Music and Cultural Tradition in Sobre os rios que vão by Maria José de Queiroz

Abstract

In the novel Sobre os rios que vão, by Brazilian writer Maria José de Queiroz, published in 1990, the various musical terms such as harpsichord, harp, tuning, pianissimo stand out. The text that seeks various literary and biblical references deals with the story of a Sephardic Jewish family, its dilemmas and struggles, in a cultural environment full of the Sephardic popular sayings, the so-called refranes, and the wonderful world of classical music and the luthier workshops. Amid the names of the violin families like Amati, Guadagnini and the very precious Stradivarius, the Leite, formerly Levi, seeks in cultural tradition and music its place in the world, the understanding of its past and the unveiling of the present, amid Brazilianness. In this essay, we sought to observe in the text how the music, musicality and cultural tradition represented by the popular Jewish-Sephardic sayings of the refranes make up the plot that involves this family of immigrants in search of their Brazilianness, without leaving aside their cultural heritage. .