05 Track 5

Unit 12

Global Beats

Chapter 1

Brazil: A Musical Melting Pot

Page 203

Brazil A Musical Melting Pot

Brazil is a country overflowing with music. It plays a vital role in the lives of ordinary Brazilians and can be heard playing in every corner of the country. Brazilian music represents a vibrant mix of different cultures, largely because of its complex history.

While indigenous music from the original inhabitants of the area is present in modern form, it is mixed with foreign influences, namely from Portuguese colonizers and their African slaves who landed on Brazilian shores in the 19th century.

As a vast country of many states, Brazil’s music is regional, with each section contributing distinct musical genres.

Portuguese song form such as fado are prevalent in Brazilian music, and Portuguese influences can be found in the mournful and poetic lyrics, the exquisite melodies, and the use of accordions, guitars, and violins.

While Portugal is contributed greatly to the culture and of course the language, Brazil also witnessed the arrival of settlers from Germany, Italy, and many other countries, including Lebanon and Japan.

The African influences include energetic drumming and dancing forms. These are largely expressed through communal traditions like circle dances, with people gathering to make music together.

This potent music also drives the energy in martial art forms such as capoeira. As in Cuba and Haiti, Brazilian Africans were able to retain a great majority of their music, dance, and spiritual traditions.

These traditions, combined with other elements, have resulted in some of the most vibrant and celebrated music in Brazil. This music was often accompanied by dance elements that were viewed as indecent back then because of the close contact between dancers.

Nevertheless, both music and dance became increasingly popular and was eventually embraced by the public. Centuries later, Brazil would again “shock” the world with dance form such as samba.

Samba is a distinct music and dance genre that dates back to the colonial period. Perhaps one of the most popular music and dance styles ever to emerge from Brazil, samba evolved in Rio de Janeiro by the early 20th century and grew to become the quintessential music and dance form associated with Rio’s Carnaval.

Carnaval has since grown to become Brazil’s biggest and best-known festival, with 5.3 million people taking part in street parties and an estimated 1.1 million people visiting Rio.

The popularity of Samba also gave rise to many sub-styles, leading to one of the country’s most popular genres to date: samba-reggae.

Another important development that followed from samba took place in the late 1950s and would spark the second international wave of popularity for Brazilian music:

the development of bossa nova. It evolved as a softer, more refined musical form with an emphasis on singing, featuring lyrics that reflected the romantic and nostalgic side of Brazilian life.

One of its pioneers was composer Antonio Carlos Jobin, the man responsible for the classic song, the girl from Ipanema.

His rich and unconventional bossa nova, with its sophisticated harmonies, explored the influences of American jazz, but with a less dramatic vocal style. When artist such as Joao Gilberto first recorded bossa novas in the late 1950s, music critics called it “music for out-of-tune singers.”

The genre would go on to become one of the most celebrated Brazilian styles worldwide.

Another distinct musical and dance style, commonly known as forro, can be found in Brazil’s northeast region. This accordion-driven music as part of the region’s popular dance forms and dates back to the late 19th century, when cowboys would celebrate the end of the dry season.

Over time, the specific rhythm attached to this style would inspire a couples’ dance accompanied by accordion, drum, and triangle. The leading pioneer of the style, Luiz Gonzaga, made the first recordings in the mid-1940s.

Forro lost momentum during the bossa nova period of the 1960s, but would gain a new generation of fans in the 1980s. Popular artists such as Caetano Veloso and Gilbert Gill recorded modern versions of some of Gonzaga’s most popular tunes.

The 1960s were tumultuous political times in Brazil. Worsening economic problems and weak political leadership led to the armed forces seizing power in 1964. Life under the military government was restrictive, and artists who spoke out against the government repression found themselves in prison or in exile.

As tensions relaxed in the 1970s and Brazil opened up to the world, its music scene embarked on its most prolific era of the 20th century. An enormous amount of music was created and combined with jazz, classical, rock, and other forms.

This musical melting pot of artists and genres embrace virtually anything and everything from Brazil and beyond. It made possible numerous collaborative opportunities between Brazilian artists and their international peers.

Even samba found a new audience outside of the Carnaval. More modern harmonies and electric instruments brought it into nightclubs to be enjoyed by a new, younger audience.

While native tribes in the Amazon retain their ancient musical traditions dating back centuries, Brazilian music continues its extraordinary journey from tradition to modernization. It keeps the world moving to its infectious beat.