Música e representação nas cerimônias de morte em Minas Gerais (1750-1827): reflexões para o estudo da memória sonora na festa

Abstract

The main purpose of the present study is thus to reflect about the memory that was formed through a ritual practice, defining behaviors to a collectivity and promoting in its bearers, a new mentality, founded in the Portuguese religious tradition. The Brazilian funeral ceremonies during the old regime followed the persuasive model common in baroque celebrations, presenting through its rules and norms, a complex system of performances. Notwithstanding the contribution of several studies about ritual celebrations in Brazil, until now, no discussion about the sound aspect during the celebrations has been attempted. Considerable time was spent in the analysis of the musical material produced in Brazil, most specifically in Minas Gerais, during the Gold Century. In my own research I was able to identify a significant number of musical examples composed for funeral rites. Understanding the rituals in these musical works led me to develop a research about the sonority in the funeral rite, relating it to the social practices in which they were inserted. A very special musical piece came to light then; the funeral music by Joaquim Jose Emerico Lobo de Mesquita (1746-1805). This particular piece became very popular during the 19th and 20th centuries all around Minas Gerais and Sao Paulo. It was known as the Oficio das Violetas. Oficio means the prayer to dead souls and violets in this case refered to the orchestration of the piece, which used violas (violetas in Portugal) instead of the violins. The fact that this work was probably performed for the funeral rites of the Empress Leopoldina, encouraged me to develop a specific study about the royal funeral rites, where I was fortunate to find a significant number of works dedicated to the solemn ceremonies composed by important local musicians. Despite of the fact that several theoricals have discussed the visual aspects of the celebrations, there was a need to understand how the sound memory was built and applied in these festivities relating them with to the forms of appropriation and the attitudes of death during the colonial period.