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Slave Trade
•1538-1850: approx. 3.5 million slaves from Ghana, Nigeria, Angola, Congo, Mozambique (incl.Yoruba, Ewe, Fon).
•1850: slave trade abolished
•1871: Law of the Free Womb
•1888: Slavery abolished
General Characteristics of West African/Afro-Brazilian Music
• Dense textures
• Interlock
• Rhythmic complexity (polyrhythm)
• Open-ended forms
• Structure based on melodic/rhythmic ostinato patterns
• Music as means of communal participation
Aspects of Candomblé
• Afro-Brazilian religion• Worship of hierarchy of orixás: deities• Ceremonies: involves dancing, drumming,
singing (in Yoruban), to invite orixás to manifest (spirit possession)
• Musical characteristics:– Call and response– Polyrhythms– Open-ended forms– Specific rhythms for each orixá– Hierarchy of drums
Master Drummer
• Candomblé: three drums (atabaque) in hierarchical relationship; directed by master drummer
• Is oldest male initiate,lead singer,plays any drum he desires; responsible for facilitating spirit possession
• Plays improvised patterns against rhythmic ostinato patterns of other drums
• Drums considered sacred: “drum baptism”
Capoeira
Afro-Brazilian art form combining music, dance and martial arts
Capoeira
• Instruments: – Berimbau: musical bow
with shaker– Pandeiro: similar to
tambourine, played with hands
– Atabaque drums: similar to conga drums, played with hands
– Agógô: double-headed cowbell, struck with stick
Roda de Capoeira
• Jogar = body play– Ginga = basic movement
• Tocar = musical play – Lead berimbau plays “toques” (rhythmic
patterns)– Directs course of the “game”
• Brincar = verbal play (improvised song lyrics with stock refrains)
• Malícia=cunning, trickery (ex. Benção)
Samba“Tudo acaba em samba”
• Afro-Brazilian urban popular song/dance form
• Origins in rural roda de samba:– Participatory– Accompanied by improvised songs and
percussion instruments– Style: syncopated, call and response vocals,
open-ended forms, musical interlock, diatonic melodies
Types of Samba
• Carnival samba (e.g. samba batucada and samba enredo)– Characterized by heavy percussion, songs
about themes presented in Carnival
• (Year-round) samba– Characterized by light percussion and plucked
string accompaniment (guitar, cavaquinho)– Songs often satiric, witty, improvised
Samba Batucada
• Instruments of the Batería:– Surdo drums (basic
pulse in 2 divided among three sizes of surdo)
– Pandeiro (sixteenth-note division)
– Cuíca (accents)– Tamborim
(syncopation)– Caíxa (snare drum)
Choro
• Urban-popular instrumental genre
• Late 19th c. in Rio de Janeiro• Predates Carnival samba• Considered “musicians’
music”• Performed for hire at parties• Played for pleasure in the
roda de choro• Serves as “Brazilian” musical
grounding for instrumentalists of all types
Instruments of Choro
• Violão (6- and 7-string)
• Cavaquinho• Pandeiro• Melody instrument
(flute, clarinet, bandolim, saxophone)
Choro Genre
• Instrumental composition in 2/4
• Based on formal structure of polka with standard harmonic progressions
• Lively tempos; syncopation
• Some improvisation, importance of malícia (playful competition between soloist and accompanist)
Choro and Villa-Lobos
• Heitor Villa-Lobos (1857-1959)
• Choro is “the integral translation of the Brazilian soul in the form of music”