Orff instruments arrive-2005

Today these same instruments are put to good use by students enrolled in an Orff Schulwerk course–Musica Iniciação III, the third course in a four-semester music education sequence at UFPE.   I have been eager to learn how Orff Schulwerk was being adapted in this course at UFPE and to observe Flavio’s use of Brazilian repertoire. He had explained many times that Orff Schulwerk would only “live” in Brazil if it drew upon regional music, dance, and poetry and that earlier translations in Brazil had relied too heavily on the original source material.   For several years he has incorporated a final arranging assignment into his class requiring students to compose a piece using a traditional northeast rhythm–ritmo nordestino such as côco, ciranda, maracatu, and frevo.

According to Flávio it is nearly impossible for students to improvise or compose without bringing a traditional rhythm into the mix, so this assignment generates much enthusiasm among students.  Students research the roots and characteristic instruments of each style to inform compositions that blend Orff xylophones and Brasilian percussion.  Flavio’s own collection of instruments (zabumba, alfaia, caixa, surdo, and conga drums) become part of the Orff ensemble to preserve traditional rhythms and local flavor.  Accordion and rebecha (played by violin) are added for some of the pieces.

For the past two weeks, student compositions have been performed in class.  Flute, trumpet, trombone, violin, often carry the melody and students always come prepared to play.  Xylophone parts (soprano, alto, and bass) are performed by any who volunteer to play and the contrabass bars are doubled by a string bass. A small group of 5 or 6 students gather to read through any vocal parts and a percussion section also begins to form as students jump in to try their hand (literally) at conga, zabumba, alfaia, or pandeiro.  When a part requires an advanced technique, as is often the case with the pandeiro (a tambourine-like instruments), an”expert” student joins the class for a brief demonstration and performance.  Many students learn to play in their communities outside in the university and willingly share their knowledge of northeast rhythms and dance.  Cavalo-Marinho (sea horse) was one style that had a particularly challenging pandeiro rhythm and complex dance steps.

alfaias

The “community” of learners comes to life in Flavio’s class as the pieces are constructed.  Scores are passed around to different “stations” (Orff xylos, contra bars and bass, percussion, melody for flute, violin, or brass, and vocal parts).  Shakers of all shapes and sizes are added along with any other sound effects that people choose to add.  Even though scores are used for learning purposes, everyone begins by simultaneously practicing and learning from each other (not under the direction of a teacher-director).  Students work out parts as the composers circulate to help, and Flavio jumps into assist when necessary. My first reaction to the use of scores was that this is not Orff Schulwerk, but the environment reflects Andrea Sangiorgio’s description of an Orff Schulwerk learning process that is “disciplined, yet open and permissive.”  The sense of community and collaboration are also markers of an Orff classroom.  There is noise with a purpose and everyone remains on task until a “lead” student eventually takes charge for a final rehearsal and performance.

As the arrangement comes together, the dancing and drama begin.Students play and move with ease and delight; Samuel dances the côco while playing his flute; Adriano adds a simply baião step to the ganzá rhythm he plays, and singers are typically in motion inviting me to join in for maracatu, forró, and cocô.

The synchronicity of music and movement is a fundamental element of traditional music and most students here are at home assuming dual roles as musicians and dancers.  Although Recife is a long way from the Munich and the Güntherschule where Orff began his music-movement experiments, I am finding similarities between these different worlds.  “Out of music movement; out of movement music” (Dorothee Gunther) is an idea that is practiced by Brasileiros.  Music and movement in this culture are as “important for survival as water and air”—something that long-time director of the Orff Institute Hermann Regner no doubt marveled at during his travels to Brazil.  In class, I am swept away by the music and dance as well.  For those who know me well, you can imagine that I am in heaven!

Soon I will write about the Maracatu rhythms being used in Orff arrangements in a music education class that I am observing each week at the university.  Try to envision “Maracatu-Orff” complete with dancing and traditional drums!

Just off this square is a small stage set for mamulengo–a puppet theater that is an improvisational form with comic and satirical themes. Old Recife’s turquoise and yellow buildings provide a colorful place for this creative art form.  There is a museum of mamulengo in Recife’s sister city of Olinda that I hope to visit soon.

After stopping for a suco we moved on to watch some of the maracatu rehearsals taking place in nearby streets.  Maracatu is a traditional music of northeast Brazil that was generated in the African slave quarters (senzalas) and poor areas (mocambos) of northeast Brazil. My friends are quick to point out that what I am seeing is “middle class” maracatu and not the traditional form.

A feature article in last month’s regional Continente magazine discusses the current “crisis” of differing ideas of maracatu. (“Ha uma crise na ideia de maractu.”)  As the “parafolclorico” groups spring up outside the neighborhoods where the roots of maracatu still reside in Recife, there is concern that something is lost in translation.  Not surprisingly when any musical tradition crosses economic, religious, and musical boundaries it takes on a different form and purpose even when the geographic gap is so small as it is here.  I can already hear the questions about  issues of authenticity when sharing maracatu with teachers in the U.S.

Maracatu has become a marker of cultural pride in the state of Pernambuco and it seems that everyone wants to know maracatu–to participate in a group and join in on Sundays in Old Recife to drum and dance. I’m ready, too, but I am also eager to find the roots of maracatu.  Thanks to former WVU Music Alive students who are serving as my guides I will soon visit several of the traditional maracatu venues in search of the masters. “Whosoever really wants to learn maracatu, it’s better to look for the mestres.” (Maracatu: Baque Virado e Baque Solto, 2005.)

Breakfast in this house always includes traditional bolacha–a crispy cracker supplied by the nearby padería (bakery). Cheese and an endless array of fruits are served daily. Add acerola, melão, papaya, and maracujá (passion fruit) to those I have now tried. I’m not sure why I am so preoccupied with fruits; perhaps it’s my love of gardening and local foods along with the recognition that fruits are part of daily living here and a marker of Brazilian culture.  Family members are eager to teach me the names of fruits and often quiz me to make sure I’m making progress.

An early morning walk on the beach provides an important time for reflection and brings opportunities to observe children at play. At mid-morning some children are chasing water as it washes in and out; others are digging and building. “Perigo” (danger) signs warn of sharks lurking, but Recife’s many reefs provide protective pools for water play.

I am reading an interesting book by Andrea Sangiorgio, “Orff Schulwerk as Anthropology of Music” and am reminded of Orff’s insistence on the central role of play in learning. In the 1930′s he wrote: “Music education for children does not begin in the music class, but in the play time.” Soon I will be visiting children’s music classes, but for now the fieldwork begins here…in the sandpit.

Lunch (almoça) is the largest meal of the day that typically includes rice and beans…black, brown, green, tan. Green beans (fejão verde) are my favorite (although they look nothing like the ones in my Morgantown garden). On the days that I attend music education classes from 8 until noon I join other faculty and students for lunch in the cafeteria located next to an open courtyard in the center of the CAC (Center for Arts and Communication). Another CAC! Here I have a chance to practice my Portuguese and chat with students.

At the end of the day people in my host family’s house “have a coffee” (which often doesn’t include coffee). This light meal of a sanduíche or soup and suco (juice) is consumed soon after the sun sets around 5:30p.m. My seasonal clock is confused: “Can this be September?” The 12-hour day that comes with living near the equator is all part of getting situated and finding a new rhythm for my work here.

goiaba suco e coxinha....delicious!

After a 24-hour trip I finally arrived in Recife, Brazil.  Finalmente!   Sunday was spent driving to a nearby city, Caruaru–a trip that took us through the country side and into a hilly area several hours away from the city.  Roadside stands selling pineapples dotted the drive.  We stopped for lunch in Gravatá at a restaurant, King of Coxinhas (O Rei das Coxinhas), to eat a well-loved food of Brazil. Coxinha is a deep-fried savory treat typically filled with cheese and chicken or shrimp.  Eating only one a month is probably enough for the arteries.  We also bought queiso de coalho (white cheese that is delicious when fried), yet another incentive to walk on the beach.  Fruits help balance the diet and there are many: goiaba and graviola juices are two I have tried so far and papaya is a breakfast staple

There is more than food happening in my first days here.  Yesterday I attended two back-to-back music education classes at UFPE.  Flavio Medeiros (my host) is a fabulous teacher and it was great to observe and participate in classes that are similar to ones I teach.  This is one of the “creative spaces” that I will be visiting regularly in the coming months.   Monday’s class was brimming with creativity; a Dorian melody became the centerpiece for creative group work in which students created a new text/language (“novo idiom”), accompaniment, drama and/or movement.  Saxophones, violins, accordion, zabumbas, shakers, and Orff instruments were pulled out of lockers in the room for experimentation, improvisation, and composition.  Discussion of the creative process and Orff Schulwerk principles followed in the two classes, some of which I could understand.  I was pleasantly surprised that I understood much of the conversation. Meu Portugues e melhor!  OPA!