Antonio Carlos Jobim: An Illuminated Man
(by Helena Jobim, published by Hal Leonard, 2011)
Translator's Note
Dário Borim Jr.
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and WUMD
WHILE
LISTENING TO ANTHOLOGICAL RENDITIONS of
bossa nova classics by Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Getz, João Gilberto,
Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson, and Sarah Vaughan, among others, I read
Helena Jobim’s elegant
Portuguese prose about the genesis of true
gems of twentieth-century music. After every other minute, I was
further enthused to re-create, in English, such fascinating story lines that
explained the writing of “Dindi,” “Desafinado,” or “The Girl from
Ipanema.” Moments of such sensorial and intellectual bliss had been
extremely rare in my life as writer, literary critic, translator, and
radio producer.
It was not always an easy spell, though.
Antonio Carlos Jobim was someone else who knew all too well the perils
and powers of translation. He always sought the most competent
professionals in the business, such as lyricists Ray Gilbert, Norman
Gimbel, and Gene Lees, to make his songs shine in meaning and elegance in
the English language. He, himself, worked diligently on several of
the new versions proposed for his lyrics.He understood the lights and
shadows, especially the cultural and linguistic aspects, of literary
translation, which demands cuts and additions, welcomes similarities and
differences, but cannot refrain from gains and losses. As a result, many
stanzas of “Águas de março” and “Waters of March,” for example, are
not the same. Although they differ considerably even in length, the
two poems display much more in common than the literal images they convey.
Most significantly,
neither is superior to the other.
Translating this book has been as daunting
as any other translation task, except for the fact that Helena
Jobim is an award-winning writer and her brother is regarded by many
critics as one of the greatest composers of the twentieth century. So, I
definitely gave my heart and soul to this mission, but not without the
support from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and several
individuals. My thanks go to John Cerullo, for trusting this project,
plus Iris Bass, Jessica Burr, Mike Edison, and all other Hal Leonard
staff who have helped make this volume what it is visually and
otherwise. For various acts of kindness and expertise I am indebted to
Helena Jobim herself, her husband, Manoel Malaguti (in memoriam), Marco Feitosa, Thereza Otero Hermanny, Ana Lontra Jobim, and
Cristina Rocha, in Brazil; and Ann Fifield, Kassandra Hartford, Maureen
Hall, Rick Hogan, Janet Homer, Christopher Larkosh, and Charles Perrone, here
in the United States. Most of all, I am grateful for the generosity and
inspiration from pianist and singersongwriter Robert Lamm, one of the founding
members of the legendary group Chicago.
