Pós-Minimalismo na terceira fase composicional de Gilberto Mendes : décadas de 1980 e 1990

Abstract

It is proposed here to investigate the occurrence of Post-Minimalism in the Gilberto Mendes’ third compositional phase (1980-1990), identifying the existence of characteristics relatable to Post-Minimalism and markers of its presence in that universe. To this end, six works were chosen from the 1980s and 1990s: Três Contos de Cortázar, O Último Tango em Vila Parisi, Il Neige de Nouveau!; Für Anette; Abertura de Ópera Issa and Viva Villa II. The methodology employed, considering the interdisciplinarity of the postgraduate program and the thesis itself, is based on the comparison of the opinion of exponents of the various fields of knowledge such as Philosophy, Sociology, Linguistics, Literary Criticism and Musicology, on the binomial modernism/postmodernism and its derivations for the artistic field, in which Post-Minimalism is inserted, and based on categories such as intertextuality, parody, irony, quotation, and impurity. Among the theorists who were brought out, one can name Scarpetta (1985), Lyotard (2009), Hutcheon (2000), Bloom (1997), and with higher specificity in music namely Straus (1990, 2000), Potter et al (2013), Ap Siôn (2007) and Gann (1997). To identify Post-Minimalism in Mendes’ third phase were used types of analyses as tools, comprehending such a so wide spectrum of amplitude, that there was the unequivocal need to seek the heterogeneity among methods such as Set Theory, intertextual analyzes involving parody, irony, quotation and the Aesthetics of Impurity. The organization of the thesis was made from the general to the specific, being the first chapter to contextualize this process. This has highlighted the delimitations on contemporary cultures and their relationship with modernism and postmodernism through a relevant theoretical framework, with emphasis on some aspects of the avant-garde, and mainly supported by Scarpetta's concepts. The second chapter deals with the question of intertextuality and its variations such as parody, irony, the pastiche, across art forms in general and in music specifically, having as exponents Everett (2004) and Klein (2005). The third chapter focuses on Minimalism and Post-Minimalism themselves, in a broader view, in the field of the arts, narrowing into the musical aspect, discriminating difficulties and strategies to analyze (post) minimalist music. The fourth chapter reveals the composer, bringing a panoramic view of the academic research about his work, over his performance in Brazilian concert music, also presenting samples of his third musical phase, claiming at this point that there really are (post) minimalist features in it. The fifth and sixth chapters work together offering analyzes of the piano and orchestral pieces, respectively, in greater detail. The conclusion makes an accurate retrospective of the whole work with remarks on the concepts brought and finishes up by exposing whether the research has achieved its objectives, establishing the veracity of the initial proposition. The aim of this study is to contribute to a better understanding of Post-Minimalism from an interdisciplinary perspective, as well as to disseminate a more comprehensive understanding of the work of Gilberto Mendes, an exponential Brazilian composer of the 20th century.