Missa Breve sobre Ritmos Populares Brasileiros, by Aylton Escobar

analytical approaches

Abstract

This paper presents an analytical approach to the musical work composed in 1964, Missa Breve sobre Ritmos Populares Brasileiros, by Aylton Escobar. Written for a capella choir, it was premiered in the USA, in 1968, at the IV Interamerican Music Festival. This article takes, as a methodological procedure, a bibliographic-analytical approach, through which we sought to understand the dialogue between sacred-liturgical music and Brazilian folk and popular traditions, which resulted in a hybridism revealed in several ways. The bibliography that supports this work has as main authors: Bent (2002), Caplin (1998), Carvalho (2000), Cook (1987), De Bonis (2018), Ruwet (1987) and Schoenberg (2008), in the field of musical analysis; Alvarenga (1960), Andrade (1989), Ayala (1988), Lima (2010), Machado (2012), Marcondes (1977), Neves (2008) and Sautchuc (2009), regarding the biographical contextualization and research on Brazilian Music; and, finally, data from an interview with the composer. As final considerations, the text points out the hybridization processes found in the work, highlighting the way in which the composer conceived a mass of considerable importance for the Brazilian choral repertoire.