O violoncelo de Jaques Morelenbaum: uma investigação acerca da performance do instrumento na música popular brasileira

Abstract

In this project, I investigate the use of the cello in Brazilian popular music, taking as reference the work of the cellist Jaques Morelenbaum (also arranger and composer), who has the longest and most relevant career in this specialty in Brazil. Through analyzes of selected performances of this artist in audio and video recordings, I discuss the differences and similarities between cello performance practices in the fields of classical music, popular music and their intersections. In his style of performance, I observe the use of the cello in both bow and pizzicato performing the role of bass line, main melodic lines and secondary contrapuntal lines, in which elements of performance practices of Brazilian music (popular and erudite) and jazz are noticeable, specially a strong influence of the style of João Gilberto, a major symbol of Bossa Nova. I also point out strategies, adaptations and instrumental emulations on the cello, taking into account the idiomatic language of the instrument, while raising interpretive elements that allow us a better understanding of its context and performance.