There is a famous reflection by Heitor Villa Lobos in which he draws a parallel between Brazilian and European music by using bird song as an example. He spoke of the vigor of the birds of Brazil in contrast to what he called bureaucratic European birds. After spending 21 days bathed in the vibrant wit of my city, Salvador in Bahia, I notice this distinction in an almost tactile way upon waking up in Soure. The birds here sound excessively restrained and predictable. They seem to be attending one of those corporate mixers where everyone is polite out of obligation, an environment that, unfortunately, I know quite intimately.
I had already forgotten the feeling of staying up all night and meeting the morning through a sound that does not ask for permission to exist. In Salvador, the song coming through the window has no politeness or any kind of protocol formality. It is a strong sound, pulled from the chest, carrying all the joy and the nonchalance of those who fly through the warm skies of the Northeast.
I am not an expert on birds and I do not know their technical names. I thought about turning to my brother to decipher these sounds, but birds do not usually sail the seas. Still, I hold onto the memory of our Uirapuru, which served as inspiration for the symphony by Villa Lobos, and the melodic beauty of the curios. Ultimately, the irony is that the birds of Soure remind me of those living in cages in Brasil. They sing like someone fulfilling a work shift, without the fire of inspiration, exhausted by a tedious routine. It is not that the singing is ugly, it is just bureaucratic.
Villa-Lobos speaks about music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcQ5O6878oo
