Mozart Camargo Guarnieri (February 1, 1907 – January 13, 1993) was a Brazilian composer.

Name

Guarnieri was born in

Tietê, São Paulo Tietê is a Brazilian municipality in the state of São Paulo, located in the Metropolitan Region of Sorocaba, in the Meso-region of Piracicaba and in the Microregion of Piracicaba. It is located at latitude 23º06'07 "south and at a longitude ...

, and registered at birth as Mozart Guarnieri, but when he began a musical career, he decided his first name was too pretentious. Thus he adopted his mother's maiden name Camargo as a middle name, and thenceforth signed himself M. Camargo Guarnieri. In 1948, he legally changed his name to Mozart Camargo Guarnieri, but continued to sign only the initial of his first name. Guarnieri's Italian father, Michele Guarneri, a lover of classical music, named one of Camargo's brothers Rossine (a Portuguese misspelling of

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...

), and two others Verdi and Bellini.

Life

Guarnieri studied piano with Ernani Braga and and composition with at the

Conservatório Dramático e Musical de São Paulo The Conservatório Dramático e Musical de São Paulo (Musical and Dramatic Conservatory of São Paulo) was a conservatory for students of music in São Paulo, Brazil. The Conservatory was founded on February 15, 1906, and inaugurated officially o ...

. In 1938, a fellowship from the Council of Artistic Orientation allowed him to travel to Paris, where he studied composition and aesthetics with

Charles Koechlin Charles-Louis-Eugène Koechlin (; 27 November 186731 December 1950), commonly known as Charles Koechlin, was a French composer, teacher and musicologist. He was a political radical all his life and a passionate enthusiast for such diverse things ...

and conducting with

François Ruhlmann François Ruhlmann (11 January 1868 – 8 June 1948) was a Belgian conductor. Life and career Born in Brussels, Ruhlmann was a pupil of Joseph Dupont in his native city. As a child he sang in the chorus at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, a ...

. Some of his compositions received important prizes in the United States in the 1940s, giving Guarnieri the opportunity of conducting them in New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Chicago. A distinguished figure of the Brazilian national school, he served in several capacities; conductor of the São Paulo Orchestra, member of the Academia Brasileira de Música, and Director of the São Paulo Conservatório, where he taught composition and orchestral conducting. In 1936 he was the first conductor of the Coral Paulistano choir. His œuvre comprises symphonies, concertos, cantatas, two

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libre ...

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small num ...

, many piano pieces, and over fifty

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetiti ...

s. In 1972, in

Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the List of largest cities in Brazil, twelfth most populous city in the country ...

, his compatriot Roberto Szidon gave the first performance of the Piano Concerto No. 4. Some consider him to be the most important Brazilian composer after

Heitor Villa-Lobos Heitor Villa-Lobos (March 5, 1887November 17, 1959) was a Brazilian composer, conductor, cellist, and classical guitarist described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has become the ...

. Shortly before his death in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

in 1993, he was awarded the

Gabriela Mistral Lucila Godoy Alcayaga (; 7 April 1889 – 10 January 1957), known by her pseudonym Gabriela Mistral (), was a Chilean poet-diplomat, educator and humanist. In 1945 she became the first Latin American author to receive a Nobel Prize in Li ...

Prize by the Organization of American States as the greatest contemporary composer of the Americas.

Works

Operas

*''Pedro Malazarte'' (comic opera in one act, libretto by Mário de Andrade, premiered in May 1952 at the

Theatro Municipal (Rio de Janeiro) The Theatro Municipal ("Municipal Theater") is an opera house in the Centro district of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Built in the early twentieth century, it is considered to be one of the most beautiful and important theaters in the country. The ...

) *''Um homem só'' (tragic opera in one act, libretto by Gianfrancesco Guarnieri, premiered on November 29, 1962, at the Theatro Municipal (Rio de Janeiro))

Orchestral

*Symphonies **Symphony No. 1 (1944) **Symphony No. 2 "Uirapuru" (1945) **Symphony No. 3 (1952) **Symphony No. 4 "Brasília" (1963) **Symphony No. 5 (1977) **Symphony No. 6 (1981) *Overtures **''Abertura Concertante'' (1942) **''Abertura Festiva'' (1971) *Suites **''Suite infantil'' (1929) **''Tres Dansas para Orquestra'' (1941). The first dance is "Dansa Brasileira" (originally composed for piano in 1928), which is his best-known and most-recorded piece outside South America. **''Suite IV Centenario'' (1954) **''Suite Vila Rica'' (1957), taken from the music for the film "Rebelião em Vila Rica" *Homenagem a Villa-Lobos (1966) for Winds, Piano and Percussion *Concerto for Orchestra and Percussion (1972)

Concertante

*Piano **Piano Concerto No. 1 (1931) **Piano Concerto No. 2 (1946) **''Chôro'' for piano and orchestra (1956) **Piano Concerto No. 3 (1964) **''Seresta'' for Piano and Orchestra (1965) **Piano Concerto No. 4 (1968) **Piano Concerto No. 5 (1970) **Piano Concerto No. 6 (1987) **Variations (''Variações sobre um tema nordestino'') for Piano and Orchestra (1953) *Violin **Violin Concerto No. 1 (1940). This concerto won a Latin-American violin concerto contest in 1943 sponsored by the Pan American Union, prize money donated by Samuel Fels. **''Chôro'' for violin and orchestra (1951) **Violin Concerto No. 2 (1952) *Viola **''Chôro'' for viola and orchestra (1975) *Cello **''Chôro'' for cello and orchestra (1961) *Flute **Chôro for Flute and Chamber Orchestra (1972) *Clarinet **Chôro for Clarinet and Orchestra (1956) *Bassoon **Chôro for Bassoon and Chamber Orchestra (1991)

Chamber/instrumental

*String quartets **String Quartet No. 1 (1932) **String Quartet No. 2 (1944) **String Quartet No. 3 (1962) *Cello sonatas **Cello Sonata No. 1 (1931) **Cello Sonata No. 2 (1955) **Cello Sonata No. 3 (1977) *Violin sonatas **Violin Sonata No. 1 (? apparently lost in a taxi) **Violin Sonata No. 2 (1933) **Violin Sonata No. 3 (1950) **Violin Sonata No. 4 (1956) **Violin Sonata No. 5 (1959) **Violin Sonata No. 6 (1965) **Violin Sonata No. 7 (1977–1978) *''Canção Sertaneja'' for Violin and Piano (1955) *Viola Sonata (1950) *Sonatina for Flute and Piano (1947) *Flor de Tremembe, for Fifteen Instruments and Percussion (1960)

Piano

*''Dança Brasileira'' (1928) *''Dança Selvagem'' (1931) *Ponteios, Book I (1931–35) *''Dança Negra'' (1946) *Ponteios, Book II (1947–49) *Estudo No. 1 (1949) *Estudo No. 2 (1949) *Estudo No. 3 (1949) *Estudo No. 4 (1954) *Estudo No. 5 (1950) *Suite Mirim (1953) *Ponteios, Book III (1954–55) *Ponteios, Book IV (1956–57) *Ponteios, Book V (1958–59) *Sonatina No. 4 for Piano (1958) *Estudo No. 6 (1962) *Estudo No. 7 (1962) *Estudo No. 8 (1962) *Estudo No. 9 (1962) *Estudo No. 10 (1962) *Estudo No. 11 (1968) *Estudo No. 12 (1968) *Estudo No. 13 (1969) *Estudo No. 14 (1969) *Estudo No. 15 (1970) *Piano Sonata (1972) *Estudo No. 16 (1984) *Estudo No. 17 (1985) *Estudo No. 18 (1981) *Estudo No. 19 (1988) *Estudo No. 20 (1982)

Vocal

*Cinco Poemas de Alice (1954) for Soprano and Piano

References

Sources * *

External links

About Camargo Guarnieri in Larousse
*, Nelson Freire {{DEFAULTSORT:Guarnieri, Camargo 1907 births 1993 deaths People from Tietê, São Paulo Brazilian people of Italian descent Brazilian classical composers Brazilian male composers 20th-century classical composers Male classical composers 20th-century male musicians