“My music is essentially harmonic.
I always seek harmony, it seems as though I am trying to harmonize the world.”
- Antonio Carlos Jobim
This project is designed to reveal a lesser-known side of this songwriter: the Symphonic Jobim. Inspired by the music of the great masters and a real fan of the classics, Tom took this as a guide for all his work, even his simplest pop hits. Devoting himself to chamber music was one of the great dreams of his life, constantly postponed by the success of the musical revolution that he caused, not only in Brazil, but all over the world.
He began studying piano and theory when he was about 14 years old, followed by harmony and composition, with German composer and musicologist Hans Joachim Koellreutter, who introduced the twelve-tone scale to Brazil, and headed up the Music Viva movement. Aiming at a career as a concert performer, he studied harmony and composition with composer/ conductor Paulo Silva, and also with pianist Tomás Gutiérrez de Téran. As exercises, he wrote waltzes, mazurkas and preludes, that he called “paper-wasting preludes”.
But it was during his piano classes with renowned teacher Lúcia Branco, who also taught Nelson Freire, that Tom extended his studies of classical music in greater depth (Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Ravel, Debussy and Villa-Lobos), discovering his vocation as a composer. Consequently, “influenced by Liszt and Chopin, when he was 18 years old Tom composed a classical waltz that he considered his first real composition. Many years later, with lyrics by Chico Buarque, it was to be called Imagina (...).
However, it was still unnamed when he first played it for his teacher. Not only did she approve, she encouraged her pupil to invest more in his talent for making music than in his career as a concert pianist, which was somewhat limited by the small span of his hands. With a ‘tight thumb’ that prevented him from playing a full octave, Tom would never have been a great classical pianist, said Lucia Branco.” (Sérgio Augusto, Cancioneiro Jobim)
It was in Villa-Lobos and his love for Brazil that Tom was to find the major influence for his work, balanced on the thin line between classical and pop.
The Symphonic Jobim project is based on a survey carried out by the Instituto Antonio Carlos Jobim, which stores the original manuscripts of musical scores and arrangements written by Tom, Claus Ogerman, Nelson Riddle and Eumir Deodato, in some cases adapted and expanded for the symphony orchestra by Paulo Jobim and Mario Adnet.
In addition to new recordings of works such as Orfeu da Conceição and Brasília – Sinfonia da Alvorada, two unpublished works were also included. The first is Prelúdio, written in 1956 and dedicated to his friend, a fellow-student of Lúcia Branco, piano teacher Evandro Ribeiro Rosa. The other is Lenda, dedicated to his father Jorge Jobim, which was commissioned when he was 28 years old by another great admirer, Radamés Gnatalli, to be played on the Rádio Nacional, but which was never recorded.
Annotated song listing:
Brasília, sinfonia da Alvorada - O Planalto Deserto:
Brasilia, the Alvorada symphony | Alvorada means dawn; dedicated to the new capital of Brasil, Brasilia, in 1960 | The desert tableland | Man | Arrival of the “candangos” | candangos mean manual workers from the North and Northeast of Brazil who came to the construction | The work and the building
Saudade do Brasil:
Longing for Brazil | saudade is a Portuguese word which means a feeling of longing, missing.
Modinha:
| particular kind of popular song from the XIXth century |
A Casa Assassinada:
The murdered house | title of the movie soundtrack for Crônica da casa assassinada, “Chronicle of the murdered house”, by Paulo Cesar Saraceni | Train to Cordisburgo | Cordisburgo is a village inland Minas Gerais state, where the writer of Grande Serão: Veredas, João Guimarães Rosa, was born | Crying heart | Miracle and clowns | The abandoned garden
Lenda:
Legend | Lenda means legend or folk tale. Dedicated to Jobim’s father, Jorge. Played for the first time in a radio show in the 50’s with the orchestra conducted by Radames Gnattali. Never recorded before.
A Felicidade:
Happiness | from the movie soundtrack for “Black Orpheus”, directed by Marcel Camus, based on Orfeu da Conceição.
Orfeu da Conceição:
| Songs from the original play Orfeu da Conceição | Overture |
Se Todos Fossem Iguais A Você:
| “Someone to light up my life” is the English title. The Portuguese name means “If everybody were like you”.
Matita Perê:
| name of a bird similar to the striped cuckoo.
Canta, Canta Mais:
Sing, sing even more
Meu amigo Radamés:
My friend Radamés | dedicated to maestro Radamés Gnatalli.
Bangzália:
| name invented by Jobim for a song from the soundtrack for a TV series O tempo e o vento, by Erico Verissimo.
Garota de Ipanema:
The Girl from Ipanema | in an instrumental version.
Other Voices:
Tom Jobim And His Maestros
by Luiz Roberto Oliveira
First published in the newspaper Folha de São Paulo as an illustrated supplement on December 9, 2002
Under the theme Jobim Sinfônico, the performances by the Symphonic Orchestra of the State of São Paulo (OSESP) and invited artists will show an aspect of Antonio Carlos Jobim which is lesser-known to the public: musical pieces and orchestral arrangements written for the theater, movies, events, or recorded for his own albums or those of other performers.
From the very beginning of his career, Jobim had an interest in orchestration: he attended classes with maestro Alceu Bocchino, and he also studied extensively from pianist and songwriter Radamés Gnattali, who was undoubtedly one of his idols. He also took lessons from Leo Peracchi, who would later work with Tom (as he was known) in a few other important events.
His talent was more than enough to secure a brilliant career as an arranger, if he so desired. But Jobim was enchanted with composition, and he must have had some notion that the future would favor him much more through his music than through arrangements.
He was young, newly wed, and had the need to make money to “pay the rent”; so he began to provide musical arrangements for various performers. Nearly always the credits in the back cover for the arranger and the musicians who participated in the recordings followed a phrase that was typical back then: "Antonio Carlos Jobim and his orchestra". The phrase was a little misleading, because even though there were excellent stable orchestras, such as the famous group Tabajara (led by Severino Araújo), many groups of musicians booked for recordings or live performances were given credit by the generic name "his orchestra".
Tom's debut at the rostrum of a large orchestra took place in 1954, at the National Radio network of Rio de Janeiro, with the performance of ‘Lenda’, a symphonic étude composed as a tribute to his father.
In the first performance with poet and songwriting partner Vinicius de Moraes, Tom adopted again the symphonic style in passages created for the play Orfeu da Conceição, in 1956. In the opening week, Tom preferred to efface himself behind the piano, and trusted the more experienced baton of Leo Peracchi to conduct his orchestration. Shortly afterwards, he became confident enough to conduct the orchestra for a recording. Jobim Sinfônico includes ‘Overture’, the unpublished ‘Macumba’ and ‘Dama Negra’ (Black Lady) and singer Milton Nascimento is featured on ‘Se Todos Fossem Iguais A Você’ (a.k.a. ‘Someone To Light Up My Life’).
As part of his job, Tom Jobim used to make orchestrations and arrangements but very early on he had expressed his tendency to entrust this hard task to others. Nevertheless, it was Juscelino Kubitschek, Brazil’s president at that time, who had Tom burning the midnight oil once again on his music staves. This time for a grand, historic, project.
Jobim was commissioned to write Brasilia, Sinfonía da Alvorada (Brasilia, Symphony of Dawn) and with it came a deadline: the inauguration of Brazil’s new capital city of Brasilia, in 1960. The texture of the orchestration was dense, solemn, epic, and it was put together with Vinicius de Moraes’ verses to describe the contrast between the sparse landscape of the Cerrado, and man’s ingenuity to construct this glorious new city. The first four movements were to be performed by OSESP.
In 1963, with a desire to showcase his music in the United States and to the world, Tom Jobim made his US debut with The Composer Of Desafinado Plays, his first as a featured performer. Producer Creed Taylor introduced Jobim to the German maestro Claus Ogerman. The reservations that Tom would have in connection with the potential “Prussian temperament” of the arranger were dismissed soon after they began working together. Their collaboration resulted in an excellent recording, the debut of a partnership that Tom was adamant about repeating.
Moved by his great admiration for the arranger Nelson Riddle, he did not hesitate to invite him to participate in his next recording: The Wonderful World Of Antonio Carlos Jobim. Riddle was a person of great ability among the big bands, but he was going through a difficult period in his life, with a sick son. This may have contributed to the fact that his musical arrangements failed to show the expected brilliance. Tom was also a little bit resentful with more of a jazzy accent as shown by the Californian musicians invited by Riddle to take part in the recording in Los Angeles. Jobim Sinfônico includes ‘A Felicidade’ (Happiness) in the program, with the arrangement by Riddle and vocals by Maucha Adnet.
In 1973, Tom recorded ‘Matita Perê’, once again with the support of Ogerman, who undoubtedly had become Tom’s arranger of choice. In addition to absorbing the style, the sense of ‘economy of notes’ and the composer’s Brazilian-ness, there was an emphasis on his writing skills, the talent for balanced tones, and the ability to have musicians play perfect performances. Milton Nascimento will have OSESP’s accompaniment on the performance of the main track.
In 1985, composer-arranger Dori Caymmi participated also with the arrangement of ‘Bangzália’ for the TV miniseries O Tempo E O Vento (Time and Wind). The lost score was rewritten through the comprehensive work carried out by guitarist and arranger Mario Adnet, who used only a recording as reference. ‘Bangzália’ is also included in Jobim Sinfônico’s program.
Paulo Jobim, Tom’s son, continuously collaborated with his father during most of his career. He worked on several arrangements for recordings and shows, often together with cellist Jaques Morelenbaum. Jobim Sinfonico presents the piece ‘Meu amigo Ramadés’ (My Friend Ramades) from Antonio Brasileiro, the last CD by recorded by Tom in 1994. Paulo orchestrated this track with flute, clarinet, piano, guitar, and strings. Tom himself provided a last-minute contribution, and acting on a suggestion by his son, created the phrase performed by the violinists for conclusion of the piece. This would be the last time that Antonio Carlos Jobim would show his talent as an arranger.
With this abundance of scores, staves, beats and notes, let us not be misled: in spite of the fact that Tom enjoyed listening to his collaborators, the concepts and the ideas behind the arrangements that Tom commissioned to other maestros remained mostly his own. The harmonies, the bass lines, the inner voicings, the arrangement structure: Tom would have it ready to be included in the score by the arranger.
An example of this is ‘Saudade do Brasil’ (Nostalgic for Brazil) that OSESP will perform as arranged by Claus Ogerman. Here, everything comes from Tom: The low, medium and high pitches. Ogerman is credited primarily for transcribing the right passages for the right instruments, thus achieving perfect tonal blending, phrasing and dynamics. This considerable work can be even more appreciated when added to an irreproachable lead.
Some over-excited admirers even say that, when working for Tom, Ogerman acted only as an elite transcriber. That is an injustice. The truth is that the collaboration between Tom and Ogerman yielded thoroughly successful results. Few arrangers were ever able to understand a composer so well.
In the São Paulo Music Hall, OSESP will be conducted by Roberto Minczuk, who has been one of Tom’s long-term fans: "Who does not admire Tom Jobim?” Although dealing mostly with classical music, the maestro feels comfortable to work with the Brazilian rhythms of some musical pieces on the program since he has already participated in pop music ensembles both in Brazil and the United States. Upon studying Tom's orchestrations, he noticed that the composer's creations were very much related to the fact that he was a pianist and that he used this instrument when creating the scores. “You can see passages that have been written for the orchestra and that originated in strains of the piano; sometimes the flutes play chords originally performed by the right hand, or the violoncello reproduce the left hand. This feature is also seen in Beethoven, and other composers.”
Due to competence and quality, OSESP adds a new dimension to Tom’s orchestral works. Jobim Sinfônico links the greatest composer of our popular music and the best current Brazilian orchestra. During each of concert performances, a double celebration will take place: Tom will belong to OSESP — and nothing be fairer than to retrieve the old form used by the recording companies to give credit to the musicians by enhancing it with a new and broader meaning: Now we will really listen to “Antonio Carlos Jobim and his Orchestra’.
