A arte do bem morrer: O discurso tópico na Sinfonia Fúnebre de José Maurício Nunes Garcia

Abstract

In the Oração Fúnebre by Fray Antônio de Santa Ursula Redovalho, composed for the exequies of the Marquês do Lavradio celebrated on January 1791 in Rio de Janeiro, the Book of Ecclesiastes is cited: «Honour a good name, because it is more permanent than a thousand great and precious treasures». This was the key to understanding the art of dying well. The cult of the ‘good dead’ was established in Luso-Brazilian culture as a space for the fruition of the collective imagination. Fraternities for the good dead, the ‘Bonfim’ Churches, funeral ceremonies, all the elements of the ritual of passage were part of this symbolic articulation, as well as a visible manifestation of areas of influence and power. This article aims to analyse how the Sinfonia Fúnebre from 1790 by Father José Maurício Nunes Garcia portrays an example of the way in which the concept of musical meaning can be represented in music. This text intends to affirm galant thought in the Brazilian colony. In particular, through this piece I will examine the musical expression using topical structures from the European tradition; discourse defined by a logical construction using elements of troping – a composition which “blends” different topics; musical form altered by the demands of rhetorical expression; and the use of that structure as discourse to convey the idea of “dying well”.