BORÉM, Fausto et al. Lino José Nunes’s 1838 Methodo: Historical, Analytical and Editorial

aspects of an Afro-Brazilian Double Bass Jewel. Online Journal of Bass Research. Dallas:

International Society of Bassists Online Journal. 2015.

Lino José Nunes’s 1838 Methodo:

Historical, Analytical and Editorial aspects of an Afro-Brazilian Double Bass Jewel

Fausto Borém

Alfredo Ribeiro

Gustavo Neves

João Paulo Campos

Rodrigo Olivarez

April, 2015

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Abstract

This paper presents a historical, analytical and editorial study on Brazilian bassist, composer

and pedagogue Lino José Nunes (1789- 1847) and the recently discovered manuscript of his

1838 double bass method called Methodo Prático ou Estudos Complettos para o Contrabaxo.

The emergence of a thriving music scene in early 19th century Rio de Janeiro as an outcome

of a war of Kings allowed the development of Nunes’s career. The manuscript reveals several

performance and compositional practices of the time, such as the kinds of instrument used in

Brazil and their tuning, sight reading in all clefs, real time transposition and the fistcuff

fingering. It also reveals a mature composer who uses the circle of fifths, thematic

development, chromaticism and procedures from Italian and German opera at local and larger

levels in his double bass lessons. The performance editions of the six complete Lessons for

unaccompanied double bass (their manuscripts are presented at the end of this paper and their

performance editions are available for download at the ISB site for fund raising to help bass

projects) are discussed with the hope that they become part of the historical double bass

repertory. Also, the whole historical manuscript of the method (presented in Annex II and III)

is provided as an urtext reference source.

Keywords: double bass history; historical double bass literature; solo music for the

double bass; Brazilian double bass music.

1- “New” double bass music found in “old” Brazil!

There seems to be something contradictory in the catchy title above as Brazil is

not really an “old” country and the “new” double bass music presented here is not new, but

the second oldest double bass music of its kind in the world, as we shall see. The history of

Brazil - a notably interracial country - is recent if compared to the majority of those in

Europe. As the first Portuguese arrived in the year 1500, two main musical manifestations

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were established: concert music of European traditions and popular music of European and

African traditions. Despite the horrors of African slavery by the Europeans in the Americas,

the mixing of races brought about a new social class – the mulattos - and, at the same time,

their music. The Afro-Americans in the New World, compressed between the free “White”

and the unvoiced “Black”, largely contributed to the development of concert music outside of

Europe and, even more, to the emergence of popular genres such as the ragtime in North

America, the habanera in Central America and the lundu and modinha in South America

(Cançado, 2000, p.5-7). But what are the reasons that lead Brazil to occupy the stage center

for the earliest relevant concert music scores in general to be found in New World? First, the

intense gold rush in the beginning of the 18th century made possible for every major town to

have small chamber groups and orchestras1 and produce their own music. Second, the unique

and surprising translocation of a European empire to Brazil in the beginning of the 19th

century brought with it an outstanding musical environment never experienced before in the

Americas.

In 1808, trapped on the Iberian Peninsula between the Atlantic Ocean and the

military expansionist forces of Napoleon Bonaparte, King John VI of Portugal had no choice

but to flee to colonial Brazil in 46 ships with a select population of about 12,000 courtesans

(Bueno, 2004, p.142). Planning a trip with no return, the king created in Brazil a cultural

scene that the Portuguese were used to in Europe. In very little time, the Royal Chapel Choir

and Orchestra were established in Rio de Janeiro “… with a quality equivalent to important

European towns…” (Lino CARDOSO, 2006, p.337). Besides sacred, symphonic and operatic

music, military music was very present as an evident sign of the newly created empire

(Binder, 2006, p.25; Tinhorão, 1976). But before that, the musical life in Rio was already in

progress, both popular and classical, a scene in which the music school of the mulatto Father

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José Maurício Nunes Garcia, one of the most distinguished musicians in colonial and imperial

Brazil, became a reference for the poor to study for free (Mattos, 1967, pp.31-32). There is the

starting point for our personage: Lino José2 Nunes, who was born on March, 3, 1789 and died

on September, 5, 1847.3

Father Garcia took the young Nunes as a protégé who, in return, would show

gratitude during his whole career. Born to Paula Joaquina (no middle or last names, which

was typical for slaves) and to an unknown father (possibly the common case of "bastard"

offspring of white men with female slaves), 4 Nunes showed his affectionate relationship to

the Garcia family in two documented occasions. First, when mature Nunes commissioned

Father Garcia the Santa Cecilia Mass (Mattos, 1967, p.34), considered one of his

masterworks. Second, when he dedicated to Dr. Garcia Jr. his “Methodo Prático ou Estudos

Complettos para o Contrabaxo” (“Practical Method or Complete Studies for the Double

Bass”), from now on called only “Methodo”(Nunes, 1838), Dr. Garcia Jr. was one of Father

Garcia’s children, who probably studied double bass with Nunes, as can be seen in the front

page of the manuscript 5 in Ex.1. Unfortunately for the history of the double bass, he but gave

up music for the medicine.6

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Ex.1 - Front page of Lino José Nunes’s 1838 “Methodo Pratico ou Estudos Complettos para o Contrabaixo”,

dedicated to Dr. José Maurício Nunes Garcia.

Nunes excelled as a distinguished musician, becoming a singer, multi-

instrumentalist (double bass, guitar and Portuguese guitar), teacher and composer, who

sometimes acted as a conductor. As a composer he also left “Cupido tirando [a aljava] dos

hombros” (“Cupid taking off [the quiver] from his shoulders”); “Se os meus suspiros

podessem” (“If my whispers could”) and “De Huma simples amizade” (“Of a simple

friendship”), three pieces for voice and piano. These modinhas were published in the

nineteenth century Portugal in a collection of Brazilian and Portuguese modinhas and re-

published by Doderer (Org., 1984, pp.60-71, pp.102-103 and pp.114-115, respectively). The

arrangements of these three pieces for double bass, voice and piano are available for fund

raising download at the ISB site to help bass projects. As a young man, he sang at the Royal

Chapel Choir and later became the principal double bassist of the Royal Orchestra, his main

job in life. Nunes also played in several other ensembles in Rio, such as those of the Royal

Chamber, the Teatro São Pedro de Alcântara Theatre and the Teatro Tivoly. He taught at the

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Conservatório Dramático Brasileiro, at the Dance and Music Conservatory of Rio de Janeiro

and at the private school of Father Garcia, where he studied as a young man (André Cardoso,

2011, 427-429). Being the foremost double bassist in the first half of 19th-century Brazil,

Nunes probably played in most of the many operas premiered or re-staged during his time at

the Royal Orchestra: 37 by Rossini, 15 by Donizetti, 6 by Bellini and one by Verdi (Andrade,

1967, vol.1, pp.113-126; vol.2, pp.121-130). He was probably the bassist chosen for two

premières of Mozart’s masterworks in Brazil: the Requiem conducted by Father José

Maurício in 1819 in the famous arrangement by Sigismund Neukomm7 (Mattos, 1967, p.29)

and the opera Don Giovanni in 1821 (Mattos, 1967, p.33). Finally, the importance of Nunes in

Rio’s concert music scene is illustrated by the outcome of the major political-economic crisis

during the reign of King Pedro I, who composed and played several instruments: harpsichord,

violin, flute, clarinet, bassoon and trombone (Bueno, 2004, p.170). Drowned in debt, the

country’s political master minds saw no other outlet but sending the bohemian king back to

Portugal (Andrade, 1967, vol.1, p.163, p.169, vol.2, p.231)8 and dramatically cut financial

costs everywhere. In a 1828 desperate letter, 37 musicians of the Royal Chapel Orchestra,

including Nunes, wailed and begged to keep their jobs:

“…having to bear so far with great suffering and silence all those misfortunes that the

inevitable series of unfavorable and more or less mortifying happenings have fallen over their

heads … the excessive evils that afflict them. Dedicated since their childhood to a not so happy

a profession … They used a good deal of their years in a defenseless study … fruit of their

labor … a decent subsistence, an award to which every non-idling citizen should aspire. There

was a time when they appropriately received it … [but now] a bitter existence, with some

having to look for the sustenance of their numerous and indispensable families; not being able

to have another employment that would help to alleviate their hardship: which means will they

choose in order to escape so violent and oppressive a state? …” (quoted by Andrade, 1967,

vol.1, pp.161-162; underlines by the present author).

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But it was to no avail. The Royal Chapel Orchestra was closed by decree in 1831.

However, among some 70 instrumentalists (Lino Cardoso, 2006, p.5), Nunes was one of only

four kept – paid by service9 – in order to provide the minimum support to the essential

activities of the choir (also dramatically reduced by a government decree; Andrade, 1967,

vol.1, p.164). Striving to survive as a musician in a scenario drastically changed, Nunes

offered his services to teach, compose and perform in both popular and classical circles. In a

newspaper advertisement published in Rio he had the guts, in a very sexist society,10 to

announce that he would “… teach all people of both sexes… all kinds of music…”, especially

the fashionable “… Italian canzone and Portuguese modinhas … everything with

accompaniment of “viola” [the Portuguese guitar]” (newspaper clip with unmentioned name

and date; Andrade, 1967, vol.2, p.209).

How can we place Nunes’s “Methodo” in the context of double bass history?

French organist and composer Michel Corrète (1707-1795) was the author of at least 17 tutors

for musical instruments (Sas, 1999, p.100). Among them is a collective method with an

extensive title – “Méthodes pour aprendre à jouer de la contrebasse à 3, à 4 et a à 5 cordes,

de la Quinte ou Alto et de la Viole d’Orpgée...” – published in Paris in 1773 (Miller Lardin,

2006; Corrète, 1977 [reprint]), which includes the violone with three, four and five strings,

besides two other instruments: the alto viol and the viola d’Ophée. During the 65 years that

separate Corrète’s and Nunes’s methods, only nine others were written (see table in Annex I

for a complete list of historical double bass methods) and only two by double bass players.

First, volumes 1 and 2 of Bohemian Wenzel Hause (1764-1845)’s “Méthode complète de

contrebasse a 4 cordes” (Hause, Paris, c.1828), whose school was established in Prague and

then, extended to Vienna and Leipzig (Hartmann, 1983, p.11-12). Hause’s method would be

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complete only in 1840, when vol.3 was published in Prague. Second, Spanish bassist José

Venancio López (?-1852), who taught at the Madrid Conservatory, wrote his “Método de

Contrabajo” but it is still lost (Gándara, 2000). Thus, Lino José Nunes’s “Methodo” can be

considered as the second double bass method written by a bassist. Moreover, besides

revealing performance practices of that time in detail, Nunes’s “Methodo” brings a musical

content that is much more attractive when compared to his predecessor Hause’s, and even to

the very popular method of Hause’s most famous pupil Franz Simandl. Simandl’s is similar to

his master’s and considered by pedagogues as being didactically problematic and having an

arid musical content (Karr, 1995, p.54-57; Sankey, 1978, p.70-71; Montgomery, 2011, p.5-6).

2- Part I of the “Methodo”: Double bass performance practices in Imperial Brazil

The physical difficulties to play the double bass can be appreciated in Italian bass

pedagogue Isaia Billè’s own 1890 poem, published as an epigraph of his seminal book, Nuovo

metodo per contrabasso a 4 e 5 cordes. He mentions “…thy thick and hard strings…” (“…tue

grosse e dure corde…”) that ineptly played, resulted in “…grotesque voices and so deaf

notes…” (“…grottesche voci e note tanto sorde…”) (Billè, 1922, p.117). Raymond Elgar

(1987, p.74), in the first book of his trilogy dedicated to the double bass, Introduction to the

double bass, reports that one of the gut strings of the Paris Conservatory’s octobass has a

diameter of half an inch (1,27 cm)! Elgar (1987, p.105) also talks about historical double bass

methods and mentions the “fistcuff” (or “fisticuff”) fingering, the firm and tight grip of the

left hand on the double bass neck the bassist resorted when dealing with the difficulty to press

down the strings.11 As the name suggests, the “fistcuff” has only two options: the open

position (played with finger 1) or the closed position (played with finger 4 to which fingers 2

and 3 were added). The closed position was used for both half step (indicated by the lower

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case “m” indicating a “minor” second) and whole step departing from finger 1 (indicated by

the capital “M” indicating a “major” second) to play, for example, the notes A3, A#3, (or Bb3)

and B312 as shown in Ex.2.

Ex.2 – The “fistcuff” fingering: notes A3 with finger 1, A#3 with finger 4 (“minor” position) and B3 with finger 4

(“major” position) based in Elgar’s description in Introduction to the double bass (1987, p.105).

In vol.4 of his 7-volume method, Marangoni (1929, p.42) mentions the “Babylon”

of fingerings for the double bass: “… after almost 300 years of its first presence in the

orchestra, there is not a single fingering system, as it happens with the other instruments of its

family”. He presents a synoptic table of what seems to be the most influential double bass

schools in Italy. There we can infer that a common limitation in double bass construction at

that time was the excessive string tension near the nut that as fistcuffs were common in

Europe. He also brings the surprising information that this technique was used by various

double bass icons of the double basses tuned in perfect 4ths: Dragonetti (when playing B2-

C3 on the A-string or E3-F3 on the D-string), Bottesini (when playing B2-C3 on the A-string,

E3-F3 on the D-string or B3-C4 on the G-string) and even Simandl (when playing F#2-G2 on

the E-string) In his method, J. Fröhlich (1829) gives the “fistcuff” fingering a different name -

“clamp” – from which we can also infer the dual-only use of the left hand fingers. However,

he advocates the substitution of finger 4 by finger 3 in higher positions, where the strings are

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more flexible. The practice of “fistcuff” was in use in Brazil in the 19th century and is

documented in Nunes’s “Methodo”.

Lino José Nunes’s “Methodo” is divided in two larger parts. Part I, devoted to the

double bassist’s preparatory daily practice, is subdivided into three smaller sections. Section

A (Nunes, 1838, pp.2-5, Ex.3), named as “Escalas para o contrabaxo de tres cordas afinado

em quartas” (“Scales for the 3-stringed double bass tuned in fourths”). Before the scales,

Nunes provides three preparatory elements. Firstly, a scalar diatonic A minor scale, from A2

to G4, covering the whole orchestral tessitura of the 3-stringed bass explored in his “Method”.

In this scale, while the symbols “o”, “1” and “4” over the notes reveals the “fistcuff” fingering

system, the word “3ª corda” (“3rd string”) under the first notes indicates the string for the

notes to be played on. The highest note in the " Method "– a G4 - suggests orchestral bassists

in Brazil did not know the capo tasto technique and possibly employed the practice of leaving

gaps in the bass line (or transposing it one octave down) when facing notes such the G#4 and

A4, very common for the cello’s 1st string.13 On the other hand, the lowest note - A2 –

confirms the most common double bass used in Brazil: the 3-stringed double bass tuned in

4ths. Secondly, Nunes presents the “Signos de transporte” (Transposing signs), constituted by

whole-note pairs to illustrate, at the same time, the reading notes and the corresponding actual

notes. Thirdly, Nunes introduces a chromatic scale in quarter notes from A2 to C3, where

symbols for the index and “pinky” fingers suggest again the “fistcuff” fingering and,

probably, the only one known (or at least documented) in Brazil.

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Ex.3 - Range of the “Brazilian” double bass (A2 to G4), the “fistcuff” fingering system, string designation, the

octave transposition and the chromatic scale (Nunes’s Methodo, Part I, Section A, p.2).

But there is a discrete piece of information in the “Methodo” that suggests another

type of double bass in use in Brazil in the first half of the 19th century. When Nunes provides

the G major (p.4) and G minor (p.5) scales with their respective fingerings, he places the

symbol “o” (the small circle symbol that represents open strings) above the notes G2, A2, D3

and G3 (Ex.4), which points to the 4-stringed double bass with its 4th string tuned just a

major second below the 3rd string. The reason behind it is probably the difficulty to

manufacture strings to go that deep. This tuning is mentioned by Brun (1982, p.181) in

Nicolai’s 1816 bass method and by Planyavsky (1998, p.121), much earlier in a treatise by

Thomas Baltazar Janowka, 1715. The possibility for a 3-stringed double bass tuned G2 – D3 –

G3 “à l’italienne”, according to Brun (1982, p.168) seems improbable due to the four open

string symbols in Nunes’s manuscript. But those are the only instances Nunes mentions the

low G2, which points to the existence of 4-stringed basses in Brazil, in spite of the apparently

massive predominance of 3-stringed instruments.

Ex.4 – Open string symbols (“o”) in the G major (p.4) and G minor (p.5) scales suggest the use of the 4-stringed

double bass tuned to G2-A2-D3-G3 in Imperial Brazil (Nunes’s Methodo, Part I, Section A, pp.4-5).

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Nunes provides pairs of one-octave scales in major keys (C major - C flat major

etc.) followed by their relative minor keys (A minor – A flat minor etc.). For each group of

four scales, there are instructions written vertically for the practice of transposition in various

ways. For example, on p.3 (Ex.5), at the end of the top system is written “Toca-se na clave de

Fá na 3ª [linha]” (“To be played in the bass clef in the 3rd [line]”), while at the end of the

bottom system is written “Toca-se na clave de tiple na 2ª [linha]” (“To be played in the

“tiple” [the choir´s sopranino boy] clef in the 2nd [line]”). These indications suggest that the

skill to transpose in real time (i.e., during the performance) was in demand in Imperial Rio, a

city known to receive famous Italian opera divas and castrati.

Ex.5 – Major and minor scales in all tonalities followed by instructions for real time transposition in various

clefs (Nunes’s Methodo, Part I, Section A, p.2).

Section B of Part I in the “Methodo” (Nunes, 1838, pp.6-7, Ex.6) is called

“Règras para a formação dos tons” (“Rules for the establishment of tonalities”; pp.6-7) and

Pairs of major-minor scales Real-time transpositin instructions

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presents cadential formulas, which bassists should learn in order to realize the I-IV-V-I

harmonic progression in all major and respective minor homonymous keys. Pedagogically,

these formulas seem to be connected with the performance practice of accompanying singers

who need to change the key of the music, such as in an operatic solo.

Ex.6 – Cadential formulas for the orchestral bassist to be able to accompany in all keys (Nunes’s Methodo, Part

I, Section B, p.6).

As its name suggests, Section C of Part I in the “Methodo” (Nunes, 1838, pp.8-9,

Ex.7), “Exercicios para se tocar em todos os tons, tempos e andam.” (“Exercises to be played

in all tonalities, tempi and character”; pp.8-9) aims at providing the double bassist with the

flexibility required in the most common operatic and symphonic repertory: duple, triple and

quadruple meter, chromaticism, ornaments, scales and arpeggios, syncopations with off-beat

accents, diverse articulation (2, 3 and 4-note slurs, staccato, marcato), etc.

I - IV - V - I

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Ex.7 – Exercises in all keys, tempi and character for the flexibility of the double bassist (Nunes’s Methodo, Part

I, Section C, p.8.).

3 – Part II of the “Methodo”: Lino José Nunes’s six double bass Lessons

Part II of the “Methodo”, called “Curso de Lições para o Contrabaxo” (“Course

of Double Bass Lessons”; pp.10-15), was left incomplete in m.8 of the 7th lesson. However,

this section brings the most musically interesting material of the “Method”, namely the six

complete lessons, which can be performed in recital programs as a set or separately. As J. S.

Bach excelled in his Well-Tempered Clavier (1722), Nunes’s plan was to pedagogically

provide a set of 24 double bass lessons, covering all major and minor keys. His unifying

scheme around the circle of fifths is evident in these six complete lessons, arranged in pairs of

major-minor tonalities: C major-A minor, G major-E minor, D major-B minor. Other unifying

factors among these lessons are the recurrence and development of thematic materials, such as

military rhythms (reflecting the establishment of the new Brazilian Empire), syncopations and

opera elements (fermatas, recitatives, ornamented lines, the aria-cabaletta pair) as it will be

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shown. On the other hand, Nunes gives each lesson a unique personality, allowing the bassist

to focus on specific technical elements.

Lesson 1, constructed as an A-B-A’-C form, acts as an introductory piece,

constructed with easier and technically more restricted materials, namely the key of C major

with no modulations (only a few altered neighboring tones), the limited range of a minor 10th

(from A3 to C4), mostly stepwise 8th notes with two-by-two slurs or staccato. But Nunes was

also pedagogically concerned with the accompanying role of the orchestral double bass,

especially in opera, a most favored genre in Imperial Rio. In the last note of m.15 he places a

typical opera fermata, so the bassist can practice that neuralgic moment when he/she must pay

more attention to the conductor, who pays attention to the soloist singer during his/her

suspension of the metrics (usually happening in a fermata, cadenza or recitative) to finally

resolve on the downbeat of the next measure (Ex.8). All notated symbols and words between

brackets in the musical examples and in the performance editions reflect interferences in the

original manuscript.

Ex.8 – Fermata in Nunes´s Lesson 1: opportunity for the double bassist to practice a crucial element of the opera,

a most favored genre in Imperial Brazil.

In Lesson 2, Nunes explores the contrast between military inspired music and the

opera cantabile, very common genres in Imperial Rio of the first half of the 19th century.

Although it does not modulate, Lesson 2 is musically much more challenging than Lesson 1.

In the key of A minor, its rhapsodic A-B-C form is based on the thematic development of five

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motifs (Ex.9): (1) the martial pick up, (2) the marching staccato quarter notes, (3) the martial

syncopation, (4) slurred and staccato 8th-note groups, and (5) the cantabile descending line of

two-by-two slurred 8th notes in the fashion of the so-called Mannheim sighs (Sadie, 1988,

p.462).

Ex.9 – The five thematic motifs in Nunes’s Lesson 2.

Lesson 3 begins in G major, modulates to G minor in m.10 and returns to the

home key in m.18. Not just this procedure, but also the use of secondary dominants and non-

functional chromaticism gives the bassist the opportunity to focus on intonation correction of

altered notes such as B flat, E flat, F natural, C sharp and A sharp. Heavily based on the

classical patterns of double period phrasing (m.1, 8, 12, 18, 22), melodic repetitions and

sequences, the rhapsodic nature of Lesson 3 (an A-B-C-D-F-G structure) seems to be derived

from the theme and variations form, departing from six motifs (Ex.10): (1) the martial pickup,

(2) the martial syncopation, (3) sequenced triplets (4) 16th-note groups, (5) syncopated

slurred 8ths, (6) virtuosic 16th-note arpeggios, reflecting Nunes’s pedagogical preoccupation

to teach skills in demand for the symphonic and operatic repertory.

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Ex.10 – The six thematic motifs in Nunes’s Lesson 3.

At the end of Lesson 3 (m.30), possibly pointing to his African descent, Nunes

uses another kind of syncopation, namely the emerging so-called Brazilian syncopation

(Ex.11). Typically in faster rhythms and sequenced, the Brazilian syncopation began to

appear in nineteenth-century popular genres such as the lundu and modinha (Lima, 2010,

Lima 2005) and become a standard feature in the twentieth-century genres of choro, samba

and bossa nova.

Ex.11 – The so-called Brazilian syncopation, used by Nunes at the end of Lesson 3.

An Italian opera expert (Andrade, 1967, vol.1, pp.113-126; vol.2, pp.121-130),

Nunes favors that dramatic genre in Lesson 4. The two pairs of contrasting tempi (Moderato-

Allegro in mm.1-23 and 1º Tempo-Allegro in mm.24-33), makes an A-B-A’-B’ form and were

clearly inspired by the aria-caballeta sequence. Here, they are like two miniatures of this typical

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Rossinian operatic pair (Taruskin, 2010b, p.1 of 9), which were very familiar to Nunes. Almost

all materials in Lesson 4 are derived from four motifs (Ex.12) that had already appeared in

previous lessons: (1) the large syncopation in m.1, (2) the four 8th-note group with two slurred

notes followed by two staccato ones in m.2, (3) the martial dotted 8th note followed by a 16th

note in m.8, and (4) scalar groups of 16th notes in m.14.

Ex.12 – The four basic motifs of Lesson 4.

Although Lesson 4 stays in the key of E minor all the time, Nunes provides

variety by giving bassists another opera treat. In section A’, he creates a recitative with a

polyphonic melody implying two “personas”: (1) a cantabile upper stationary voice

gravitating around the note E4 over (2) dramatic interventions of an ascending chromatic

lower voice progressing from a G# 3 to a B3. The conduction of these independent and

opposing melodic layers are emphasized by means of 8th-note rests strategically placed

between them (Ex.13).

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Ex.13 – Opera recitative in Lesson 4 with two independent contrasting “personas” (upper and lower voices).

Lesson 5 is structured according to an A-B-C-D-E rhapsodic form based on

recurrences and development of four basic motifs presented right at the beginning of the

piece. These motifs are common to previous lesson (Ex.14): (1) the marching martial half

notes with marcato in m.1, (2) the syncopation in m.2, (3) slurred 16th-note groups and their

variations in mm.2, 3 and 7, and (4) descending cantabile chromaticism in m.4.

Ex.14 – The four basic motifs of Lesson 5.

Harmonically speaking, Lesson 5 is the most challenging of the set and, therefore,

the one presenting more intonation difficulties. Here, Nunes resorts to a sophisticated

chromaticism that probably reflects his familiarity with masterworks by Mozart (Requiem14

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and Don Giovanni15) and Bellini (Norma16), whose music he played and sang. Another

influence could be Domenico Scarlatti (E Major Sonata K.264)17, the Italian who became a

paragon in Portugal, while Brazil was its colony. While in D major, in a short span of time,

Nunes covers the chromatic total using altered notes resulting from secondary dominants (D#

in m.3, B flat in m.6, C natural in m.14) or non-functional ornamental chromaticism (G# in

m.2, E# in m.7). If, within a big picture, Nunes used the circle of fifths to plan his double bass

lessons (in a sequence of major-minor key pairs), he refers to it again internally in Lesson 5.

By chaining modulations by the interval of a descending major third in a few measures (a

procedure to be found in Europe among only the most adventurous composers), he completes

the full harmonic cycle in three steps, by turning the key tonic into the mediant of the next

key. He first moves from D major to B flat major (m.22), then from B flat major to G flat

major (m.25) and, finally from G flat major back to D major (m.28), as shown in Ex.15. It is

not a surprise that a very similar procedure is to be found in one of Nunes’s role models:

Mozart’s Don Giovanni.18 Among the opera composers Nunes premiered in Rio was

Giuseppe Verdi,19 who was known to explore distant tonalities. Although Verdi’s Otello was

premiered only in 1887 - 40 years after Nunes had already written Lesson 5 - the dark nature

of the G flat passage (with six flats!) in the Brazilian music shares the dark atmosphere and

cantabile legato of the famous bass section solo in in the Italian opera (preparing the scene in

the 4th Act in which Otello kills Desdemona), which gradually moves into tonalities also full

of flats such as E flat minor (with six flats!) and C flat major (with seven flats!).

Ex.15 – Lesson 5: Modulations to distant keys by major thirds around the circle of fifths (B flat major-G flat

major-D major) anticipates in 40 years the double bass section solo Verdi’s Otello.

21

Another aspect of double bass idiomatic writing in Lesson 5 is Nunes’s extensive

use of reverberating open strings (mm.1, 6, 9,14,16, 22,30, 31 and 32) and natural harmonics

(mm.15, 31, in order to help large shifts), as shown in Ex.16. The key of D major on the

double bass yields the tonic, dominant and subdominant as the D, A and G open strings,

strategically explored by Nunes.

Ex.16 – The reverberation of open strings (m.9) and natural harmonics (m.15) in Lesson 5.

As it happened in the previous lesson, Nunes also structured Lesson 6 as an A-B-

C-D-E rhapsodic form. He resorted to five motifs: two used in previous lessons - (1) as the

martial dotted 8th note plus a 16th note, (2) 8th notes slurred two-by-two or in staccato; and

new motifs: (3) the 32nd-note turn, (4) the 16th-note group ornamented with a grace note, (5)

triplets (Ex.17).

22

Ex.17 – The five basic motifs of Lesson 6.

In Lesson 6, Nunes wants the bassist to focus on the achievement of clear

articulation in operatic ornaments, such as the turns in mm.6, 15 and 16 and a really

demanding sequence of eight groups of 16th notes grouped four-by-four with a grace note in

the beginning of each (see Ex.24 below). Nunes also wanted the bassist to practice typical

opera tempo changes as the Allegro Moderato of the beginning turns into a “dim. o tempo”

(“diminishing the tempo”) in m.9 and to a “mto. expressivo” (“molto espressivo”) in m.13,

then comes back to a “1º Tempo” (“Tempo primo”) in m.19 and finally rushes with an

“apertando” (“pressing”) in m.21, another trait of the cabaletta spirit.

4- Bringing Lino José Nunes’s Lessons back to life: decisions in the performance editions

Reviewing consolidated philological references in music, Figueiredo (2012; 2004,

p.40) presents the typologies by Georg Feder (8 categories), James Grier (4 categories) and

Maria Caraci Vela (5 categories) to finally propose a taxonomy with 7 categories for score

23

editions. Although these authors present common features as far as the edition of scores

aiming at performances20 are concerned, a hybrid type of performance edition and

musicological edition is proposed in this paper. Here, the option for performance editions was

made having in mind that most double bassists still are not familiar with the realization of HIP

performance practices in urtext scores. However, all changes in the originals were placed

between brackets in the performance editions so the reader can easily identify the editor’s

interferences. Bowings and indication of strings, absent in the originals, were added at the

editor’s discretion. Nunes’s manuscript is well preserved and reflects a very careful

calligraphy. However, formal and harmonic analysis, melodic contour, symmetry, recurrence

and development of thematic materials were used to identify and correct/regularize wrong

notes and inconsistences of rhythms, and placement of articulations and dynamics. Next, the

main editorial decisions are explained in each lesson.

There are three wrong notes in the manuscript of Lesson 1. At the beginnings of

m.11 and m.19, Nunes placed a sharp in the F3 notes to make them lower neighboring tones to

G. However, these sharps should not be carried over to the next F3 in the same measures.

Thus, they received naturals in the performing edition (Ex.18). Finally, the last note of m.14

should be a B3 and not an A3, since it is part of a descending scale (see Ex.8 above).

24

Ex.18 - Correction of a wrong note (an F natural instead of an F sharp in m.11) in the performance edition of

Nunes’s Lesson 1, and suggestions of string, open string signs, dynamics and alternate bowing and slur.

Only one indication of dynamics appears during the whole Lesson 1: a forte in the

last measure, which can be understood as a sign of possible previous dynamics changes. As

Nunes focused in few elements in this introductory lesson, terraced forte-piano dynamics

pairs, based on the explicit double period pattern, were added to the score. Obvious missing

ties and staccato signs were corrected (mm.2, 6 and 28). A ritardando-crescendo pair was

added to m.15 allowing the bassist to not reach the opera fermata abruptly (see Ex.8 above).

This also serves to the purpose of bringing the bow closer to the tip in order to allow for more

time to hold that suspension during the up bow. Still in m.15, an open string symbol (“o”) was

added to the D3 under the fermata as it would be a natural performance practice of the time.

Two consecutive up bows were suggested on the second beat of m.22-25, 28, 30, and 32-33 in

order to keep the bow closer to the frog and facilitate the staccati in the descending scales.

There was only one wrong note in Lesson 2. The D3 at the beginning of m.16

should be a C3 as it is the turning point of the melodic contour and outlines the F major chord

in the second inversion. Symmetry was central for editing this lesson. For example, by

crossed comparison (Ex.19), similar decisions were made for the marcati in mm.23-25

(applied to m.19-21) and hair pin pairs (crescendo-decrescendo) signs in mm.19-21 (applied

to m.23-25). At a higher level, the staccati in the thematic 8th notes preceding the

syncopation in m.13 and the martial pick up in m.29 were applied to the many corresponding

inconsistent spots. The emphasis on the second beats of the martial syncopations occupying a

whole measure (quarter note – half note – quarter note) were secured with the notation of a

down bow on the second beat, which sometimes resulted in two consecutive down bows or

two consecutive up bows (mm.2-3, 6). The very inconsistent dynamics notation was mitigated

by parallel reasoning. For example, there is no dynamic indication between the piano in the

25

pick up to m.1 and the piano in m.8. Thus, a forte was added to the pick up to m.5 as it marks

the second half of the parallel period. Other types of echo structures also received forte and

piano indications (m.12 and m.15, m.19 and m.23, m.32 and m.34, m.43 and m.44, m.45 and

m.46). Still in relation to bowings, reversed bows (up and down bows on strong and weak

beats, respectively) were suggested to make clearer the staccato and slurred notes in m.48.

Ex.19 – Crossed comparison in parallel passages allowed the inclusion of articulation signs (staccato and

marcato) and dynamic signs (hairpins) in the performance edition of Nunes’s Lesson 2.

There are two wrong notes in the manuscript of Lesson 3. First, the B2 in m.20

should be a G3 (Ex.20), which can be inferred by the other six recurrences of the same note in

m.18-20 and the fact that all melodic contours around it converge to this open string, a

resource idiomatically used by Nunes. The second wrong note is due to a wrong octave

designation: the G4 in m.26 (written in tenor clef) should be a G3 (Ex.21) to not break the

descending G major triad after the 16th-note scales (m.24-25) reach their climax. Nunes’s use

26

of the open G string motivated the inclusion of the open string and natural harmonics signs in

several G and D notes throughout the lesson to emphasize the intended reverberation. Slurs

were added to the notes in the feminine cadence in m.4 (G#3-A3) and the appoggiatura in

m.28 (E4-D4). Slurs and marcato signs were added to the sequence of syncopations in the last

measure (C#4-D4 and A3#-B3) in order to characterize the performance practice to emphasize

the so-called Brazilian syncopation, reflecting the emerging African influence in the popular

genres of modinha and lundu (Lima, 2005, p.49). As it happened in Lesson 2, consecutive

down bows were added to the martial syncopation of m.2 and m.6. In order to make the

realization of the double appoggiatura in m.3 easier, a slur connecting it to the next note (an

A3) was added. The echoes of mm.12-14 in mm.15-17 and of mm.18-19 in mm.20-21 lead to

the inclusion of forte-piano pairs. A forte was also added to m.22 due the typical symphonic

tutti nature of the arpeggio and scales that almost covers the double bass tessitura (B flat2 to

G4) used by Nunes on this passage.

Ex.20 – Note correction in in the performance edition of Nunes’s Lesson 3: G3 (and not E3) in m.20, based in

other recurrences in the passage.

27

Ex.21 – Another note correction in the performance edition of Nunes’s Lesson 3: G3 (and not G4) in m.26, based

on the descending arpeggio line contour.

As far as wrong notes are concerned, only one was detected in Lesson 4: the D3 at

the end of m.15 should be a D3 sharp in order to work as the leading tone of E minor. To keep

the same string timber, the use of the D string was suggested for the whole chromatic passage

in mm.11-13. As it happened in Lessons 1 and 2, martial syncopations were emphasized with

down bows on the second beat of mm.1, 2, 5, 6, 18 and 21. Retaking the bow was also

suggested in mm.30-31 to keep the bow at the frog and its clear articulation. A crossed

comparison of the parallel periods in mm.1-4 and mm.5-8 (Ex.22) made clear the inconsistent

notation of their paired dynamics. While the piano and forte in m.1 were added to m.5, the

marcato in the syncopation of m.5 was added do m.1. The piano in m.3 was anticipated to the

end of m.2 because of its position in m.6, which makes more sense regarding the phrasing.

Ex.22 – Crossed comparison of parallel periods (mm.1-4 and mm.5-8) allowed the inclusion /correction of

missing dynamics and articulations in the performance edition of Nunes’s Lesson 4.

m.1

m.5 m.6

m.3

28

Although no hairpins were found in Lesson 4, expressive chromatic passages and

typical climaxes typically constructed with ascending scales and descending arpeggios

motivated the notation of operatic crescendi and decrescendi. The sudden tempo changes,

reflecting the aria-caballeta pair, were prepared with suggested ritardandi (m.16 and m.23)

and a fermata in the dominant (m.29) before the resolution in the tonic (m.30). In the same

passage, in order to connect the trill to the fermata in m.29, the ornament of a turn (typical for

the solo string repertory) was suggested. The original staccati in the 16th notes of m.14 were

applied to similar passages in mm.16-17. The two layers of the polyphonic melody in m.24-

28 were emphasized with the regularization of the contrasting articulations found in the

manuscript: staccato for the 8th notes and marcato for the quarter notes.

There are three wrong notes in the manuscript of Lesson 5. The third note of m.16

should be a C4 , and not a C#4, because it belongs to the dominante seventh chord D - F# - A

- C that resolves in G major in the beginning of m.17. The first note on the second beat of

m.19 should be an E#4 sharp instead of an F#4 (Ex.23), due to the recurrent pattern of a

semitone lower appoggiatura in the same measure and in the previous measure. On the third

beat of m.24, the E3 should be a G3 (Ex.23), not only because it happens in a melodic

sequence of the first beat (an ascending 4th followed by a descending minor 2nd), but also

because the little circle on top of it is the symbol of an open string.

29

Ex.23 – Correction of two wrong notes in the performance edition of Lesson 5: the E#4 (m.19), based on its

appoggiatura role; and the G3 (m.24), based on the recurrent melodic pattern and the open string symbol notated

in the manuscript.

Patterns in parallel phrasing guided the correction of inconsistent articulation and

dynamics in Lesson 5. For example, the marcato accents in m.1 were copied to m.5. Both

slurs over the two 16th-note groups in m.17 were copied onto the same patterns in m.18. The

slur in the last two notes of m.25 was applied to the correspondent notes in both m.22 and

m.28. Likewise, the articulations in the 16th notes of the third and fourth beats of m.30 were

copied to the notes on the first and second beats of the same measure. Chromatic stepwise

appoggiaturas are a very recurrent trait in Lesson 5 (m.2, 4, 6, 8, 13, 18 and 19), to which

slurs were added in order to highlight the typical performance practice of a diminuendo in

30

such cases. As it happened in Lesson 3, Nunes explores the reverberation of open strings in

Lesson 5, especially in long notes. Thus, the small circle sign was placed on top of several A2,

D3 and G3 notes. To facilitate the reading of the score, the ornament symbol for the turn in

m.23 was substituted by its realized form. Although the notation of dynamics is very

inconsistent (the first sign appears only in m.6), the symmetry of phrasing and harmonic

progressions allowed several suggestions. The emphases caused by large leaps (B2–G4 in

m.15 and D3-G4 in m.32) and syncopations at the end of modulating sections (m.22 in D

major; m.25 in B flat major; m.28 in G flat major) were stressed by retaking down bows.

Alternative two-note slurs were given to facilitate the articulation of a G flat major passage on

the D string.

There are no wrong notes in Lesson 6. However, two grace notes missing right

before the fourth beats of m.7 and m.8 (Ex.24) were added. Alternative slurs and bowings

were suggested in the performance edition with the aim of keeping the beginning of all 16th-

note groups starting with a down bow and staying near the frog for the purpose of an easier

and clearer articulation.

Ex.24 – Correction of two missing grace notes (m.7 and m.8) in the performance edition of Lesson 6, and an

added ossia for alternate bowings to help a clearer realization of this virtuosic passage.

To mirror mm.15-16, the notation of the turn in m.6 was changed to its realized

form. As it happened in Lesson 4, the suggestion of the operatic aria-cabaletta pair was

prepared with a ritardando before the 1º Tempo (i.e., Tempo primo) in m.19. At the same

31

time, a forte was added at this tempo change because it reflects a bravura section with typical

16th note runs with an “apertando” (i.e., an accelerando). Also, there is no other dynamics

mark between the forte piano subito in m.18 and the diminuendo at the end of the lesson, in

m.24. To remedy this incongruity (that suggests an accidental omission of a dynamics

increase) a crescendo was added to m.20, leading to a forte in m.21 and, after the diminuendo,

a piano in the last measure of the piece also added. Two consecutive up bows were suggested

at the 16th-note groups in mm.7-8 to keep the bow closer to the frog and help the articulation

of this very ornamented passage. Similarities of character and melodic structure guided the

inclusion of accents in several passages, such as in mm.1-2, mm.11-12 and mm.15-18.

32

5 – Conclusion

In a long history associated with European traditions, the discovery of Lino José

Nunes’s manuscript of 1838 in Brazil opens a new perspective in the appreciation of the

double bass outside the Old World. Considered now to be the second double bass method

written by a double bassist in the world, the Methodo Prático ou Estudos Complettos para o

Contrabaxo is an outcome of an amazing story with a war, politics and social transformations

in a new empire in the New World. Probably the son of a black slave woman and an

abandoning European father, Nunes became the most recognized double bass player in the

first half of the 19th century in Brazil. Moreover, as an eclectic musician (comfortable in the

symphonic, operatic and popular scenes), he excelled not just as a double a bassist, but also a

singer, guitar player, pedagogue and composer, which contributed to the unique traits and

musical qualities of the Methodo’s content.

Part I of Lino José Nune’s “Methodo” (manuscript provided in Annex II) reveals

several double bass performance practices in Imperial Brazil. It tells us the Italian 3-stringed

instrument tuned in perfect fourths – A2-D3-G3 – was the most common 16-foot string

instrument. It also points to the existence of the 4-stringed double bass tuned to G2-A2-D3-G3,

that is the 4th string tuned only one step below the 3rd string. According to Nunes’s time,

bassists should develop skills to sight-read in all clefs and transpose to all tonalities during the

performance, a practice connected to the intense agenda of vocal music, especially the opera.

Part II of Nunes’s “Methodo” (manuscript provided in Annex III) was left

incomplete in the middle of the 7th piece. However, it brings music that can be incorporated

to the historical double bass repertory: the six complete Lessons. The variety of these

unaccompanied pieces was planned by Nunes to provide the students with technical and

33

musical skills to face the demands of the symphonic and operatic repertory. Restricting

rhythms, articulations, register and the harmonic spectrum, he designed Lesson 1 as opening

preparatory study allowing the focus on legato versus staccato in scalar phrases, and the

interruption of the musical flux for the opera fermata. Lesson 2 explores the contrast between

military and operatic cantabile music. Lesson 3 brings virtuosic symphonic scales and

arpeggios. Lesson 4 gives the student the opportunity to practice opera elements such as the

aria-cabaletta pairing and the cadenza. Lesson 5 is an audacious adventure into chromaticism

and distant modulations while anticipating the mood of Verdi’s famous Otello double bass

solo. Lesson 6 also is in the operatic mood as it is focused in the realization of ornaments and

virtuosity in the fiery finale.

The analysis of Nune’s performance procedures and compositional process in Part

1 of the Methodo was providential for the preparation of the performance editions of the six

Lessons (provided in Annex IV). His use of a structured harmonic plan (at local, medium and

large compositional levels), parallel periods and phrasing based on motifs and their thematic

development allowed the correction of wrong notes and compatibility of inconsistencies in

articulations and dynamics. The addition of bowings, fingerings and some character

indications are intended to provide a more substantial and clearer musical context. The

notation of all interferences between brackets allows the double bassist and other readers to

identify the original and the edited music.

The authors thank Brian Scoggin, Jim Coker and Craig Swygard for their reading and

feedback on the present article.

Bibliography

Books and articles

34

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37

NUNES, Lino José. Methodo Prático ou Estudos Complettos para o Contrabaxo. Facsimile

of the original located at Alberto Nepomuceno Library, at Universidade Federal do

Rio de Janeiro. Rio de Janeiro: (manuscript), 1838.

Obs: The performance editions of the six complete Lessons for unaccompanied double bass

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projects)

38

39

40

41

42

43

44

45

1 Orquestra Lira Sanjoanense (circa 1776) and Orquestra Ribeiro Bastos (circa 1790) in the town of São João

del Rey (State of Minas Gerais, Brazil) are considered the two earliest symphonic orchestras still in activity in

the Americas (Silva and Castilho, 2011, p.220; Neves, 1984, p.197-198).

2 Although Nunes’s first name is written as “Lino Jozé” in the manuscript, we are using the spelling “Lino José”

according to the musicological tradition in Brazil to use modern Portuguese.

3 Nunes’s birth date is proved now by Nune’s burial place (Santo Antônio Convent, Rio de Janeiro). The death

year (1847) was suggested by Mattos (1997, p.220) and Andrade (1967, vol.2, p.135), respectively, based on the

year the name of the musician “… was withdrawn from the Royal Chapel’s pay roll...”. This is now confirmed

with the disclosure by Frei Róger Brunorio (2014) of the burial book “Padrão das 10 Sepulturas que há no

Capítulo” (page 1 and back of page 34), which brings Nunes’s correct death date and place: September, 5, 1847;

6th grave of the cloister square.

4 Although Nunes’s baptism certificate has not being found yet, his marriage certificate (Cabido…, 1818) and

death certificate (Anonymous, 1822-?) bring minimum information about his parents and death date.

5 The manuscript of Nunes’s “Methodo” was found at the Alberto Nepomuceno Library, located at Federal

University of Rio de Janeiro and considered the largest repository of music manuscripts in Brazil.

6 Another story relates medicine to the history of double bass in Brazil a couple of decades after Nunes’s

Methodo Pratico as João Rodrigues Cordeiro (1826-1881), a Brazilian doctor and amateur bass player wrote his

Fantasia para Contrabaixo e Orquestra de Cordas (Fantasy for double Bass and String Orchestra) in 1869

(Tarlton, 1999, p.77; Cordeiro, ed. by Sérgio Dias, 2000).

7 The Austrian Sigismund Neukkomm (1778- 1858), one of the foremost pupils of Michael and Joseph Haydn,

was a major musical figure in Brazil, living there for 6 years (1816 to 1821).

8 1830 and 1831 were the fateful years for the Royal Chapel Orchestra. In 1830, the chapel masters were

dismissed; first Marcos Portugal on the 7th of February and, then, Padre José Maurício Nunes Garcia on the 18th

of April. In June of 1831, the Orchestra was officially extinct by a Decree of the Justice Minster Manuel José de

Souza França. The orchestra and full choir were reestablished only in 1843.

9 After the extinction of the Royal Chapel in 1831, only four instrumentalists were kept being paid by the

service: double bassists Lino José Nunes and José Venâncio de Assunção, and bassoon players Alexandre José

Baret and Francisco da Mota.

46

10 In 1787, British William Beckford (quoted by Doderer, Org., 1984, p.IX) mentioned the custom of

“voluptuous” modinhas being sung by two men, one normally dressed as a man and the other as a woman.

11 The difficulty to press down the strings onto the double bass fingerboard lead to solutions such as M.

Langlois’s pinching the strings between the thumb and forefinger and Giovanni Bottesini’s pulling the string

aside without touching the fingerboard (Cohen, 1967, p.159).

12 The octave designation used in this paper considers the central C of the piano as C4 (Sadie, 1988, p.583). Since

the double bass is a transposing instrument, the actual pitch when it plays a C4 is a C3.

13 The gaps in the double bass line when doubling the cello were common even in the late 19th century, as in

Brahms’s Symphony # 2 of 1877, for example (Brun, 1982, p.205).

14 Wolff (1994, pp.96-99) mentions the unparalleled harmonic density of the Requiem.

15 Taruskin (2010c, p.2 of 4) talks about the “... the strains of an orchestral passage making frantic modulations

around the circle of fifths, but ending on a diminished-seventh chord that coincides with Don Giovanni’s fatal

thrust”.

16 Taruskin (2010a, p.7 of 11) narrates a chromatic passage in the opera Norma: “But then the tide of dissonance

suddenly surges. Every beat of the seventh bar emphasizes the dissonant seventh (or the more dissonant ninth) of

the dominant harmony, and the resolution to the tonic takes place against a chromatic appoggiatura to the third of

the chord that clashes against its neighbor in the accompaniment as if G minor were vying with G major.”

17 Taruskin (2010d, p.4 of 9) reveals Scarlatti’s a local level chromaticism in his E Major Sonata K.264, which

“… contains chords in whose roots lie the very maximum distance – namely, a tritone – away from the tonic on a

complete (rather than diatonically adjusted) circle of fifths.”

18 Wolff (1994, pp.96-99) calls attention to one of the innovations Mozart introduced with Don Giovanni, i.e.

modulations by thirds to the mediant and submediant.

19 According to the detailed lists of operas staged in Rio prepared by Andrade (1967, vol.1, pp.113-126; vol.2,

pp.121-130), Lino José Nunes, as the foremost double bassist of his time, may have participated in the premiere

of Verdi’s Ernani at São Pedro de Alcântara Theater in June, 16, 1846 (Andrade , 1967, v.2, p.124).

20 Figueiredo (2004. p.39-55) sees common features among these authors that can be related to what is proposed

here as a performance edition: the “corrected impression in modern notation ” and “musicological and practical

edition” of Georg Feder, the “interpretive edition” of James Grier, the “practical edition” of Caraci Vela, and the

“open edition” of Walther Dürr.