Revista Vórtex (ISSN 2317-9937 - Qualis A1) is an online, open-access journal dedicated to music and published in partnership with the Graduate Program in Music (PPGMUS) of the State University of Paraná (UNESPAR), Brazil. Revista Vórtex published its first issue in 2013, and since then has consolidated its editorial policy of excellence, being indexed internationally, with stratum A1 in the Qualis Capes evaluation.
Autores mantêm os direitos autorais e concedem à revista o direito de primeira publicação, com o trabalho simultaneamente licenciado sob a Licença Creative Commons Attribution que permite o compartilhamento do trabalho com reconhecimento da autoria e publicação inicial nesta revista.
EDITORIAL – DOSSIÊ “MÚSICA E MULHERES”
Copyright (c) 2025 Luciana Requião, Inês de Almeida Rocha https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Woman and the Guitar in Portugal: Cataloging Process
The text outlines the process of an investigation that aimed to collect, catalog, and disseminate compositional work created by women born or residing in Portugal and directed towards classical guitar, from 1950 to 2022. As such, existing catalogs and databases along with other relevant sources for repertoire collection will be listed and discussed. The compiled catalog, final product of the investigation, will be thoroughly described to enable an understanding of its organization and the rationale behind the temporal distribution. To conclude, an assessment will be made regarding the information present in the reference source resulting from the research.
Copyright (c) 2025 Beatriz Oliveira, Pedro Rodrigues https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Women in the practice of Mbira in Mozambique: breaking down gender barriers.
This article evaluates the contribution of women in the practice of mbira in Mozambique today, breaking down the historical barriers established by gender. Under post-colonial and decolonial lenses, this article analyses ethnomusicological works that absent women in the practice of mbira, due to: the demonization of the practice of mbira in Africa; the attribution of greater authority to men; the prohibition of menstruating women from attending spiritual ceremonies; the masculinization of mbira; and the objectification of women for sexual satisfaction. Based on oral histories, interviews, observations, field notes, literature research, and photographic records, it emerged that women were only subjugated, but not defeated – their actions revive an African perspective in contemporary times. As cantautoras, they bring their experiences and visions to the center of the discourse, whether in the composition, manufacture, performance or transmission of the mbira. Their protagonism denaturalizes canonical stereotypes of mbira practice and research. The struggle continues.
Copyright (c) 2025 Micas Orlando Silambo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Women in Percussion: An Investigation of Composers and Works in Latin America and the Caribbean
This article presents the results of a research project that surveyed works for solo orchestral percussion by Latin American and Caribbean women. In addition to inventorying, locating, and cataloging these works, we reflect on the invisibility and absence of female composers in the canonical concert music repertoire. Our aim is to facilitate access to the works of Latin American and Caribbean women composers and to contribute to overcoming gender inequality in the field of music. The research is qualitative and exploratory, drawing on various sources such as digital archives, journals, libraries, and direct contact with composers, publishers, and percussionists. The study engages with the literature on music and women, identifying two main issues: the invisibility of women as composers in music history and the challenges faced by women in musical practices, particularly in the field of percussion.
Copyright (c) 2025 Juliane Larsen, Camila C. Cardoso https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Sensible listening technologies: a feminist and decolonial methodology for music
This article presents listening as part of a feminist and decolonial methodology, which also discusses sound production and creation, and presents dialogues and creative diaries as process tools. From bell hooks and Suely Rolnik, among others, the idea of listening emerges as something sensible and relational, encouraging the invention of worlds and the vital drive.
Copyright (c) 2025 Isabel Porto Nogueira https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Susanne K. Langer and the Problem of Musical and Artistic Significance.
It is possible to identify, in the field of musical aesthetics, the presence of remarkable female authors, neglected by our predominantly masculine histories of philosophy and of music. Among those authors, we find Susanne K. Langer, who recognizes the symbol, in its different types, as the human mode of expression par excellence. Focusing on Langer’s aesthetics, this article will examine the presentational symbols of music and of art in general. In order to understand how and what these symbols are capable of expressing, it will be first necessary to identify the logical preconditions to all kinds of expression. Secondly, it will be analyzed musical expression, its particular logical preconditions and its signification, through which the discursively inexpressible can be projected. Finally, it will be examined how Langer applies her conclusion about music to the other arts in her aesthetics, which due to its scope and acuity, should be more diffused.
Copyright (c) 2025 Clovis Salgado Gontijo, Mauro Miguel de Araújo Teixeira https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
To Kill Prejudice, I Was Reborn: Two Black Women’s Voice in a Carnival Bloco
This article deals with a Rio carnival group called Comuna Que Pariu! Organized by the Brazilian Communist Party, the block had, between 2013 and 2020 (the period covered in the text), two black women as handlers. Proposing a discussion about black female representations in carnival and the role of women in samba schools (the block's main reference) we point to the importance of a block like this having these two singers as its main ones.
Copyright (c) 2025 Thiago de Souza Borges, Samuel Araújo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
BatuCantada: Women in percussion subverting the musical patriarchy
This article explores the BatuCantada collective, the first carnival bloco and percussion group exclusively formed by women in Pelotas (RS), highlighting its role as a space of resistance and female empowerment. The group promotes the inclusion of women in percussion and values Afro-Brazilian culture, particularly through the tambor de Sopapo, a symbol of resistance of the Black community in southern Rio Grande do Sul (Batista, 2021; Maia, 2008). By addressing the dynamics of musical patriarchy, which marginalizes and objectifies women in music (Camargo, 2020; Green, 2001), the article examines how BatuCantada contributes to the fight for gender equity, advocating for the recognition of women in percussion. The collective also strengthens female empowerment and that of the LGBTQIAPN+ community through workshops, events, and partnerships with samba schools, expanding opportunities and visibility for women in the musical and cultural contexts.
Copyright (c) 2025 Vanessa Ramos de Oliveira Souza, Denise Marcos Bussoletti https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Women in Samba: work, collective experiences, and cultural policies
Movimento das Mulheres Sambistas (RJ) and Coletivo Mulheres no Samba (SE) are two collective experiences that, in different regions of Brazil, are dedicated to developing and promoting the feminine potential within samba. Through the analysis of the trajectories and collective ways of living within these organizations, the article investigates how they influence the field of cultural policies, seeking better professional opportunities. From an intersectional Black feminist perspective, we emphasize how race, class, gender, age and territorial belonging impact the possibilities of solidarity and the social positions of women in samba within the labor market. Focusing on the 2020-2024 period, we observe that collective engagement helps women in samba recognize themselves as music workers and as political agents in the cultural field.
Copyright (c) 2025 Laila Andresa Cavalcante Rosa, Julia Ricciardi Lima, Rayra Mayara Santos https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
It Is Black Song: Pride in Samba and in the Journeys of Dona Ivone Lara and Tia Doca of Portelaer’s
Samba is an artistic manifestation that remains an important Brazilian cultural trait, having in its genesis, essentially, aspects inherent to the black population. Women were silenced and excluded from the samba context for a long time, even though the genre was created in so many backyards and land of samba owners and aunts. With this, this work meets two great names in Brazilian samba: Dona Ivone Lara and Tia Doca da Portela to stimulate even more recognition and reflect on the patriarchal patterns that still permeate national culture. Therefore, it is imperative to investigate the production of these women, represented in their interpretations and compositions in order to verify the voices that echo not only their arts, but their ancestry and the right to freedom within contemporary art. For that, a methodological approach is used that explores the musicality, sound and lyrics of the songs under analysis.
Copyright (c) 2025 Denise Santiago-Figueiredo, Ana Paola Laeber https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
An analysis of labor conditions of black and indigenous singers in the bahian music
This article investigates the condition of Black and Indigenous female singers in the Bahian music industry, exploring the labor dynamics that characterize their careers. This study aims to understand how racism and sexism influence the careers of these artists, highlighting the intersectionality of gender, race, and social class. The research utilized a web survey with 59 questions distributed across six analytical dimensions: respondent profile, musical career, occupational profile, perceptions of race and gender, migratory flows, and socioeconomic profile. A total of 149 Black and Indigenous singers from the state were interviewed. The results reveal that most singers have extensive experience in music but face financial difficulties and a lack of professional support. The main barriers identified include a lack of financial resources, time to invest in their careers, and access to support networks. The research concludes that these singers face challenges in the Bahian music market, highlighting the need for more effective public policies.
Copyright (c) 2025 Júlia Melo Salgado, Daniele Pereira Canedo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The therapeutic power of black women's music: perspectives for the clinic
This article aims to investigate the use of music composed and/or performed by black Brazilian women as a therapeutic tool in racialized clinical practice. A qualitative analysis of the musical compositions Acalanto, by Luedji Luna, and Povoada, by Sued Nunes, was carried out, investigating essential elements for the mental health of black people, such as the construction of black identity, belonging, quilombola and ancestry present in the compositions, in addition to reflections on how these examples can be used in clinical interventions. Interdisciplinary references were used in order to deepen discussions on the intersection between music, mental health and black women. The results highlighted that the analyzed songs allow us to question historical roles attributed to black women, acting as a means of expression, resistance and resignification of life trajectories. Future studies can focus on analyzing other songs that discuss the various social oppressions that affect women.
Maylla Monnik Rodrigues de Sousa Chaveiro
Copyright (c) 2025 Sara Santos Dias Costa, Maylla Monnik Rodrigues de Sousa Chaveiro https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Black female composers and singers - aesthetic experience and representation in music
In this article, we present part of the discussions of a doctoral study in which we attempt to understand how black artists (Dona Ivone Lara, Elza Soares, Leci Brandão and Bia Ferreira) produce and express aesthetical experiences of black women in music. To this end, we have relied on the theories of bell hooks (2021), Oliveira (2012) and Prandi & Pierucci (1996), based on the premise that artistic expression can be regarded as a possibility for having aesthetical experience. By taking love, ancestry and religiosity as main axes, the composers and singers have built new bases of resignification for the black feminine in their songs, with special emphasis on care, courage and the right to affection.
Copyright (c) 2025 Gisele Massola, Michele Castro https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Leonor de Castro: the first female teacher at the Rio de Janeiro Music Conservatory
This work is an analysis of life and activity of Leonor de Castro, student and first teacher at the Rio de Janeiro Music Conservatory (1866-1890). The main objective was to make her professional trajectory visible, and the specific objectives were to analyze the contributions of her work to female professional training and understand aspects of the professionalization of teaching music in nineteenth-century Rio de Janeiro. The work follows a historical-documentary approach, including as sources newspapers found in Digital Newspaper Archive of the National Library, the FamilySearch website, institutional documents and a photograph located in the Alberto Nepomuceno Library, both at UFRJ. Using a microhistorical approach, the concepts of intersectionality and teaching professionalization as references, it was concluded that Leonor de Castro, a woman of black descent, had a powerful professional performance, achieving personal and professional success, despite the challenges, providing professional musical knowledge to hundreds of women.
Copyright (c) 2025 Clara Fernandes Albuquerque https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Magda Tagliaferro: the criticisms of the French music press and gender issues
This article examines the publications of French music criticism regarding the performances of Brazilian pianist Magdalena Tagliaferro between 1910 and 1938, focusing on the intersections between gender and music criticism. Through the analysis of sources from the French press, available on the platform www.retronews.fr, I investigate how Tagliaferro’s image was frequently sexualized, and how her physical appearance and feminine demeanor were often emphasized over her musical skills. The music criticism of the time, dominated by men, tended to frame female musicians in a "separate but not equal" category, employing cultural gender stereotypes. To navigate this context, Tagliaferro adopted strategies that emphasized her femininity and adhered to the aesthetic standards of the time, though this also placed her within certain limits. This article contributes to the understanding of the historical barriers faced by women in classical music, highlighting how criticism shaped the perception and career of female musicians.
Copyright (c) 2025 Anderson da Mata Daher https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Compositional Achievements of Rebecca Clarke in the Sonata for Viola and Piano
The identification of successful women in various fields of knowledge has been a focus of recent collaborative research. However, despite these advances, the impact of such initiatives remains limited. This study aims to highlight pioneering elements in Rebecca Clarke's biography, with a particular emphasis on the composition of her Sonata for Viola and Piano, focusing on a musical analysis of the first movement, especially in terms of form and harmony. In this context, some Clarke’s compositional strategies are revealed, including the crossing of sonorities from adjacent chords, expansions stemming from the centralizing chord of the musical piece, and the construction of structural formations based on chromatic thirds, resulting from regroupings of chords that form networks of contextual transformations.
Copyright (c) 2025 Adriana Lopes da Cunha Moreira, Laís Ferreira Lopes https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Influence of Symbolic Gender Violence on the Work of Female Composers
This article investigates the condition of women composers from the perspective of symbolic gender violence and how musical creation remains under the aegis of androcentrism. In Brazil today, female composers receive only 8% of the total royalties collected, a number that represents the ongoing and adverse effect of gender inequality in the musical environment, a consequence of countless years of erasure, silencing, and various forms of violence against both gender and women's musical creation. The purpose of this article is to investigate the implications of symbolic gender violence on the work of female composers. As theoretical support, this article is based on Pierre Bourdieu's concept of symbolic violence. The article demonstrates how symbolic gender violence, through habitus, influences the work of women composers, establishing asymmetric parameters that devalue their production.
Copyright (c) 2025 Janaina Fellini , Gislaine Cristina Vagetti https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Uma saudade que ficou: the silencing in Dinorá de Carvalho’s compositional work
A document is the result of a conscious or unconscious montage of history, era, and society that produced it, and it is manipulated even by silence. This is the case of the song Uma saudade que ficou, by Dinorá de Carvalho, whose musical sources remained missing for many years. The main objectives of this article are: (i) to report the process of locating the sources of this song; (ii) to edit the score in its version for voice and piano; (iii) to make it accessible to the academic and artistic community. Regarding methodology, the contexts of creation and premiere of the song were verified through Documentary Analysis and critical musical editing will be undertaken. As result, we sought to assist in the task of overcoming the silence that acted as a mechanism for manipulating collective memory and that contributed to silencing the song Uma saudade que ficou, by Dinorá de Carvalho.
Copyright (c) 2025 Tadeu Moraes Taffarello, Raquel Juliana Prado Leite de Sousa, Flávio Cardoso de Carvalho, Vitor Alves de Mello Lopes https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Effects of LaxVox exercise on vocal tract resonance of lyric sopranos
This research presents the effects of using the resonance tube exercise called LaxVox on the vocal resonance of lyrical sopranos. An interventional study was carried out, analyzing the proprioceptive, auditory-perceptual and acoustic domains of three singers before and after the interventions with the tube. The results after the interventions indicated greater phonatory comfort, pharyngeal widening, a voice considered cleaner and greater ease in emitting higher notes. In the acoustic domain, data correlated with the personality of changes in the spectral envelope were recorded, such as the identity, at the acoustic level, of vocal audibility characteristics. The research data corroborate the potential of using LaxVox to build skills expected in operatic singing, such as projection and vocal brilliance.
Copyright (c) 2025 Suelen Scholl Matter, Marta Assumpção de Andrada e Silva , Zuleica Camargo, Leslie Piccolotto Ferreira, Nadja Sousa https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Women and gender perspective: analyzing the repertoire of professional choirs in Southeast Brazil
Reflections on gender inequality in music have deepened the understanding of which aspects have hindered or excluded female composers and their works from the canonical repertoire and musical programming. In this article, we analyse the repertoire of professional choirs in the capital cities of Brazil's Southeast region from a gender perspective, in order to assess the presence of women as composers and arrangers and to discuss gender representation and equity in choral music. Overall, we observed that 1.7% of the repertoire presented by the choirs from 2015 to 2021 consisted of compositions and arrangements by women. Professional choirs aimed at promoting contemporary works demonstrated greater openness to performing pieces from different periods that deviate from the canonical repertoire. We believe that research addressing choral singing from a gender perspective can broaden access to the works of female composers and arrangers and reintegrate them into the history of music.
Copyright (c) 2025 Maria Rúbia de Moraes Andreta, Susana Cecília Igayara-Souza https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Women in the History of Music, in textbooks and in teacher education
This article offers a bibliographic review about the reproduction of androcentrism in music education, which was verified in History of Music works that are used in teacher education courses and in Arts textbooks (Grout and Palisca, 2007; Carpeaux, 1984; Griffiths, 1987; Kiefer,1997; Ferrari et al., 2018). A feminist stance and the concepts of habitus, androcentrism, intersectionality, and of books as ideological artifacts are central to understand the need to expand the representation of women in the music education curriculum. Firstly, we address these concepts and the theoretical framework grounded in feminism. Secondly, we present the background of research dedicated to the critical analysis of Art textbooks with an intersectional scope. Lastly, we present the results of a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the exclusion of women in canonical music history books, advocating that their inclusion through curriculum redefinitions can be done by teachers in all the educational levels.
Copyright (c) 2025 Andréia Schach Fey, Guilherme Gabriel Ballande Romanelli https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Women in samba: what do recent academic productions say?
In this article we discuss women's participation in samba, considering its main expressions and particularities. We carried out a bibliographic survey of scientific productions in the Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations on the topic. The study reveals the relevant and historical participation of women – mainly black women –in samba. They lead actions that involve music, religiosity and dance, inseparable aspects of samba as part of African culture reinvented in Brazil from the diaspora, as an Afro-Brazilian cultural expression. This protagonism suffers invisibility in the historiography of samba, especially in relation to music making. In samba, which is also a product of social relations, women suffer the weight of sex/gender, race and social class inequalities – including the sexual and racial division of activities – and, at the same time, resist them. The historiography of samba has been written mostly in male terms, but not the samba!
Copyright (c) 2025 Yanne Angelim Dias, Maria Zelma de Araújo Madeira https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Idiosyncrasies in rabeca making in Pernambuco: The case of Valério Bizunga, Olinda, Pernambuco, Brazil
Valerio Bizunga's rabeca (a Brazilian fiddle) is widely recognized by rabeca players throughout Brazil. In this article, we investigate his artisanal practices from an organological and sociological perspective. We describe in detail his construction process, exploring the influence of local traditions from the Zona da Mata Norte of Pernambuco and violin-making techniques. This analysis contributes to the preservation of Bizunga's legacy and paves the way for future research on the relationship between the organological characteristics of his rabecas and the musical practices associated with them.
Copyright (c) 2025 Erasmo Estrada, Jorge Ventura de Morais https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Education and the professional life of Horn players in Brazil in the 21st Century
This article aims to problematize the training of horn players based on the perceptions of interviewees and their professional activities, in order to understand whether their formal studies in Brazil took into account the current structure of the job market. Through interviews with horn players from different parts of the country, divided into three groups, it was possible to assess whether the content, practices, and repertoires covered in their education align with actual professional opportunities, and whether, in addition to developing these contents, consideration is given to what can in fact be done with what is learned.
Copyright (c) 2025 Radegundis Aranha Tavares Feitosa, Maria Suellen Magalhães https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Invention of the Vocal Instrument in Got Lost, by Helmut Lachenmann
This article consists of an investigation into the vocal instrument in the work of German composer Helmut Lachenmann (1935). To this end, we will analyze the main aspects of his compositional thought at two points: firstly, investigating the very notion of instrument in the composer's poetics, seeking to understand the articulation between thought and compositional practice through the concepts that unfold from his musique concrète instrumentale. Subsequently, observing the relationship established between voice and textual elements in his work as a whole, we will analyze some of the compositional strategies that Lachenmann uses in Álvaro de Campos's text, Todas as cartas de amor são ridículas, in his piece Got Lost (2008), for piano and soprano, investigating the discursive aspects that emerge from the construction of the instrument in question.
Copyright (c) 2025 Lucas Mateus Silva, William Teixeira https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Huni Kuin shamanic chants: ayahuasca cerimonies, cosmologies and bridges between worlds
This research addresses the traditional shamanic songs of the Huni Kuin/Cashinaua ethnic group (Acre) sung during ayahuasca ceremonies (nixi pae) and witnessed by the author in multi-ethnic living spaces. The aim is to understand the organization, functions and characteristics of these chants, called huni meka, in these indigenous rituals. Concomitantly, it investigates how the cosmology and cosmogony of this originary people can be represented in these sound expressions, connecting sonic and imagistic, visible and invisible, indigenous and white (nawa) universes. Its methodology included bibliographical surveys, research on virtual streaming platforms, dialogues with interlocutors and ethnography in the field. In conclusion, it is possible to state that the huni meka have intrinsic and inseparable relationships with Huni Kuin cosmology, and are distributed in three moments of the ceremony: pae txanima, to open the rite and call forth "force"; dautibuya, to bring forth visions; kayatibu, to diminish "force" and close the ceremony.
Copyright (c) 2025 Leonardo Corrêa Bomfim https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Tinctoris on false concordances: a mistake made by all composers?
This article revisits Tinctoris' criticism to the false concordances present in compositions by Guillaume Faugues, Antoine Busnoys and Firminus Caron. The aim is to critically analyze a historical point of view on the intervals that we currently call augmented and diminished in 15th century vocal polyphony. To this end, three musicological publications that directly address the issue are reviewed: Berger ([1987] 2004), Urquhart (1999) and Bent (2001). Observing that the rules of counterpoint do not deal with the exclusion of a particular interval, but with the correct ordering of the musical elements in the polyphonic texture, it is concluded that false concordances participate in the realization of the ideal of harmony, since they are necessary elements of diversity to achieving the variety of reasons that sustain the so-called enchanting composition, the florid counterpoint.
Copyright (c) 2025 Matheus Rocha Grain https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
An analysis of Ruggiero Ricci's conceptions of left-hand violin technique
The purpose of this article is to analyze Ruggiero Ricci's contributions on left-hand violin technique. Elements to substantiate his view on the role of aural perception in technical development and on the relationship between the way of holding the violin and basic technical expedients are presented. Ricci's contributions are compared to those of other violin pedagogues, especially Carl Flesch and Ivan Galamian, the most influential authors in this area in the 20th century. The relationship between acquisition of left-hand technique in the strict sense of motor/postural performance and the development of auditory ability to differentiate pitches, a relationship that holds a privileged place in Ricci's propositions, as well as other structuring elements of his perspective on left-hand technique – especially the chordal approach and the use of the glissando technique – are discussed based on postulates of cultural-historical psychology.
Copyright (c) 2025 Brigitta Calloni https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Musical Interpreter and the Art Technique: Reflections on a Proposition by Mário de Andrade
We take a proposition regarding what Mario de Andrade calls the technique of art to reflect upon the musical interpreter. The technique of art is divided in three parts: the artisanship or craft, hereby compared to instrumental mastery, virtuosity, compared to the knowledge of schools and styles of performance, and individual technique. According to Andrade, there are certain problems in the artist’s work that can only be addressed by the acquisition of an artistic conscience, which would be the consequence of the study of aesthetics (philosophy of art). This study, however, assumes specific contours in the education of an artist, aiming at nourishing intuition and developing a moral conscience in dealing with art and its media. In wrapping up, it is argued that albeit individual technique and artistic conscience cannot be taught, they can be learned by means of their very construction by the artist himself, in the interest...
Copyright (c) 2025 Luigi Brandão, Flavio Barbeitas https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The music in concertato style in the Real Mosteiro de São Bento da Avé-Maria in Oporto between the 18th and the 19th century
Music was a core element for the functioning of monastic-conventual institutions. In the case of the Monastery of São Bento da Avé-Maria in Porto, the largest and most important female monastery in the city, during the transition between the 18th and 19th centuries, a notable amount of music in concertato style was commissioned and performed by various nuns during the most important liturgical celebrations. After the monastery's definitive closure in 1892, its musical collection was sent to the National Library of Portugal, where it is currently preserved in the Music Section. The study of this musical corpus has allowed us to identify not only the manuscripts undoubtedly originating from the monastery and the names of the nun performers but also the main musical influences present in the repertoire of the former monastery. This article explores the main composers, musical influences, maecenas, and performers within the Benedictine female monastery in Porto.
Copyright (c) 2025 Rosana Marreco Brescia, Marco Brescia https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Damiano Cozzella’s pop avant-garde: cultural hybridization and the composition as a critical act
This text aims to demonstrate Damiano Cozzella’s transit between high and low culture strata and how it is reflected in his compositions. To achieve this goal, we will present a partial view of his musical career, followed by the analysis of two works and a sketch to demonstrate how Cozzella assumed compositional practice as a critical act. Based on the concept of “hybridization” proposed by Néstor García Canclini (2019), we conclude that Cozzella was a musician who produced hybridization between cultural strata through his creative practice and from an emic perspective.
Copyright (c) 2025 Fernando Magre, Mónica Vermes https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
‘Chess studies’ for String Quartet: Composition based on chess
This article proposes a first approach to the possibilities of adapting mathematical elements derived from chess to musical composition based on the analysis of the composition process of the work Chess Studies for String Quartet, composed in 2020 by the 1st author of this paper. The structure of its four movements arises from the superimposition of the geometry derived from a sequence of moves for the execution of Bishop and Knight checkmate on a magic square of the 8x8 board, a magic square of Al-Zarquali (11th century). The analysis delves into the evolution of the musical material used, showing the tendency to give rise to symmetries of pitches and temporal fragments between the different movements of the composition. These symmetries give rise to analogies with the concept of chirality, characteristic of the geometry of chess. Structures that show chirality appear in the work both in sound and temporal space.
Copyright (c) 2025 Alberto Hortigüela, Sara Carvalho https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Artistic Research in Theses and Dissertations at Brazilian Universities between 2018 and 2022
This article presents preliminary findings from a postdoctoral project in Musicology conducted at the University of São Paulo, focusing on research methodologies in music with an emphasis on Artistic Research. The study details the initial phase of the project, which involves identifying and analyzing theses and dissertations from Brazilian public universities, produced between 2018 and 2022, that include the term “Artistic Research” in their titles, abstracts, or keywords. This text not only lists the identified works and their fundamental bibliographic information, but also discusses the bibliographic review that underpins the ongoing research. Among the main findings, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of works focused on Artistic Research in Brazilian universities, although this growth is uneven and more pronounced in master’s dissertations. The analysis further reveals a diversity in the methods and theoretical frameworks adopted, reflecting a varied and heterogeneous approach in this emerging field of study.
Copyright (c) 2025 Marta Macedo Brietzke, Mario Videira https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Chromatic False Relation: A Compositional Device and Diegetic Trope in the English Renaissance
Theorists define false relation as an incongruent pair of pitches occurring in different voices that imply a relationship of chromatic alteration. It is the lack of relationship between these pitches, however, that affords its name. Theorists have alternatively referred to this compositional device as cross relations (simultaneous/non-simultaneous), non-harmonic relationships, and “English clash”. This article addresses the terminological inconsistencies and relative vagueness of definition regarding this compositional device. Although theoretically rendered today, the term has a rhetorical/diegetic significance within the musica poetica tradition (parrhesia; licentia), according to documentation from the Cinquecento/Seicento. In identifying fundamental differences between variants of the chromatic false relation that these terms collectively denote in dialogue with regular modulations, this article makes a conceptual distinction between modes of false relations stemming from novel analytical terminology: synchronous/asynchronous, direct/indirect, etc. The article concludes with explanatory analyses of William Byrd’s Ne irascaris domine and Orlando Gibbons’s The Silver Swanne.
Copyright (c) 2025 Eduardo Solá Chagas Lima https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Cultural activism: musical memories of black associativism in Rio de Janeiro (1900-1930)
This article traces connections and lines of continuity between the history of the so-called “popular black associativism”, the history of samba schools and the history of popular music in Rio de Janeiro, using interviews with black musicians from the collection of the Museum of Image and Sound of Rio de Janeiro as central sources and taking as an approximate time frame the period between 1900 and 1930. The focus is not on the minutiae of this period, but on the lasting political-cultural elements and the dynamics of social interaction of the black communities that connect these three branches of Brazilian history in the same process. The paper highlights a series of cultural, social and political values ​​that constitute the musical history of these communities as a history of “activism” and challenge the usual scenarios, chronology and problems in the field of “history of Brazilian popular music”
Copyright (c) 2025 Lurian Reis da Silva Lima https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Pop Art as an Artistic Material of Modernity in Rock and Its Distinctions in England and the USA
In the 1960s, rock was deeply connected to counterculture, allowing musicians to explore new sonic and visual forms in an environment open to experimentation. In this context, many bands engaged in dialogue with pop art, both in England and the United States. This article examines these interactions through the works of the Beatles and David Bowie, artists who emerged from the underground and connected with pop aesthetics at different moments. We highlight the uniqueness of British pop art in the collages found in the Beatles’ productions between 1967 and 1969, and the minimalism of the American strand in Bowie's work during the 1970s. Contrary to the often homogeneous view attributed to pop art, we aim to contribute to a broader debate on the relationship between art and rock in the 1960s and 70s, emphasizing the creative possibilities that arose from the dialogue between these different media.
Copyright (c) 2025 Vanessa Pironato Milani, José Cesar Fernandes Gomes https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
This paper explores the inseparability between noise and its material conditions. First, I argue that the perception of noise develops alongside the acquisition of language and music capacities. Next, I examine the impact of modern industrial effects on the soundscape and their influence on the perception of noises. Afterwards, I propose that issues of temperament and musical tuning are inherently tied to acoustic materiality. In this context, noise is primarily regarded as unwanted sound. From the moment material and perceptual conditions allow the integration of noise into music or its incorporation in sound arts, one realizes that noise may reveal a distinct meaning, apart from its traditional subordination to language and music. Considering the plurality of perspectives on noise, I conclude by suggesting that its analysis must necessarily account for both its material and perceptual conditions.
Copyright (c) 2025 Roberto Wu https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
"Alfonsina y el mar" in MPB: Brazilian reinterpretations of Argentine song
This study aimed to investigate the processes of signification potentially evoked by the Argentine song Alfonsina y el mar in three moments: 1969, in the album Mujeres argentinas by Mercedes Sosa; 1982, in the album Corpo e Alma by Simone; and 2010, in the DVD Cantos e contos by Zizi Possi. A bibliographic review was conducted, addressing the rise of a type of popular music with folkloric roots in Argentina, providing a foundation for the analysis of the song by Ariel Ramírez and Félix Luna. Subsequently, the Brazilian arrangements were analyzed, comparing musical and performance aspects with the political and cultural contexts of the country. It was concluded that Simone's version can be interpreted as a form of connection between MPB scene and Latin American protest song movements, unlike the arrangement performed by Zizi Possi, which emerged from a historical moment when MPB itself was no longer explicitly engaged.
Copyright (c) 2025 Daniel Lovisi https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Expanding the Pianist’s Toolbox: Approaches to Arpeggiation, Pedalling, and Gesture
This article examines less conventional approaches in piano performance and their potential to expand the performer’s creative space through techniques such as arpeggiation, rhythmic asynchrony, body language communication, and experimental pedalling—all drawn from historical performance practices. Using Schubert’s piano works as a foundation, the study integrates insights from historical treatises, the author’s critical commentary, and practical experimentation, with key findings illustrated through video demonstrations. In exploring alternatives to conventional music performance paradigms, the article articulates a historically informed perspective that foregrounds creative agency and encourages performers to develop their creative voices through expanded interpretive possibilities.
Copyright (c) 2025 Óscar Caravaca González https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Extended techniques on the trumpet: report of interaction between performers/composers and performers/constructors
This paper proposes a reflection on the expansion of endless techniques throughout the history of the trumpet, using as a guiding thread the interaction between the performer/composer and the performer/instrument builder. For this purpose, historical data on these relationships were collected, carried out through a bibliographic survey and interviews with current national and international soloists with the aim of demonstrating the trajectory of the development of the techniques involved in the trumpet.
Copyright (c) 2025 Adenilson Roberto Telles, Paulo Adriano Ronqui https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Thematic convergences between "Canto de amor e paz" and "Sinfonia 4" by Cláudio Santoro
In this article we present the thematic convergences in two representative works composed by Cláudio Santoro: Canto de amor e paz and “The Fourth Symphony “symphony of peace”. The pieces were written during the period in which the composer was influenced by the aesthetics of socialist realism, in the early 1950s. The converging themes refer to ideological and musical aspects. The use of the idea of peace, present in the titles of the both works and in the symphony’s program, acts as extra musical content and is related to the meaning that the term had in the socialist circles to which Santoro belonged. On the other hand, the works also present great similarities between the melodic content used in the construction of the main themes of the two pieces. We conclude that Santoro used the same theme, although they were treated differently in each of them.
Copyright (c) 2025 Paulo de Paula, Carlos Fiorini https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The territory of Artistic Research: investigating the margins of polysemy
This paper investigates the field of Artistic Research (AR), which, although growing, faces difficulties in terms of its definitions. Based on some criticisms of the field, the aim of this research is to identify the marks that define AR as a distinct research territory. To this end, Frayling's (1993) typology will be used, understanding that the different understandings of AR are associated with the “research through the arts”. Based on this, and in dialogue with Chiantore (2020), three hallmarks of AR are exposed: the feedback between academic research and artistic practice, the intentionality of proposing itself as research and the particularity of its results. Finally, a structure for AR projects is proposed based on Stévance and Lacasse (2018). The path taken aims to facilitate the approach of interested researchers to the area, as well as highlighting its idiosyncrasies and, as a result, justifying and defending its existence.
Copyright (c) 2025 Bibiana Bragagnolo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Music Conducting Pedagogy and Technology: A Descriptive Review of Literature
This literature review intends to describe the relationship between technological developments and the teaching of music conducting techniques considering that musical gestures are one of the most important aspects since they inform the music's form, articulation, and overall expressiveness of the music. Research articles were purposefully selected to collect information about how current technologies such as smartphone applications, virtual reality, robots, and artificial intelligence (AI) are being or not incorporated into the teaching of music conducting. I used the constant comparative approach to perform this review, including synthesizing and interpreting the selected research articles. Results suggest that technology developers continue to explore models to substitute human-to-human interaction regarding the teaching of music conducting partially. Nevertheless, the diverse possibilities explored are still waiting to become actual tools available in music-conducting teaching settings.
Copyright (c) 2025 Adamilson Abreu https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Pianistic Expressivity: Interfaces between Cognition, Visual Metaphors, and Music Education
This article investigates how visual metaphors and mental imagery affect piano performance, emphasising their pedagogical and expressive roles. Adopting a qualitative, theoretical-reflective approach, it weaves together musical pedagogy, embodied cognition, neuroscience, and aesthetics. A literature review and analysis of pedagogical reports reveal how metaphors shape technique, expressivity, and interpretative construction in piano teaching. Findings show that these images mediate language, gesture, and imagination, fostering more integrated and artistic learning. Consciously employing them enhances motor coordination, memorisation, emotional expressivity, and interpretative autonomy. Stimulating imagination through visualisation is therefore a valuable resource that should be embedded in pianistic practice and pedagogy.
Copyright (c) 2025 Thiago Pessanha Correa, Elenisio Rodrigues Barbosa Junior https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
A Narrative Model in Three Versions of “My Favorite Things” by Jonathan Kreisberg.
This work analyzes three solo guitar performances by Jonathan Kreisberg of My Favorite Things, using Byron Almén's narrativity theory (2008) and ideas from the field of Storytelling. The audiovisual material and transcriptions are examined, focusing on phonographic data, melodic and harmonic vocabulary, and other aspects. The comparison focuses on the improvisation of the album version ONE (2013), interpreting its discourse as a conflict between two sets of isotopies (melodic lines and homophonic regions), which results in a comic archetype narrative. The study concludes that in all three versions Kreisberg follows an established narrative model that allows room for spontaneity. This model features an arranged exposition of the theme, a narrative conflict between isotopies, a convex arc in the improvisations, recurring support points, and notable variation in the melodic vocabulary, highlighting the complexity and sophistication of the performer’s artistic work.
Copyright (c) 2025 Rafael Gonçalves https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Writings in the Dust, for Guitar and Electronic Sounds: Reflections on Mixed Music with Tape and Its Relationship with Tradition
This article analyzes the piece Writings in the Dust, for guitar and electronic sounds, aiming to reflect on compositional and performance aspects of mixed electroacoustic music in deferred time—that is, music that involves interaction between live acoustic instruments and a pre-recorded electroacoustic part (tape). Based on the analysis of this work, it discusses how procedures and strategies from traditional chamber music remain relevant in this context, revealing continuities between acoustic and electroacoustic compositional practices. It is argued that the fixity of the technological medium or the composer’s direct work with sound does not nullify the expressiveness of the piece, but rather characterizes a fusion between performance and composition. The compositional experience described here shows that mixed music in deferred time can be approached as a development, rather than a rupture, of musical tradition, presenting itself as a fertile ground for renewing creative thought through technical mediation.
Copyright (c) 2025 Felipe Vasconcelos, Renan Simões https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Music virality on social platforms: A literature review
Online social platforms have amplified content virality, including songs that quickly reach millions of users, making music virality a growing research topic in fields such as computing, music, communication, and marketing. Therefore, this article presents a literature review on music virality on social media to understand and summarize existing research on such a topic from a computing perspective. We provide an overview of key dimensions, including temporal evolution, perspectives on virality, links to musical success, data sources, approaches, and methods. Results highlight the central role of platforms such as YouTube and TikTok, the relationship between virality and success, and the use of both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Overall, this work can be a starting point for research focusing on music virality and its complex dynamics, as it emerges as a relevant topic with connections to the areas of social computing, music information retrieval, and marketing.
Copyright (c) 2025 Gabriel P. Oliveira, Ana Paula Couto da Silva, Mirella M. Moro https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0