Hermeto Pascoal's "Sound of the Aura"

Technique, Poetics and the Aesthetic Horizon of Tertiary Neo-Auratic Encoding

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35699/2317-6377.2026.67832

Keywords:

Hermeto Pascoal, Sound of the Aura, New Media, Aesthetics, Neo-Auratic Encoding

Abstract

This article engages with the work of Costa-Lima Neto (2010, 2020, 2022) on Hermeto Pascoal's concept of "sound of the aura," placing his findings and conclusions in perspective from the notion of "tertiary neoauratic coding" (Araújo Costa 2023). Our analysis articulates Luigi Pareyson's Theory of Formativity with Vincenzo Caporaletti's Theory of Audiotactile Formativity. The article distinguishes technique, poetics, and the aesthetic horizon of the "sound of the aura." The technique crystallizes in the album Lagoa da Canoa, Município de Arapiraca (Pascoal, 1984), its poetics are made explicit in Festa dos Deuses (Pascoal, 1992), within the horizon of secondary neoauratic coding, and its reactivations in the 21st century project new values ​​associated with tertiary neoauratic coding. Therefore, it is argued that the persistence of the technique also involves a transformation of its mediological, authorial, and interactional regime.

Author Biographies

  • Fabiano Araújo Costa, Universidade Federal do Espirito Santo

    Doctor of Music and Musicology from Paris-Sorbonne University and Associate Professor at the Federal University of Espírito Santo (UFES), where he teaches Harmony, Musicology, and Graduate Studies in Arts. He is the leader of eMMa (Center for Studies in Music and Audiotactile Musicology). An associate researcher at the Institut de Recherche en Musicologie (IReMus/Paris-Sorbonne), he is co-founder and co-director of the Centre de Recherche International sur le Jazz et les Musiques Audiotactiles (CRIJMA) and the Revue d’Études du Jazz et des Musiques Audiotactiles (RJMA). He previously served as coordinator of the UFES Music Education Program and conceived the institution’s Bachelor’s Degree in Music Composition. Since 2019, he has been Director-General of the Espírito Santo School of Music (FAMES). His research focuses on musicology, music cognition, jazz studies, and audiotactile music, with publications in national and international journals and presentations at academic and research institutions throughout Europe, Asia, and Brazil.

  • Patricia De Souza Araújo, Independent Scholar

    Patricia de Souza Araújo holds a Master's degree in Music and Musicology from Sorbonne Université (2018) and was awarded the Maîtrise degree in Music and Musicology from Paris-Sorbonne University (2015). She earned a Bachelor's degree in English Language and Literature from the Federal University of Espírito Santo (2003) and a Bachelor's degree in Music (Piano Performance) from the Faculty of Music of Espírito Santo (2009). She also holds a B2-level Certificate in French Language (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) from Paris-Sorbonne University.

    She served as a volunteer Keyboard instructor (2010, 2018, 2019) and as a Substitute Professor of Music Theory, Ear Training, Rhythmics, Music History, Keyboard, and Theories and Practices of Music Education at the Federal University of Espírito Santo (2019-2020; 2022-2023). She has experience in teaching English as a Foreign Language, Portuguese for Foreigners, and in music education and piano performance.

    As a pianist, she develops artistic activities focused on classical music and Brazilian instrumental music. She has also worked as a translator of scholarly articles (French, Portuguese, English, and Italian) for international academic journals. She is a member of the research group eMMa - Center for Studies in Music and Audiotactile Musicology.

References

Araújo Costa, Fabiano. 2023. “Audiotactile Spaces of Interaction and Tertiary Neo-Auratic Encoding: A Brief Essay on Music, Culture and New Media”. Acusfere: suoni, culture, musicologie, v. 2, Lucca: LIM - Libreria Musicale Italiana, p. 33-48.

Borém, Fausto e Araújo, Fabiano. 2010. “Hermeto Pascoal: experiência de vida e a formação de sua linguagem harmônica”. Per Musi. 22 (jul. 2010), 1–22.

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Discografia

Pascoal, Hermeto. Festa dos Deuses. Rio de Janeiro: PolyGram, 1992. 1 CD.

Pascoal, Hermeto. Lagoa da Canoa, Município de Arapiraca. São Paulo: Som da Gente, 1984. 1 LP.

Vídeos

Chassol, Christophe. Big Sun [vídeo]. YouTube, 2015. Disponível em: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL4gZ9ve6E. Acesso em: 24 mar. 2026.

Cinquiéme (Producer), & Billon, Yves. (Director). (1997). Hermeto Pascoal - L'Allume Tropical. [Video/DVD] Qwest TV. Retrieved from https://video.alexanderstreet.com/watch/hermeto-pascoal-tropical-oddball

Collier, Jacob. Overjoyed Challenge [vídeo]. YouTube, 2016. Disponível em: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvXObWVmg_I. Acesso em: 24 mar. 2026.

Farkas, Thomaz. (Diretor). (1981). Hermeto Campeão. [Video], 43 minutos, 16mm. Consultado em: https://www.thomazfarkas.com/filmes/hermeto-campeao/

Mononeon (Dywane Thomas Jr.). Dump Trump, We Don't Want Him [vídeo]. YouTube, 2016. Disponível em: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPZYRQK_cx4. Acesso em: 24 mar. 2026.

Neely, Adam. Deepfake Text-to-Speech (but it's a new form of jazz) [vídeo]. YouTube, 2018. Disponível em: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZzYoOdIXoQ. Acesso em: 24 mar. 2026.

TV Zero Produtora (Produtora), Berliner, Roberto. (Diretor). A Pessoa é para o que nasce. Documentário. Trilha Sonora Original de Hermeto Pascoal. [Video] 1hora e 25minutos. Consultado em: https://play.ebc.com.br/programas/691/a-pessoa-e-para-o-que-nasce

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Published

2026-10-12

Issue

Vol. 27 (2026): General Topics

Section

Thematic Issue ‘Hermeto Pascoal - 90 years of Sounds'

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How to Cite

“Hermeto Pascoal’s ‘Sound of the Aura’: Technique, Poetics and the Aesthetic Horizon of Tertiary Neo-Auratic Encoding”. 2026. Per Musi 27 (October): 1-17. https://doi.org/10.35699/2317-6377.2026.67832.