From: gmribeir@david.wheaton.edu (Glauber)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.brazil
Subject: Re: Literature Question
Date: 29 Aug 92 22:45:11 GMT
Organization: (n.) Body of persons united for a specific purpose.

In article <1992Aug29.193944.14353@zip.eecs.umich.edu> bhattach@dip.eecs.umich.edu (sayan bhattacharyya) writes:
>In article <1992Aug29.053014.26948@wheaton.wheaton.edu> gmribeir@david.wheaton.edu (Glauber) writes:
>>In article <1992Aug27.224304.25614@zip.eecs.umich.edu> bhattach@dip.eecs.umich.edu (sayan bhattacharyya) writes:
>>>In article <94767@bu.edu> donq@acs.bu.edu (Jose Otero) writes:
>>>>
>>>>Could anyone tell me the names of contemporary Brazilian poets?
>>>>
>>>>Jose F. Otero
>>>>donq@acs.bu.edu
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>Here are some :     Vini'cius de Moraes (born 1913)
>>>                    Mauro Ramos da Mota (born 1912)
>>>                    Joa~o Cabral de Melo Neto (born 1920)
>>>                    Markos Konder Reis (born 1922)
>>>
>>
>>Nao esquece o Ferreira Gullar.
>>
>>Nao esquece a Adelia Prado.
>>
>>E os caras que ja' morreram mas merecem estar em qualquer lista,
>>como Cecilia Meirelles, Oswald de Andrade, Mario de Andrade, toda
>>a turma da "semana de arte moderna."
>>
>>
>>						Glauber
>
>The anthology of Brazilian poetry I am reading now (in English
>translation) , mentions that the work of many of the important
>younger poets in Brazil takes the form of song lyrics , and that
>some of these songs are extremely popular in Brazil. Unfortunately,
>the anthology does not mention the names of any of these 
>poet-songwriters. Could some kind soul on this newsgroup post
>something about them ?  (Preferably in English, for the benefit
>of those like me who are novices in Portuguese.)
>
>Obrigado,
>
>-Sayan Bhattacharyya
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm sorry. I didn't know there was such an anthology and i
assumed you knew Portuguese, etc.

About song lyrics, Vinicius de Moraes was the first "highbrow"
heavyweight poet to associate with composers. His songs are at
least as good as his other poetry, which is to say, very good.
Capinam is a modern poet who has written songs. There are others,
but i don't recall the names right now.

Other composers who are usually featured in literature courses
are

Chico Buarque (probably the best poet. If you know Portuguese,
			look for the song "Construcao")
Caetano Velloso


others that imho deserved to be in the list but usually aren't

Gilberto Gil (he's always changing, always fresh, and has
		some good poetry in many different styles)
Milton Nascimento (look for the songs "Travessia" and "Fazenda")


Also sometimes a composer will put somebody else's poetry to
music. I recall a poem by Carlos Drummond de Andrade that was set
to music by Milton Nascimento (don't remember the name, but it
has the lines "eu preparo uma canc,a~o em que minha ma~e se
reconhec,a / todas as ma~es se reconhc,am / e que fale como dois
olhos"). There has even been a recording of the book "Mensagem"
(Fernando Pessoa, Portuguese poet) by several different Brazilian
composers.


The problem with songs when they are recorded in English is that
they receive different lyrics, in order to be more effective in
English. The English lyrics not always have anything to do with
the original. Of course, it is always very very difficult to
study poetry of any people without knowing the language. And
translations from Portuguese are rare.


						Glauber


-- 
Glauber Ribeiro - Wheaton College, IL  (USA)
                  glauber@david.wheaton.edu 
                  glauber@vpnet.chi.il.us