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Maestro, music!

BRAZILIAN MUSIC FLOWS FROM A BLEND OF DIFFERENTRACES AND CULTURES. WITHOUT THAT BLEND,

THE MUSIC COULD NEVER BE WHAT IT IS.

Xaxado, maxixe, batuque, choro, carimbó, frevo, samba and baião: all theserhythms sound like music even when you just say them. They combine the music ofAfrica and Portugal. They have been accepted as legitimate folklore ever sincesophisticated composers such as Heitor Villa-Lobos and Carlos Gomes started

using them in their compositions. Musical stylesare also historical landmarks. First came the18th century modinhas and lundu – slave-written music which blended well with Europeancompositions. Chorinho music soon followed,and is popular to this day. The most famousBrazilian choro musician today is Pixinguinha.

SAMBA

The 20th-century brought samba, with allits rhythmic beat and movements. Carnavalwith samba soon developed into a nationalcelebration. Aquarela do Brasil, a colorful songby Ari Barroso, is played everywhere in the

Samba school parade, Rio de Janeiro

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world today. During the 1950s andsixties, Tom Jobim and JoãoGilberto – influenced by Americanjazz – created the bossa nova.

BOSSA NOVA

The rhythm was an instantsuccess. Girl from Ipanema, by TomJobim and Vinícius de Morais, is one of the most famous songs in theworld. Building on bossa nova, other composers like Chico Buarque,Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil and Milton Nascimento, to name a few,by adding influences from abroad, made Brazilian popular music –MPB – a force to be respected.

Brazil has countless regional styles – especially in the Northeast.Nobody is a wallflower when baião, frevo, forró, embolada and maracaturhythms liven up the crowds.

PARTY TIME!

Outdoor festivals bring excitement toevery region in Brazil.

Carnaval in Rio is the most famous.Each samba school in the parade writes itsown individual theme-samba, which tells astory illustrated by floats and costumedperformers. The street Carnaval in Salvador,Bahia, is the largest in the world. Hugecrowds follow trios-elétricos (flatbedtrucks carrying musical bands). AtParintins, in Amazonas, mid-year Carnavalcelebrations tingle with Indian myths likethe giant-snake.

There are lots of other festivals, likeSão João, bumba-meu-boi, maracatuand cavalhada — which acts out amedieval jousting tournament.

Carnaval in Amazonas (top and right)

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Maracatu (Pernambuco) and cavalhada (Pirenópolis, Goiás)

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