Potentialities and Challenges of Autobiographical Writings in Music

the Archive and Memories of the Composer Priest José Maria Wisniewski

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35699/2317-6377.2025.54300

Keywords:

Autobiographical studies, social memory, musical archives, Father José Maria Wisniewski, Mater Verbi choir

Abstract

The article investigates the intersection of memory, music, and historiography, using the Mater Verbi’s choir and the autobiographical writings of the composer Father José Maria Wisniewski as a case study. The primary objective is to analyze how Wisniewski's musical practice and personal documents contribute to the preservation and transmission of both collective and individual memory, with a focus on the transition from the Cecilian Movement to the Second Vatican Council. The research is based on the analysis of chronicles and diaries written by Wisniewski, exploring the role of these texts in maintaining the identity of the choir and constructing a social memory. The discussion examines the function of these records as agents of continuity and reinterpretation, considering the challenge of forgetting. The results suggest new ways to integrate autobiographical studies in music with memory studies through the creation of narratives.

Author Biographies

  • Jessica Wisniewski Dias, UFJF, Institute of arts and design

    Bachelor in Music from the State University of Pará (2014), with a Pedagogical Complementation from the Carlos Gomes State Institute (2018), Master in Arts, Culture, and Languages from the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (2021), and currently a PhD student in the Postgraduate Program in Arts, Culture, and Languages (IAD/UFJF), in the Visual and Musical Poetics research line. With experience in the Arts and Musical Performance, with an emphasis on Classical Singing, she is currently dedicated to interdisciplinary research in music, memory, archives, and studies of music, culture, and society, focusing on the work of the composer Father José Maria Wisniewski and the choral practices of Brazilian liturgical music in the 20th century.

  • Marta Castello Branco, UFJF, Institute of arts and design

    Marta Castello Branco is a professor in the Music Department at Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF), Brazil, and in the Postgraduate Program in Arts, Culture, and Languages at the same institution. She did a doctorate at the University of the Arts in Berlin (Universität der Künste Berlin - UdK) on the relationship between Vilém Flusser's philosophy of new media and contemporary music (2014). Among her publications are the books: Reflections on Music and Technique (UFBA 2012), The Musical Instrument as Apparatus (UFJF 2015), the organization, translation, and presentation of the book Na Música. Vilém Flusser (Annablume 2017). She held two postdoctoral internships, in 2018 at the Aryamarga Institute, India, and in 2022 at the Berlin University of the Arts, in Germany. Current research themes include the study of Brazilian musical archives, the relationship between music, culture, and society, and musical universalism.

References

Assmann, Aleida. 2011. Espaços da Recordação: Formas e Transformações da Memória Cultural. Campinas: Unicamp.

Borges, Vavy Pacheco. 2002. “Uma Mulher e Suas Emoções: O Diário de Eugénie Leuzinger Masset (1885-1889).” Cadernos Pagu 19: 113–143. Campinas.

Bourdieu, Pierre. 2005. “A Ilusão Biográfica.” In Usos e Abusos da História Oral, organizado por Marieta de Morais Ferreira e Janaina Amado. Rio de Janeiro: Editora da FGV.

Calligaris, Contardo. 1998. “Verdades de Autobiografias e Diários Íntimos.” Estudos Históricos 11 (21): 43–58. Rio de Janeiro.

Candau, Jöel. 2018. Memória e Identidade. São Paulo: Contexto.

Castello Branco, Marta. 2018. Na Música. Vilém Flusser. São Paulo: Annablume.

Castello Branco, Marta. 2024. “Universalismo, ou a fabricação da música de concerto: uma história brasileira de apropriação cultural, propaganda política e desigualdade social.” Opus 30: 1–30. Vitória.

Dias, Jéssica Wisniewski. 2021. Tutto è Scherzo d’Amore: Padre José Maria Wisniewski entre Memórias Passadas, Presentes e Futuras. Dissertação (Mestrado em Artes, Cultura e Linguagens), Instituto de Artes e Design, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora.

Didi-Huberman, Georges. 2017. Cascas. São Paulo: Editora 34.

Didi-Huberman, Georges. 2020. Imagens apesar de tudo. São Paulo: Editora 34.

Duarte, Fernando Lacerda Simões. 2009. “Motu Proprio tra le Sollecitudini: Fonte historiográfica para a análise musical.” Anais do XIX Congresso da ANPPOM. Agosto de 2009. 186–194. Curitiba.

Duarte, Fernando Lacerda Simões. 2012. Música e Ultramontanismo: Possíveis Significados para as Opções Composicionais nas Missas de Fúrio Franceschini. São Paulo: Cultura Acadêmica.

Farge, Arlette. 2009. O Sabor do Arquivo. São Paulo: Edusp.

Febvre, Lucien. 1989. Combates pela História. Lisboa: Editorial Presença.

Freitas, Sônia Maria de. 2006. História Oral: Possibilidades e Procedimentos. 2a ed. São Paulo: Associação Editorial Humanitas.

Frith, Simon. 1996. “Music and Identity.” In: Questions of Cultural Identity, Stuart Hall and Paul du Gay (ed.), 7a ed., Londres: Sage.

Garrido, Sandra, e Jane W. Davidson. 2019. Music, Nostalgia and Memory: Historical and Psychological Perspectives. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Halbwachs, Maurice. 1990. A Memória Coletiva. 2a ed. São Paulo: Editora Revista dos Tribunais.

Hall, Stuart. 2003. A Identidade Cultural na Pós-Modernidade. Rio de Janeiro: DP&A.

Koselleck, Reinhart. 1999. Crítica e Crise. Rio de Janeiro: EDUERJ/Contraponto.

Le Goff, Jacques. 2003. História e Memória. 5a ed. Campinas: UNICAMP.

Rainoldi, Felice. 2000. Traditio Canendi: Appunti per una Storia dei Riti Cristiani Cantati. Roma: CLV.

Rancière, Jacques. 2013. A Fábula Cinematográfica. Tradução de Christian Pierre Kasper. Campinas, SP: Papirus.

Samain, Etienne. 2012. “As Peles da Fotografia: Fenômeno, Memória/Arquivo, Desejo.” Visualidades 10 (1): 151–164. Goiânia.

Samuel, Raphael. 2008. Teatros de la Memoria: Pasado y Presente de la Cultura Contemporánea. Valência: Universidade de Valência.

Santos, Yuri Andrei Batista, e Vânia Lúcia Menezes Torga. 2020. “Autobiografia e (Res)Significação.” Bakhtiniana: Revista de Estudos do Discurso 15 (2): 119–144. São Paulo.

Schmidt, Dörte. 2005. Musiktheoretisches Denken und kultureller Kontext. Forum Musikwissenschaft Band 1. Schliengen: Edition Argus.

Schmidt, Maria Luísa Sandoval, e Miguel Mahfoud. 1993. “Halbwachs: Memória Coletiva e Experiência.” Psicologia USP 4 (1-2): 285–298. São Paulo.

Terry, Richard Runciman. 1907. Catholic Church Music. London: Greening & Co., Ltd.

Vaticano. 1968. Musicam Sacram: Instrução sobre Música na Liturgia.

Vieira, Fernando Benedito. 1995. Crônica do Coro “Mater Verbi”: Meninos Cantores da Academia (1995) – 6º Volume. Juiz de Fora.

Wisniewski, José Maria. 1973. Crônica do Coro “Mater Verbi”: Meninos Cantores da Academia (1973-1980) 2º Volume. Juiz de Fora.

Wisniewski, José Maria. 1976. Dossiê sobre o Coro “Mater Verbi” dos Meninos Cantores da Academia de Comércio – nº 013/04/76. Juiz de Fora.

Wisniewski, José Maria. 1981. Crônica do Coro “Mater Verbi”: Meninos Cantores da Academia (1981-1990) 3º Volume. Juiz de Fora.

Wisniewski, José Maria. 1987. 61º Retiro Anual. Juiz de Fora.

Wisniewski, José Maria. 1989. Assunto: Aulas de canto. Juiz de Fora.

Wisniewski, José Maria. [198-]. Na Borda. Juiz de Fora.

Wisniewski, José Maria. [198-]. Preâmbulos. Juiz de Fora.

Downloads

Published

2025-03-08

Issue

Vol. 26 (2025): General Topics

Section

Thematic Session Biographical Approaches in Music Research

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Per Musi

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Licença Creative Commons
Except where otherwise noted, contents on this site are licensed under a  Creative Commons - Atribuição 4.0 Internacional.

How to Cite

“Potentialities and Challenges of Autobiographical Writings in Music: The Archive and Memories of the Composer Priest José Maria Wisniewski”. 2025. Per Musi 26 (March): 1-27. https://doi.org/10.35699/2317-6377.2025.54300.