O samba sincopado de Geraldo Pereira: (des)compassos na trilha sonora de um sambista multifacetado

Abstract

This is a study of the various facets of the samba composer Geraldo Pereira (1918-1955). First is presented a biographical introduction to this very particular artist and his supposed embodiment of the figure of the “authentic” samba composer, as well as his compositional style, the position of his body of work in historiography of Brazilian popular music and a review of it´s critical reception. Another core issue of this study concerns authorship and the commercial distribution of samba compositions. The way an image of femininity comes about in Geraldo Pereira´s compositions is analyzed starting from a survey of the lyrics of those sambas representative of the sentimental and lyrical discourse that permeates a large part of the composers´ musical production. Throughout an interpretation of the various muses invoked in the lyrics within this section of the corpus, the study aims at establishing a dialogue between the images of femininity as ilustrated in the samba compositions and the fictional female caracters of classic novels within Brazilian literary tradition. Also is reflected on the preference, within a specific phase of the production of this body of work, of an identifiable, real-life muse at the expense of “anonymous” muses. Furthermore, the acting career of Geraldo Pereira in Brazilian cinema is reviewed, in particular his singing performance in his particular role as the archetypal streetwise hustler (malandro) in a movie. Finally, the study focusses on the way in which discoursive mobility of compositions narrated by the streetwise hustler reveals social criticism by means of an ambiguous undertone that allows for multiple interpretational prospects, and on how is brought about contemplation on the samba universe from the perspective of those compositions representative of metadiscoursivity