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Article

Abadá  

John M. Schechter

Obscure drum, presumably of African origin, of the Babasué (Babassuê) syncretic sect of Belem, Pará, Brazil. It might be related to the atabaque. The body is slightly conical and the single head is secured by a hoop that is laced to four iron hooks that jut from the body below the upper rim. ...

Article

Adjulona  

John M. Schechter

revised by Alice L. Satomi

Term for several aerophones of the Carajá and Savajé Indians of Brazil. Izikowitz documents it as a ribbon-reed aerophone made from a narrow blade of burity plant fibre that is twisted spirally into a tube and then somewhat flattened. Harcourt calls it an ocarina (vessel flute) with five fingerholes. Krautze calls it a gourd vessel flute having a narrow rectangular opening for an embouchure and two fingerholes on the opposite side, and also gives it the Savajé name ...

Article

Agogo  

K.A. Gourlay and John M. Schechter

revised by Amanda Villepastour, Alice L. Satomi, and Nina Graeff

(Port. agogô)

A Yorùbán term for a clapperless bell of the Yorùbá-, Igala-, and Edo-speaking peoples of Nigeria. The Yorùbá agogo can be single or double (one above the other, called agogo oníbéjì from ìbejì, ‘twins’); it is struck with a metal or wooden beater. The agogo (also the Yorùbá term for ‘clock’ or ‘watch’) plays the timeline in a range of drum ensembles and popular music bands. It can also be used in ensembles comprised only of agogo which play interlocking parts as song accompaniment, notably in the Ifá and Ọbàtálá cults. The Igala distinguish between the agogo (also known as ogege or ugege) and the larger ceremonial enu. The agogo, usually single (except near the Igbo border where double bells are found), is used for signalling or to accompany song and dance. The enu is made from a curved plate, welded to give an oval cross-section, and is 68 cm to 83 cm tall and 55 to 68 cm wide; it may be single or double, again one above the other. These ceremonial bells are associated with different titles, all of them high in the king-making system, and they are normally kept in the ancestral shrine. Among the Edo/Bini the terms ...

Article

Albuquerque, Armando  

Celso Loureiro Chaves

(Amorim de )

(b Porto Alegre, June 26, 1901; d Porto Alegre, March 16, 1986). Brazilian composer. Largerly self-taught as a composer, he studied the violin at the Instituto de Belas Artes, Porto Alegre, graduating in 1923. Except for brief visits to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro early in his career, he lived all his life in his native city, where he was active as a producer at Rádio da Universidade and as a professor of composition, harmony and counterpoint at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. A founding member of the Brazilian chapter of the ISCM, he was also a member of the Academia Brasileira de Música. The music of Albuquerque is freely atonal, with no references to Brazilian folk and popular music. His compositions are organized as a series of random juxtapositions of disjunct episodes. They can be divided into four periods: the early miniature piano pieces of ...

Article

Almeida (Nobrega Neto), Laurindo (José)  

Ronald C. Purcell

(de Araujo)

(b Santos, Sept 2, 1917; d Sherman Oaks, CA, July 26, 1995). Brazilian guitarist, composer and arranger. He was taught the piano by his mother but secretly taught himself the guitar (borrowing his sister’s instrument) from the age of nine. He first worked for radio stations in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, and in 1936 made a tour of Europe. For the 1940 Carnival he and Ubirajara Nesdan wrote Aldeia da roupa branca (later called Johnny Peddlar), which became internationally popular. From 1936 to 1947 Almeida worked with Brazilian artists such as Garoto, Villa-Lobos, Radames Gnatalli, Carmen Miranda and her sister Aurora, and Pixinguinha. After emigrating to the USA in 1947, he appeared in a Danny Kaye film, A Song is Born. Soon afterwards he joined Stan Kenton’s orchestra, staying with him as a soloist, arranger and composer until 1952. While with Kenton he introduced the classical guitar tradition to jazz, and his recordings from this time set the standard for jazz guitarists. In the early 1950s he cultivated ‘samba jazz’, a combination of cool jazz with samba elements. He also toured throughout the world and recorded with the Modern Jazz Quartet and his own group, the LA 4....

Article

Almeida, Renato  

Norman Fraser

revised by Gerard Béhague

(b S Antônio de Jesus, Bahia, Dec 6, 1895; d Rio de Janeiro, Jan 25, 1981). Brazilian musicologist and folklorist. After graduating from law school in Rio de Janeiro, he set out to be an author, journalist and critic. His first writings dealt with criticism and philosophy, but he also wrote important works on music, including the well-known História da música brasileira (Rio de Janeiro, 1926). The second edition (1942) contains over 150 musical examples and gives a chronological treatment to the art-music tradition as well as a detailed account of Brazilian folk and popular music. This was the standard Brazilian reference book for many years.

From 1947 Almeida turned his attention to folk music and folklore studies. For many years he was a member of the executive board of the International Folk Music Council. He was a founder-member of the Brazilian Academy of Music and chief of the information service of the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Relations. He was also the first chairman of the Comissão Nacional de Folclore, created in ...

Article

Alvarenga, Oneyda  

Gerard Béhague

(Paoliello de)

(b Varginha, Dec 6, 1911; d São Paolo, Feb 23, 1984). Brazilian folklorist and musicologist. At the São Paulo Conservatory of Drama and Music, Mário de Andrade directed her towards the study of Brazilian folk and popular musical traditions; she also studied ethnography and folklore with Dina Lévi-Strauss (1937). Her main areas of activity were sound archive organization, ethnomusicology and folklore: she organized and directed the Discoteca Pública Municipal de São Paulo from its foundation in 1935 until her retirement in 1968. The collection of historical recordings, the Discoteca Oneyda Alvarenga of the Centro Cultural São Paulo, was named after her to honour her contributions to the field. She was a founder-member of the Brazilian Academy of Music, a member of the Conselho Nacional de Folclore of the Ministry of Education and of the executive committee of the International Association of Music Libraries, a corresponding member of the International Folk Music Council, and a member of the Conselho de Música Popular Brasileira, do Museu da Imagem e do Som established at Rio de Janeiro. Her publications include editions of the volumes on music in the complete works of Mário de Andrade....

Article

Alvares, Eduardo  

Elizabeth Forbes

(b Rio de Janeiro, June 10, 1947). Brazilian tenor . He studied in Rio, Rome and Vienna, making his début in 1970 at Linz as Don José. He has appeared in Vienna, Munich, Oslo and Rio, as the Duke, Alfredo, Gabriele Adorno, Don Carlos, Don Alvaro, Faust, Werther and Lensky. At Wexford he sang Konrad in ...

Article

Alvim, Cesarius  

Jacques Aboucaya

(Bothelo )

(b Rio de Janeiro, April 28, 1950). Brazilian double bass player, pianist, and composer. From 1964 he played piano in the trio Camara, and later made a tour of France, where he settled in 1973; he then changed from piano to double bass and also studied composition at the Paris Conservatoire. He formed a duo with the pianist Jean-Pierre Mas (1978), appeared in Martial Solal’s trio, and played in Eric Le Lann’s quartet (1982). Between 1982 and 1985 he was heard with Jean-Louis Chautemps, Philip Catherine, Joachim Kühn, Michel Portal, and the Americans Charlie Mariano, Joe Henderson, and Lee Konitz. In 1985 he resumed playing piano and formed the Cesarius Alvim Connection, with Jean-François Jenny-Clark on double bass and André Ceccarelli on drums. After a period of voluntary retirement from 1992 to 1997 (though he continued to make recordings) Alvim resumed working: he composed a piece for symphony orchestra, ...

Article

Andrade, Mário (Raul) de  

Norman Fraser

revised by Gerard Béhague

(Morais)

(b São Paulo, Oct 9, 1893; d São Paulo, Feb 25, 1945). Brazilian writer and musicologist. He was one of the founders of Brazilian ethnomusicology, and very influential in the assertion of musical nationalism in his country in the 1920s and 1930s. He studied at the São Paulo Conservatory where he later taught. He took an active part in the Semana de Arte Moderna (February 1922) whose basic goal was the reform of Brazilian art from academicism into ‘modernismo’. Soon afterwards he began his lifelong investigations into Brazilian folk and popular music which produced a series of outstanding essays. His first monograph, Ensaio sôbre a música brasileira (1928), considers the relationship that ought to exist between art music and popular music, and analyses the rhythmic, melodic, harmonic, textural, instrumental and formal peculiarities of Brazilian music. Andrade was one of the chief organizers of the Congresso da Língua Nacional Cantada (...

Article

Andreozzi, Eduardo  

Rainer E. Lotz

(b São Paulo, 1892; d Rio de Janeiro, 1979). Brazilian bandleader, violinist, and saxophonist. He studied music in Rio de Janeiro (1917–19) and directed his own dance orchestra, gradually changing its repertory from Latin American music to jazz. He recorded prolifically on the Odeon label (1919–24) and although he did not perform as a soloist he became one of the pioneers of jazz in Brazil. While touring Europe (1924–34) he played for a time with the dancer and bandleader Grégor Kélékian. He made several recordings for Grammophon in Berlin (including Everything is hotsy totsy now, 20338, and Big Bad Bill, 20340, both 1926), some of which show to advantage the hot trumpet playing of Mickey Diamond and the blue blowing on kazoo of Sydney Sterling. (R. E. Lotz: “Eduardo Andreozzi: the Jazz Pioneer from Brazil,” Sv, no.122 (1985–6), 62 [incl. discography])...

Article

Antunes, Jorge  

Gerard Béhague

(de Freitas)

(b Rio de Janeiro, April 23, 1942). Brazilian composer. He studied the violin, conducting and composition at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro with Carlos de Almeida, Morelenbaum, Siqueira and de Carvalho (1958–68), as well as composition with Guerra-Peixe. He also took the BSc in physics (1965), stimulating him to construct electronic equipment and pursue research into the relationship between colour and sound; he founded a studio of ‘chromo-musical’ research and composed a series of works entitled Cromoplastofonias. In 1969–70 he was at the Di Tella Institute in Buenos Aires, working in the electronic music studio and studying further with Ginastera, de Pablo, Francisco Kröpfl, Umberto Eco and Gandini. He continued his electronic studies at the University of Utrecht in 1970, and in 1972–3 worked with the Groupe de Recherches Musicales in Paris with Schaeffer, Reibel and Bayle; concurrently he studied musical aesthetics with Daniel Charles at the Sorbonne, completing a doctoral degree in ...

Article

Apito de samba  

J. Richard Haefer

Common Brazilian end-blown whistle of metal, plastic, or wood (sometimes called a pea whistle because it often contains a loose pellet). Often it is †-shaped, with holes in the ends of the arms that permit two or more pitches to be sounded. Usually suspended from a cord around the neck, it is blown by the band director during a samba performance to signal directions and trigger excitement....

Article

Araújo, João Gomes de  

Rogerio Budasz

(b Pindamonhangaba, Brazil, Aug 5, 1846; d São Paulo, Brazil, Sept 8, 1943). Brazilian composer. He began his musical studies with Benedito Gomes de Araújo, his father, and João Baptista de Oliveira, his uncle. In 1861, he moved to Rio de Janeiro, where he enrolled at the Conservatory and studied composition with Francisco Manuel da Silva and Gioacchino Giannini.

Returning to Pindamonhangaba, he founded a conservatory with clarinetist José Maria Leite in November 1863. He also established an orchestra and conducted the local military band. In 1884 favorable reviews for his Missa de São Sebastião led him to meet Emperor Pedro II, who rewarded him financially and helped him secure a grant to study with Cesare Dominiceti at the Royal Conservatory in Milan. For his graduation he composed the opera Edmea (1886). He based his next opera, Carmosina (1888), on a comedy by Alfred de Musset. It opened on ...

Article

Assad, Clarice  

Dan Sharp

(b Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Feb 9, 1978). American Brazilian composer, arranger, pianist, and vocalist. Clarice Assad is a member of one of Brazil’s most acclaimed musical families. Daughter of guitarist and composer Sergio Assad, and niece of Odair and Badi Assad, she began performing with her family when she was seven years old. Assad skillfully traverses the worlds of jazz and classical music in her performances and compositions. As a composer and arranger, she has written commissioned works and arrangements for violin, symphony orchestra, string quartets, and guitar quartets. She has also written original compositions for the ballet Step to Grace by Lou Fancher and the play The Anatomy Lesson by Carlus Mathus. Some of her notable compositions include Pole to Pole, O Curupira, Bluezilian, and Ratchenitsa. As a pianist, she performs her own compositions and also arranges popular Brazilian songs and jazz standards. As a vocalist, Assad sings in Portuguese, French, Italian, and English, and is known for her precise intonation, even when performing improvised scatting....

Article

Assad, Sérgio  

Silvio J. dos Santos

(Simão)

(b Mococa, São Paulo, Brazil, Dec 26, 1952). Brazilian guitarist, arranger, and composer, active in the United States. He is internationally known as part of the Assad Duo with his brother, Odair. He received his first music lessons from his father, an amateur guitar and mandolin player; in 1969 he went on to study with guitarist Monina Távora for seven years. Later he graduated from the Escola National de Música in Rio de Janeiro with a degree in composition and conducting. The Assad Duo was a prizewinner in the 1979 Bratislava International Rostrum of Young Interpreters, a competition that launched their international career. Since then they have collaborated on several projects with Yo-Yo Ma, Gidon Kremer, and Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, among others. Demonstrating impeccable technique, precise articulation of musical ideas, and cohesive ensemble, their recordings have received numerous awards, including the 2002 Latin Grammy for best tango album. As a composer, Sérgio synthesizes elements of Brazilian popular music with contemporary techniques and jazz idioms. His catalog of works includes compositions written mostly for guitar, solo or with larger ensembles, and numerous arrangements of works from various periods and styles, many of which are now part of the standard guitar repertoire. He has conducted master classes around the world and has taught at the San Francisco Conservatory since ...

Article

Assumpção, Nico  

Gary W. Kennedy

(b São Paulo, Aug 13, 1954; d Rio de Janeiro, Jan 20, 2001). Brazilian bass player. He played acoustic guitar from the age of ten and changed to electric bass guitar when he was 15. In 1976 he moved to New York, where he worked in the group Cinnamon Flower, led by the pianist Dom Salvador and Charlie Rouse; later he performed with Fred Hersch, Larry Willis, John Hicks, Steve Slagle, and Victor Lewis, among others. Having returned to Brazil (by 1981) he worked extensively as a studio musician, a sideman, and a leader. As well as playing more traditional Brazilian music, he performed and recorded Brazilian-influenced jazz with Slagle (1985), Lee Konitz (1988), Larry Coryell (1992), Kenny Barron (1992), Toots Thielemans (c 1992–3), and Joe Henderson and Bob Belden (both 1994). At the Montreux International Jazz Festival in ...

Article

Asunción  

Thomas Kaufman

Capital of Paraguay. The advent of operatic activity in Paraguay was delayed by the disastrous war against Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil during the period 1865–70. A touring French operetta company gave works by Offenbach at the Teatro Nacional in 1875. It was not until 1887 that the first Italian operas (Pedrotti’s ...

Article

Atabaque  

Gerard Béhague

revised by Alice L. Satomi

Generic term for various single-headed drums of Brazil, similar to the Afro-Cuban conga (batá) drum. The body is made of jacaranda wood, in a conical shape or rarely in cylindrical or hourglass shape. The drums vary from 1 to 2.5 metres tall. The head is of goat- or sometimes calf-skin and usually secured by wooden pegs. The drum is played with aquidavis (sticks), with one hand and a stick, or with the hands alone, depending on the particular religious group or song repertory.

Drum music is used in many ritual ceremonies to summon the gods and induce spirit possession. In Afro-Brazilian religious rites atabaques are usually played in groups of threes, each of a different size. In the candomblé rites of Bahia and Northeast Brazil, they are known as rum (largest), rumpí, and (smallest). The drums are made by the chief performer after sacrificing to the uncut tree, and have to be baptized in honour of a specific divinity before they can be played in the rituals. The ...

Article

Aviraré  

[havirare]

Panpipe of the Aweti Kamayurá people of the upper Xingú river area of the Mato Grosso, Brazil. It has four or five reed pipes, up to 50 cm long. Players graduate from these to the larger uruá flutes. The Kamayurá also have a flute call jakui. The name atala was reported towards the end of the 19th century as denoting a panpipe of the Nafuquá (Nahukwá, Matipú) of the upper Xingú river. The Nafuquá also have a single bamboo pipe more than 1 m long and about 10 cm in diameter. The instruments are stored in the ceremonial house in the centre of the village....