Collective Creation Process for a More Expressive Musical Interpretation

an arrangement of João e Maria by Chico Buarque and Sivuca

Abstract

This paper presents an account of the collective construction process of the interpretation of an arrangement for guitar trio of the song João e Maria, by Chico Buarque and Sivuca. The interpretation was developed based on concepts related to textural density and musical expression, drawing on principles presented by authors such as Tuttle, Tabuteau and Berry. Aiming to validate the application of these techniques for future use in guitar lessons and chamber music groups, the concepts were introduced and discussed in a classical guitar trio, comprised by one of the authors and two members of a guitar orchestra based in Chapecó, SC. The process of collectively building the interpretation is described and analyzed, and data were collected through audio recordings of the discussions that took place throughout the activity. The annotated arrangement and its performance were documented and are available via a link at the end of the paper. As a result, it was concluded that the use of these concepts was effective in creating a unified interpretation focused on the selected expressive elements. All participants were able to share and incorporate their ideas into the development of the performance, as well as appropriate the concepts and apply them to the arrangement’s interpretation.