Antônio Carlos Gomes (; 11 July 1836 in
Campinas
Campinas (, ''Plains'' or ''Meadows'') is a Brazilian Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in São Paulo (state), São Paulo State, part of the country's Southeast Region, Brazil, Southeast Region. According to the 2020 estimate, the city's popul ...
– 16 September 1896 in
Belém) was a Brazilian composer notable for being the first
New World
The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...
composer whose work was accepted by
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
. He was the only non-European who was successful as an opera composer in Italy, during the "golden age of opera", contemporary to
Verdi and
Puccini and the first composer of non-European lineage to be accepted into the
Classic tradition of music.
Younger than Verdi, yet older than Puccini, Carlos Gomes achieved his first major success in a time when the Italian audiences were eager for a new name to celebrate and Puccini had not yet officially started his career. After the successful premiere of ''
Il Guarany'', Gomes was considered the most promising new composer. Verdi said his work was an expression of "true musical genius".
Liszt said that “it displays dense technical maturity, full of harmonic and orchestral maturity.”
[Cernicchiaro, Vincenzo (1926) Storia della Musica nel Brasile (p. 359) Milano: Fratelli Riccioni.]
Life
He was born on 11 July 1836 in
Campinas
Campinas (, ''Plains'' or ''Meadows'') is a Brazilian Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in São Paulo (state), São Paulo State, part of the country's Southeast Region, Brazil, Southeast Region. According to the 2020 estimate, the city's popul ...
,
São Paulo Province, son of
Maestro Manuel José Gomes and Fabiana Maria Jaguari Cardoso.
His childhood's musical tendencies were soon stimulated by his father and by his older brother, José Pedro de Sant'Ana Gomes, also a conductor. José Pedro was the most dedicated guide and adviser in his brother's artistic career. He convinced Antônio to visit the
Court
A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...
where he became a
protégé of Emperor
Dom Pedro II, who, being notoriously interested in the careers of Brazilian artists and intellectuals, made it possible for Antônio Carlos to study at the Musical Conservatory of
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
.
After having graduated with honours, Carlos produced his first opera, ''
A noite do castelo'' (September 1861), which was a big success. Two years later, he repeated it with his second opera, ''Joana de Flandres'', which was considered superior to the first. These two pieces convinced the Emperor to offer him a Royal scholarship to study in
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
in 1864. He studied in
Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
at the
local conservatory with
Lauro Rossi and
Alberto Mazzucato and completed in three years a course which was normally completed in four years, obtaining the title of Maestro Composer.
Interested in composing an opera which dealt with a truly Brazilian subject, Carlos Gomes chose as the theme of his next work the romance novel ''
O Guarani'', by Brazilian writer
José de Alencar. The opera was given an Indian subject and setting and it premiered in May 1870 at the
La Scala Theater in Milan as ''
Il Guarany''.
The success was enormous. Even the most strict musical critics compared the Brazilian musician to the great European maestros, such as
Rossini and Verdi. The
King of Italy
King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by ...
,
Victor Emmanuel II, decorated the creator of the opera, which was presented in all major European capitals. Before that year was over, Gomes returned to Brazil, where he organized the premiere of ''Il Guarany'' in Rio de Janeiro. The piece achieved the same success Gomes had seen in Italy.
Returning to Italy, Carlos Gomes married Adelina Peri, an Italian pianist he had met while studying in Milan.
He wrote the hymn ''Il saluto del Brasile'' for the centenary of
American independence which was performed in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, on
July 19,
1876
Events
January
* January 1
** The Reichsbank opens in Berlin.
** The Bass Brewery Red Triangle becomes the world's first registered trademark symbol.
*January 27 – The Northampton Bank robbery occurs in Massachusetts.
February
* Febr ...
.
In
1883 the maestro traveled to Brazil, receiving homages in every city he visited. When he returned to Italy, he dedicated himself to the composition of an opera themed against
slavery
Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...
, inspired by the liberation struggle of
black slaves in Brazil, which got the title of ''
Lo schiavo''. The composition, which had been suggested by a great friend of Antônio's, a black engineer named
André Rebouças, only debuted several years later in
1889.
When the
Brazilian republic was
proclaimed in 1889, Carlos Gomes, who at this time was in Campinas, sailed once more to Italy. Faithful to the
Brazilian monarchy and
Dom Pedro II, Gomes refused the opportunity given to him by president
Deodoro da Fonseca to compose the new
Brazilian National Anthem. In the following years, he composed the opera ''Condor'' and the
cantata
A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...
''Colombo'', for the Columbus Festival (12 October 1892), in celebration of the fourth centenary of the discovery of
America.
Invited by the governor of the Brazilian province of
Pará
Pará () is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian st ...
to direct the Musical Conservatory, the maestro traveled to the capital
Belém, willing to take the position. However, shortly after arriving, Carlos Gomes, by then an elderly man in poor health, died at 22:20 BRT on 16 September
1896. Besides his eight operas, he composed songs (3 books), choruses, and piano pieces.
Gallery
Many honours were given to conductor Carlos Gomes throughout Brazil and abroad where he ruled and made fame.
File:Domenico De Angelis e Giovanni Capranesi - Últimos dias de Carlos Gomes, 1899.JPG, Last days of Carlos Gomes.
File:Monumento-túmulo a Carlos Gomes (3).jpg, Gomes's tomb located at Bento Quirino Square, on his hometown, Campinas.
File:Estátua de Carlos Gomes - Centro do Rio.JPG, Statue of Carlos Gomes in Cinelândia, downtown Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
File:Praça Ramos de Azevedo - Fonte dos Desejos.JPG, Monument to Carlos Gomes in front of the São Paulo Municipal Theatre.
File:Busto Antonio Carlos Gomes.JPG, Burst of Carlos Gomes in Front of the Municipal Theatre of Paulinia.
File:IECG, Belém, Pará 36.jpg, Carlos Gomes State Institute Building, the conservatory that bears his name, in Belém.
Antônio Carlos Gomes's operas
:See
List of works for the stage by Antônio Carlos Gomes
References
* Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 8th ed., s.v. "Antonio Carlos Gomes."
Brazilian National Library Virtual ArchivesScore.ePartiturasmall Brazilian website with digitalized scores (PDF) by Carlos Gomes.
Bibliography
* Góes, Marcus: Carlos Gomes – A Força Indômita; Secult, Pará, 1996
* Kaufman: Annals of Italian Opera: Verdi and his Major Contemporaries; Garland Publishing, New York and London, 1990. (contains premiere casts and performance histories of the operas by Gomes)
* Vetro, Gaspare Nello: Antônio Carlos Gomes; Nuove Edizione, Milano, 1977
* Vetro, Gaspare Nello: Antônio Carlos Gomes Il Guarany, Parma, 1996
* Vetro, Gaspare Nello: A. Carlos Gomes Carteggi Italiani, Parma, 2002
External links
*
Free scores by Antonio Carlos Gomesa
Musica Brasiliswebsite
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gomes, Antonio Carlos
1836 births
1896 deaths
19th-century Brazilian male musicians
19th-century classical composers
Brazilian classical composers
Brazilian male composers
Brazilian monarchists
Brazilian opera composers
Brazilian male classical composers
Male opera composers
People from Campinas
Romantic composers
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