Biography
The award-winning composer and arranger Rogério Duprat shaped the Tropicalia movement through his foundational contributions, yet he also scored more than forty films and supplied arrangements for numerous performers. His earliest training came via cello instruction from Calisto Corazza; by 1953 he had entered the Orquestra Sinfônica Estadual, where he pursued studies in harmony, counterpoint, and composition under Olivier Toni and the distinguished Brazilian composer Cláudio Santoro. The following year he became a member of the Orquestra Sinfônica Municipal de São Paulo. In 1956 he established the Orquestra de Câmara de São Paulo, serving simultaneously as its director and cellist while composing for cinema, television, and theater.
Four years later Duprat relocated to Europe alongside Júlio Medaglia and Damiano Cozzella, studying with Pierre Boulez in France and Karlheinz Stockhausen in Germany, where his classmates included Frank Zappa. In 1963 he joined Régis Duprat, Júlio Medaglia, Sandino Hohagem, Damiano Cozzella, Willy Correia de Oliveira, Gilberto Mendes, and Olivier Toni—each committed to avant-garde experimentation—in issuing the Música Nova manifesto, which advocated treating art as an element of the cultural industry, discarding nostalgia, and insisting on art’s active role in daily life; the resulting compositions retain their freshness nearly forty years later. That same year he and Cozzella began creating computer music on an IBM 1620, drawing criticism from both popular and experimental circles. He also joined TV Excelsior as arranger and conductor, remaining until 1964, when his score for Walter Hugo Khouri’s A Ilha received multiple prizes.
In 1965 Duprat collaborated with concretista poet Décio Pignatari to launch the irreverent MARDA movement, which satirically “honored” São Paulo’s monuments of questionable taste. While teaching at the University of São Paulo he resigned, together with more than 130 colleagues plus numerous assistants and technicians, after the military regime’s forces occupied the campus. His soundtrack for Walter Hugo Khouri’s Noite vazia earned further awards that year. In 1966, unemployed and seeking fresh artistic outlets, he was introduced by Medaglia to Gilberto Gil, who commissioned arrangements for the song “Domingo No Parque” slated for the 1967 TV Record Festival. The work brought him the festival’s newly created best-arranger prize, bestowed for the song’s singular quality, as well as the Roquette Pinto trophy for best arranger of the year. He also received recognition for his scores for Corpo Ardente and As Cariocas, both directed by Walter Hugo Khouri.
For the 1968 album Gilberto Gil, Duprat supplied arrangements while both Gil and Caetano Veloso were imprisoned; the vocals were captured inside prison with only violão and metronome accompaniment, the remaining instruments overdubbed later, thereby overturning conventional recording practice. That year he also arranged the collective Tropicalia statement Tropicália ou Panis et Circensis, appearing on the cover holding a chamber pot like a teacup beside the movement’s principal figures. He served as artistic director of the Tropicalia production Momento 68, which toured Brazil and South America, and prepared every arrangement for Nara Leão’s self-titled album. At TV Globo’s III FIC he received the Galo de Ouro trophy for his work on Caetano’s “É Proibido Proibir” and the André Kostelanetz Trophy for his arrangements of Caminhante Noturno. Duprat additionally acted as musical director of the landmark Tropicalia program Divino Maravilhoso and accompanied Os Mutantes on their European tour. During TV Record’s IV FMPB, Os Mutantes performed “Dom Quixote,” arranged by Duprat, employing such pointedly “nationalistic” instruments as a mule’s peccary—an unmistakable jab at xenophobic detractors. In 1969 he arranged Caetano Veloso’s album Caetano Veloso and, four years later, Araçá Azul.
His score for André Klotzel’s 1987 film Marvada carne earned the Kikito for best original soundtrack at the XVIII Festival de Cinema de Gramado. A decade afterward he was profiled in the documentary Rogério: Vida de Músico, which incorporated exclusive footage and conversations with Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Chico Buarque, Quarteto de Cordas do Município de São Paulo, Orquestra Sinfônica de Tatuí, Grupo Experimental de Música Nova de Santos, Rita Lee, and former members of Os Mutantes, among others.
Four years later Duprat relocated to Europe alongside Júlio Medaglia and Damiano Cozzella, studying with Pierre Boulez in France and Karlheinz Stockhausen in Germany, where his classmates included Frank Zappa. In 1963 he joined Régis Duprat, Júlio Medaglia, Sandino Hohagem, Damiano Cozzella, Willy Correia de Oliveira, Gilberto Mendes, and Olivier Toni—each committed to avant-garde experimentation—in issuing the Música Nova manifesto, which advocated treating art as an element of the cultural industry, discarding nostalgia, and insisting on art’s active role in daily life; the resulting compositions retain their freshness nearly forty years later. That same year he and Cozzella began creating computer music on an IBM 1620, drawing criticism from both popular and experimental circles. He also joined TV Excelsior as arranger and conductor, remaining until 1964, when his score for Walter Hugo Khouri’s A Ilha received multiple prizes.
In 1965 Duprat collaborated with concretista poet Décio Pignatari to launch the irreverent MARDA movement, which satirically “honored” São Paulo’s monuments of questionable taste. While teaching at the University of São Paulo he resigned, together with more than 130 colleagues plus numerous assistants and technicians, after the military regime’s forces occupied the campus. His soundtrack for Walter Hugo Khouri’s Noite vazia earned further awards that year. In 1966, unemployed and seeking fresh artistic outlets, he was introduced by Medaglia to Gilberto Gil, who commissioned arrangements for the song “Domingo No Parque” slated for the 1967 TV Record Festival. The work brought him the festival’s newly created best-arranger prize, bestowed for the song’s singular quality, as well as the Roquette Pinto trophy for best arranger of the year. He also received recognition for his scores for Corpo Ardente and As Cariocas, both directed by Walter Hugo Khouri.
For the 1968 album Gilberto Gil, Duprat supplied arrangements while both Gil and Caetano Veloso were imprisoned; the vocals were captured inside prison with only violão and metronome accompaniment, the remaining instruments overdubbed later, thereby overturning conventional recording practice. That year he also arranged the collective Tropicalia statement Tropicália ou Panis et Circensis, appearing on the cover holding a chamber pot like a teacup beside the movement’s principal figures. He served as artistic director of the Tropicalia production Momento 68, which toured Brazil and South America, and prepared every arrangement for Nara Leão’s self-titled album. At TV Globo’s III FIC he received the Galo de Ouro trophy for his work on Caetano’s “É Proibido Proibir” and the André Kostelanetz Trophy for his arrangements of Caminhante Noturno. Duprat additionally acted as musical director of the landmark Tropicalia program Divino Maravilhoso and accompanied Os Mutantes on their European tour. During TV Record’s IV FMPB, Os Mutantes performed “Dom Quixote,” arranged by Duprat, employing such pointedly “nationalistic” instruments as a mule’s peccary—an unmistakable jab at xenophobic detractors. In 1969 he arranged Caetano Veloso’s album Caetano Veloso and, four years later, Araçá Azul.
His score for André Klotzel’s 1987 film Marvada carne earned the Kikito for best original soundtrack at the XVIII Festival de Cinema de Gramado. A decade afterward he was profiled in the documentary Rogério: Vida de Músico, which incorporated exclusive footage and conversations with Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Chico Buarque, Quarteto de Cordas do Município de São Paulo, Orquestra Sinfônica de Tatuí, Grupo Experimental de Música Nova de Santos, Rita Lee, and former members of Os Mutantes, among others.
Albums
