Tom Jobim composed "Mathematics Class" 60 years ago.
Karine Rodrigues
There were still sand crabs and pitanga trees on Ipanema beach when Tom Jobim was a student. Among the teachers who remained in the Maestro's memory – recounts his sister, Helena, in the biography "A Man Enlightened" – were the Mello e Souza brothers: Júlio César, of Mathematics, better known as Malba Tahan, a great popularizer of the discipline; and João Batista, who taught Geography and History.
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At home, mathematics was part of the daily routine of Uncle João Lyra Madeira (1909-1979), who was married to the sister of Nilza, Tom's mother. He lived on the upper floor of the gray house at 276 Sadock de Sá Street, in Ipanema, with his wife and two children. Downstairs lived Tom, his mother, her second husband, his sister, and his maternal grandfather. The Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon was practically their backyard.
João Lyra was a member of the National Statistics Council of the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) and directed the Brazilian Center for Demographic Studies. He was an important figure in the field. He also played the guitar and enjoyed classical music.
Already a grown man, Tom Jobim composed "Aula de Matemática" in 1958, with lyrics by Marino Pinto (1916-1965). Records of this collaboration can be seen in the collection of the Antonio Carlos Jobim Institute, which is full of treasures about the life and work of one of our greatest composers, who died in 1994 at the age of 67.
In one of Tom's spiral notebooks, the lyrics to the song, initially titled "Mathematics of Love," occupy three pages, with Marino's handwriting and Tom's corrections. See the sheet music and listen to a video excerpt on IMPA's Instagram and Facebook pages, created with material from the archive.
Ten years after the recording, mathematics was once again highlighted in the composer's words, in an interview conducted by Clarice Lispector in September 1968 for the now-defunct magazine Manchete. "Often, in creations in any field, one can notice thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. Do you feel this in your songs? Think about it," the writer said.
Tom replied: "I feel that too much. I am a loving mathematician, lacking love and mathematics. Without form there is nothing. Even in chaos there is form."