This week I’ve had Thalma de Freitas’ version of “Cordeiro de Nana” #OnRepeat. I have been listening intently to a lot of her music lately because she has just recently made her debut in the United States (I wrote about her performance at the Loft at UCSD in my blog post about authenticity and conviction) back in April and I can’t get enough of her voice and performance style.
Thalma de Freitas is a Brazilian actress, singer and songwriter. She is the daughter of Laercio De Freitas, a famous pianist, arranger, and composer in Brazil. Some of her most well-known songs are “Doce de Côco” and “Tranquilo”, and she has collaborated with musicians such as João Donato, Caetano Veloso, and Céu.
“Cordeiro de Nana” is a prayer for Nana, who is considered to be the grandmother of the universe and all the Orixa (deities) in the religion of Candomble in Brazil. Nana is also associated with rivers, water, and swampland, which explains why water is referenced in the song as well. I always like to research the composer’s reasoning behind a song and/or the culture that is connected to the music because you find out why certain things happen in the song, such as melody, harmony, rhythm, and lyrics. It also just so happens that a portion of my Master’s thesis mentioned Candomble, so I am very interested in this topic already.
Thalma’s performance of this song, both in this video (whom she performs with her father), and in live shows, is captivating. Her interpretative style is both intimate and free at the same time–you feel as though she is really saying a prayer to someone. Her singing is heartfelt and she always manages to make everyone in the audience feel included in her emotional experience onstage. The video is definitely more intimate, but this same level of free-ness is still felt through the computer screen. Her performance style and melodic ideas are truly what make her an amazing performer and singer.
Is there a musician or group that you haven’t been able to stop listening to? Let us know in the comments below!