Finding Aid for Gerard Behague and Everett Helm Latin American Sheet Music Collection, 1917-1969 | The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

Title: Gerard Behague and Everett Helm Latin American Sheet Music Collection, 1917-1969

ID: 12/5/44

Primary Creator: Behague, Gerard (1937-2005)

Other Creators: Helm, Everett (1913-1999), Henrique "Almirante" Foreis Domingues (1908-1980)

Extent: 1.25 cubic feet

Arrangement: Organized into four series: Series 1: Brazilian music for voice and piano. Series 2: Brazilian music for piano. Series 3: Argentine Music. Series 4: Cuban Music. All music arranged alphabetically by the composer's last name.

Date Acquired: 04/23/1974

Subjects: Ethnomusicology, Folk music, Music -- Argentina, Music -- Brazil, Music -- Cuba, Music -- Latin America, National Music, Piano, Songs, Violin, Vocal music

Formats/Genres: Sheet music

Languages: Portuguese, Spanish;Castilian, English

Consists of popular Brazilian and Argentinian sheet music (including published popular piano music, voice and piano songs, several solo works for violin, and a few manuscript items), documenting Brazilian Carnival festivities, many examples of early samba, Afro-Brazilian dances, and fado from ca. 1915 to 1945. Also includes Cuban sheet music from the 1960s, provenance unknown. Many pieces bear the stamp "Almirante," indicating the collection was originally amassed by Henrique F.D. Almirante (1908-1980), a Brazilian singer, composer, scholar and collector that was active from the 1930s to 1950s.The collection was acquired by musicologist Everett Helm in the 1960s and was thereafter added to the Tulane University Library. In 1974 at the behest of ethnomusicologist Gerard Behague, the collection was acquired by the Music and Performing Arts Library at the University of Illinois. Of note are many examples of publications produced by Casa Napoleao.

Gerard Behague (1937-2005) was born in Montpellier, France on November 2, 1937. He spent his childhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Behague earned a diploma in piano performance and composition from the Brazilian Conservatory of Music in 1959. This was followed by a masters degree in musicology from the University of Paris in 1962. He earned his Ph.D. in musicology from Tulane University in 1966, where he studied with Gilbert Chase. While at Tulane, Behague also worked in the Inter-American Institute for Musical research.

Professor Behague began his career as a musicologist in 1966 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Here he taught music history, American music, and Latin American music. Gradually, his research interests shifted toward ethnomusicology. In 1974, Behague became a professor of musicology at the University of Texas at Austin, where he would remain until his death in 2005. Two of his most notable students at the University of Texas were Tom Turino and Donna Buchanan.

From 1969-1977, he served as associate editor of the Yearbook for Inter-American Musical Research, and from 1974-78, he was editor of the journal Ethnomusicology. In 1980 he founded and subsequently edited the Latin American Music Review, a journal that provides a unique forum for academics from all of the Americas to publish in three languages. He was president of the Society for Ethnomusicology (1979-1981) and served on the board of directors of several professional associations.

Behague was particularly well known for his research on the music of Brazil, which he studied both as a music historian and as an ethnomusicologist. Among the books he wrote were his textbook, Music in Latin America: An Introduction (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1979), and Heitor Villa-Lobos: The Search for Brazil's Musical Soul (Austin, TX.: ILAS Monographs, UT Press, 1994). Behague died on June 13, 2005.

Ethnomusicology
Folk music
Music -- Argentina
Music -- Brazil
Music -- Cuba
Music -- Latin America
National Music
Piano
Songs
Violin
Vocal music

Repository: The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

Acquisition Source: Tulane University Library

Acquisition Method: Purchased by the Music and Performing Arts Library

Related Materials:

Everett Helm Manuscripts, 1913-1999, LMC 2308, Held by the Lily Library Archives, University of Indiana (Bloomington, IN).

Everett Helm Collection, ca. 1780-1880, 2969824, Held by the National Library of Australia (Canberra, Australia).

Everett Helm Collection, 1913-1999, Held by the Archives and Rare Books Library, University of Cincinnati (Cincinnati, OH).

Gerard Behague Papers, ca. 1980-2005, 2006-22, Held by the Benson Latin American Collection, University of Texas at Austin (Austin, TX).

School of Music Ethnomusicology Audio Archives, 1897-2001, UA.12.5.75, Sousa Archives and Center for American Music, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.