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Music - 1 |
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Brazil's origins - the Indians with their reed flutes, the Portuguese with their singers and viola players, and the Africans with their many thrilling rhythms - make it a musical country. From the classical compositions of Villa-Lobos, to the soft sounds of bossa nova, to the driving beat of samba, Brazil has developed music of striking sophistication, quality and diversity.
When the Jesuit fathers first arrived in Brazil they found that the Indians performed ritual song and dances accompanied by rudimentary wind an percussion instruments. The Jesuits made use of the music to catechise the Indians by replacing th original words with religious ones using the Tupi language. They also introduced the Gregorian chant and taught the flute, bow instruments, and the clavichord. Music accompanied the sacramental ceremonies which were performed in village and church plazas.
African music was introduced during the colony's first century and was enriched by its contact with Iberian music. One of the most importar types of music used by the Negro slaves was the comic song-dance called Lundu. For a long time it was one of the typical popular musical forms and it was even sung in the Portuguese Court during the 19th century. In the second half of the 18th century and during the 19th century the sentimental love song called the modinha was popular and it was sung both in Brazil's salons and at the Portuguese Court. No one knows if the modinha was born in Brazil or in Portugal.
Schools of music existed in Bahia in the early 17th century and religious music was played in churches throughout the colony. As with other art forms, musical activity intensified with the arrival of the Royal Family in 1808. King João VI, a music lover, sent to Europe for the composer Marcos Portugal, and for Sigismund von Neukomm, an Austrian pianist, a pupil of Haydn. Local musicians also attracted the King's attention, such as José Maurício Nunes Garcia (1767-1830) who was a notable improviser on the organ and clavichord. João VI appointed him Inspector to the Royal Chapel, a body which had more than 100 instrumentalists and singers, many of whom were foreigners.
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