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.
Canto do Guerreiro Mongoió
Elomar Lyrics
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Unheên uaá uicú arauaquí ára uiúre Ianêiara
Depois, depois de muitos anos
Voltei ao meu antigo lar
Desilusões que desenganam
Não tive onde repousar
Cortaram o tronco da palmeira
E o antigo tronco do oliveira
Jogado num canto pra lá
Que ingratidão pra lá
Adeus vou embora pra Tromba
Lá onde Maneca chorou
De lá vou indo pro Ramalho
Pro vale verde do Yuyú
Um dia bem criança eu era
Ouvi de um velho cantador
Sentado na praça da Bandeira
Que vela a tumba dos heróis
Falou do tempo da conquista
Da terra pelo invasor
Que em inumanas investidas
Venceram os índios mongoiós
Valentes mongoiós
Falou de antigos cavaleiros
Primeiros a fazer um lar
No vale do Gibóia no Outeiro
Filicia, Coati, Tamanduá
Pergunto então cadê teus filhos
Os homens de opinião
Não dói-te vê-los do exílio
Errantes em algueio chão?
Nos termos da Virgem Imaculada
Não vejo mais crianças ao luar
Por estas me bato em retirada
Vou indo cantar em outro lugar
Cantar pra não chorar
Adeus vôu embora pra sombra
Pro vale do rio Gavião
No peito levarei teu nome
Tua imagem nesta canção
Por fim já farto de tuas manhas
Teus filtros, tua ingratidão
Te deixo entregue a mãos estranhas
Meus filhos não vão te amar não
E assim como a água deixa a fonte
Também te deixo pra não mais
Do exílio talvez ainda te cante
Das flores a noiva entre os lenções
Dos brancos cafezais
Adeus, adeus meu pé-de-serra
Querido berço onde nasci
Se um dia te fizerem guerra
Teu filho vem morrer por ti
The lyrics of Elomar's song "Canto do Guerreiro Mongoió" paint a poignant picture of a journey back to one's roots, filled with themes of nostalgia, disillusionment, and a sense of displacement. The first two verses depict a deep longing for the past, as the singer reminisces about returning to their old home after many years and finding it changed and desolate. The imagery of a cut palm tree trunk and an olive tree discarded in a corner symbolize the loss and ingratitude that pervades the once familiar surroundings.
As the song progresses, the singer bids farewell to their homeland and sets off for new horizons, referencing specific places like Tromba, Ramalho, and the green valley of Yuyú. The mention of Maneca's tears and the valley of the Gavião river convey a sense of emotional detachment and a desire for a fresh start away from the disappointments and betrayals of the past.
The lyrics then shift to a reflection on history and the legacy of past heroes and conquerors, particularly the indigenous Mongol warriors who valiantly fought against invaders. The singer laments the absence of descendants to carry on the tradition and questions the current state of affairs, highlighting themes of exile and abandonment.
In the final verses, the singer expresses a sense of resignation and finality towards their homeland, emphasizing a break from the past and a commitment to move on. The decision to leave behind old grudges and grievances is symbolized by leaving the land to "hands strange" and vowing that their children will not inherit the pain and disillusionment. The mention of singing to mask the sorrow and carrying the homeland's name and image in their heart portrays a bittersweet farewell to a place once cherished but now left behind for a new beginning. The final line, promising to return to defend the homeland if it ever faces war, encapsulates a sense of duty and love for the land despite the pain of departure.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Elomar
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind