"Bonita" Nature and Romanticism, Form and Song in Tom Jobim

Abstract

This article discusses the role of nature in two spheres of Tom Jobim's trajectory. Starting from the most evident, ecology, it addresses the question of erosion by human experience and the search for an integrating experience. This discussion opens the door to the central problem of the article, situated in the less clear sphere of aesthetic production: to define and analyse the role that nature plays in the formal establishment of "Bonita". The investigation is mediated by considerations about certain transformations in the production of popular music in Brazil in the 1950s, and tacked by the discussion about the incorporation of aspects of romanticism in the thought and the work of Jobim. Finally, it presents a problem that links the two spheres of his career previously commented: ecology and aesthetics.