to import and to copy baneful new foreign trends like monkeys,
vulgar imitators, or creatures without principles, and pretend that in doing so they are
“original,” “modern,” and “advanced.” They deliberately ignore the fact that we have
an Amazon of folk music – the living expression of our national character – waiting
to be studied and developed [by us] to the greater glory of Brazilian culture. They do
not know (or they pretend not to know) that we will only make manifest our own
authentic treasure within international culture when we preserve and develop the
fundamental traits of our national physiognomy by every possible means.
Our dodecaphonists use and defend this formalistic and degenerate trend in
music because they have not taken the basic step, which is the study of the treasures
of our classical heritage, of the independent development of Brazilian music from its
popular and folkloric roots. They probably have not read the wise words of Glinka,
“Music is created by the people; we, artists, only arrange it.” They have not read that
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great master Honegger´s opinion about the twelve-tone technique either, “Its rules are
much too scholarly: they allow the NON-MUSICIAN to write the same music that a
highly talented musician would write.”
What do the proponents of this anti-artistic trend finally want, a trend which is
primarily trying to conquer our young musicians so as to deform art from its
beginnings?
They want in Brazil the same thing they have always wanted in every other
country: to emphasize form above everything else, to deprive music of its essential
elements of communication; to distort its emotional content; to deface its national
character; to isolate the musician (transforming him in a monster of individualism)
and thus to reach their main goal: to justify a music which is without a homeland and
incomprehensible to the public.
The twelve-tone technique, like so many trends of degenerate and decadent
art, with its inherent tricks, shortcuts, and recipes for the composition of non-thematic
music, tries to downgrade the creative work of the artist. For real research, talent,
culture and the rational use of the experience of the past (the actual basis for
producing true art) they substitute improvisation, charlatanism, pseudo-science.
This technique absurdly aims to stay above the influence of social-historical
factors such as tradition, [historical] practice and the classical heritage. It ignores and
despises the character of the Brazilian people as well as the particular conditions of its
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development. It covertly aims to destroy the natural characteristics of our music, and
to disseminate among our youth the “theory” of a laboratory music, created by the use
of specious rules alone, disconnected from its popular sources.
Our people, however, in their strong intuition and wisdom, have rejected this
false music. Trying to explain its lack of acceptance among the public, followers of
this technique say, “Our country is backward.” They also pretend to be writing
“music for the future,” or they say, “Twelve-tone technique is not yet understood
because it has not been made known."
It is important to affirm, once and for all, that all this nonsense is only an
excuse. They want to conceal the deeper reasons for the divorce between their music
and the audience.
I can state, without fear of mistake, that the general public will never
understand the twelve-tone technique because it is essentially cerebral, anti-popular,
anti-national, and has no connection with the soul of the people.
Much more could still be said regarding twelve-tone technique and the
pernicious work carried out by its adepts in Brazil, but I must finish this letter, which
is already too long.
I have to conclude it with a public apology to the Brazilian people for taking
so long before publishing it. I was waiting for favorable conditions that might allow a
collective pronouncement from those responsible for our music regarding this
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important problem, one which involves intentions graver than might be imagined at
first thought. But unfortunately, these conditions did not materialize, and I feel
around me a silence that is both embarrassing and suspicious. I myself think that our
silence is, at this moment, a form of collusion with the twelve-tone imposture. This is
the reason why this document has taken such a personal character.
I hope, however, that my colleagues (composers, performers, conductors and
critics) will now make their feelings manifest and share their informed opinions
regarding this subject. This, therefore, is my patriotic call.
Camargo Guarnieri
São Paulo, November 7, 1950
Please direct any comments or remarks on this letter to Camargo
Guarnieri at Rua Melo Alves, 446, São Paulo, Brasil.
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Vita
Alexandre Saggin Dossin was born in Porto Alegre, Brazil on September 13,
1970, the son of Moacir Alexandre Dossin and Marlí Elvira Saggin Dossin. After
being admitted to the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in 1987, Mr. Dossin
moved to Moscow, Russia in 1989 to pursue studies at the Moscow Tchaikovsky
State Conservatory. After two years at the Preparatory School, he was admitted to the
Conservatory in 1991, receiving the Master of Fine Arts Degree in 1996 and
completing an Advanced Post-Graduate Course in 1997, both in Piano Performance.
During his studies in Moscow, Alexandre Dossin performed in fifteen
countries and was awarded prizes in International Piano Competitions such as Maria
Callas Grand Prix (Athens, Greece, March 1996, Silver Medal), Mozart International
Piano Competition (Salzburg, Austria, January 1995, Third Prize) and Mazara del
Vallo International Piano Competition (Sicily, Italy, December 1993, Fourth Prize).
Alexandre Dossin was one of thirty-five pianists selected to participate in the
1997 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. A year later, he was offered a
prestigious Pre-Emptive Graduate Fellowship from the University of Texas at Austin
and moved to the U.S. to pursue the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree.
103
During his three years as a UT graduate student, Alexandre Dossin gave
several recitals in the University campus as well as in other states, Europe and Brazil.
He also received full Teaching Assistanship for two years, and taught applied and
group piano lessons. During the 2000-2001 academic year Alexandre Dossin was the
Coordinator of the Piano Project at the School of Music.
Alexandre Dossin was appointed as an Assistant Professor of Piano at the
University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Permanent address: Av. Venâncio Aires 449/712
Porto Alegre/RS 90.040-193
Brazil
This treatise was typed by the author.
104

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Alexandre Saggin Dossin

Synthesis in Brazilian Musical Modernism

Alexandre Saggin Dossin, M.F.A.

Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of

the University of Texas at Austin

for the Degree of

Doctor of Musical Arts

The University of Texas at Austin

Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company

I would like to express my gratitude to the following persons:

to Professor Gerard Béhague for his expertise and guidance,

to Maestro Edino Krieger for his active participation in this project,

and above all for his music.

Synthesis in Brazilian Musical Modernism

Publication No. ____________

Alexandre Saggin Dossin, D.M.A.

The University of Texas at Austin, 2001

Supervisors: Gerard H. Béhague

It is possible to identify a dialectic of disparate elements in tension during the

(emphasis on regional characteristics, a term taken from a literary tendency of the

the nationalistic primitivism of Mário de Andrade’s Macunaíma and Oswald de

Andrade’s Manifesto da Poesia Pau-Brasil and contrast it to the “universal,” “high-

I first pay attention to Edino Krieger’s place in the aesthetic-historical context

of this cultural trend as it emerged from earlier examples of Romantic Nationalism,

with reference to works by Brasílio Itiberê, Alexandre Levy and Alberto

form Edino Krieger’s background.

compositional balance and can be considered one of the highest achievements in

Brazilian material can be compared to Villa-Lobos’ great cycle Bachianas

Brasileiras. While Villa-Lobos mastered a perfect union of two completely different

Chapter One: Historical Overview............................................................................... 1

Chapter Two: Musical Analysis.................................................................................. 32

Sonata no. 1, 1953-54 ........................................................................................ 33

`Chapter Three: Edino Krieger’s Piano Works......................................................... 73

Appendix I: Interview with Edino Krieger (March, 2001) ....................................... 86

Bibliography .............................................................................................................. 101

Vita ............................................................................................................................ 103

The Beginnings of Musical Nationalism

The Week of Modern Art, 1922

Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)

Neoclassicism in Brazil: an Overview

Open Letter to the Musicians and Music Critics of Brazil

Brusque, in the Brazilian southern state of Santa Catarina, to commemorate Edino

Krieger's 60th birthday.

combined Brazilian and modern compositional techniques.

on the neoclassical pieces of the 1950s. However, before addressing a composer’s

In this regard it is very important to place Edino Krieger in the aesthetic-

historical context which inevitably must include Brazilian musical nationalism. By

Itiberê (1846-1913), Alexandre Levy (1864-1892) and Alberto Nepomuceno (1864-

together form Edino Krieger’s background.

was born, its people, and its nature.

national music no longer based on European models. Villa-Lobos’s example was

followed by many composers such as Camargo Guarnieri (1907-1993), Oscar

of the twentieth century.

composer H. J. Koellreutter (b. 1915). Koellreutter arrived in Brazil in 1937 and

half of the century: Cláudio Santoro (1919-1989), Eunice Catunda (1915-1985),

wrote award-winning compositions in that style during the 1940s.

English, so I have included a translation in Appendix II.

National elements are found in Brazilian piano music as early as 1869 in

pieces like A Sertaneja, composed by Brasílio Itiberê da Cunha (1846-1913). This

kind of Romantic nationalism was driven by a conventional use of rhythmic formulas

on the aesthetic importance of such composers:

The composers of this transitional period (ca. 1880-1920)

continued to be essentially academic; their ideals were geared largely

Edino Krieger's Solo Piano Works

Edino Krieger's Solo Piano Works