An Intersemiotic Reading of _¡Oh, este viejo y roto violín!_ by Willy Corrêa de Oliveira

Abstract

Contemporary art music, as a genre derived from the historical avant-gardes, often presents itself to both performers and listeners as a nonsensical challenge. Performers who are not accustomed to new music may find themselves faced with scores encoded in ways that are not traditionally recognized, often distant from the conventions painstakingly assimilated over years of study. Likewise, the listener of more familiar genres of cultivated music, may feel lost, as listening to this repertoire requires a specific kind of auditory education, without which the experience may appear arid. Yet, this incommunicability contrasts with the fact that, in the first two decades of the 21st century, the catalogues of art music remain prolific.
The aim of this essay is to arrive at an understanding of the solo violin piece ¡Oh, este viejo y roto violín!, written by Brazilian composer Willy Corrêa de Oliveira, originally from Recife. This analysis unfolds through a series of reflections stemming from a metaphorical distinction between the concepts of the traveler and the wanderer: the violin is a traveler when it embodies the desires of the dominant socio-cultural context; conversely, it becomes a wanderer when that bond is broken. From this point of departure, it becomes evident that composers are inspired not only by the sonic qualities of the instrument, but also by the stratification of symbols embedded in its repertoire—symbols capable of generating a powerful force such as the imaginary.
According to sociologists Émile Durkheim and Marcel Mauss, the imaginary—conceived as a synthesis between the individual and the collective—can serve as a valuable interpretative key through which both performers and listeners may acquire the tools necessary for cultural decoding. These tools are often lacking in approaches to contemporary art music, and they may help illuminate the work’s meanings and enhance its communicative and expressive potential.