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.
seresta sertaneza
Elomar Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
me estremeço e eis-me a navegar
por cerúleas regiões
onde ao avaro e ao impuro não é dado entrar
tresloucado cavaleiro andante
a vasculhar espaços
de extintos ceus
num confronto derradeiro
o mais cruel
acusador de meus irmãos
neStes mundos dissipados
magas entidades dotam o corpo meu
de poderes encantados
mágicos sentidos
na razão dos ceus
pois fundir o espaço e o tempo
vencer as tentações rasteiras
do instinto animal
só é dado a quem vê no amor
o único portal
através de infindas sendas
vias estelares um cordel de luz
trago atado ao umbigo ainda
pois não transmudei-me ao reino dos cristais
apois Deus acorrentou os sábios
na prisão escura das tres dimensões
e escravisados desde então
a serviço dos maus
vivem a mentir
vivem a enganar
a iludir os corações
visitante das estrelas
hóspede celeste visões ancestrais
me torturam pois ao tê-las
quebra o encanto e torno ao mundo de meus pais
À minha origem planetária
enfrentar a mansão da morte do pranto e da dor
donzela fecha esta janela
e não me tentes mais
The lyrics of Elomar's song "Seresta Sertaneza" depict a journey into mystical realms and the struggles faced by the singer in their quest for love and spiritual enlightenment. The opening lines describe the transformative power of a pure kiss, which propels the singer into a celestial realm inaccessible to the greedy and impure individuals. As a passionate and adventurous knight, the singer explores these ethereal spaces that exist beyond extinct heavens. They confront and overcome the most cruel and accusing angel, who represents the adversities faced by their fellow beings.
In these dissipative worlds, magical entities bestow enchanted powers and mystical senses upon the singer's body, allowing them to merge space and time and triumph over base animal instincts. This ability is only granted to those who perceive love as the ultimate portal to enlightenment. The singer navigates through infinite paths and celestial highways, represented metaphorically as a cord of light tied to their umbilical cord. Despite possessing these powers, the singer has not yet transformed into the realm of crystals, as the wise have been imprisoned by God within the dark confines of the three dimensions. These wise individuals have been enslaved by the wicked, living a life of deceit and deception, ultimately deceiving the hearts of others.
As a visitor of the stars and a celestial guest, the singer is tormented by ancestral visions. However, succumbing to these visions breaks the enchantment and returns them to the mundane world of their parents. The lyrics call for closing the window and resisting the temptation to experience these visions further. The singer acknowledges their planetary origin, determined to face the abode of death, sorrow, and pain. They implore a maiden to close the window, urging her not to tempt them any longer, symbolizing their need to focus on their earthly responsibilities rather than succumbing to spiritual distractions.
In summary, Elomar's "Seresta Sertaneza" delves into themes of love, spirituality, and the challenges faced in seeking enlightenment. The lyrics portray a protagonist's voyage into mystical realms, their encounter with adversities, the acquisition of enchanted powers, and the struggle to resist distractions and stay grounded in their earthly existence.
Line by Line Meaning
Nos raios de luz de um beijo puro
In the rays of pure love's light
me estremeço e eis-me a navegar
I tremble and find myself sailing
por cerúleas regiões
through cerulean regions
onde ao avaro e ao impuro não é dado entrar
where the greedy and impure are not allowed to enter
tresloucado cavaleiro andante
mad wanderer knight
a vasculhar espaços
searching spaces
de extintos ceus
of extinct skies
num confronto derradeiro
in a final confrontation
vencí prometeu, anjo do mal
I conquered Prometheus, the angel of evil
o mais cruel
the cruelest
acusador de meus irmãos
accusing my brothers
neStes mundos dissipados
in these dissipated worlds
magas entidades dotam o corpo meu
magical entities endow my body
de poderes encantados
with enchanted powers
mágicos sentidos
magical senses
na razão dos ceus
in the reason of the heavens
pois fundir o espaço e o tempo
for merging space and time
vencer as tentações rasteiras
overcoming low temptations
do instinto animal
of animal instinct
só é dado a quem vê no amor
only given to those who see in love
o único portal
the only portal
através de infindas sendas
through endless paths
vias estelares um cordel de luz
stellar highways, a cord of light
trago atado ao umbigo ainda
I still bring tied to my navel
pois não transmudei-me ao reino dos cristais
for I have not transformed into the crystal realm
apois Deus acorrentou os sábios
because God has chained the wise
na prisão escura das tres dimensões
in the dark prison of the three dimensions
e escravisados desde então
and enslaved since then
a serviço dos maus
serving the wicked
vivem a mentir
they live by lying
vivem a enganar
they live by deceiving
a iludir os corações
illusioning the hearts
visitante das estrelas
visitor of the stars
hóspede celeste visões ancestrais
heavenly guest with ancestral visions
me torturam pois ao tê-las
they torture me when I have them
quebra o encanto e torno ao mundo de meus pais
the enchantment breaks and I return to my parents' world
À minha origem planetária
To my planetary origin
enfrentar a mansão da morte do pranto e da dor
to face the mansion of death, weeping, and pain
donzela fecha esta janela
maiden, close this window
e não me tentes mais
and tempt me no more
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Elomar
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind