Adoniran Barbosa

Adoniran Barbosa
Born	João Rubinato (1910-08-06)6 August 1910 Valinhos,São Paulo,Brazil
Died	23 November 1982(1982-11-23)(aged 72) São Paulo,São Paulo, Brazil
Musical career
Genres	Samba
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1935–1977

Adoniran Barbosa,artistic nameofJoão Rubinato(6 August 1910 – 23 November 1982), was a noted Brazilian São Paulo stylesambasinger and composer.

Biography

Early years

João Rubinato was the seventh child of Francesco (Fernando) Rubinato and Emma Ricchini, Italian immigrants fromCavarzere(province of Venice). His parents had settled inValinhos,a rural town in the state ofSão Paulo,about 70 km from the city ofSão Paulo.In 2010, two bridges were named after Rubinato: one located in Valinhos, Brazil, where the singer was born, and another in Cavarzere, Italy, where his parents came from.

He is said to have been a rather reluctant student, and started working at an early age (which required falsifying his birth date). His first job was a sweeper boy and general helper at a railway company in the nearby town ofJundiaí.In 1924 he moved toSanto André,a town in theGreater São Paulo area,where he went through many jobs —loomoperator, painter, plumber,iron worker,peddlerand waiter. At a local technical school (theLiceu de Artes e Ofícios) he learned the office ofmechanical assistant.

Debut as composer and singer

In 1933 João Rubinato moved to the city of São Paulo, where he started composing songs and tried his luck as a singer inCruzeiro do Sul radio station,in atalent-scoutingshow directed byJorge Amaral.After many failures, he finally succeeded with theNoel Rosa's sambaFilosofia,and got a contract for a weekly 15-minute show.

Fearful that a samba artist with an Italian surname would not be taken seriously by the public, João Rubinato then decided to adopt a more Brazilian-sounding name. So he borrowed the unusual "Adoniran" from one of his friends, and "Barbosa" from samba composerLuiz Barbosa,his idol.

In 1935 he won aCarnaval songcontest sponsored by the city of São Paulo, with the sambaDona Boa,composed together withJ. Aimberê.Spirited by that success, he married his longtime girlfriendOlga.The couple had a daughter,Maria Helena,but the marriage broke up in less than one year.

At the Rádio Record

In 1941 he started performing comedy in theradio theaterprograms of the São Paulo radio stationRádio Record,— which would later become one of the top television and radio networks of Brazil —Rede Record.He remained with that network until his retirement in 1972; giving his voice to various popular characters created together with writerOsvaldo Moles,like:Pernafina, ZéCunversa,andJean Rubinet(a parody of a French movie star). He also played parts in the movies:Pif-Paf(1945) andCaídos do Céu( "Fallen from Heaven" ) (1946), both directed byAdemar Gonzaga.In 1949 he marriedMatilde de Lutiis,who would be his companion and co-author for the next 50 years.

In 1953 he made a fine performance in the movieO Cangaceiro,by directorLima Barreto.In the early 1950s he wrote many songs on typical São Paulo themes, most of them recorded by the bandDemônios da Garoa,and won two other São Paulo Carnaval contests. In 1955 he introduced the enormously popular characterCharutinho( "Short Cigar" ) in the radio humor showHistórias das Malocas( "Shantytown Stories" ).

Adoniran also acted in some of the earliest Brazilian soap operas (telenovelas), such asA Pensão de D. Isaura( "Ms. Isaura's Boarding Home" ), and comic programs likeCeará contra 007( "Cearáagainst 007 ") andPapai Sabe Nada( "Daddy Knows Nothing" ).

Later years and legacy

In spite of the success of his songs and radio characters, Adoniran only became a star of sorts after 1973 when he recorded his first own album. That made him respected as a major composer, and gave him some media exposure. Nevertheless, through his career he continued living a simple and happy life. He had earned a private table at theBar Brahma,one of the city's most traditional bars.

While he never lost his love of São Paulo, towards the end of his life he became increasingly sad about the disappearance of its traditional character. "Until the 1960s," he once said, "São Paulo still existed, but since then I have been looking for it, and could not find it. Brás, where is Brás now? And Bexiga, where is it? I was told to look for theSé.Could not find it. All I see is cars and concrete. "

While his music continued to be played, Adoniran himself was gradually forgotten by the public; so that when he died in 1982, in relative poverty, he had at his side only his wife and a brother in law. However, almost 30 years after his death he is still remembered by popular Brazilian singers like Perci Guzzo, who occasionally performs his songs in tribute.

On 6 August 2016,Google Doodlecommemorated his 105th birthday.

Adoniran Barbosa was portrayed byPaulo Miklosin the 2023 Brazilian feature filmSaudosa Maloca.

Homages

Besides theMuseu Adoniran Barbosa(atRua XV de Novembro,347), there are many mementos of the composer scattered through São Paulo. He gave his name to aschoolinItaquera,to astreetin the borough of Bexiga, to aBar Adoniran Barbosa,and to asquare.In theDon Orione Squarethere is abustof the artist, and in Jaçanã there is a street called "RuaTrem das Onze(11 PM Train Street) ".

Musical production

Themes

Adoniran Barbosa made good on the hardships of his youth by becoming the composer of the lower classes of São Paulo, particularly the poor Italian immigrants living in the quarters of Bexiga (Bela Vista) andBrás,and the poor who lived in the city's manymalocas(the shanties offavelas) andcortiços(degraded multifamily row houses).

The themes of his songs are drawn from the life of low-wage urban workers, the unemployed and thevagabonds.His first big hit wasSaudosa Maloca( "Shanty of Fond Memories", 1951), where three homeless friends recall with nostalgia their improvised shanty, which was torn down by the landowner to make room for a building. His next successJoga a Chave( "Throw me the Doorkey", 1952) was inspired on his own frequent experiences of arriving late at home and finding the door locked by his wife, Matilde. In hisTrem das Onze( "The 11 pm Train", 1964), which has been ranked one of the five best samba songs ever, the protagonist explains to his lover that he cannot stay any longer because he has to catch the last train to theJaçanãsuburb, and besides his mother will not sleep before he arrives.

Adoniran's language

Unlike the samba songs of the previous decades, which generally used the formalPortugueseof the educated class, Adoniran'slyricsare a realistic record of the informal speech of São Paulo's lower classes. He once said "I only write samba for the common people. That is why I write lyrics in 'wrong' Portuguese, because that is how the common people speak. Besides, I feel that samba is more beautiful when sung that way". The homeless narrator of hisSaudosa Maloca,for example, tells of the day when his shanty was torn down by the landowner:

Peguemo todas nossas coisa,	"We picked up all our belongings
E fumo pro meio da rua	And we went out on the street
Apreciá a demolição.	To watch the demolition.
Ai, que tristeza que nós sentia,	Ah, what a sorrow we felt,
Cada tauba que caía	Each plank as it fell
Doía no coração...	Hurt us in the heart... "

Thepeguemoinstead ofpegamos,fumoinstead offomos,nós sentiainstead ofnós sentíamos,andtaubainstead oftábuawere all standard features of the speech of manypaulistas.Yet, because of the strong social prejudice attached to such "bad" Portuguese, few if any authors before Adoniran had dared to put those "errors" in writing. Even lyrics ostensibly sung by poorfaveladwellers, such as the classic sambaChão de Estrelas( "Starry Floor" ), were paragons of correct grammar and pronunciation.

Thus Adoniran's use of "real"Brazilian Portuguesewas a revolution that may be comparable toGershwin's use ofGullahinPorgy and Bess.Indeed, he was often strongly criticized for it, even by poet and composerVinícius de Moraes(ofThe Girl from Ipanemafame).But Adoniran did not mind his critics, and his mastery allowed him to break with convention: as he used to say, art was required to sing in "wrong" language. And the success of his most popular songs, such asTiro ao Álvaro(1960), was undoubtedly due in good part to the warmth and naturalness of its language.

Barbosa was known as the composer to the lower classes of São Paulo, particularly the poor Italian immigrants living in the quarters of Bexiga (Bela Vista) and Brás, as well as the poor who lived in the city's many shanties andcortiços(degraded multifamily row houses). He knew well the Italian-Portuguesepidginspoken in the streets of São Paulo, mostly in the sections of Mooca, Brás and Bexiga. In 1965, Barbosa wrote "Samba Italiano"(Italian Samba), a song that has Brazilian rhythm and theme, but Italian lyrics with some words with Brazilian influence.

Original in Barbosa's Italian Gioconda, piccina mia, Va' a brincare nel mare, nel fondo, Ma attenzione col tubarone, lo hai visto? Hai capito, mio San Benedito? Piove, piove, Da tempo che piove qua, Gigi, E io, sempre io, Sotto la tua finestra E voi, senza me sentire Ridere, ridere, ridere Di questo infelice qui Ti ricordi, Gioconda, Di quella sera in Guarujá Quando il mare ti portava via E mi chiamasti Aiuto, Marcello! La tua Gioconda ha paura di quest'onda

Free translation to English Gioconda, my little Go frolicking there, deep into the sea But pay attention to the sharks, do you hear Understood, my Saint Benedict? It rains, it rains It has rained for a long time here, Gigi And I, always I Under your window And you, without hearing me Laughing, laughing and laughing Of this unhappy one here Do you remember, Gioconda That afternoon in Guarujá When the sea took you away And you called for me: Help, Marcello! Your Gioconda is afraid of this wave

Musical style

His favorite musical style is thesamba paulista,the samba of São Paulo, generally despised by thesambistasofRio de Janeiro.A feature of this style is thesamba de breque( "brake samba" ), where the music is suddenly interrupted to make space for a few spoken words, or a sudden reversal in the melodic line. For example, one of his great successes, the "Samba do Arnesto"(" Arnest's Samba ", 1953) begins:

O Arnesto nus convidou prum samba, ele mora no Brás.

"Arnest invited us for a samba, he lives in Brás."

Themelodicline is suspended briefly for the phraseele mora no Brás,which marks it as a parenthetical remark – not only in the lyrics, but in the music as well.

Compositions

"Malvina", 1951

"Saudosa maloca", 1951

"Joga a chave",with Osvaldo Moles 1952

"Samba do Arnesto",1953

"Pra que chorar", with Matilde de Lutiis

"A garoa vem descendo", with Matilde de Lutiis

"As mariposas", 1955

"Iracema",1956

"Apaga o fogo Mané", 1956

"Um Samba no Bexiga",1957

"Bom-dia tristeza", 1958

"Abrigo de vagabundo", 1959

"No morro da Casa Verde", 1959

"Prova de carinho", 1960

"Tiro ao Álvaro",with Osvaldo Moles 1960

"Luz da light", 1964

"Trem das Onze",1964

"Agüenta a mão", 1965

"Samba Italiano",1965

"Tocar na banda", 1965

"Pafunça", withOsvaldo Moles1965

"O casamento do Moacir", 1967

"Mulher, patrão e cachaça", 1968

"Vila Esperança", 1968

"Despejo na favela", 1969

"Fica mais um pouco, amor", 1975

"Acende o candieiro", 1972

"Uma Simples Margarida" ( "Samba do Metrô" )

"Já Fui uma Brasa"

"Rua dos Gusmões"

Adoniran also left some 90 unpublished lyrics, which are being posthumously set to music by various composers.

Compilation albums

• Raízes do Samba

See also

• Paulo Vanzolini

External links

• Adoniran Barbosa.Biography (in Portuguese).
• Another one
• And another
• Lyrics of Adoniram Barbosa Songs.In Portuguese.
• MP3 Recordings of Adoniram Barbosa songs.Terra Music (30 sec. samples, sung by himself)