Hastings choir sings of ‘looters and bandits’

Hastings Philharmonic Choir has an unusual treat in its next concert, ‘American Journey’, on Saturday 22 June.  It goes back to the musical roots of its great new musical director, Márcio Da Silva, with a varied Brazilian and North American song book. Márcio, who grew up in Brazil and later lived in Phoenix, Arizona, and sang with the famous Phoenix Boys Choir, has chosen some crackers from samba to spirituals. Among the songs is one about the notorious bandit Lampião, writes Chris Cormack.

Muié Rendeira is a traditional song from the north east of Brazil. This is a world-famous arrangement by composer/conductor Carlos Alberto Pinto Fonseca. He was from Márcio’s city, Belo Horizonte, and probably the biggest name in Brazilian choral music. Márcio had the opportunity of working with him on many occasions. He was his assistant for one year and the solos for some of his arrangements for children’s choir were written especially for Márcio.

According to Frederico Maciel in his book Lampião: Seu Tempo e o Seu Reinado, Mulher Rendeira was a 1922 song written by the legendary ‘cangaceiro’ Lampião, in homage to his grandmother Tia Jacosa, herself a “mulher rendeira” or lace-maker woman. The cangaceiros were ‘social bandits’ from the drought and poverty-stricken north-east of Brazil in the late 19th/early 20th century who made a living by looting local landowners, taking hostages and raiding ranches. While they inspired either terror or a sort of mythic awe in the local population, the bandits, and in particular Lampião, became a thorn in the side of Brazilian national forces.

Some of the Brazilian pieces of this repertoire Márcio first sang in the children’s choir called Sons de Minas, a choir that his grandmother founded and which also accompanied Márcio in his solo concerts in Brazil. Canta Brasil was one of them, but in a different arrangement. Márcio arranged this piece in 2000 for the vocal ensemble Grupo Angels which he founded and conducted  in Brazil. Márcio says the piece expresses the beauty and richness of Brazil and the samba rhythm is very characteristic. “In the sky, the sea, the earth!  Where the blue is bluer – the beauty of the sky – na aquarela do Brasil”.

Tiro ao Alvaro and Carinhoso are both famous Brazilian popular songs. Both talk about love; the first in  a humorous way and the second in a sort of nostalgic way. Márcio crafted both arrangements  for the Brazilian choir Som do Brasil that he used to conduct in Germany. Tiro ao Alvaro was composed by Adoniran Barbosa  – real name João Rubinato – in his ‘paulista’ samba style. He would have you believe that his chest was full of holes resulting from the target practice by the arrows from his beloved’s eyes! Carinhoso, literally ‘affectionate,’ by Pixinguinha, was popularised in the 1930s by Orlando Silva, a crooner with the smooth big band sound of the 30s, and remains a classic to this day. Why does his lover run away from him when his heart beats so strongly for her?!

Salmo 150 (Psalm 150) has the normal Latin text of the psalm but with a completely unexpected atmosphere. It is by Brazilian composer Ernani Aguiar, with a distinctive Latin American feeling that will really light a fire under the choir. It is a very rhythmic work, with rapid articulations, an exciting showcase for a cappella choirs.

Serie Xavante and 3 Cantos dos Índios Kraó are both pieces that Márcio is doing for the first time, using real melodies collected from indigenous peoples in Brazil. The first one is by the 20th century Brazilian composer Guerra Peixe and the second arranged by Marcos Leite, probably one of the most important arrangers of Brazilian popular vocal music.

In the North American section,  the choir will sing Shenandoah. The Shenandoah valley is actually in West Virginia, not “across the wide Missouri”, and it was the beginning of  the Great Wagon Road where settlers moved out West from Pennsylvania. The emotive line “We’re bound away” is redolent of the trek out West, slaves and more recently (from the film) of the pain of the civil war. The song dates back at least to the early 19th century and became a popular sea shanty in the 1880s, possibly starting with the flatboatmen who plied the the Missouri and loved to sing.

Deep River is an anonymous spiritual of African-American origin. It was also sung as the closing spiritual in Michael Tippett’s oratorio A Child of Our Time. It appears to treat the yearning for an end – the after-life:

‘Oh, don’t you want to go, To the Gospel feast; that Promised Land, Where all is peace?’

Were you there? is another spiritual, known by many of us from Johnny Cash’s 1962 soul-stirring rendition with the Carter Sisters  – you can’t get much more American than Johnny Cash! Then we have the ‘American Apple Pie’ Song Come in and stay awhile, which gives the choir the opportunity to explore some complex harmonies. The first half finishes with Ev’ry Time I Feel the Spirit,  an African-American spiritual dating to before the US civil war, and Amazing Grace. Although written by English clergyman John Newton, Amazing Grace has had a particular influence on American folk music, and is ’emblematic’ as an African-American spiritual.

So prepare for something old and something new!

 

American Journey: Folk Songs from the United States and Brazil. Hastings Philharmonic Choir.

Saturday 22 June at St Mary-in-the-Castle,  7 Pelham Crescent, Hastings, TN34 3AF. Please note that the concert starts at 7pm.

Tickets for children under 17 can be reserved from the box office on telephone 01424 552119, and cost only £3 each.

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