Esther Scliar (28 September 1926 – 18 March 1978) was a Brazilian pianist and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

Biography

Esther Scliar was born in

Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the List of largest cities in Brazil, twelfth most populous city in the country ...

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative_units_of_Brazil#List, fifth-most-populous state and the List of Brazilian st ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

to Isaac and Rosa Scliar. Esther spent the first years of her life in

Rivera Rivera () is the capital of Rivera Department of Uruguay. The border with Brazil joins it with the Brazilian city of Santana do Livramento, which is only a street away from it, at the north end of Route 5. Together, they form an urban area of aro ...

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

, but her parents separated and Scliar moved with her father to

Passo Fundo Passo Fundo is a municipality in the north of the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. It is named after its river. It's the twelfth largest city in the state with an estimated population of 204,722 inhabitants living in a total municipa ...

where she and her sister were raised by their aunt, Jayme Scliar Kruter. Scliar took piano lessons in Passo Fundo with Eva Kruter Kotlhar and Judith Pacheco. After her father remarried, she moved with him to

where she graduated from the American College and from the Institute of Fine Arts in piano. After graduating, she taught piano and continued studies in composition at the Institute of Fine Arts, and later in

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with H.J. Koellreuter and in

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with

Hermann Scherchen Hermann Scherchen (21 June 1891 – 12 June 1966) was a German conductor. Life Scherchen was born in Berlin. Originally a violist, he played among the violas of the Bluthner Orchestra of Berlin while still in his teens. He conducted in Riga ...

. In 1950 she attempted suicide, and later became a militant affiliated with the Communist Youth of the Brazilian Communist Party. Scliar worked as a pianist and taught harmony, music theory, analysis, and composition at the Instituto Villa-Lobos and Seminários de Música Pró-Arte. In 1952 she studied choral conducting with Nilda Müller in

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and founded and was the first conductor of the Choir of the Musical Youth Association of Porto Alegre. In 1966 she wrote the music for the movie ''The Loss of Mario Fiorani'' and received an award for "Best Song" at the Brazilian Film Week II. In 1952 she found she had contracted tuberculosis and in 1968 had a stroke, after which she left her position at Villa-Lobos Institute. Her father died in 1975, and she died by suicide at age 51 in 1978.

Works

Scliar's compositions were often inspired by folk music. She composed about ninety works. Selected compositions include: *1950 ''Ao sair da Lua'' for chorus *1952 ''A pedrinha vai'' for chorus *1953 ''Vira a Moenda'' for chorus *1953 ''Dorme-Dorme'' for chorus *1953 ''Beira Mar'' *1953 ''Maracatu Elefante'' (after a melody by Capiba) *1953 ''Papagaio louro'' (text: Geny Marcondes) *1953 ''Flor da noite'' (text: Geny Marcondes) *1953 ''Acalanto'' (text: Geny Marcondes) *1953 ''Oração à manhã'' (text: Geny Marcondes) *1953 ''Por sete mares'' (text: Geny Marcondes) *1953 ''Bumba meu boi'' *1953 ''Uma, duas angolinhas'' *1953 ''Romeiro de São Francisco'' *1953 ''Si quizieras que cantemos'' *1953 ''La Virgen de las Mercedes'' *1953 ''Toada de Nanã'' *1953 ''No Parque'' for children's chorus *1954 ''A Esquila ''for voice and piano - poetry of Laci Osório *1954 ''Novos Cantares'' with poetry by García Lorca *1954 ''Modinha'' with poetry by Langston Hughes *1954 ''Modinha'' with poetry by Juan Ramón Jiménez *1954 ''Eu plantei a cana'' *1954 ''João Pestana'' *1954 ''Boiadeiro'' *1954 ''Duas Toadas'' for solo piano *1956 ''Eu Fui Chamado pra Cantar no Limoeiro'' on a folk theme, for 4 voices, string quintet and piano *1957 ''Cantiga do Cacau'' for chorus *1957 ''Abertura'' *1960 ''Sonata'' for flute and piano *1960 Orchestration of ''A Marcha dos Deputados'' (music by Geny Marcondes) to ''Revolução na América do Sul'', a documentary by Augusto Boal *1961 ''Sonata'' for piano *1962 Musical direction of ''Quatro Séculos de Maus Costumes'', directed by Paulo Afonso Grisolli *1962 ''O Menino Ruivo'' for mixed chorus a capella, with poetry by Reynaldo Jardim *1962 ''Desenho Leve'' for chorus, with poetry by Cecília Meireles. *1963 Score and musical direction of ''As famosas Asturianas'' de Augusto Boal *1964 ''Canto Menor com Final Heróico'' for chorus, text: Reynaldo Jardim *1965 ''Lua, Lua, Lua'' for chorus, text: Lucia Candall *1965 ''Pachamana'' for chorus *1965 ''Para Peneirar'' for chorus *1965 ''Entre o Ser e as Coisas ''for voice and piano with poetry by Carlos Drummond de Andrade *1966 Music for the film ''A Derrota'' by Mário Fiorani *1966 ''Movimento de Quarteto'' for quartet *1971 ''Busca da Identidade entre o Homem e o Rio'' for chorus with poetry by José Carlos Capinam. *1973 ''Sentimiento del Tempo'' for mixed chorus with poetry by Giuseppe Ungaretti *1974 ''Ofulú Lorerê ê'' (after a song of Oxalá) for chorus *1976 ''Imbricata'' for flute, oboe and piano *1976 ''Estudo nº 1'' for guitar *1976 ''Praia do Fim do Mundo'' for chorus, with poetry by Cecília Meireles *1976 ''Toada de Gabinete'' for chorus *1977 ''Intermorfose'' *1978 ''Invenção a Duas Vozes'' for alto sax and piano

Books

*''Fraseologia Musical'' (1982) *''Elementos de Teoria Musical'' (1985) *''Análise de Density 21'', 5 de Varèse (1985) *''Solfejos Gradativos'' - Ed. Goldberg

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scliar, Esther 1926 births 1978 deaths 20th-century classical composers Brazilian classical composers Brazilian women classical composers Brazilian Communist Party politicians 20th-century women composers Brazilian pianists Brazilian women pianists 1978 suicides Suicides in Brazil