Symphony No. 2 (“Brasiliana”) by Walter Burle Marx: an edition and commentary

Abstract

This research on the Brazilian composer Walter Burle Marx (b São Paulo, 1902; d Akron, Ohio, 1990) is part of an ambitious project, which aims at publishing a performing edition of all four of Burle Marx's symphonies. His Symphony No. 2 (“Brasiliana”), written in 1950, reflects Burle Marx's national and cosmopolitan influences. The main part of this dissertation consists of my edition of the symphony based on the original manuscript. This is followed by biographical information on the composer and his times and an analysis of the symphony. The early twentieth century in Brazil was an effervescent period when nationalism was the watchword. This climate caused some hesitation when it came to accepting Burle Marx into the Brazilian musical scene not only as a composer but also as a conductor. Burle Marx's musical background forged an undeniable bond between music tradition and artistic nationalism, which was imperative to the composers of the time. Nonetheless, for the Brazilian modernist movement in the 1920s, Burle Marx's German training in the 1920s turned out to be an anathema. This dissertation investigates two aspects of Brazil's cultural and political environment between 1922 and 1945, a critical period which had a great impact on the development of Burle Marx's career. This era embraces two major moments in the cultural and political history of Brazil: 1) A Semana de Arte Moderna (“The Week of Modern Art”), which was a watershed development toward a new aesthetic orientation for Brazilian artists, and 2) the end of Era Vargas, Getúlio Vargas' dictatorship (1930-1945).