From “Quando As Aves Se Encontram, Nasce O Som” (‘When Birds Meet, Sound Is Born’) (Hermeto 92

− Festa dos Deuses lp)

To see a video of a re-recording of the above composition by Daniel Jorge (where he over-dubs the
replayed piano part on top of the original track ) see:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWN14vlQ4fI&t=2s
The video includes all the other bird calls in the composition. The video was invaluable in writing out the
sheets.

The Story of the Uirapuru Bird – The Guarani Myth (by Leighton Gage)
https://murderiseverywhere.blogspot.com/2010/07/uirapuru.html

According to the Guarani people of the Amazon there was once a a handsome young warrior, whose
love was sought by all the maidens of his tribe.But he was treacherously murdered by a rival for their
affections.

When they went to prepare his body for burial, they found it gone. He had been transformed into a bird
that filled the forest with song, but disappeared when approached. The bird was the Uirapuru (in the
Tupi language). The Guarani say that when the Uirapuru sings, the sound of its song is so beautiful
that all the other birds of the forest stop singing - and listen.

A legend? Only in part. Because the Uirapuru really does exist. It’s seldom seen though, and rarely
heard. It’s a shy creature with coloring that blends in with the forest. And it sings only at dawn and at
sunset, for little more than two weeks in any given year.

Those two weeks are the period in which the bird is building his nest. He is singing out of love, hoping to
attract a mate. All Brazilians know about the Uirapuru, but few have been fortunate enough to hear its
voice in nature.

The people who live in the Amazon jungle are constantly on the lookout for Uirapuru feathers on the
forest floor. The possession of one is thought to bring good luck to both men and women. But especially
to women who are said to use them to capture the passion of their loved ones – forever.

Another Variation of the Uirapuru Legend in Guarani Mythology

Uirapuru: The Legend of the Warrior Who Became the Musician Wren

Do you believe in the power of love to transcend everything?

This is the legend of Uirapuru, a common legend told by indigenous tribes in Brazil. This version is
from Tupi-Guarani tribe blended with the Amazonic tradition.

The Chief of the tribe had a beautiful daughter, Anahi who had been promised in marriage. Quaraça,
a strong warrior saw her and fell instantly in love. Despite being forbidden, she too fell in love with him.
They kept their love secret and unrequited. Painfully, Quaraca observed her courtship with the other
warrior until it became too difficult to bear.

In despair, he went deep into the forest to commune with Tupã, the God of his tribe. He cried out asking
Tupa to end his suffering. Recognizing the excellence of the noble warrior, Tupa answered his cry by
turning him into a magnificent bird. Quaraça transformed with brilliant feathers of red, gold and black
and with an enthralling melody. Tupa blessed him and said, “Uirapuru, you now have the freedom to fly
away from the source of your suffering.”
Taking flight from the forest, he could not bear to leave his love. He perched on the tree nearby, her
oca, her dwelling of dried branches and leaves. Awaiting sunrise, he began to sing a captivating
melody. Anahi taken by the beauty of the song went to find the source. She discovered the Uirapuru
singing to her and felt an instant connection, a connection that reminded her of her affection for
Quaraça. Each day at sunrise and at sunset, he would sing to her and her heart opened to the beauty
of his song. All of the birds were mesmerized by the sound and they too stopped chirping to allow his
melody to fill the air.

It was not too long, that Anahi’s father the chief noticed the magnificence of the Uirapuru’s song and
how captivated his daughter was by it. He was worried that his daughter was devoting more time to
listening to the bird than to her courtship and he wanted the delight of the song for himself. He went
to hunt the Uirapuru.

Anahi overheard her father’s plan to imprison the Uirapuru and she went to the bird. She urged him
to fly away and not return. He refused to leave. He communicated to her that he would rather be
killed than to leave her side. This upset Anahi because she took comfort in that knowledge that he
would be alive somewhere else even if she could never see him again, or listen to his sweet sound.
She pleaded with him.

Reluctantly, he honored her wishes and flew away. The chief consumed with desire kept searching in
the woods for the Uirapuru. Wandering further and further away, the chief became lost never to be
seen again. Not knowing that it was safe to return, the Uirapuru wanders the forest singing his love
song for his lost love. The forest quiets down when he sings his haunting melody as it echoes in the
woods until this very day.

Tale told by : Alex Ramaldes. Envisioned and written by Joshua Lesser

Same Variation Recounted by Marcelo Evelin

The Uirapuru comes from a Guarani legend, from an impossible love. Two lovers fell in love and
couldn't be together. The warrior died of sorrow and was then transformed into a bird by Tupã (a
Guarani God).The bird was the Uirapuru. It sung to its sweetheart for the rest of her life and delighted
the whole world. It’s song even enchants the other birds in the Amazonian forest; they stop singing
when they hear the Uirapuru and just listen to it.

More Variations of the Uirapuru Myth from Doolitle and Brumm’s article “O Canto do Uirapuru:
Consonant Intervals and Patterns in the Song of the Musician Wren’ (2012)
http://musicstudies.org/wp content/uploads/2017/01/Doolittle_JIMS_12060103.pdf

One legend tells of a young Guarani warrior who fell in love with the wife of the chief of his tribe. The
god Tupä turned him into a Uirapuru so he might be able to sing to the woman he loved. However,
the chief noticed the bird singing and tried to capture it. The Uirapuru flew into the forest, and the
chief became lost. The bird was then free to return to sing for the woman, hoping that one day she
would notice him and reverse the spell.

In another version of the legend, two women fell in love with the chief. He agreed to marry whoever
of them was the better hunter. Both drew their bows, but only one hit her mark, and thus was able to
marry the chief. The other cried so much that her tears became a stream. Tupä turned her
into a bird so she could visit the chief. When she did, she saw that he truly loved the other woman, so
she flew far away to the Amazon. Tupä gave her a beautiful song, so she might be able to sing to
forget her sorrow. According to some legends, the song is so beautiful that when the Uirapuru sings,
all the other animals fall silent. According to others, all the birds of the forest flock around to listen to
it sing. Some believe that one only hears the Uirapuru sing at the moment of death, while others hold
that hearing the bird sing ensures successful hunting, or brings good luck for life.
Uirapuru Song, transcribed by Alexander Liebermann
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC7Rq3_8TVA (video of a transcription of the bird’s song)

The Musician Wren (the Uirapuru) is a small brown wren native to the Amazon Rainforest of Brazil.
It is famous for its beautiful song and for the stories and legends around it. Many composers have been
inspired by it, among others Bayle, Messiaen, and Villa-Lobos.

Whilst every single wren has a unique call that is sung with eventual variety (repeating a song-type
several times before switching to another), they all demonstrate a common preference for perfect
consonances (P8, P5, P4) over dissonances and imperfect consonances. That is one of the reasons why a
vast majority of us will perceive it as “tonal”.

To me the most fascinating part was to find similarities between rhythmic units of the Wren call and
Brazilian music. One example is the syncopated pattern ‘16th, 8th, 16th’ (m. 3,6), which is typically
associated with Samba. Coincidence? Maybe... The history of Samba is definitely more complex than a
simple bird imitation, but one has to remember that animal imitations are used in music from around the
world, and that several cultures have credited birds and other animals with the origin of music (the
Tuvans, the ancient Chinese, etc.). All I am saying is, parallels between nature sounds and music are
more common than we think.

Doolitle and Brumm’s article “O Canto do Uirapuru: Consonant Intervals and Patterns in the
Song of the Musician Wren’ (2012) was the source for most of the information above. I deeply
recommend it. http://musicstudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Doolittle_JIMS_12060103.pdf

Heitor Villa-Lobos’ 1934 Symphonic Poem “Uirapuru”

See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zs7VSsI3O9Q for a scrolling video of the score

Uirapuru (subtitled ‘O Passarinho Encantado’/’The Enchanted Little Bird’) is a symphonic poem

or ballet by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. It began as a revision of an earlier work in 1917
and was completed in 1934. A recording conducted by the composer lasts 20 minutes and 33 seconds.

The bird whose song Villa-Lobos used as a compositional theme is Cyphorhinus Arada, the
Uirapuru-Verdadeiro (or Musician Wren), also known as the Organ Wren or Quadrille Wren; a bird with
an astonishing variety of song patterns. Villa-Lobos likely based his Uirapuru theme on a transcription
made during an expedition in 1849–50 by the British botanist Richard Spruc

To see a short film from 1950 called ‘Uirapuru’ which uses the Heitor Villa Lobos composition, see:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOd3mo1vmzE The film was made in the Amazon, featuring
Guarani people

Villa-Lobos’s ‘Uirapuru’ recounts yet another variant of the Uirapuru legend. According to Villa-
Lobos, the Uirapuru’s nocturnal song lured the Indians into the forest in search of the enchanting
singer. During the search, a group of young natives comes upon an ancient and ugly Indian seated in
the forest playing upon his nose-flute. Resenting the invasion of their forest by this unsightly old man,
the natives beat him mercilessly and drive him out. The continued search for the elusive Uirapurú by
the natives is witnessed by all the members of the nocturnal animal and insect kingdoms — glow
worms, crickets, owls, enchanted toads and bats and crawling things. A beautiful maiden appears,
also lured by the sweet song of Uirapurú. Armed with bow and arrow, she catches up with the
Enchanted Bird, piercing its heart, whereupon the singing Bird is immediately transformed into a
handsome youth. The Huntress, who has thoroughly captivated the handsome youth, is about to leave
the forest followed by the amazed natives when they are halted by the shrill, unpleasant notes of a
distant nose-flute. Suspecting the arrival of the ugly Indian seeking revenge for the merciless beating
they had administered, the natives hide in the dense woods. The unsuspecting youth boldly confronts
the ugly Indian, who slays him with a perfectly placed arrow. As the Indian maidens tenderly carry the
body to a nearby fountain, it is suddenly transformed into a beautiful Bird which flies, its sweet song
diminishing, into the silence of the forest (Villa-Lobos, 1917). [quoted in Doolitle and Brumm’s article
“O Canto do Uirapuru: Consonant Intervals and Patterns in the Song of the Musician Wren’ (2012)]

_______________________________________________________________________________________

The saddest bird song must be the sound of the Lyre bird (who mimics the sounds it hears in its
environment). Its song is the sound of a chainsaw destroying its world. It sings of its own death ..see
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSB71jNq-yQ @2:37