A World of Many Musics

Abstract

Abstract This chapter addresses the failed attempts to replicate in Rio de Janeiro the vogue for Wagner’s music that had taken over several European music centers. It suggests that, in practice, Wagnerism reflected a look back to a stable, secure, and idealized past, rather than offering a real, practical promise of musical renewal. The chapter considers the extent to which composers such as Leopoldo Miguez and his circle in Rio de Janeiro, the so-called Musical Republic, became attached to the idea of a “music of the future.” It examines the repertory of a few concerts that the group organized during the period to show that they consistently offered a gamut of musics from various composers, provenances, styles, and languages as educational tools for the “general public.” The chapter also examines the work by Alberto Nepomuceno as example of an eclectic approach to music composition that was quite common among many composers of his generation. It suggests that some of his works can be described as assemblages of the many musical possibilities available to him, and that the connections the composer makes, how the many parts are put together, are more aesthetically significant than the final work.