Alberto Nepomuceno

Alberto Nepomuceno (Fortaleza, 1864 – Rio de Janeiro, 1920) was one of the composers who, at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century, shaped musical nationalism in Brazil. He received his early training from his father and, while still a young man in Recife, was conducting the concerts of the local Carlos Gomes club at just eighteen.

In 1884 he moved to Rio de Janeiro, where he combined his studies with teaching piano at the Beethoven Club. Between 1888 and 1895 he travelled through Europe and studied at some of the most prestigious institutions of the day: the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Akademische Meisterschule, the Stern Conservatory in Berlin and the Paris Conservatoire, where he studied organ with Guilmant. On his return to Rio, he taught organ at the conservatory and, from 1896, took over the direction of the Sociedade de Concertos Populares. He also directed the conservatory, first for a few months in 1902 and again from 1906, a post he left in 1916 after securing the institution's move into its modern premises.

During these years he championed the recognition of Brazilian music and composers. He opposed the pro-German stance of the critic Oscar Guanabarino, included national works in the programmes of his concert society, and supported performances by popular musicians such as Catulo da Paixão Cearense. In 1910 he travelled to Europe to conduct at the Brussels World Exhibition and to present his own works and those of other Brazilian composers in Paris and Geneva.

His output covers almost all the traditional genres, from art songs in several languages to sacred music, operas, string quartets and a symphony. Within it, works that draw on folklore or urban popular music stand out, such as the Série brasileira, the prelude O Garatuja, the Quarto quarteto «Brasileiro» and the piano piece Galhofeira, built on the maxixe and the chôro. The final movement of the Série brasileira, «Batuque», based on an Afro-Brazilian dance, was his most popular piece. His operas, by contrast, did not seek to create a national opera, so his role as a pioneer rests mainly on his instrumental and vocal music.

Nepomuceno is regarded by many as the 'father' of Brazilian concert music, because he was among the first classically trained composers to incorporate indigenous elements consciously. His legacy is tied both to his music and to his institutional work at the head of the conservatory and of Rio de Janeiro's musical life.