Torquato Neto
Encyclopedia
Torquato Pereira de Araújo Neto (November 9, 1944 – November 10, 1972) was a Brazil
ian journalist and poet. He is perhaps best known as a lyricist for the Tropicalismo
counterculture movement, which later expanded its influence to Música Popular Brasileira
. He worked with Gal Costa
, Gilberto Gil
, Edu Lobo
, and Waly Salomão
. He committed suicide at the age of 28.
Neto was the son of a public prosecutor and a primary schoolteacher from Teresina, the capital of the northeastern Brazilian state of Piauí. At the age of 16, he moved to Salvador
, Bahia
, to attend secondary school at the Colégio Nossa Senhora da Vitória, where he was a classmate of Gilberto Gil
. While there, he also worked as an assistant on Glauber Rocha's first feature film, Barravento
.
Neto became actively involved in the cultural scene in Salvador, where he met Caetano Veloso
, Gal Costa
, and Maria Bethânia
. In 1962, he moved to Rio de Janeiro
to study journalism at university but never graduated. He wrote columns on culture for several publications there. Torquato acted as a cultural agent and polemical defender of the artistic avant-garde, including Tropicalia, Cinema Marginal, and Concretism. He was friends with several major figures of these movements, including the musicians mentioned above, the poets Décio Pignatari
and Augusto
and Haroldo de Campos
, filmmaker Ivan Cardoso, and artist Hélio Oiticica
. At this time, Neto came to be seen as a figure in Tropicalism, having written the breviary "Tropicalismo para principiantes" ("Tropicalism for Beginners"), in which he argued for the necessity of creating a genuinely Brazilian "pop": "Accept completely all that the life of the tropics can give, without preconceptions of aesthetic order, without consideration of tackiness or bad taste, solely living the tropical and the new universe it contains, still unknown." Neto was also an important lyricist of iconic songs of the tropicalist movement.
At the end of the 1960s, after the exile of his friends Gil and Caetano under the military dictatorship, he traveled to Europe and the United States with his wife Ana Maria and lived in London for a brief period. On returning to Brazil in the early 1970s, Neto began to isolate himself, feeling alienated by both the military regime and the "ideological patrols" of the left. He went through a series of hospitalizations for alcoholism and broke several friendships. Neto committed suicide the day after his 28th birthday, in 1972.
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian journalist and poet. He is perhaps best known as a lyricist for the Tropicalismo
Tropicalismo
Tropicália, also known as Tropicalismo, is a Brazilian art movement that arose in the late 1960s and encompassed theatre, poetry, and music, among other forms. Tropicália was influenced by poesia concreta , a genre of Brazilian avant-garde poetry embodied in the works of Augusto de Campos, Haroldo...
counterculture movement, which later expanded its influence to Música Popular Brasileira
Música Popular Brasileira
Música Popular Brasileira or MPB designates a trend in post-Bossa Nova urban popular music. It is not a discrete genre but rather a constellation that combines original songwriting and updated versions of traditional Brazilian urban music styles like samba and samba-canção with contemporary...
. He worked with Gal Costa
Gal Costa
Gal Costa is a Brazilian singer of popular music.-Early life:...
, Gilberto Gil
Gilberto Gil
Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira , better known as Gilberto Gil or , is a Brazilian singer, guitarist, and songwriter, known for both his musical innovation and political commitment...
, Edu Lobo
Edu Lobo
Eduardo de Góes "Edu" Lobo is a Brazilian bossa nova singer, guitarist, and composer. He achieved fame in the 1960s as part of the bossa nova movement...
, and Waly Salomão
Waly Salomão
Waly Dias Salomão was a Brazilian poet. He was born in Jequié, Bahia. He acted on several areas of Brazilian culture as poet, songwriter and writer. His first book was “Me segura qu’eu vou dar um troço” in 1972. His last book “Pescados Vivos” was published after his death in 2004...
. He committed suicide at the age of 28.
Neto was the son of a public prosecutor and a primary schoolteacher from Teresina, the capital of the northeastern Brazilian state of Piauí. At the age of 16, he moved to Salvador
Salvador, Bahia
Salvador is the largest city on the northeast coast of Brazil and the capital of the Northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia. Salvador is also known as Brazil's capital of happiness due to its easygoing population and countless popular outdoor parties, including its street carnival. The first...
, Bahia
Bahia
Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...
, to attend secondary school at the Colégio Nossa Senhora da Vitória, where he was a classmate of Gilberto Gil
Gilberto Gil
Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira , better known as Gilberto Gil or , is a Brazilian singer, guitarist, and songwriter, known for both his musical innovation and political commitment...
. While there, he also worked as an assistant on Glauber Rocha's first feature film, Barravento
Barravento
Barrenvento is a 1962 Brazilian film and the feature debut of film director Glauber Rocha. The movie stars Antonio Pitanga, Lucy de Carvalho, and Aldo Teixeira...
.
Neto became actively involved in the cultural scene in Salvador, where he met Caetano Veloso
Caetano Veloso
Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso , better known as Caetano Veloso, is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicalismo which encompassed theatre, poetry and music in the 1960s,...
, Gal Costa
Gal Costa
Gal Costa is a Brazilian singer of popular music.-Early life:...
, and Maria Bethânia
Maria Bethânia
Maria Bethânia Vianna Telles Veloso , better known as Maria Bethânia , is a singer and sister of Caetano Veloso. She started her career in Rio de Janeiro in 1964 with the show "Opinião"...
. In 1962, he moved to Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
to study journalism at university but never graduated. He wrote columns on culture for several publications there. Torquato acted as a cultural agent and polemical defender of the artistic avant-garde, including Tropicalia, Cinema Marginal, and Concretism. He was friends with several major figures of these movements, including the musicians mentioned above, the poets Décio Pignatari
Décio Pignatari
Décio Pignatari is a Brazilian poet, essayist and translator.Since the 1950s, conducting experiments with poetic language, incorporating visuals elements and the fragmentation of words...
and Augusto
Augusto de Campos
Augusto de Campos is a Brazilian writer who was a founder of the Concrete poetry movement in Brazil. He is also a translator, music critic and visual artist....
and Haroldo de Campos
Haroldo de Campos
Haroldo de Campos was a Brazilian poet, critic, and translator. He did his secondary education at the College of St. Benedict, where he learned the first foreign language, like Latin, English, Spanish and French...
, filmmaker Ivan Cardoso, and artist Hélio Oiticica
Hélio Oiticica
Hélio Oiticica was a Brazilian visual artist, best known for his participation in the Neo-Concrete group, for his innovative use of color, and for what he later termed "environmental art", which included Parangolés and Penetrables, like the famous Tropicália.- Early work :Oiticica's early works,...
. At this time, Neto came to be seen as a figure in Tropicalism, having written the breviary "Tropicalismo para principiantes" ("Tropicalism for Beginners"), in which he argued for the necessity of creating a genuinely Brazilian "pop": "Accept completely all that the life of the tropics can give, without preconceptions of aesthetic order, without consideration of tackiness or bad taste, solely living the tropical and the new universe it contains, still unknown." Neto was also an important lyricist of iconic songs of the tropicalist movement.
At the end of the 1960s, after the exile of his friends Gil and Caetano under the military dictatorship, he traveled to Europe and the United States with his wife Ana Maria and lived in London for a brief period. On returning to Brazil in the early 1970s, Neto began to isolate himself, feeling alienated by both the military regime and the "ideological patrols" of the left. He went through a series of hospitalizations for alcoholism and broke several friendships. Neto committed suicide the day after his 28th birthday, in 1972.