Analyzing Gilberto Mendes’s Diálogo de Ruptura from multiple perspectives

Abstract

The main objective of this article is to unravel the complexity and polysemy of the piece Diálogo de Ruptura, part of the piano triptych Três Contos de Cortázar (1985) by Gilberto Mendes, using a multi-layered analytical methodology informally called The Rashomon Principle. As additional objectives, we seek to explore the relation of the aesthetics of the work with the Post-Minimalism, highlighting the presence of intertextual procedures and the affinity with the “Impurity Aesthetic” proposed by Scarpetta. Therefore, the focus of this study lies at the intersection between musical analysis and intertextual studies, seeking to contribute to a better understanding of Gilberto Mendes' third compositional phase. The five analytical approaches that we used revealed the ambiguities of the piece’s tonal harmony, the minimalist and post-minimalist repetition strategies, the principles of structural cohesion according to set theory and set interval theory (pcords), plus the existence of intertextual procedures. We concluded that Diálogo de Ruptura is a paradoxical synthesis between the tradition and the avant-garde, in which minimalist repetitions coexist with expressive melodies and impressionistic harmonies. We analyzed them from different perspectives to confirm the connection of Gilberto Mendes with a transcultural and hybrid poetics.