He tried to study Music with a Swiss professor living in Brazil, but their ideas about roots music were incompatible, Elomar having a vision both more dynamic and more linked to the mentality of the people, while still fully committed to the sophistication and quality of Classical music; while his teacher wanted, and produced, a fully Contemporary music with influences from the region. Elomar’s music, while keeping the Classical forms of operas, cantatas, oratorios and other sacred music, has a distinctive Mediæval flavour, Elomar maintaining in his characteristic, idiosyncratic speech that ‘Brazilian Northeast is the last time of the Middle Ages’ (‘O Nordeste é o último tempo da Idade Média’).
He was Secretary of Urbanism for Vitória da Conquista for a while. Now he keeps a home at the city but spends most of his time in his goat-raising farm, where he shares in the work of the farm and direct it, besides writing down his music. He says he has most of it ready in his mind, and he only asks God time enough to live to be able to write it all down.
Elomar has a passion for European culture with a strong preference for the French, while totally rejecting the Anglo-Saxon one. He is nearly a Luddite, thinking all technology misused. He is deeply religious and thinks all modern European culture dead and sick.
His music, while not too difficult to hear, is quite sophisticated and manages to successfully combine both modern and Mediæval elements. It carries expressions of deep faith both by the author himself and the poetical egos. It has some striking themes to it, some universal – like Incelença ad Moribundum Solem, a requiem thanking God for all the services the Sun has performed us, to be sung when it finally dies somewhere in the future – and some parochial, like the fate of specific, if fictional violeiros and migrants from the dry, feudalised lands of the Northeast to the rich, industrial lands of the Southeast.
Some connoisseurs consider him the greatest living musician, because he manages to do Classical music that is modern and relevant to today's time while still being deeply stepped in his region’s mentality and beliefs, totally avoiding the Nihilism seen as dominating modern art in general and Contemporary music specifically.
From 2000 to 2004 he lived at Lagoa Real, trying to form a ‘sertaneza’ (country) opera project.
A Meu Deus um Canto Novo
Elomar Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Emergi de paragens ciganas
Pelos mãos de Elmana
Santos como a luz e em silêncio contemplo, então, mais nada a revelar
Fadigado e farto de clamar às pedras
De ensinar justiça ao mundo pecador
Oh lua nova quem me dera
Eu me encontrar com ela
No pispei de tudo
Na quadra perdida
Na manhã da estrada e começar tudo de novo
Topei in certa altura da jornada
Com qui nem tinha pernas para andar
Comoveu-me em grande compaixão
Voltando o olhar para os céus
Recomendou-me aos Deus
Senhor de todos nós rogando, nada me faltar
Resfriando o amor a fé e a caridade
Vejo o semelhante entrar em confusão
Oh lua nova quem me dera
Eu me encontrar com ela
No pispei de tudo
Na quadra perdida
Na manhã da estrada e começar tudo de novo
Boas novas de plena alegria
Passaram dois dias da ressurreição
Refulgida uma beleza estranha
Que emergiu da entranha
Dos plagas azuis
Num esplendor de glória
Avistaram u′a grande luz
Fadigado e farto de clamar às pedras
De propor justiça ao mundo pecador
Vô prossiguino estrada a fora
Rumo à istrêla canora
E ao Senhor das Searas, a Jesus eu lôvo
Levam os quatro ventos
Ao meu Deus um canto novo
E ao Senhor das Searas, a Jesus eu lôvo
Levam os quatro ventos
Ao meu Deus um canto novo
The lyrics of Elomar's song "A Meu Deus um Canto Novo" speak of a journey filled with hardship, but also of faith and hope. The singer emerges from a life on the road, tired of preaching justice to a sinful world and wishing to start anew. Along the way, he encounters someone who cannot walk, but who shows him great compassion and recommends him to God. Later, he witnesses a strange, beautiful sight and continues on his way, singing a new song of praise to Jesus and spreading his message to all the world.
The lyrics convey a sense of weariness and longing, but also of resilience and determination. Despite the trials and tribulations of life, the singer finds comfort and strength in his faith, and continues to pursue his path with hope and courage. The references to the moon and the stars suggest a connection to nature, and an appreciation of the beauty and mystery of the universe. Overall, the song is a tribute to the power of faith and music to inspire and uplift the human spirit.
Line by Line Meaning
Bem de longe na grande viagem, sobrecarregado para o descansar
Starting a long journey, carrying a heavy burden, in need of rest
Emergi de paragens ciganas Pelos mãos de Elmana
Came from gypsy lands, led by Elmana
Santos como a luz e em silêncio contemplo, então, mais nada a revelar
Observing in silent reverence like a saint, nothing more to reveal
Fadigado e farto de clamar às pedras De ensinar justiça ao mundo pecador
Weary and tired of preaching justice to the sinful world and speaking to deaf ears
Oh lua nova quem me dera Eu me encontrar com ela No pispei de tudo Na quadra perdida Na manhã da estrada e começar tudo de novo
Oh new moon, I wish to meet you, at the end of everything, in the lost season, in the morning of the road, and start anew
Topei in certa altura da jornada Com qui nem tinha pernas para andar Comoveu-me em grande compaixão Voltando o olhar para os céus Recomendou-me aos Deus Senhor de todos nós rogando, nada me faltar
Encountered someone on the journey who couldn't walk, felt compassion and looked up to the heavens, recommended to God, asking for nothing to be lacking
Resfriando o amor a fé e a caridade Vejo o semelhante entrar em confusão
My love, faith, and charity are cooling down, and I see my fellow human getting confused
Boas novas de plena alegria Passaram dois dias da ressurreição Refulgida uma beleza estranha Que emergiu da entranha Dos plagas azuis Num esplendor de glória Avistaram u′a grande luz
Great news of complete joy came two days after the resurrection, a strange beauty emerged from the blue lands, shining in glory, and a great light was seen
Vô prossiguino estrada a fora Rumo à istrêla canora E ao Senhor das Searas, a Jesus eu lôvo Levam os quatro ventos Ao meu Deus um canto novo
I continue down the road towards the singing star and I praise the Lord of the Harvest, Jesus, and the four winds carry a new song to my God
E ao Senhor das Searas, a Jesus eu lôvo Levam os quatro ventos Ao meu Deus um canto novo
And I praise the Lord of the Harvest, Jesus, and the four winds carry a new song to my God
Contributed by Elena C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.