Brazilian music publisher, Musica Bralisis is now listed in the database. Musica Brasilis documents the long rich history of Brazilian music beginning in the 1500s. The website includes downloadable scores, videos, and soundclips documenting over 100 years of Brazilian recorded music. Searching for operas, I was listening to choros, tangos, bossa novas, and sambas listed on the website. I even downloaded a duet for saxophone. If you’re a fan of Brazilian music, this website is a great resource for discovering Brazilian music.
The history of how the saxophone is used in operas in Brazil is still somewhat of a mystery. The saxophone in Brazil dates back to the late 1800s, and I found band and orchestra scores that included the saxophone from the late 19th to the early 20th century. The first saxophone used in ballet is the 1917 ballet, Uirapuru by Heitor Villa-Lobos . The next entry in the database is Lívio Tragtenberg 1987 opera, Inferno de Wall Street. What happened in the 60 years between those two pieces? I don’t know.
The difficulty of researching operas from Brazil is while there are many operas written by Brazilian composers, finding scores or recordings is quite difficult. Well over half of the operas I found on the website had no scores or recordings so I ran into many dead ends. But I’m certain there is more to uncover.
One of the most unique composers I cam across was Jocy de Oliveira. She has three works listed in the database. Here’s an instrumental interlude from her opera, Berio Sem Censura.
the Operatic Saxophone 