Vinicius de Moraes
Encyclopedia
Marcus Vinicius de Moraes (October 19, 1913 – July 9, 1980), known as Vinicius de Moraes (viˈnisius dʒi moˈɾajs) and nicknamed O Poetinho (the little poet), was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Son of Lydia Cruz de Moraes and Clodoaldo Pereira da Silva Moraes, he was a seminal figure in contemporary Brazilian music
. As a poet
, he wrote lyrics for a great number of songs that became all-time classics. He was also a composer
of bossa nova
, a playwright
, a diplomat
and, as an interpreter of his own songs, he left several important album
s.
, then a rural suburb of Rio de Janeiro. In 1916, he moved with his family to various addresses at the downtown quarter of Botafogo, where he attended classes at Afrânio Peixoto Primary School. In 1920, through his maternal grandfather, he gained entrance at a Masonic lodge
. In 1922, Moraes's parents, shocked at the 18 of the Copacabana Fort revolt
, were to move to another suburb, Governador Island, while young Vinicius stayed at his grandfather's downtown home in order to finish primary school, going to his parents' home only at weekends and during holidays. During his visits to his folks' home, Vinicius was to get in touch with various musicians, among them the composer Bororó.
After receiving first communion
in 1923, from 1924 on Vinicius de Moraes attended high school at the traditional Jesuit-sponsored St. Ignatius School, where he sang in the congregation choir and began to write short theatrical sketches (as well as an "epic" piece in tandem with two schoolmates, among them Raul Pompéia
's nephew). Three years later, he became friends with the brothers Paul and Haroldo Tapajos, with whom he assembled his first musical compositions, which were performed at friends' parties. In 1929 he completed high school, as his family moved back to Gávea. This same year, he was admitted to the Faculty of Law at the University of Rio de Janeiro (nowadays National School of Law of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)), which until 1937 was located at a mansion in downtown Rio (Casarão do Catete). At the "School of Catete", he met and became friends with essayist and future novelist Octavio de Faria, an activist integrist Catholic and a leader of the group of rightwing Catholics organized around Centro Dom Vital, a think-tank created by the intellectual Jackson de Figueiredo shortly before his untimely death.
Faria encouraged Moraes' literary vocation, turning him into a kind of Rightwing fellow traveller. Vinicius de Moraes received his B.A. degree in Legal and Social Sciences in 1933. Upon completing his studies, he published his first two collections of poetry: Caminho Para a Distância ("Path into distance") (1933) and Forma e Exegese ("Form and Exegesis"). Both collections were composed and published under Octavio de Faria's informal editorship, and that accounts for their style and subject-matter: a heavy, rhetorics-laden symbolist poetry, concerned above all with Catholic mysticism and the search for redemption against sexual seduction (in Faria's words, the conflict between "impossible purity and unacceptable impurity"). Faria, at the time (1935) was to write a essay (Two Poets) comparing Vinicius's poetry with that of his symbolist and Catholic comrade-in-arms, Augusto Frederico Schmidt. However, the tension between Faria and Moraes' joint Catholic activism and Faria's homosexual attraction toward Vinicius was eventually to generate a cooling in their mutual friendship - Faria having even attempted suicide because of his unrequited love for Vinicius. Despite their mutual estrangement, Vinicius would afterwards write two sonnets -the first in 1939 (Sonnet to Octavio de Faria), the second during the 1960s (Octavio) in (ambivalent) praise of his old friend.
Later, Vinicius wrote his third book Ariana, a Mulher ("Ariana, the Woman") (1936).
In 1936, he got the job of film censor for the Ministry of Education and Health. Two years later, Moraes won a British Council
fellowship to study English language and literature at Oxford University. It was at that time that Moraes forsook his older form - free verse
and blank verse
poetry - in favour of an apparently old-fashioned poetical programme based on respect for traditional forms and extreme metrical accuracy, by excelling onwards in the handling of the rhymed, metrified sonnet
, both on the Italian mode generally used in Portuguese language poetry (two quatrains, two tercets) as well as on the English mode (three quartains and a couplet, printed en bloc). It was this process that made Vinicius to be acknowledged later as one of the most prominent members of the "generation of '45" - the name given to various Brazilian modernist writers who began publishing during the 1930s and 1940s, who had as their defining trait a partial rejection of the formal novelties of earlier modernism in favour of a rehabilitation of traditional forms and vocabulary. He is usually equated with his contemporary and friend João Cabral de Melo Neto
for the high technical skill of their poetry. However, if in Cabral's works developed poetic technique mostly serves the depiction of objective reality, in Vinicius it serves the depiction of a deeply felt and highly subjective mood - above all, of sexual love. The basic meter in Vinicius' love poetry is the decasyllable
, taken mostly from Camões' lyrical poetry - therefore the classical accent of his mature production.
During his stay in England, Vinicius was to write a collection of verse published under the title "Novos Poemas" ("New poetry"). At that time he was married - by proxy - for the first time with Beatriz Azevedo de Mello, by whom he was to have two children: filmmaker Susana de Moares and Pedro. In 1941, he returned to Brazil, working then as film critic for the newspaper A Manhã ("The Morning."). He was also a collaborator of the literary journal Clima ("Climate"), at the same time holding a job at the Banking Employees' Institute of Social Security, the public pension fund for wage-workers in banking institutions.
The following year, he failed his first test of admission to the diplomatic career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE). Shortly afterwards, however,in his capacity as a government employee, he was given by the then Minister of Foreign Relations, Oswaldo Aranha
, the commission to follow American writer Waldo Frank
- already a literary acquaintance of Vinicius's - on a tour across Northern Brazil. In Vinicius's own words, it was contact with both Frank and "the appalling poverty" that had the effect of turning him into "a man of the Left".
In 1943, Vinicius performed the test of admission into the MRE again, this time being approved and taking his first post abroad as vice consul in Los Angeles. At the same time, he published a new poetry book Cinco Elegias ("Five elegies"). Already at his Californian consular post, he would write and publish another book of verse, Poemas, Sonetos e Baladas("Poems, Sonnets and ballads"). At the death of his father in 1950, Vinicius de Moraes returned briefly to Brazil. Upon his return to diplomatic duties in France and Uruguay, Vinicius published two new books of poetry: Livro de Sonetos ("Book of sonnets") and Novos Poemas II ("New poems - II"). During the 1950s, he was to continue serving at the Brazilian consular service in various capacities, in Paris as well as in Rome; in the Italian capital, he used to participate in lively musical meetings in the home of the historian Sergio Buarque de Holanda, who was then teaching in Italy as visiting scholar.
In 1951, Vinicius married his second wife, Lila Maria Esquerdo e Bôscoli. It was during this same year, while in Brazil, that he began writing to the mainstream press, contributing with chronicles and film critiques to Samuel Wainer's Vargoist
paper Última Hora
, something that moved him closer to the field of Popular Culture
. In 1952, he was named delegate of the Brazilian government to the film festival of Punta Del Este
, receiving also the commission of going to Europe in order to study the management of similar film festivals at Cannes
, Berlin
, Locarno
and Venice
, in view of the forthcoming São Paulo Cinema Festival, as part of the commemoration for the city's 400th anniversary.
In 1953, as his third child - Georgiana - was born (a fourth child by his second wife, Luciana, would be born in 1956), and he went to Paris
as second secretary at the Brazilian embassy in France
, Vinicius was to release his first samba
, composed jointly with musician Antônio Maria
: Quando tu passas por mim ("When you pass by"), . The next year, he wrote the lyrics for some of Cláudio Santoro
's chamber music pieces.
The 1950s mark the turn of Vinicius from a literary figure to a popular culture
one, as he would become a well-known playwright with the staging of his musical play Orfeu da Conceição (1956). With only a draft version, in 1954, Vinicius's original play had already won the contest commemorating the Fourth Centennial Celebration of the founding of the City of São Paulo
. Later, in 1956, during the production of his play, as he was in Brazil during a sabbatical leave, Vinicius would be introduced to a relatively unknown pianist, Antônio Carlos Jobim, who was commissioned with writing the music for the play. Jobim composed the music for Se Todos Fossem Iguais a Você, Um Nome de Mulher, and several other songs included in the production. The play was staged in 1956 in both São Paulo and in Rio de Janeiro, having also its text published in a de luxe edition illustrated by Carlos Scliar. At the end of 1956, Vinicius returned to France, being transferred in 1957 from the Brazilian Embassy to the Brazilian representation at UNESCO
. In 1958 he would be transferred to the Brazilian embassy in Montevideo
, returning to Brazil in transit. While in Brazil, he would marry his third wife, Maria Lúcia Proença.
released her album Canção do Amor Demais
, marking the beginning of bossa nova
. This record consists wholly of compositions by the Jobim-Vinicius partnership, or by either of the two (Canção do Amor Demais, Luciana, Estrada Branca, Chega de Saudade, Outra Vez...). The recording also featured a relatively unknown João Gilberto
on two tracks. With the release of this record, Vinicius's career in music (as well as that of many involved with him) may be said to have truly begun.
The songs of Jobim and Vinicius were recorded by numerous Brazilian singers and performers of that time. Renditions of many Jobim-Vinicius's numbers on João Gilberto
's first, second and third albums would firmly establish the sound and the core repertory of the Bossa Nova and would influence a new generation of singers and songwriters especially in Rio de Janeiro
. Among these songs are all time hits such as Garota de Ipanema, Insensatez and Chega de Saudade. In August 1962, Vinicius would for the first time perform publicly as singer and entertainer - together with Jobim and Gilberto - at the Rio nightclub
Au Bon Gourmet . This was to be the first of his pocket-shows, i.e., performances made to small audiences where he would present future international hits - such as the aforementioned Garota de Ipanema as well as Samba da Benção. Vinicius would also introduce promising new singers at the time, such as Nara Leão
. That first spree as entretainer would end in 1963, as Vinicius returned to his post in the Brazilian representation at UNESCO after his fourth marriage to Nelita Abreu Rocha.
, which won an Academy Award
for the best Foreign Language Film of 1959 (France; director, Marcel Camus). It was also awarded the Palme d'Or at the Cannes International Film Festival
and the 1960 British Academy Award. The film was a co-production between France, Italy and Brazil, and included several songs by Jobim and Moraes.
His songs Para uma Menina com uma Flor and Samba da Bênção (music by Baden Powell
) were included on the soundtrack of A Man and a Woman
(Un Homme et une Femme, Claude Lelouch, 1966), another Cannes film festival winner.
, with whom he penned a series of songs with a heavy Afro-Brazilian influence and which came to be known collectively as the Afro-Sambas.
As a known bohemian and a diplomat, Vinicius didn't endear himself as a civil servant to the petty moralizing military that had taken power in Brazil after the military coup d'etat of 1964, being spied upon by political police and branded as a "rabble" (marginal) and a drunk. Eventually, during a purge in the Ministry of Foreign Relations, he was forcibly retired in 1969, at age 55. Although taken aback by his forced retirement, he at the time laughed down the case against him: when it was made known that the Ministry purge was directed against "homosexuals and drunks", he jokingly retorted that his alcoholism was public knowledge. Afterwards, he proceeded to tackle a full-time artistic career.
In the 1970s, already established and with a new partner, the guitarist and singer Antonio Pecci Filho, nicknamed Toquinho
, Vinicius worked in tandem on both musical and literary productions, putting forth various albums and books of great commercial success. At the time he would be briefly married, in succession, to three women: Cristina Gurjão - to whom he would beget his daughter Maria - the actress Gesse Gessy and the Argentinian Marta Rodrigues Santamaria.
He also toured through Europe with Chico Buarque
and Nara Leão
, and Argentina with Dorival Caymmi
and Oscar Castro-Neves
. His most stable partner, however, remained Toquinho, alongside whom he would release a series of very popular and influential albums. Their live performances, both in Brazil and Europe, were often conducted as intimate meetings with the public, where Vinicius chatted and endlessly told amusing stories to the audience while repeatedly serving himself fine Scotch whisky
, between actual song playing and singing.
Hundreds of international performers have recorded more than 400 of Vinicius's songs.
is man's best friend— a dog in a bottle), after a long spell of poor health punctuated by various sprees at rehab clinics, Moraes died at his home in Rio de Janeiro
on July 9, 1980 at the age of 66, while in the company of his eighth and last wife, Gilda de Queirós Mattoso, and the ever-faithful Toquinho. He is buried in Rio de Janeiro
's Cemitério São João Batista
.
In 2006, Vinicius was officially reintegrated to the Brazilian diplomatic corps. In February 2010, the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies approved his post-mortem promotion to the post of Ambassador (First Class Minister).
Music of Brazil
The music of Brazil encompasses various regional music styles influenced by African, European and Amerindian forms. After 500 years of history, Brazilian music developed some unique and original styles such as samba, zouk-lambada, lambada, choro, bossa nova, frevo, maracatu, MPB, sertanejo,...
. As a poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, he wrote lyrics for a great number of songs that became all-time classics. He was also a composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
of bossa nova
Bossa nova
Bossa nova is a style of Brazilian music. Bossa nova acquired a large following in the 1960s, initially consisting of young musicians and college students...
, a playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
, a diplomat
Diplomacy
Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states...
and, as an interpreter of his own songs, he left several important album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
s.
Early life
Son of Clodoaldo da Silva Pereira Moraes - a City Hall officer, as well as poet and amateur guitar player - and Lidia Cruz - a housewife and amateur pianist - Vinicius was born in 1913 in the neighborhood of GáveaGávea
Gávea is an affluent residential neighborhood located in the Southern Zone of the city of Rio de Janeiro. It borders the São Conrado, Leblon, Lagoa and Jardim Botânico neighborhoods and is famous for its high concentration of artists and intellectuals. PUC-Rio, one of the most important...
, then a rural suburb of Rio de Janeiro. In 1916, he moved with his family to various addresses at the downtown quarter of Botafogo, where he attended classes at Afrânio Peixoto Primary School. In 1920, through his maternal grandfather, he gained entrance at a Masonic lodge
Masonic Lodge
This article is about the Masonic term for a membership group. For buildings named Masonic Lodge, see Masonic Lodge A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry...
. In 1922, Moraes's parents, shocked at the 18 of the Copacabana Fort revolt
18 of the Copacabana Fort revolt
The 18 of the Copacabana Fort revolt happened on July 5, 1922, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, then Federal District of Brazil. It was the first revolt of the tenentista movement, in the context of the Brazilian Old Republic.- Tenentismo :...
, were to move to another suburb, Governador Island, while young Vinicius stayed at his grandfather's downtown home in order to finish primary school, going to his parents' home only at weekends and during holidays. During his visits to his folks' home, Vinicius was to get in touch with various musicians, among them the composer Bororó.
After receiving first communion
First Communion
The First Communion, or First Holy Communion, is a Catholic Church ceremony. It is the colloquial name for a person's first reception of the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. Catholics believe this event to be very important, as the Eucharist is one of the central focuses of the Catholic Church...
in 1923, from 1924 on Vinicius de Moraes attended high school at the traditional Jesuit-sponsored St. Ignatius School, where he sang in the congregation choir and began to write short theatrical sketches (as well as an "epic" piece in tandem with two schoolmates, among them Raul Pompéia
Raul Pompéia
Raul d'Ávila Pompeia was a Brazilian novelist, short story writer and chronicler. He is famous for the Impressionist romance O Ateneu.He is patron of the 33rd chair of the Brazilian Academy of Letters.-Biography:...
's nephew). Three years later, he became friends with the brothers Paul and Haroldo Tapajos, with whom he assembled his first musical compositions, which were performed at friends' parties. In 1929 he completed high school, as his family moved back to Gávea. This same year, he was admitted to the Faculty of Law at the University of Rio de Janeiro (nowadays National School of Law of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)), which until 1937 was located at a mansion in downtown Rio (Casarão do Catete). At the "School of Catete", he met and became friends with essayist and future novelist Octavio de Faria, an activist integrist Catholic and a leader of the group of rightwing Catholics organized around Centro Dom Vital, a think-tank created by the intellectual Jackson de Figueiredo shortly before his untimely death.
Faria encouraged Moraes' literary vocation, turning him into a kind of Rightwing fellow traveller. Vinicius de Moraes received his B.A. degree in Legal and Social Sciences in 1933. Upon completing his studies, he published his first two collections of poetry: Caminho Para a Distância ("Path into distance") (1933) and Forma e Exegese ("Form and Exegesis"). Both collections were composed and published under Octavio de Faria's informal editorship, and that accounts for their style and subject-matter: a heavy, rhetorics-laden symbolist poetry, concerned above all with Catholic mysticism and the search for redemption against sexual seduction (in Faria's words, the conflict between "impossible purity and unacceptable impurity"). Faria, at the time (1935) was to write a essay (Two Poets) comparing Vinicius's poetry with that of his symbolist and Catholic comrade-in-arms, Augusto Frederico Schmidt. However, the tension between Faria and Moraes' joint Catholic activism and Faria's homosexual attraction toward Vinicius was eventually to generate a cooling in their mutual friendship - Faria having even attempted suicide because of his unrequited love for Vinicius. Despite their mutual estrangement, Vinicius would afterwards write two sonnets -the first in 1939 (Sonnet to Octavio de Faria), the second during the 1960s (Octavio) in (ambivalent) praise of his old friend.
Later, Vinicius wrote his third book Ariana, a Mulher ("Ariana, the Woman") (1936).
In 1936, he got the job of film censor for the Ministry of Education and Health. Two years later, Moraes won a British Council
British Council
The British Council is a United Kingdom-based organisation specialising in international educational and cultural opportunities. It is registered as a charity both in England and Wales, and in Scotland...
fellowship to study English language and literature at Oxford University. It was at that time that Moraes forsook his older form - free verse
Free verse
Free verse is a form of poetry that refrains from consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any other musical pattern.Poets have explained that free verse, despite its freedom, is not free. Free Verse displays some elements of form...
and blank verse
Blank verse
Blank verse is poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the sixteenth century" and Paul Fussell has claimed that "about three-quarters of all English poetry is in blank verse."The first...
poetry - in favour of an apparently old-fashioned poetical programme based on respect for traditional forms and extreme metrical accuracy, by excelling onwards in the handling of the rhymed, metrified sonnet
Sonnet
A sonnet is one of several forms of poetry that originate in Europe, mainly Provence and Italy. A sonnet commonly has 14 lines. The term "sonnet" derives from the Occitan word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning "little song" or "little sound"...
, both on the Italian mode generally used in Portuguese language poetry (two quatrains, two tercets) as well as on the English mode (three quartains and a couplet, printed en bloc). It was this process that made Vinicius to be acknowledged later as one of the most prominent members of the "generation of '45" - the name given to various Brazilian modernist writers who began publishing during the 1930s and 1940s, who had as their defining trait a partial rejection of the formal novelties of earlier modernism in favour of a rehabilitation of traditional forms and vocabulary. He is usually equated with his contemporary and friend João Cabral de Melo Neto
João Cabral de Melo Neto
João Cabral de Melo Neto was born in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil, and is considered one of the greatest Brazilian poets of all time.He is often quoted saying "I try not to perfume the flower"...
for the high technical skill of their poetry. However, if in Cabral's works developed poetic technique mostly serves the depiction of objective reality, in Vinicius it serves the depiction of a deeply felt and highly subjective mood - above all, of sexual love. The basic meter in Vinicius' love poetry is the decasyllable
Decasyllable
Decasyllable is a poetic meter of ten syllables used in poetic traditions of syllabic verse...
, taken mostly from Camões' lyrical poetry - therefore the classical accent of his mature production.
During his stay in England, Vinicius was to write a collection of verse published under the title "Novos Poemas" ("New poetry"). At that time he was married - by proxy - for the first time with Beatriz Azevedo de Mello, by whom he was to have two children: filmmaker Susana de Moares and Pedro. In 1941, he returned to Brazil, working then as film critic for the newspaper A Manhã ("The Morning."). He was also a collaborator of the literary journal Clima ("Climate"), at the same time holding a job at the Banking Employees' Institute of Social Security, the public pension fund for wage-workers in banking institutions.
The following year, he failed his first test of admission to the diplomatic career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE). Shortly afterwards, however,in his capacity as a government employee, he was given by the then Minister of Foreign Relations, Oswaldo Aranha
Oswaldo Aranha
Osvaldo Euclides de Sousa Aranha was a Brazilian politician, diplomat and statesman, who came to national prominence in 1930 under Getúlio Vargas....
, the commission to follow American writer Waldo Frank
Waldo Frank
Waldo Frank was a prolific novelist, historian, literary and social critic. Most well-known for his studies of Spanish and Latin American literature, Frank served as chairman of the First Americans Writers Congress and became the first president of the League of American Writers.-Biography:Frank...
- already a literary acquaintance of Vinicius's - on a tour across Northern Brazil. In Vinicius's own words, it was contact with both Frank and "the appalling poverty" that had the effect of turning him into "a man of the Left".
In 1943, Vinicius performed the test of admission into the MRE again, this time being approved and taking his first post abroad as vice consul in Los Angeles. At the same time, he published a new poetry book Cinco Elegias ("Five elegies"). Already at his Californian consular post, he would write and publish another book of verse, Poemas, Sonetos e Baladas("Poems, Sonnets and ballads"). At the death of his father in 1950, Vinicius de Moraes returned briefly to Brazil. Upon his return to diplomatic duties in France and Uruguay, Vinicius published two new books of poetry: Livro de Sonetos ("Book of sonnets") and Novos Poemas II ("New poems - II"). During the 1950s, he was to continue serving at the Brazilian consular service in various capacities, in Paris as well as in Rome; in the Italian capital, he used to participate in lively musical meetings in the home of the historian Sergio Buarque de Holanda, who was then teaching in Italy as visiting scholar.
In 1951, Vinicius married his second wife, Lila Maria Esquerdo e Bôscoli. It was during this same year, while in Brazil, that he began writing to the mainstream press, contributing with chronicles and film critiques to Samuel Wainer's Vargoist
Getúlio Vargas
Getúlio Dornelles Vargas served as President of Brazil, first as dictator, from 1930 to 1945, and in a democratically elected term from 1951 until his suicide in 1954. Vargas led Brazil for 18 years, the most for any President, and second in Brazilian history to Emperor Pedro II...
paper Última Hora
Última Hora
Última Hora is a Spanish language newspaper published in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. The newspaper was founded on July 26, 1996, as Dos, Enlace de Culturas by Benjamin Galvan Gomes. The name was changed to Ultima Hora on November 13, 1998...
, something that moved him closer to the field of Popular Culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
. In 1952, he was named delegate of the Brazilian government to the film festival of Punta Del Este
Punta del Este
Punta del Este is a resort town on the Atlantic Coast in the Maldonado Department of southeastern Uruguay. It is located on the intersection of Route 10 with Route 39, directly southeast of the department capital Maldonado and about east of Montevideo...
, receiving also the commission of going to Europe in order to study the management of similar film festivals at Cannes
Cannes
Cannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a Commune of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department....
, Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Locarno
Locarno
Locarno is the capital of the Locarno district, located on the northern tip of Lake Maggiore in the Swiss canton of Ticino, close to Ascona at the foot of the Alps. It has a population of about 15,000...
and Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, in view of the forthcoming São Paulo Cinema Festival, as part of the commemoration for the city's 400th anniversary.
In 1953, as his third child - Georgiana - was born (a fourth child by his second wife, Luciana, would be born in 1956), and he went to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
as second secretary at the Brazilian embassy in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Vinicius was to release his first samba
Samba
Samba is a Brazilian dance and musical genre originating in Bahia and with its roots in Brazil and Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions. It is recognized around the world as a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival...
, composed jointly with musician Antônio Maria
Antônio Maria
Antônio Maria , sports commentator, poet, composer, pop music lyrics writer and chronicler, was born in Recife, Pernambuco....
: Quando tu passas por mim ("When you pass by"), . The next year, he wrote the lyrics for some of Cláudio Santoro
Cláudio Santoro
Cláudio Franco de Sá Santoro was an internationally renowned Brazilian composer and violinist.-Early life:...
's chamber music pieces.
The 1950s mark the turn of Vinicius from a literary figure to a popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
one, as he would become a well-known playwright with the staging of his musical play Orfeu da Conceição (1956). With only a draft version, in 1954, Vinicius's original play had already won the contest commemorating the Fourth Centennial Celebration of the founding of the City of São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
. Later, in 1956, during the production of his play, as he was in Brazil during a sabbatical leave, Vinicius would be introduced to a relatively unknown pianist, Antônio Carlos Jobim, who was commissioned with writing the music for the play. Jobim composed the music for Se Todos Fossem Iguais a Você, Um Nome de Mulher, and several other songs included in the production. The play was staged in 1956 in both São Paulo and in Rio de Janeiro, having also its text published in a de luxe edition illustrated by Carlos Scliar. At the end of 1956, Vinicius returned to France, being transferred in 1957 from the Brazilian Embassy to the Brazilian representation at UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
. In 1958 he would be transferred to the Brazilian embassy in Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
, returning to Brazil in transit. While in Brazil, he would marry his third wife, Maria Lúcia Proença.
Bossa nova
In 1958, the singer Elizete CardosoElizete Cardoso
Elizeth Moreira Cardoso , was a singer and actress of great renown in Brazil....
released her album Canção do Amor Demais
Canção do Amor Demais
Elizete Cardoso's 1958 album Canção do Amor Demais is officially considered the first bossa nova album, mostly because it was the first time João Gilberto's guitar beat was heard. With all songs on the LP composed by Vinícius de Moraes and Antonio Carlos Jobim, it had an immense influence on the...
, marking the beginning of bossa nova
Bossa nova
Bossa nova is a style of Brazilian music. Bossa nova acquired a large following in the 1960s, initially consisting of young musicians and college students...
. This record consists wholly of compositions by the Jobim-Vinicius partnership, or by either of the two (Canção do Amor Demais, Luciana, Estrada Branca, Chega de Saudade, Outra Vez...). The recording also featured a relatively unknown João Gilberto
João Gilberto
João Gilberto Prado Pereira de Oliveira, known as João Gilberto , is a Brazilian singer and guitarist. His seminal recordings, including many songs by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, established the new musical genre of Bossa nova in the late 1950s.-Biography:From an early age, music...
on two tracks. With the release of this record, Vinicius's career in music (as well as that of many involved with him) may be said to have truly begun.
The songs of Jobim and Vinicius were recorded by numerous Brazilian singers and performers of that time. Renditions of many Jobim-Vinicius's numbers on João Gilberto
João Gilberto
João Gilberto Prado Pereira de Oliveira, known as João Gilberto , is a Brazilian singer and guitarist. His seminal recordings, including many songs by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, established the new musical genre of Bossa nova in the late 1950s.-Biography:From an early age, music...
's first, second and third albums would firmly establish the sound and the core repertory of the Bossa Nova and would influence a new generation of singers and songwriters especially in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
. Among these songs are all time hits such as Garota de Ipanema, Insensatez and Chega de Saudade. In August 1962, Vinicius would for the first time perform publicly as singer and entertainer - together with Jobim and Gilberto - at the Rio nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
Au Bon Gourmet . This was to be the first of his pocket-shows, i.e., performances made to small audiences where he would present future international hits - such as the aforementioned Garota de Ipanema as well as Samba da Benção. Vinicius would also introduce promising new singers at the time, such as Nara Leão
Nara Leão
Nara Lofego Leão was a Brazilian bossa nova and MPB singer and occasional actress. Her husband was Carlos Diegues, director and writer of Bye Bye Brasil....
. That first spree as entretainer would end in 1963, as Vinicius returned to his post in the Brazilian representation at UNESCO after his fourth marriage to Nelita Abreu Rocha.
Cinema recognition and collaborations
His play Orfeu da Conceição was adapted into Black OrpheusBlack Orpheus
Black Orpheus is a 1959 film made in Brazil by French director Marcel Camus. It is based on the play Orfeu da Conceição by Vinicius de Moraes, which is an adaptation of the Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, setting it in the modern context of a favela in Rio de Janeiro during the Carnaval...
, which won an Academy Award
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for the best Foreign Language Film of 1959 (France; director, Marcel Camus). It was also awarded the Palme d'Or at the Cannes International Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
and the 1960 British Academy Award. The film was a co-production between France, Italy and Brazil, and included several songs by Jobim and Moraes.
His songs Para uma Menina com uma Flor and Samba da Bênção (music by Baden Powell
Baden Powell de Aquino
Baden Powell de Aquino usually known simply as Baden Powell, was one of the greatest Brazilian guitarists. He explored the instrument to its utmost limits, playing it in a distinctive, unique manner, incorporating virtuoso classical techniques together with popular harmony and swing...
) were included on the soundtrack of A Man and a Woman
A Man and a Woman
A Man and a Woman is a 1966 French film, written by Claude Lelouch and Pierre Uytterhoeven, and directed by Lelouch. It is notable for its lush photography , which features frequent segues between full color, black-and-white, and sepia-toned shots, and for its memorable musical score by Francis Lai...
(Un Homme et une Femme, Claude Lelouch, 1966), another Cannes film festival winner.
Later life
In the 1960s and 1970s, Vinicius continued collaborating with many renowned Brazilian singers and musicians, particularly Baden PowellBaden Powell de Aquino
Baden Powell de Aquino usually known simply as Baden Powell, was one of the greatest Brazilian guitarists. He explored the instrument to its utmost limits, playing it in a distinctive, unique manner, incorporating virtuoso classical techniques together with popular harmony and swing...
, with whom he penned a series of songs with a heavy Afro-Brazilian influence and which came to be known collectively as the Afro-Sambas.
As a known bohemian and a diplomat, Vinicius didn't endear himself as a civil servant to the petty moralizing military that had taken power in Brazil after the military coup d'etat of 1964, being spied upon by political police and branded as a "rabble" (marginal) and a drunk. Eventually, during a purge in the Ministry of Foreign Relations, he was forcibly retired in 1969, at age 55. Although taken aback by his forced retirement, he at the time laughed down the case against him: when it was made known that the Ministry purge was directed against "homosexuals and drunks", he jokingly retorted that his alcoholism was public knowledge. Afterwards, he proceeded to tackle a full-time artistic career.
In the 1970s, already established and with a new partner, the guitarist and singer Antonio Pecci Filho, nicknamed Toquinho
Toquinho
Antônio Pecci Filho , better known as Toquinho , is a Brazilian singer and guitarist. He is well-known for his collaborations, as composer and performer, with Vinicius de Moraes.-Childhood and musical studies:...
, Vinicius worked in tandem on both musical and literary productions, putting forth various albums and books of great commercial success. At the time he would be briefly married, in succession, to three women: Cristina Gurjão - to whom he would beget his daughter Maria - the actress Gesse Gessy and the Argentinian Marta Rodrigues Santamaria.
He also toured through Europe with Chico Buarque
Chico Buarque
Francisco Buarque de Hollanda , popularly known as Chico Buarque , is a singer, guitarist, composer, dramatist, writer and poet...
and Nara Leão
Nara Leão
Nara Lofego Leão was a Brazilian bossa nova and MPB singer and occasional actress. Her husband was Carlos Diegues, director and writer of Bye Bye Brasil....
, and Argentina with Dorival Caymmi
Dorival Caymmi
Dorival Caymmi was a Brazilian singer, songwriter, actor, and painter active for more than 70 years beginning in 1933...
and Oscar Castro-Neves
Oscar Castro-Neves
Oscar Castro-Neves is a Brazilian guitarist, arranger, and composer who is considered a founding figure in Bossa nova. He was born as one of triplets and formed a band with his brothers in his youth. At 16 he had a national hit with Chora Tua Tristeza. Many of the early Bossa Nova musicians began...
. His most stable partner, however, remained Toquinho, alongside whom he would release a series of very popular and influential albums. Their live performances, both in Brazil and Europe, were often conducted as intimate meetings with the public, where Vinicius chatted and endlessly told amusing stories to the audience while repeatedly serving himself fine Scotch whisky
Scotch whisky
Scotch whisky is whisky made in Scotland.Scotch whisky is divided into five distinct categories: Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Single Grain Scotch Whisky, Blended Malt Scotch Whisky , Blended Grain Scotch Whisky, and Blended Scotch Whisky.All Scotch whisky must be aged in oak barrels for at least three...
, between actual song playing and singing.
Hundreds of international performers have recorded more than 400 of Vinicius's songs.
Death
A long time alcoholic, who once said that O uísque é o melhor amigo do homem—é o cão engarrafado ("WhiskyWhisky
Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Different grains are used for different varieties, including barley, malted barley, rye, malted rye, wheat, and corn...
is man's best friend— a dog in a bottle), after a long spell of poor health punctuated by various sprees at rehab clinics, Moraes died at his home in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
on July 9, 1980 at the age of 66, while in the company of his eighth and last wife, Gilda de Queirós Mattoso, and the ever-faithful Toquinho. He is buried in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
's Cemitério São João Batista
Cemitério São João Batista
Cemitério São João Batista is a private cemetery in the neighborhood of Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro owned and operated by the Santa Casa da Misericórdia do Rio de Janeiro a charitable organization with a Catholic identity founded by the Portuguese]] in Rio during the colonial era...
.
In 2006, Vinicius was officially reintegrated to the Brazilian diplomatic corps. In February 2010, the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies approved his post-mortem promotion to the post of Ambassador (First Class Minister).
Discography
| Year | Album | Partnership | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | Orfeu da Conceição | Tom Jobim | Odeon |
| 1963 | Vinicius e Odete Lara | Odete Lara Odete Lara Odete Lara is a Brazilian film actress. She appeared in 37 films between 1954 and 1994, including two films shown at the Cannes Film Festival.-Selected filmography:* O Dragão da Maldade Contra o Santo Guerreiro... , Baden Powell Baden Powell de Aquino Baden Powell de Aquino usually known simply as Baden Powell, was one of the greatest Brazilian guitarists. He explored the instrument to its utmost limits, playing it in a distinctive, unique manner, incorporating virtuoso classical techniques together with popular harmony and swing... |
Elenco |
| 1965 | De Vinicius e Baden especialmente para Ciro Monteiro | Baden Powell Baden Powell de Aquino Baden Powell de Aquino usually known simply as Baden Powell, was one of the greatest Brazilian guitarists. He explored the instrument to its utmost limits, playing it in a distinctive, unique manner, incorporating virtuoso classical techniques together with popular harmony and swing... |
Elenco |
| 1965 | Vinicius e Caymmi no Zum Zum | Dorival Caymmi Dorival Caymmi Dorival Caymmi was a Brazilian singer, songwriter, actor, and painter active for more than 70 years beginning in 1933... |
Elenco |
| 1966 | Os Afro-sambas | Baden Powell Baden Powell de Aquino Baden Powell de Aquino usually known simply as Baden Powell, was one of the greatest Brazilian guitarists. He explored the instrument to its utmost limits, playing it in a distinctive, unique manner, incorporating virtuoso classical techniques together with popular harmony and swing... |
Elenco |
| 1966 | Vinicius: Poesia e Canção (ao vivo) | Forma | |
| 1967 | Garota de Ipanema (Trilha sonora do filme) | Philips | |
| 1967 | Vinicius | Elenco | |
| 1969 | Vinicius em Portugal | Festa | |
| 1970 | En La Fusa con Maria Creuza y Toquinho | Maria Creuza, Toquinho Toquinho Antônio Pecci Filho , better known as Toquinho , is a Brazilian singer and guitarist. He is well-known for his collaborations, as composer and performer, with Vinicius de Moraes.-Childhood and musical studies:... |
Diorama |
| 1970 | Amália/Vinicius Amália/Vinicius Amalia/Vinicius is a recording of the 1968 meeting between the Brazilian poet Vinicius de Moraes and the Portuguese singer Amália Rodrigues. In December 1968, de Moraes was travelling to Rome, where he wanted to celebrate Christmas. However, before he arrived in Italy, the poet stayed some hours... |
Amália Rodrigues Amália Rodrigues Amália da Piedade Rodrigues, GCSE, GCIH, , also known as Amália Rodrigues was a Portuguese singer and actress.She was known as the "Rainha do Fado" and was most influential in popularizing the fado worldwide. She was one of the most important figures in the genre's development, and enjoyed a... |
|
| 1971 | Como Dizia O Poeta... | RGE | |
| 1971 | Toquinho e Vinicius | Toquinho Toquinho Antônio Pecci Filho , better known as Toquinho , is a Brazilian singer and guitarist. He is well-known for his collaborations, as composer and performer, with Vinicius de Moraes.-Childhood and musical studies:... |
RGE |
| 1971 | Vinicius + Bethânia + Toquinho - En La Fusa | Maria Bethânia Maria Bethânia Maria Bethânia Vianna Telles Veloso , better known as Maria Bethânia , is a singer and sister of Caetano Veloso. She started her career in Rio de Janeiro in 1964 with the show "Opinião"... , Toquinho Toquinho Antônio Pecci Filho , better known as Toquinho , is a Brazilian singer and guitarist. He is well-known for his collaborations, as composer and performer, with Vinicius de Moraes.-Childhood and musical studies:... |
Inter Records |
| 1972 | Marilia/Vinicius | Marilia Medalha | RGE |
| 1972 | Vinicius canta: Nossa Filha Gabriela | Toquinho Toquinho Antônio Pecci Filho , better known as Toquinho , is a Brazilian singer and guitarist. He is well-known for his collaborations, as composer and performer, with Vinicius de Moraes.-Childhood and musical studies:... |
Polydor |
| 1972 | São Demais Os Perigos Dessa Vida | Toquinho Toquinho Antônio Pecci Filho , better known as Toquinho , is a Brazilian singer and guitarist. He is well-known for his collaborations, as composer and performer, with Vinicius de Moraes.-Childhood and musical studies:... |
RGE |
| 1973 | O Bem-Amado | Som Livre | |
| 1974 | Vinicius & Toquinho | Toquinho Toquinho Antônio Pecci Filho , better known as Toquinho , is a Brazilian singer and guitarist. He is well-known for his collaborations, as composer and performer, with Vinicius de Moraes.-Childhood and musical studies:... |
Philips |
| 1974 | Saravá Vinicius! - Vinicius de Moraes en São Paulo con Quarteto em Cy y Toquinho | Quarteto em Cy Quarteto em Cy Quarteto em Cy is a Brazilian girl group originally composed of four sisters hailing from Ibirataia, a town located in the Brazilian state of Bahia: Cybele, Cylene, Cynara and Cyva - their real first names. They started performing in 1959, appearing on local television in that year... , Toquinho Toquinho Antônio Pecci Filho , better known as Toquinho , is a Brazilian singer and guitarist. He is well-known for his collaborations, as composer and performer, with Vinicius de Moraes.-Childhood and musical studies:... |
Mercury |
| 1975 | Vinicius/Toquinho | Toquinho Toquinho Antônio Pecci Filho , better known as Toquinho , is a Brazilian singer and guitarist. He is well-known for his collaborations, as composer and performer, with Vinicius de Moraes.-Childhood and musical studies:... |
Philips |
| 1975 | O Poeta e o Violão | Toquinho Toquinho Antônio Pecci Filho , better known as Toquinho , is a Brazilian singer and guitarist. He is well-known for his collaborations, as composer and performer, with Vinicius de Moraes.-Childhood and musical studies:... |
RGE |
| 1976 | Deus lhe pague | Edu Lobo Edu Lobo Eduardo de Góes "Edu" Lobo is a Brazilian bossa nova singer, guitarist, and composer. He achieved fame in the 1960s as part of the bossa nova movement... |
EMI |
| 1977 | Antologia Poética | Philips | |
| 1977 | Tom, Vinicius, Toquinho e Miúcha - Gravado ao vivo no Canecâo | Tom Jobim, Toquinho Toquinho Antônio Pecci Filho , better known as Toquinho , is a Brazilian singer and guitarist. He is well-known for his collaborations, as composer and performer, with Vinicius de Moraes.-Childhood and musical studies:... , Miúcha Miúcha Heloísa Maria Buarque de Hollanda , whose artistic name is Miúcha, is a Brazilian singer and composer. She is the daughter of historian Sérgio Buarque de Holanda by Maria Amélia Cesário Alvim and sister of the singer and composer Chico Buarque and two other singers Ana de Hollanda and Cristina... |
Som Livre |
| 1979 | 10 anos de Toquinho e Vinicius | Toquinho Toquinho Antônio Pecci Filho , better known as Toquinho , is a Brazilian singer and guitarist. He is well-known for his collaborations, as composer and performer, with Vinicius de Moraes.-Childhood and musical studies:... |
Philips |
| 1980 | Um pouco de ilusão | Toquinho Toquinho Antônio Pecci Filho , better known as Toquinho , is a Brazilian singer and guitarist. He is well-known for his collaborations, as composer and performer, with Vinicius de Moraes.-Childhood and musical studies:... |
Ariola |
| 1980 | Testamento... | RGE | |
| 1980 | A Arca de Noé | Toquinho Toquinho Antônio Pecci Filho , better known as Toquinho , is a Brazilian singer and guitarist. He is well-known for his collaborations, as composer and performer, with Vinicius de Moraes.-Childhood and musical studies:... |
Universal |
| 1981 | A Arca de Noé 2 | Toquinho Toquinho Antônio Pecci Filho , better known as Toquinho , is a Brazilian singer and guitarist. He is well-known for his collaborations, as composer and performer, with Vinicius de Moraes.-Childhood and musical studies:... |
Polygram |
| 1991 | Poeta, moça e violão - Vinicius, Clara e Toquinho | Clara Nunes Clara Nunes Clara Nunes; August 12, 1943 – April 2, 1983) was a samba singer, regarded as one of the greatest of her generation. She became the first female singer in Brazil to sell over 100,000 copies, and her achievements in the samba genre earned her the title of "Queen of Samba".She had enormous... , Toquinho Toquinho Antônio Pecci Filho , better known as Toquinho , is a Brazilian singer and guitarist. He is well-known for his collaborations, as composer and performer, with Vinicius de Moraes.-Childhood and musical studies:... |
Collector's Editora LTDA |
| 2006 | Vinicius & Amigos | Seleções Reader’s Digest | |