Born in the city of São Paulo, he died prematurely at the age of 27, from unknown causes. Along with other important Brazilian composers of his time - such as Brasílio Itiberê da Cunha, Francisco Braga, Barroso Neto, Alberto Nepomuceno and Luciano Gallet - he was one of the main precursors of Nationalism in Brazilian classical music.
Being born to a Franco-Swiss mother and a French father - the later, Louis Levy, the founder of an important local piano and music store - the composer was very much influenced by French culture, and very often gave French titles to his pieces.
He started his piano studies with his brother Luís Levy and his father, both musicians. Later, he would take lessons with São Paulo-based French pianist Gabriel Giraudon, before studying with Russian pianist Luis Maurice.
Levy made his début in the performing career at the early age of eight. In 1880, he began having his own compositions published by European companies, and in 1883 was elected head of the Haydn Club (Clube Haydn) - an important musical association in the city, which he himself helped found. There, Levy would make his first presentation as a conductor, in 1885.
Two years later, the composer travels to Europe, and studies with names such as Émile Durand - with whom Claude Debussy also took lessons - and Vicenzo Ferroni.
As of his return to Brazil, he starts working also as music critic, and writes for local newspapers - namely, the Província de São Paulo and the Correio Paulistano.
Levy's style was largely influenced by the Romantic tradition of Schumann - in 1891 he composed his piece Schumanniana - as well as Mendelssohn. However, his originality resided in his use of Brazilian popular genres (such as the so-called Brazilian tango, a ballroom dance very much in vogue in Brazil in the second half of the 19th century, and an essencialy different genre from the Argentinian tango) and folk themes (as seen in his Variações sobre um tema popular brasileiro, based on the theme of Vem cá, Bitu!, a popular Brazilian folk song later renamed Cai, cai, balão); another instance of this can be found in his Suite Brésilienne, whose fouth movement was entitled "Samba".
Alexandre Levy' main works for piano include: Mazurcas no. 1 and 2; Improviso no. 2; Plaintive; Recuerdos (ballroom polka) ; Valsa-Capricho op.5; Schumanniana op.16; Trois Morceaux op. 13 ("Coeur Blessé", "Amour Passé", "Doute"); Improvisations op.4 ("Romance sans paroles", "A la Hongroise", "Pensée Fugitive"); Allegro appassionato op.14; Variations sur un thème populaire brésilien (Vem cá, Bitu!); Tango Brasileiro; Papillonage ; Impromptu-Caprice op.1; and En mer (poème musical for piano four-hands, in four movements: I. Depart. Mer Calme; II. Le Ciel s'assonbrit. Tempète; III.Clair de Lune. Idylle Fugitive), among others.
Apart from piano music, Levy also wrote symphonies and symphonic poems, ouvertures, vocal pieces, and chamber music.
The piece under analysis tonight is Levy's Tango Brasileiro. The piece is structured on two contrasting themes, the first being in A major and the second in A minor. The last section is written in A major; however, its final chord is a surprising A minor. This is the exact invertion of the so-called tierce de Picardie - a common device in the18th century, in which a major tonic triad was used at the end of a movement in a minor key. Levy possibly used this "anti-Picardie third" as a means to concentrate all the tension in the piece on a single chord - very much after the Romantics' fashion. Therefore, the piece points at Levy's characteristic style of introducing the rhythmic patterns and themes of Brazilian popular music genres in a traditional Romantic form.
Performed by Mariinha Fleury. Enjoy!
References:
1) Books:
BETTENCOURT, Gastão de. Temas de música brasileira. Rio de Janeiro: Ed. A Noite, 1941.
MARIZ, Vasco. História da Música no Brasil. Rio de Janeiro: Nova Fronteira, 2005. 6ª edição, pp. 116-8.
PIMENTA, Gelásio. Alexandre Levy e suas obras. São Paulo: Rosenhein, 1911.
2) Websites:
Academia Brasileira de Música
http://www.abmusica.org.br/html/patrono/patr29.html
Casa Levy de Pianos
http://casalevydepianos.com.br/historia-alexandre-levy/
