The Alberto Nepomuceno Collection reveals a major composer who was a pioneer among Brazilian musicians and who was recognized as the "father" of musical nationalism in his country. In addition to being the first to incorporate native themes and rhythms into art music in Brazil, he developed a brilliant career as a prominent teacher and theoretician, an orchestra conductor, pianist and organist, and a musical administrator.

Nepomuceno, born in the middle of the nineteenth century, received his early musical education in Brazil from his father, a church organist. Later he became highly cultivated during his scholarly years of musical studies in Europe in the best conservatories of that time, such as Rome's Santa Cecilia, Paris' Schola Cantorum and Berlin's Akademische Meister Schulle, among others. He was fluent in five languages and became acquainted with major composers of the twentieth century, among them Debussy, Saint-Saëns, D'Indy, and Richard Strauss, all of whom praised his works. In addition, his marriage to the distinguished Norwegian pianist Walborg Rendtler Bang allowed him to establish a personal friendship with Edward Grieg.

Parallel to a major career in composition and conducting, Nepomuceno's passion was to give his country a better and more advanced musical curricula. As a professor of composition he tried to apply new systems, for example, Schönberg's Harmony Treatise, but was unable to persuade the musicians of his time to change the traditional way of teaching. Nevertheless, thanks to his tireless work for the recognition of Brazilian nationalism and encouragement of young and new composers, he was able, just one year before his death, to conduct and introduce to the public Heitor Villa-Lobos' work.

From his stage works to the piano pieces Nepomuceno's eclecticism is the common attribute of his whole output. His style goes from a conventional romantic trend passing through transitional styles to the fiery rhythms of the Afro-Brazilian dances. In the middle of these periods can be found piano works that recreated a harpsichord-like resemblance, such as, the early Suite Antiga, as well as vivacious and spontaneous dance-like urban tunes as the "maxixe" and the "choro" with Galhofeira as its best example.

The collection consists primarily of scores, most of them photocopies of holographs, and printed material. Among the printed scores the original rare Portuguese-Italian edition of his opera Abul, in a piano-vocal score, printed by Sonzogno of Milan, in 1913, and also a photocopy of the piano-vocal score of the French-Portuguese version of the opera Artemis. Following in importance is the full score of his Série Brasileira of which the last movement, the famous "Batuque," was the first symphonic undertaking to picture one aspect of the unique Brazilian folk life. This collection also contains the printed full score of the prelude O Garatuja, a work that was conducted and acclaimed by Richard Strauss.

The chamber music although small in quantity is quite significant because it contains, among other items, the composer's three major string quartets. The third in D minor "Brasileiro," dated Berlin 1891, is another earlier example of the use of Brazilian thematic rhythms in art music.

The vocal music, about seventy piano-vocal scores with German, French, Italian, Swedish and Portuguese texts, illustrates the development of Nepomuceno from his European early style to the works that depict the sometimes melancholic perception of the Brazilian soul. The piano works, with similar characteristics, have a wide range from the aforementioned Suite antiga to the Quatro peças lyricas, written in a romantic style at the beginning, but finishing with the syncopated pattern and the distinctive improvisation of the "choro."

Even though the collection is small in size, it contains a variety of works in each genre showing the development of Nepomuceno's musical career, from a strictly European composer to the first Brazilian to achieve stature as the founder of musical nationalism in his country. It encompasses a 33-year period, from his early works in 1887 until his last in 1920. In addition, the collection contains a small amount of photographs, portraits of the composer and his wife, and also books, catalogs and other printed materials published during the last sixty years.

Nevertheless his relevance as a creator and his contribution to the Brazilian musical culture goes far beyond. In addition to his career as a major composition teacher and director of the National Institute of Music, he must be remembered as a conductor who not only was the first to lead the symphonic works of his young fellow-citizens, but also the Brazilian premieres of the music of Wagner and all the major French and Russian composers of the first half of the twentieth century.

Finally, the collection is complemented with several long playing 33-1/3 rpm records that contain symphonic, choral, vocal, chamber music and piano works, performed and conducted by Brazilian musicians. The record collection is located in the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division.

Susana Salgado, 1998