Cartola
Angenor de Oliveira, known as Cartola (Portuguese for top hat), (October 11, 1908 – November 30, 1980) was a brazilian sambista, considered by many to be the most important figure in samba development. He got his nickname because he used a "coconut hat" while working as a construction worker so the cement would not dirty his hair.
Biography
Cartola was born in Rio de Janeiro, in a neighborhood called Catete, but spent his childhood in the neighborhood of Laranjeiras. Due to financial difficulties, the numerous family transferred itself to the Mangueira hill, where a small favela was beginning to appear.
In Mangueira, Cartola soon befriended Carlos Cachaça and other sambistas, getting started in the world of malandragem and samba. In 1928, they founded the Arengueiros Carnival Block, which would later transform in the traditional samba school Estação Primeira de Mangueira, one of the most loved samba-schools in Brazil. Cartola is considered responsible for the choice of colors of the school, which are said to stem from the colors of football club Fluminense, which is settled in Laranjeiras.
Cartola became popular in the 1930's, with many sambas recorded at that time. Later, in the 1940's, Cartola disappeared from the scene. Little is known about that time in Cartola's life, when he departed from Mangueira after disagreements and became depressed with the death of his wife Deolinda; about that time, rumours about his death were speculated. Cartola was found, in a very popular tale, by journalist Sérgio Porto in 1956, working as a car-washer.
Porto took care of starting to promote Cartola's return, inviting him to radio shows and divulging his work with new partners. Later, in 1963, investing in his struggle to take the hills' samba to the city streets, Cartola opened toghether with Eugênio Agostine and his wife Dona Zica the famous Zicartola bar/restaurant in downtown Rio de Janeiro, which became known as the most important samba establishment of that time, providing a link between the traditional sambistas and the incipient Bossa Nova movement. Cartola invited people such as Nélson Cavaquinho, Pixinguinha, Nara Leão, Paulinho da Viola, and Zé Ketti to sing the "low-value" music, as sambistas ironically referred to their work.
Cartola's real embracement from the phonologic market started in the late 1960's and early 1970's, when he became quite popular and a lot of samba classics were released, such as "O Sol Nascerá", "O Mundo é Um Moinho", "Corra e Olhe o Céu", "Quem me vê Sorrindo" and "Senhora Tentação", with support from singers Elizeth Cardoso, Clara Nunes, Paulinho da Viola and especially Beth Carvalho. He released his first record only at the age of 66, in 1974, and even living in financial difficulties, composed and sang until his death at age 72.
Cartola composed, alone or with partners, more than 500 songs.
Work
Cartola composed melodies, harmonies and lyrics. As a lyricist, one thing that should be noticed is Cartola's very correct portuguese. Such correctness is something to be praised in a work as big as Cartola's, especially regarding someone with no formal higher education. His poetry binds in an effective manner elegance and emotion, while keeping a relatively low level of complexity, which made his work accessible to larger layers of the population.
It's important to highlight that with regard to tempo, Cartola's music had a strong tendency towards calmer, slower sambas in contrast to the faster, brisker sambas de terreiro seen in samba schools and to other composers' music. Some say his sambas had a tendency towards samba-canção. The cavaquinhos in his records had a certain cry mood which was less percussive than usual, with the exception of his last records where Alceu Maia was the cavaquinist.
As a musician, Cartola made use of many modulations, some of which were not common in samba at that time. Some of his modulating tunes are "Quem me vê Sorrindo" and "Sim" (I -> V), "Acontece" and "Amor Proibido" (I -> bVI), "Inverno do Meu Tempo" (I -> bIII) and "A Cor da Esperança" (I -> bII). Furthermore, he made use of non-trivial figures such as tritone substitutions and extensive tritone resolutions to the IIIm7, as can be observed, e.g., in "Alvorada", "Senhora Tentação", "Inverno do Meu Tempo" and "Disfarça e Chora".
Example of Work: O Mundo é um Moinho
One of Cartola's most well-known songs is the one he wrote for his adopted daughter Creusa, when she left their home in Mangueira at the age of 16. The word moinho means either watermill or windmill in portuguese, thus the title reads The World is a Mill in that sense. It's a very slow samba ballad, written using the second person singular pronoun, equivalent to thou (tu) in portuguese, which makes it sound especially poetic.
(Note from the translator: I won't use thou in the translation for I don't have enough english knowledge for that. One difficulty in translating portuguese to english is that as portuguese is a highlier inflected language, it often suppresses pronouns, which become necessary in the english translation, somewhat shadowing a certain "implyness" character. I'll place the added pronouns in parenthesis)
Lyrics:
Ainda é cedo, amor
Mal começaste a conhecer a vida
Já anuncias a hora da partida
Sem saber mesmo o rumo que irás tomar
Preste atenção, querida
Embora eu saiba que estás resolvida
Em cada esquina cai um pouco tua vida
Em pouco tempo não serás mais o que és
Ouça-me bem, amor
Preste atenção, o mundo é um moinho
Vai triturar teus sonhos tão mesquinhos
Vai reduzir as ilusões a pó
Preste atenção, querida
De cada amor tu herdarás só o cinismo
Quando notares estás à beira do abismo
Abismo que cavaste com teus pés
Translation:
It's still early, love
(You)'ve barely started to get to know life
(You) Already announce the hour of departure
Without knowing even the course (you)'ll take
Pay attention, darling
Although I know that (you)'re resolved
In each corner, falls a little your life
In little time, (you)'ll no longer be what (you) are
Listen to me well, love
Pay attention, the world is a mill
(It) Will grind your dreams so petty (inflected, meaning (her already) petty dreams)
(It) Will reduce the illusions to dust
Pay attention, darling
From each love, you'll inherit only the cynicism
When (you) notice, (you)'re at the edge of the abyss
Abyss that (you) dug with your feet
Discography
- Cartola - 1974 - Discus Marcus Pereira
- Cartola - 1976 - Discus Marcus Pereira
- Verde que Te Quero Rosa - 1977 - RCA-Victor
- Cartola 70 Anos - 1978 - RCA-Victor
- Cartola ao Vivo - 1982 - Eldorado