Zé Henrique Martiniano:

“Augusto dos Anjos has a unique, powerful style”

The musician and songwriter from the Brazilian state of São Paulo talks about the songs he wrote for the lyrics of Augusto
dos Anjos, a renowned Brazilian poet

	Our interviewee is an engineer and musician from the city of Araraquara, better known as Zé Henrique Martiniano (photo). He studied guitar, Brazilian music and jazz at São Paulo’s prestigious USP university. He is a songwriter, author of more than 100 songs – some of them released in five CDs. He will release in 2014 two more CDs, one of
them paying tribute to the poems of Augusto dos Anjos, as he tell us in this interview:  How did you become interested in music?

I began to play the guitar at the age of 11. I learned with my cousin, Regina, who was also my neighbour. I have been writing songs since I was a child. But I would never show the first songs I wrote, I would not dare. I write the song and the lyrics. But lately, I have focused more on the music, having discovered the work of wonderful poets. 

How did you get interested in the poems of Augusto dos Anjos? 

In 2010 I came across the book “Parnaso de Além-Túmulo”, the first book written in trance by the great Brazilian medium, Chico Xavier, when he was 22. The book, with 259 poems attributed to 56 Brazilian and Portuguese poets who had passed away, was published in 1932. Among them, I discovered the poems written by the Spirit of Augusto dos Anjos. As someone with a background in engineering and music, I felt a close connection to the style of Augusto, who mixes poetry and science and is very profound. He has a unique, powerful style. He mixes high philosophy with matter-of-fact issues from chemistry, physics and biology. 

Remind our readers of who Augusto dos Anjos was. 

Augusto died young, aged 30. He left only one book, entitled “Eu” (“Me”), but it was enough to place him among the greatest Brazilian poets ever. He was profoundly obsessed with death and that is why he became known as the “Poet of Death”. We can notice a clear change in his approach to life and death in his work written before and after he passed away. From being a staunch materialist, he became a great Spiritualist philosopher. 

What about the CD? How did you come up with the idea? 

It came from reading the book “Parnaso de Além-Túmulo”. I felt compelled to put music to the lyrics of Augusto dos Anjos. And that is what I have done. The CD will be called “Número Infinito” (“Endless Number”), the title of the first poem of Augusto dos Anjos written through the mediumship of Chico Xavier. It follows his last poem written in life, which was called “Último Número” (“Last Number”). Those verses are very important, as they show a big change in the perspective of the poet after he passed away. But we must bear in mind that that transformation did not happen straight away, it took some time. Augusto dos Anjos died in 1914 and we are now commemorating the centenary of his death. The CD has 11 tracks: 10 poems by the Spirit of Augusto dos Anjos and a preface by Allan Kardec. I made the music to all of them, with influences from Brazilian music, jazz and classical music. 

When is it going to be released? 

It will be in the first semester of 2014, through the SER Portal (http://portalser.org). All the income generated by sales will go to SER, which does an amazing job in the dissemination of Spiritism. 

You mentioned Augusto dos Anjos’s centenary. Was it a coincidence the release of the CD this year? 

I began working on the CD in 2010. When I finished the work last year I realised that 2014 would be the centenary of the poet’s death. I was really surprised and felt it was probably no coincidence. It was like someone had guided us. 

Your final thoughts, please. 

When I read the wonderful poets written through the mediumship of Chico Xavier I often think: literature experts should do further research on Spirits and mediums. Or otherwise, give to Chico Xavier the title of greatest writer of all times.