A ópera de câmara História do Asceta e a Dançarina de Hostílio Soares: contextualização histórico-estilística e análise interpretativa sob a perspectiva da adaptação e da intermidialidade

Abstract

The present study aims to rescue the História do Asceta e a Dançarina, ópera de câmara em 1 ato e 3 quadros, a piece composed by Hostílio Soares with text by Rabindranath Tagore, by means of a data collection on its historical stylistic context and the analysis of the relations between text and music under the prism of Adaptation and Intermediality. The historical stylistic study made gave us a basis to consider Soares’ opera a distinct piece composed in the Wagnerian musical drama style, following a compositional tendency that was prevailing at the National Institute of Music of Rio de Janeiro at the time. Studying the piece has showed us that the composer’s personal characteristics are present in his composition, like his philosophical way of life, for example. With the purpose of approaching the way Soares interpreted the text by Tagore in music and verifying the interrelation between the different media that are part of the operatic piece, like literary text, music, and theater, we present a study about Intermediality and Adaptation that aims to examine the pieces originated from other primary sources. By associating the perspectives of Adaptation proposed by Linda Hutcheon to the Intermediality subcategories pointed by Irina Rajewsky, we found methodological tools that have helped us with the text and music analysis of Hostílio Soares’ opera. This analysis has favored the comprehension of possible meanings of the piece, highlighting the adaptations made by the composer and the dialogue between the media, which have elucidated pertinent matters to the building of the operatic performance.