Music and Conflict: Overcoming Trauma through the work of Art in Cândido Lima and Iannis Xenakis

Abstract

Cândido Lima and Iannis Xenakis lived, both, the reality of the war. Lima has the experience of the Colonial War and Xenakis that of World War II. Those experiences influence their technical, aesthetic and imagistic contents, as well as the overcoming of the trauma and conflict. In the case of Cândido Lima, his stay on the African continent, in Guinea-Bissau, allowed him to come into contact with another musical reality, both in its creative and interpretative aspects. The proliferation of sound manifestations, the rhythmic, harmonic and melodic richness they present, dazzles the composer. He assumes this and other influences, namely that of Iannis Xenakis. In this sense, the titles he lends to his creations, such as Nô, African Rhytms, Ritos de África, Missa Mandinga, Ncàãncôa or Nanghê, show a universe imbued with imagery content where the structures and techniques he develops portray Africa and the Colonial War. In the case of Iannis Xenakis, overcoming conflict and trauma is done by continually overcoming himself, as well as the technical, interpretive and expressive demands that he imposes to his performers. For Xenakis, Art is a meaning of alienating himself from the traumas of a lifetime.
In this text, we will show how the Portuguese (Minhoto) and African (Guinean) universes contribute to the creation of a singular sound-image universe in the musical work of the Portuguese composer Cândido Lima, as well as the Greco-French universes (scientific, philosophical and cultural) and military (World War II and Resistance), are present in the work of Iannis Xenakis. We will also show how composers try to overcome the conflict and trauma resulting from the experience of war, through artistic creation, and the conception of a set of musical works of undeniable artistic, aesthetic and musical value.