Teresa(s): The Folk Song “Terezinha de Jesus” and Its Possibilities for Spiritual Musical Learning

Type: Poster – Article nº 1514

Authors: Julio Cesar Melo Miranda¹; Salete Maria Chiamulera Böhler²; Janice Fiedler Possamai

Presenter: Janice Fiedler Possamai

Institutions: ¹ Rede Claretiana de Ensino; ² UNESPAR/EMBAP, Pontifície Universidade Católica do Paraná (PUC/PR)

Abstract

This text presents an analysis and a didactic-musical proposal based on two arrangements by Heitor Villa-Lobos of the folk song “Terezinha de Jesus”, focusing on their applications in music education integrated with Christian spirituality. We describe how this song has been taught and performed in dozens of editions of the HausMusik project, engaging a wide and diverse audience. The results fostered sonic, rhythmic, melodic, harmonic, bodily, and spiritual discovery, traversing the four dimensions proposed by Tillmann (2009)—material, somatic, expressive, and transcendental—revealing distinct nuances depending on the arrangement studied.

In the Guia Prático, the composer revives the lyrics and music in a vocal arrangement. The song narrates the fall of Teresa and the arrival of three knights who come to her aid—her father, her brother, and the one she marries (Villa-Lobos, 1941). Aligned with the narrative, and referring to a specific Teresa consecrated to Jesus, analogies are proposed between the lyrics and musical activities for collective singing, exploring a cultural collective spirituality. From this arrangement, the contrafactum technique (Fallows, 2001; Leach, 2006) was applied to create new lyrics and prosodies aimed at deepening knowledge of five Teresas in Christian hagiography.

At work no. 3 of the Brinquedo de Roda cycle, Villa-Lobos revisits the theme with instrumentation for solo piano. The presence of three recurring constructive elements evokes the building of dialogical bridges toward the Trinitarian nature of Christianity, present in its tripartite formal design (ABA’) and in the compositional technique of thematic framing. In the central section (B), the Alberti Bass with three successive pitch levels consolidates the tonality of the folk melody.

In sections A and A’, like a “pictorial frame,” an ostinato of eight seemingly homogeneous semiquavers reveals three displaced tonal supports, resulting in a three-layered polyrhythm that configures the rhythm of baião, a national intangible musical heritage. This polyrhythm became powerful raw material for rhythmic exploratory experiences, emphasizing the somatic dimension of musicking. This work reports and documents, through graphic and multimedia materials, the use of these arrangements as tools for music teaching, deepening the integration of musical practice with elements of Christian spirituality.

References

Boyce-Tillman, J. (2009). The Four Dimensions of Musical Spirituality. In L. Rowell (Ed.), Music and Spirituality (pp. 91–103). Oxford University Press.

Fallows, D. (2001). Contrafactum. In S. Sadie (Ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2nd ed., Vol. 6, pp. 24–27). Macmillan.

Leach, E. (2006). Sung Birds: Music, Nature, and Poetry in the Later Middle Ages. Cornell University Press.

Villa-Lobos, H. (1941). Terezinha de Jesus [Canção nº 123]. In Guia Prático (p. 168). Irmãos Vitale.