Dialogue, Music and Poetry in the Correspondence Between Almeida Prado and Nadia Boulanger

This article addresses the correspondence between the Brazilian composer Almeida Prado and the French teacher, organist and conductor Nadia Boulanger. I evaluate a set of 222 letters written by Almeida Prado filed in the Nadia Boulanger archive at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France comparing them to the correspondence of his contemporaries in terms of number of letters, age, frequency, and period of correspondence. In the letters from Almeida Prado, specifically, I comment on his writing style, conflicts he may have had with Nadia Boulanger revealed in the letters, and the areas of agreement and discussion they maintained throughout their nine-year correspondence. Four subjects most often mentioned are discussed in more detail: religiousness, the music of composer Lili Boulanger (Nadia Boulanger’s sister), pedagogical ideas, and macro structures. Most of the letters from Nadia Boulanger to Almeida Prado are lost, but the 11 letters found also reveal important elements. I attest to the importance of Almeida Prado’s letters in the Nadia Boulanger archives and the strong friendship developed between them. I also outline how Almeida Prado incorporated the orthodox ideas of Nadia Boulanger’s teaching, expanding and combining different concepts and, at the same time, providing her with renewed concepts that had been constructed over more than 60 years of teaching