Pixinguinha
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Pixinguinha (Alfredo Vianna)
- Genres: Latin
Biography
Brazilian Popular Music was individualized around the second half of 19th century, and the end of that century witnessed the presence of the African rhythmic tradition in an urban setting. Humble people from the carioca hills created their own musical instruments, percussion generally, consisting of frying pans, cans filled with sand or stones, cuícas, tamborins, and atabaques, the latter made of cat skins.The Portuguese colonization brought elements of European culture with it, including musical forms and orchestral instruments. Brazilian musicians who already played the European repertoire on pianos, flutes, violins, and Spanish guitars naturally transposed the rhythms of the percussion to their instruments. Around 1875 the generic title "choro" was already being used to designate any small orchestra with a solo instrument performing popular music, especially in the open.
Alfredo da Rocha Vianna, Jr., nicknamed the "Pixinguinha," had a prominent role in the definition of the so-called regional development of choro, as the typical small groups of this genre are called. A virtuoso flutist at a tender age, he composed his first song at age 13, the choro "Lata de Leite," dedicated to his friends with whom he used to play tricks like stealing milk cans from the front of neighboring houses.
Starting with the small, chamber-like groups which were common by then and utilized flute, acoustic guitar, and cavaquinho (ukulele), Pixinguinha modified their structure and created what would be his fundamental group, Os Oito Batutas. With this revolutionary ensemble, he introduced jazz-based instrumentation in Brazil, with trumpet, trombone, saxophone, and banjo, in addition to the varied Brazilian percussion.
Born in Piedade, carioca suburb, on April 23, 1898, Saint George's Day, (also known as Ogum's Day) he was a recognized master of the flute at 22, with several records. It was September, 1920. After touring São Paulo and Minas, Os Oito Batutas were invited to work at the Theatro Municipal's Assírio cabaret, accompany the performances of Duque and Gabi, a dance couple who became famous in Europe dancing to maxixe (a Brazilian genre derived from Lundu and a direct precursor of choro). At Duque's suggestion, millionaire Eduardo Guinle, a huge admirer of the Batutas, decided to sponser the group for a tour in Europe. They arrived in Paris in the winter of 1922 to play in the Scheherazade cabaret, where Duque had already danced successfully. With the main concern of simply having his sound heard in the ample Parisian rooms (which were much larger than the carioca ones), Pixinguinha started to think of an instrument with a more powerful sound. Because of this, he bought a Selmer soprano sax, introducing this instrument into the genre of Brazlian jazz. Besides this radical transformation in the traditional instrumentation of the choro, Os Oito Batutas was the first group to employ (in addition to the traditional flute, acoustic guitar, and cavaquinho) instruments like the reco-reco, the pandeiro, and the ganzá.
The season touring, initially intended to be one month long, was extended to six months. Paris lapped up the cabaret, raving with the hallucinatory rhythms of the Brazilians. Rave reviews from audiences and critics alike, Pixinguinha was honored by famous musicians, including Harold de Bozzi, first-award winner flutist from Paris Conservatories.
Meanwhile, tired from the professional touring when they were used to playing largely for pleasure in Brazil, they returned home to their old gig at the Assírio, complete with their new assortment of instrumentation: Donga took on the banjo, leaving the guitar; Pixinguinha introduced the saxophone (although he kept the flute as his main instrument for 20 years, until his drinking-tremble affected his embouchure so noticeably he was forced to play only the saxophone ).
In 1926 he became the director of the Teatro Rialtoa Orchestra, where he knew Albertina de Souza, a chorus girl with the company that held shows there. Two years later, he dissolved the Batutas to take on new commitments. In 1928 he recorded "Carinhoso" to negative criticism, with complaints that the harmony was "too Americanized." The other difference in his style that annoyed purists was the formal change from the three-part scheme traditional in choro to one with a distinct introduction and two separate parts. The same year, he organized he Orquestra Típica Pixinguinha-Donga with Donga, recording several records for the Parlophon label.
The beginning of his success as an orchestrator came around this time. As the remarkable composer/orchestrator Radamés Gnatalli notes, "there weren't composed arrangements in Brazil at that time." Sheet music was imported from Europe or the United States, and Pixinguinha was one of the first to write arrangements for Brazilian music, especially in the form of carnival marches, initially for Transmissora Radio, and after November, 1929, for the newborn Victor Talking Machine Co. of Brazil.
Working with such talents as Heitor Dos Prazeres, João Da Baiana, Radamés Gnatalli, Luís Americano, and Tute, he was creating a new phase in the Brazilian music. The first Victor record had two Pixinguinha's choros: "Vem cá! Não Vou" and "Urubatan." Several others came to document his instrumental mastery and improvisational ability.
In 1932, still working for Victor, created the famous group Guarda Velha, with rare artists as Bonfiglio de Oliveira, Luís Americano, Vantuil, Donga, João da Baiana among others. Of the recordings of this group deserve mention "Linda Morena," "O Teu Cabelo Não Nega" e "Moleque Indigesto," all of them from Lamartine Babo, sung by Mário Reis, Carmem Miranda, Castro Barbosa.
In 1940, renowned maestro Stokowsky came to Brazil to supervise the recording of the best popular music of the Latin-American countries. Asking Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos for recommendations, he was advised to look for Pixinguinha, who called Donga, João da Baiana, Cartola, Luís Americano, Zé Da Zilda, Jararaca, and Ratinho. Stokowsky contbuted eight records of Brazilian popular music for a U.S. record company. Describing his meetings with the maestro, Pixinguinha was given "a compliment on arriving, an enthusiastic praise when leaving."
In that same year, 1940, Pixinguinha joined Benedito Lacerda's regional band, which coincided with the beginning of one of the most fertile periods of Brazilian music, embodied by a perfection of execution not known until then. Pixinguinha again revolutionized Brazilian music writing, with his sax doing superb improvised counterpoints to Lacerda's flute melody. New creative and innovative works emerge during this phase, such as "Ingênuo," "Um a Zero," "Segura Ele," "Sofres Porque Queres," "Proezas do Sólon," "Oito Batutas," "O Gato e o Canário," and "Ainda Me Recordo," among others. Although Lacerdaappears as co-author of all these songs, they were written by Pixinguinha alone, who gave partner credits to Lacerda because of all the publicity he generated for Pixinguinha's work.
In the '50s, Brazilian music was dominated by the sad tone of samba-canção, boleros, and tangos, while the joyful flamboyance of Pixinguinha's music was forgotten by the time he turned 50. Between the ages of 55 and 56, he recorded three LPs with the group Velha Guarda for the Sinter label.
The bossa nova of the late '50s sung the praises of the good old traditional values in Brazilian music. Pixinguinha was given an opportunity to use his vast experiene with the genre in creating the soundtrack for the movie #Sol Sobre a Lama, along with Vinícius de Moraes.
But soon, in 1964, he would suffer the stroke that would take away most of his pleasure and music. In 1968 he said he was retiring from Brazilian popular music: "Now I want tranquillity and living in peace with everyone. I'm afraid death takes me by surprise. I want to die peacefully." And peace followed in his routine, meeting his buddies in Downtown Rio and sleeping early, until the death of his beloved Albertina in July, 1972.
On February 17 of the next year, he went out to baptize one of his grandsons. He was at the church in Ipanema around 4:00 P.M. After some time talking with family, he began to feel sick. He didn't wait for medical care. At 4:30 that afternoon, the father of Brazilian popular music died in the Igreja da Paz at the age of 74. ~ Alvaro Neder, Rovi
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Pixinguinha
| Pixinguinha | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Alfredo da Rocha Viana Filho |
| Also known as | Pizinguim, Bexiguinha, Pexinguinha, Pixinguinha |
| Born | November 4, 1897 |
| Origin | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Died | February 7, 1973 (aged 75) |
| Genres | Choro, Maxixe, Samba, Waltz, Jazz |
| Occupations | Songwriter, composer, arranger, instrumentalist |
| Instruments | Saxophone, flute |
| Years active | 1911–1973 |
| Website | www.pixinguinha.com.br |
Alfredo da Rocha Viana, Jr., better known as Pixinguinha (Portuguese: [piʃĩˈɡiɲa]; April 23, 1897 - February 7, 1973) was a composer, arranger, flautist and saxophonist born in Rio de Janeiro. Pixinguinha is considered one of the greatest Brazilian composers of popular music, particularly within the genre of music known as choro. By integrating the music of the older choro composers of the 19th century with contemporary jazz-like harmonies, Afro-Brazilian rhythms, and sophisticated arrangements, he introduced choro to a new audience and helped to popularize it as a uniquely Brazilian genre. He was also one of the first Brazilian musicians and composers to take advantage of the new professional opportunities offered to musicians by the new technologies of radio broadcasting and studio recording. Pixinguinha composed dozens of choros, including some of the most well-known works in the genre such as "Carinhoso", "Glória", "Lamento" and "Um a Zero".
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Contents
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Biography
Pixinguinha was the son of musician Alfredo da Rocha Viana, a flautist who maintained a large collection of older choro scores and hosted frequent musical gatherings at his home. Pixinguinha learned to play the flute at home but soon became a pupil of Irineu de Almeida, composing his first piece at age 14 and making his first recording at age 16. In 1912 he began to perform in cabarets and revues in the Rio de Janeiro neighborhood of Lapa. He then became the flautist in the house orchestra at the Cine Rio Branco movie theater (silent films at that time were often accompanied by live music). In 1914 he joined with his friends João Pernambuco and Donga to form the group Caxangá, a group which gained considerable attention before it disbanded in 1919.[1]
Five years later in 1919, Pixinguinha, along with his brother China, Donga, João Pernambuco, and other prominent musicians, formed the revolutionary musical group Os Oito Batutas (The Eight Amazing Players).[2][3] The instrumental lineup was at first fairly traditional, dominated by a rhythm section of plucked strings: Pixinguinha on flute, plus guitars, cavaquinho, banjo cavaquinho, and hand percussion. Performing in the lobby of the Cine Palais movie theater, Os Oito Batutas soon become a more popular attraction than the films themselves.[4][5] Their repertoire was diverse, encompassing folk music from northeast Brasil, sambas, maxixes, waltzes, polkas, and "brasilian tangos" (the term choro was not yet established as a genre). The group appealed especially to the nationalistic desires of upper-class Brazilians who yearned for a homegrown, uniquely Brazilian musical tradition free from foreign influences. Os Oito Batutas became a sensation across Brasil, though they were not without controversy. Certain members of the white Rio elite were not happy with black men performing in venues for example.[6]
Os Oito Batutas, and Pixinguinha specifically, were the target of attacks reflecting anxieties about race and the influence of Europe and the United States on Brazilian music. The group, which consisted of both white and black musicians, performed mainly in upper-class venues where black musicians had previously been prohibited. Moreover, they were criticized ferociously by those who felt that Brazilian musical culture should reflect primarily its European roots and that a black musical ambassador was an embarrassment. Finally, Pixinguinha's compositional style and his incorporation of trumpets and saxophones was criticized as being corrupted by American jazz, which was then becoming popular via radio broadcasts.
After performing at a gig for the dance couple Duque and Gabi at the Assírio cabaret, they were discovered by the wealthy Arnaldo Guinle who sponsored their first European tour in 1921.[7] In Paris they served as ambassadors of Brazilian music, performing for six months at the Schéhérazade cabaret. Their tour was a complete success and Pixinguinha received much praise from many distinguished Parisian musical artists including the famed Harold de Bozzi.[8] Upon returning to Brazil, they toured to Buenos Aires where they made recordings for RCA Victor. It is in these recordings that the mature sound of Os Oito Batutas can be heard.
Pixinguinha returned from Paris with a broadened musical perspective. He began to incorporate jazz standards and ragtime into his group's repertoire, changing the lineup dramatically by adding saxophones, trumpets, trombone, piano, and a drum kit. The name was changed to simply Os Batutas to reflect the new sound. He had also purchased a saxophone for his personal use which he began to experiment with.
In the late 1920s, Pixinguinha was hired by RCA Victor to lead the Orquestra Victor Brasileira, and during his tenure there he refined his skills as an arranger.[9] It was common for choro musicians at the time to improvise their parts based on a simple piano score, but the growing demand for radio music from large ensembles required fully realized written scores for every instrument, and Pixinguinha was one of the few composers with this skill. It was in this role that he created some of his most famous compositions, which were popularized by well-known singers of the age such as Francisco Alves and Mário Reis.[1]
In 1939 he was succeeded by well-known composer Radamés Gnattali, and Pixinguinha left Victor to join flautist Benedito Lacerda's band,[10] where he took up the tenor saxophone as his primary instrument and continued to compose music for the group. Lacerda's band was a conjunto regional (or just regional), the name given to in-house bands hired by radio stations to perform music and accompany singers, often live in front of a studio audience. Throughout the 30s, 40s, and 50s regionais provided steady employment to the very best choro musicians of the day and led to the professionalization of the Brazilian music industry. It was with Lacerda that Pixinguinha began another fertile period of composing and recording.
By the mid 1950s, changing tastes and the emerging popularity of samba and American jazz in Brazil led to the decline of the choro regional as other genres became dominant on the radio. Pixinguinha spent his time in retirement, appearing in public only on rare occasions (such as the "Evening of Choro" TV programs produced by Jacob do Bandolim in 1955 and 1956).[11]
Pixinguinha died in 1973 in the Church of Nossa Senhora da Paz in Ipanema while attending a baptism.[12] He was buried in the Cemitério de Inhaúma. His birthday, April 23, is today commemorated as the National Day of Choro in Brazil. The day was officially established in 2000 after a campaign by bandolim player Hamilton de Holanda and his students at the Raphael Rabello School of Choro.
Musical contributions
Compared to the older choros of the late 19th century from which he drew inspiration, Pixinguinha's compositions were more sophisticated in their use of harmony, rhythm and counterpoint. Whereas many of the older compositions were intended to be played on piano, Pixinguinha's works took full advantage of the larger musical groups (regionais) with which he worked, incorporating intricate melodic lines, brassy fanfares, contrapuntal bass lines, and highly syncopated rhythms. Pixinguinha was one of the first band leaders to regularly include afro-Brazilian percussion instruments, such as the pandeiro and afoxé, that have now become standard in choro and samba music.
His arrangements were likely influenced by the sound of ragtime and American jazz bands that became popular early in his career. When he released "Carinhoso" in 1930 and "Lamentos" in 1928, Pixinguinha was criticized for incorporating too much of a jazz sound into his work. Today these famous compositions have become a respected part of the choro canon.
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Choro "O Urubu e o Gavião" (or "Urubu Malandro"), recorded in 1930 by Pixinguinha on the flute
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Choro "1 x 0" (ou "Um a zero"), composed by Pixinguinha and Benedito Lacerda. Played by Pixinguinha (saxophone) and Benedito Lacerda (flute).
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Choro (maxixe) "Atraente", composed by Chiquinha Gonzaga, recorded by Pixinguinha (saxophone) and Benedito Lacerda (flute).
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Choro "Aguenta, seu Fulgêncio", composed by Lourenço Lamartine and played by Pixinguinha (flute) and Lourenço Lamartine. Recorded in 1929.
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See also
References
- ^ a b Crook, Larry (24 March 2009). Focus: music of northeast Brazil. Taylor & Francis. p. 157. ISBN 978-0-415-96066-3. http://books.google.com/books?id=Skjwor64MXwC&pg=PA157. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
- ^ Schreiner, Claus (1993). Música brasileira: a history of popular music and the people of Brazil. Marion Boyars. p. 93. ISBN 978-0-7145-2946-2. http://books.google.com/books?id=FMtaAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
- ^ McGowan, Chris; Pessanha, Ricardo (28 December 2008). The Brazilian sound: samba, bossa nova, and the popular music of Brazil. Temple University Press. p. 174. ISBN 978-1-59213-928-6. http://books.google.com/books?id=d4DuAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
- ^ Palmer, Colin A. (2006). Encyclopedia of African-American culture and history: the Black experience in the Americas. Macmillan Reference USA. ISBN 978-0-02-865821-6. http://books.google.com/books?id=70gUAQAAIAAJ. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
- ^ Vianna, Hermano; Chasteen, John Charles (1999). Mistério do samba. University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-8078-4766-4. http://books.google.com/books?id=L3daAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
- ^ Crook, Larry (2009). Music of Northeast Brazil: Focus. Taylor & Francis. p. 158. ISBN 978-0-203-88652-6. http://books.google.com/books?id=A5nKdX9Yd_0C&pg=PA158. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
- ^ Livingston-Isenhour, Tamara Elena; Garcia, Thomas George Caracas (July 2005). Choro: a social history of a Brazilian popular music. Indiana University Press. p. 216. ISBN 978-0-253-21752-3. http://books.google.com/books?id=VMRjwGdPDeMC&pg=PA216. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
- ^ Rangel, Lúcio (2007). Samba jazz & outras notas: organização, apresentação e notas Sérgio Augusto. Agir Editora. p. 92. ISBN 978-85-220-0763-9. http://books.google.com/books?id=TcMM7FyVm7EC&pg=PA92. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
- ^ Crook, Larry (September 2005). Brazilian music: northeastern traditions and the heartbeat of a modern nation. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-57607-287-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=1nTYAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
- ^ Cabral, Sérgio (1978). Pixinguinha: vida e obra. Edição Funarte. p. 65. http://books.google.com/books?id=Y2FaAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
- ^ McCann, Bryan (January 2004). Hello, hello Brazil: popular music in the making of modern Brazil. Duke University Press. p. 174. ISBN 978-0-8223-3273-2. http://books.google.com/books?id=AKQd0WfQaw0C&pg=PA174. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
- ^ Pavan, Alexandre (2006). Timoneiro: perfil biográfico de Hermínio Bello de Carvalho. Casa da Palavra. p. 127. ISBN 978-85-7734-033-0. http://books.google.com/books?id=_3iY86cfjO4C&pg=PA127. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
Bibliography
- Choro: a social history of a Brazilian popular music. Tamara Elena Livingston-Isenhour and Thomas George Caracas Garcia. Indiana University Press, 2005, pp. 91–98.
External links
- Pandora Project's biography of Pixinguinha (in English)
- A Short Biography (in Portuguese)
- Pixinguinha playing the song "Carinhoso" on sax with Benedito Lacerda on flute (Video)
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