The Album “Choro Frevado” by Antônio da Silva Torres: a place of memory for the choro from Pernambuco

Abstract

This article aims to present a study about the cavaquinista and composer from Pernambuco Antônio da Silva Torres (1929-2005) who worked at the Rádio Clube de Pernambuco between 1957 and 1964 in Recife. Thanks to the recording of the album “Choro Frevado” by the National Foundation of Arts (FUNARTE) in 1985, the cavaquinista gained external visibility and consolidated a place in memory for choro in Brazil. In this way, I
propose a reflection about the way in which the local memory of a musician can be constructed from a recording that assumes the paper of unique material testimony of its work. I turn to historical ethnography as a privileged method since I can access testimonies in the first person, counting on the collaboration of several musicians and other protagonists who lived with the cavaquinista. Theoretically I am inspired by the work of Pierre Nora (1984) and his concept of "Lieux de Memoire", which in this case will be applied to the record and the experience knowledge revealed and kept by the musicians who lived with Antônio da Silva Torres.