This is up, Alexandre. I like that one. Nice job.

Thank you Juufa and Monica,

Cheers,
Alexandre

Hello Folks, back after 5 months!
The transition of the masters course to the phd course kept me from recording new Nazareths, but I have some good news. I was working on the following project www.ernestonazareth.com.br which, for the first time in history, put together Ernesto Nazareth's entire output. I provided the scores and reviewed everything 4 times (the modern editions are loaded with errors). Original editions and manuscripts were used for the revision. And what's best: everything is for free, pdfs one click away. I'm sure no other composer in Brazil has had this kind of thing done before. Now I hope to see more Nazareth pieces played by piano society members!

Today I recorded the 54th Nazareth, a 'quadrilha' called "Onze de Maio" (May 11th). Quadrilha is a type of dance (in groups), and at the moment I'm not sure how to translate it. It has 5 parts. Nazareth composed 4 quadrilhas, and none has been recorded commercially.

Best wishes,
Alexandre


Nazareth - Onze de Maio (Quadrilha)

Hello Alexandre!!!

Quadrilha is a Brazilian dance, a derivative of the European "quadrille", which is also a precursor to the north-american Square dance. So, to my view, while there is no exact translation, you could either call it a Brazilian Quadrille or Brazilian Square Dance.

As always, very nicely played! Are you still using the Kurzweil? This sounds very nice indeed!

Congratulations,

Marcelo

Hi Marcelo!
Thanks for the translation. Brazilian Quadrillhe sounds nice. By the way, I'm positively sure this is an urban dance, performed in the "salons", contrasting to our present-day quadrille, which is played at Junine Parties, reminiscent of the field culture

The piano is the Kurzweill Mark 10. (although I have a Kawai kx-21, the digital still offers better recording possibilities).

If ayone wishes to listen looking at the score, it can be viewed here (together with all his other 210 compositions):

http://www.ernestonazareth.com.br/pdfs/onze_de_maio.pdf

Best wishes,
Alexandre

Not vintage Nazareth this, IMO. Bit of a patchwork. I don't like the opening part. But there is plenty of infectious writing later on, and your pianism is superb as always. Your dedication ro Nazareth is exemplary, he could not have gotten a better advocate.

This is up, Alexandre. Sounds good except I hear two strange cuts in the first section. But I liked the other sections and you played this all very nicely.

Hello Chris and Monica, thank you for the commentaries.

Chris, I don't know what you mean by vintage (for I only know it in the sense of something from another generation), but I hear you. This piece isn't among his masterpieces, and I had to get accostumed to it in order to develop a coherent interpretation.

Monica, there were no cuts in the first section, you must be referring to glitches inherent to the piano.

Best wishes,
Alexandre

Hi folks,
Here's the 55th Nazareth: Menino de Ouro (Golden boy). It's one of his nice works, which shows what he did best (Brazilian tangos).

Best regards,
Alexandre


Nazareth - Menino de Ouro (Golden Boy)

Hi Alexandre,

This is up. Nice little piece - I liked the rhythm in the middle section. One thing - your bit rate on this file is higher than what we like. Please watch that next time.

Hi Monica,
Thank you, sorry about that. Here's a 128kbps file of it.

Best,
Alexandre

Nazareth - Menino de Ouro (Golden Boy)

ok thanks, Alexandre. I switched out the two files. And listening again to this piece made me think that Nazareth must have been a happy man most of the time - do you think?

Hi Monica,
His music certainly is lighthearted most of the time, but that doesn't necessarily reflects his life. By the time he wrote this piece, he had already lost his younger daughter, was becoming irreversibly deaf, and syphilis was acting on his system, which would eventually lead to his sad end at the psychiatric institution.

Alexandre

Excellent as always !
Reading about the sad state he was in when composing this, one can only marvel at how music can
keep people going in the most dire of situations. No other form of art can do that, I think.

oh wow - that's terrible about his life! A little like Schumann. But it baffles me as to how these composers can not only keep it going with their music, but they write joyful music when they are so full of misery. I know that when I am having a bad day, I don't say to myself, "I'm so depressed and sad - think I'll go write some happy music". Unless that is some sort of coping mechanism...