From Concrete Poetry to Musical Composition: Narrativity, Intertextuality and Musical Meaning in Motet em Ré Menor, by Gilberto Mendes

Abstract

This paper intends to construct some reflections on how the use of the poetic text as process of creation of a musical composition can be developed through the rhythmic, sonorous and melodic use of the words, verses and their (possible) musical meaning. Specifically, we use the example of the choral piece Motet em Ré Menor (1966), by the Brazilian composer Gilberto Mendes (1922-2017), a composition based on the concrete poem Beba Coca-Cola (1958) by Décio Pignatari (1927-2012). Some of the problems and issues related to the processes of narrativity and intertextuality, topical meaning and tropification – from the idea of musicking this poem – will be listed and approached in a reflection based on a musical analysis that seeks to depart from the form to the musical meaning relevance.