O ensino de composição no Brasil: uma investigação de horizontes culturais e criativos em cursos de graduação

Abstract

The first undergraduate composition programs in Brazil were established between the 1950s and 1960s. Since then, they have become well-established, having been responsible for the education of hundreds of composers. The teaching experience gained over the decades resonates in current pedagogical and compositional practices. It is in this context that this research aims to investigate the teaching of composition in undergraduate composition courses in Brazil, focusing on cultural and creative aspects. To this end, it uses bricolage of methodological principles, based on studies by Claude Lévi-Strauss, Joe Kincheloe and Berry Kathleen. The bricolage is carried out using various methods and principles of qualitative research, such as ethnographic research, interviews and document analysis, using Roberto Sidnei Macedo's contractive method as a heuristic principle. The theoretical framework used is via the works of Ernst Widmer, Vladmir Safatle, Margaret Boden, Gaston Bachelard and Paulo Costa Lima. The latter also is also used as a compositional reference, together with Jonathan D. Kramer, Lindembergue Cardoso and Joseph Nathan Straus. The work is divided into five chapters, the first of which is an introduction to the research problem, its context, the theoretical and methodological justifications and the presentation of the structure of the text. The second chapter is dedicated to a comprehensive description of the field visits, articulated with the testimonies of the interviewees, as described in seven universities in three different regions of Brazil, namely: UFBA, UFMG, UFRGS, UFRJ, UFRN, UNICAMP and UNIRIO. The descriptions cover the inner workings of the courses, perceptions of teachers and students about the work of teaching composition, institutional partnerships, description of repertoires and teaching materials used. The third chapter considers the curricular dimensions of the courses investigated, as well as their creative horizons and learning methods, highlighting divergences and diversity within and between courses; twenty-six analytical categories were created to describe creative horizons, such as: agency, collaboration, surprise, and tradition. The fourth chapter is an analytical-descriptive memorial of three pieces composed for this thesis: Bruhhmnhn, for piano and two flutes; Raenil, for string quartet; and Inodoro, for orchestra. It discusses the compositional procedures and perspectives used. In the final chapter, the author discusses the concluding remarks of the work and offers some critical reflections on the programs investigated. These include the possibility of greater integration among the programs, the importance of promoting training with a stronger focus on collective initiatives, the formation of groups of composers in collaboration with performers and the external community, as well as the need to increase the circulation of the music composed by these composers and the studies conducted about their works.