I did a little internet searching - apparently everyone knew all about this except me. "Chovendo" gets its first theme from "Reverie," and its second theme from another Debussy composition, "Le plus que lente, valse."
These are all incredibly beautiful pieces, of course. Here's "Chovendo na Roseira" from Jobim's "Terra Brasilis" album, arranged by Claus Ogerman. On this album it is retitled "Double Rainbow."
Here is Debussy's "Reverie":
Here's Debussy's "Le plus que lente, valse." The Jobim-like theme occurs at about 2:45:
This little revelation reminds me of the time I was helping a student work on "Moonlight in Vermont." I was trying to get him to phrase the melody (on sax) as though he were singing the lyrics:
Pennies in a stream
Falling leaves, a sycamore
Moonlight in Vermont
He tried it, then stopped playing and said, "Hey - that's a haiku!"
It is, of course. It's common knowledge, and has been since the tune was written. Everybody knew it except me.
BTW, one of the sources I ran across quoted Jobim as saying that "One-note Samba" is based on Chopin's "Prelude in Db Major." The only resemblance that I can hear is the constant repeated Ab note (a dominant pedal, but in a middle register). So, maybe. But I'll also stick with my observation that the "A" section of "One-note" is, harmonically, "I Got Rhythm" with some tritone subs and the chord durations doubled. And the melody is very likely inspired by the verse (introduction) to Cole Porter's "Night and Day."
Here's the Chopin prelude:
Here's "Night and Day," with the intro/verse:
And lastly, one more great recording of "Chovendo na Roseira" by Jobim and Elis Regina, from the "Elis and Tom" album:
Beautiful comment Professor. I was listenig to Debussy the other day and, as a Brazilian, I also notice the resemblance. Google took me to your page. Thanks for all the other nice info (and music). I will look deeper into your blog.
ReplyDeleteJust to add a few words, Jobim is well known for quoting the composers he loved. One Note Samba/Samba de uma Nota Só is based o the intro of Night and Day by Cole Porter. The major difference is that Cole Porter moves up and down a second and Jobim a quarter. How Insesitive/Insensatez is based on Chopin's Etude 4. In Chansong he quotes An American in Paris and makes a joke about it in the lyrics for the quote "It's been a long, a very long time, since a Brazilian has been in Paris com você". In Porpoise/Boto he quoted music and lyrics and gave the author credits. Tide quotes Amazonas by João Donato. And so on...
ReplyDeletebaixogavea - Thanks very much for the comment! I wasn't previously aware of the quotes in Chansong, O Boto, or Tide. I'll check them out. Can you tell me what the piece (and composer) is that he quotes in O Boto? By the way, if any reader is confused by the term "quarter" in the comment from baixogavea, it should read "fourth" - a translation glitch, I guess.
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