The "Choro", the Guitar and Villa-Lobos

Author(s): Thomas G. Garcia

Source: Luso-Brazilian Review , Summer, 1997, Vol. 34, No. 1 (Summer, 1997), pp. 57-66
Published by: University of Wisconsin Press

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3513804

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms

University of Wisconsin Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend
access to Luso-Brazilian Review

This content downloaded from

146.95.41.50 on Tue, 20 Sep 2022 15:42:10 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
The Choro, the Guitar and Villa-Lobos
Thomas G. Garcia

0 violao e a tradicao do Choro foram importantes na formanao musical de Heitor Villa-

Lobos, tendo tocado violao em conjuntos de choro em sua mocidade. A musica de violao
de Villa-Lobos exemplifica muitas das caracteristicas do mais elevado choro, cor a
combina,ao da m6sica popular Brasileira e da arte musical Europeia. Este trabalho
explora o origem e o desenvolvimento do choro, que foi um genero dominante na cena
musical Brasileira nos meiados do seculo ate 1920. Descreve a musica tocado pelos
cunjuntos de choro e a separacao gradual do formato musical Europeu introduzindo os
formatos de origem Afro-Sul Americanos, mudando nesse processo a posicao do violao
no choro tradicional. Finalmente, explica o declinio do choro depois da d6cada 1920 e
subsequentemente a volta na popularidade do choro nos tempos atuais.

Music in Brazil has undergone significant changes in the past one hundred and
fifty years. The end of the colonial period, with its social and economic uncertainty, and th
growth and diversification of the population caused by large scale migration to urban center
and immigration from Europe, hastened the emergence of a national spirit and identity
which was manifested in the music. Performing and plastic artists, for years dominated
European ideals, experimented with new forms and ideas. With no local tradition fro
which to draw inspiration, Brazilian artists 'invented' a new tradition, placing grea
importance on individuality and shunning 'Old World' thinking. The search for a nation
identity led to new and different kinds of music.
This paper is part of my continuing study of Brazilian music and its most famou
proponent, Heitor Villa-Lobos. It focuses on the connection between the popular and t
erudite, and is concerned with the choro,' the dominant genre in the Brazilian musical sce
for the half-century between 1870 and 1920. I begin with a general look at the origins an
history of the choro, the forces involved in performing the genre and its mod
manifestations, as a prelude to the guitar's traditional function in the choro, its changing ro
through time, and its historical existence as a solo instrument. I also examine Villa-Lobo
connection to the guitar and the choro tradition.
Choro is a general term with divergent meanings. The word may designate a
instrumental ensemble (called a choro, the individual players known as choroes, singular
chorao), the music played by this instrumental group or a soloist, or certain popular dan
forms. In each case the term refers to an exclusively instrumental genre. There are seve
theories as to the origin of the word. David Appleby suggests that it comes from t
Portuguese verb chorar (to cry or weep). He translates choro as lament and choroes
weepers, derived from the melancholy character of the music, and believes that as the st
developed it lost some of its melancholy associations as fast, lively choros becam
common.2 Gerard B6hague suggests a connection between the term xolo, Afro-Brazil
dances performed on certain days of the year, and choro,3 but Ary Vasconcelos provides t
most convincing and logical explanation:

The linking of choro (style, musical genre) to choro (melancholy) is

seductive, but not correct. It appears that the name is derived from

Luso-Brazilian Review, XXXIV 10024-7413/97/057 $1.50

0 1997 by the Board of Regents of the
University of Wisconsin System

This content downloaded from

146.95.41.50 on Tue, 20 Sep 2022 15:42:10 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
58 Luso-Brazilian Review, 34/1

choromeleiros, a musical fraternity of lessening importance for the

colonial period. The choromeleiros did not play vocal music, but
instrumental. For the people, naturally, all instrumental ensembles
should be labeled the choromeleiros, the expression of which, for
simplification, is shortened to the choro.4'5

Choromeleiro can be translated as "sweet music", from the Greek choros melos.
The difficulty in defining the term choro is complicated by the nature of the music
played by these ensembles. Although new Brazilian forms were being played, the older
European types were not abandoned and continued to be performed, albeit with a definite
Brazilian tilt:

Clearly, when I refer to the choro, I use it in the broad sense of the
instrumental music which formed, basically, the repertoire of the
choroes: polkas, tangos brasileiros, valsas, mazurcas, maxixes, xotes,
choros [here in the more restricted usage], and, in exceptional cases, up
to the sambas and marches. In principal, all Brazilian instrumental
music, which contain at least some elements of Brazilian character, may
be considered the choro.6

Many popular Brazilian genres had vague and imprecise names such as choro,
samba and maxixe. Villa-Lobos compared this ambiguity to European forms:

You can ask of Chopin if he can explain what is, for example, a
polonaise, what is a ballade. Is there a standard form for a Chopin
ballade? No. Is there a [standard] form for a Chopin bolero? No.
Chopin formed in his fashion a music of [stylish, flavorful] sounds, a
music of his understanding. He has given the title...scherzo... the style
of the author. Something he thought of in a different way... What is a
Choro? The Choro is popular music. The Choro of Brazil, as you
could perhaps say about the samba or something else, but truly the
Choro, is always of the musicians that play it, of good and bad
musicians who play for their pleasure, often through the night, always
improvising, where the musician exhibits his talent, his technique.7

Adhemar N6brega said that the choro

Represents a new form of musical composition, in which is

incorporated all of the styles of indigenous and popular Brazilian music,
with the principal characteristic elements of rhythm and melody typical
of popular music, always transformed by the personality of the
composer.8

The choro ensemble's roots can be traced to about 1870 in Rio de Janeiro. There
were many instrumental ensembles in Rio that had been playing various European genres
in vogue at the time; polkas, valsas, mazurkas, quadrilles, etc. Over time these forms came
to be played in a more "Brazilian" manner: a fusion of the diverse elements taken from
Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, French, German, indigenous and African cultures, all of which
became part of the local musical landscape. Old World connections became less important

This content downloaded from

146.95.41.50 on Tue, 20 Sep 2022 15:42:10 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Garcia 59

as South American and African forms, most notably the tango brasileiro, an adaptation of
the Argentine dance for Brazilian use, grew in importance.
The choro evolved during a period of intense political and social change. The end
of the monarchy and the beginnings of the Republic, the end of slavery and the development
of a new economic system in constant turmoil (then as now) were the backdrop against
which the choro developed. Music was a unifying force during these troubled times,
helping to establish a national identity:

Music--from that of the church to that of the band playing military

marches in the public square, and even that of the Negroes whose
sambas and maracatus recalled black Africa in the streets of Rio de
Janeiro, Recife, or Salvador--accompanied to such a degree the
Brazilian of the time of the Second Empire in the various and
contradictory expressions of his life and culture, in some way
harmonizing these or bringing them closer together, that we may
venture to affirm that the sense of hearing, more than anything else,
brought about the unification of the Brazilians of such diverse origins,
transforming them into the Brazilian, almost one in feeling if not
appearance.

For if some music separated them into different classes, races, and
cultures, other music united them into one people through a sonorous
synthesis of antagonisms and contradictions.9

The period of the choro's greatest popularity was the turn of the century to the
1920's. During this time, there was a general movement of rural populations to cities on the
coast and a formation of compact urban concentrations in the interior. The resulting social
interchanges were important in the development of musical nationalism in Brazil, and new
types of popular urban music emerged, most importantly the choro. Ary Vasconcelos
described the urban connection, saying ".. the choro, the well known popular genre at the
end of the last century, marked the sensibilities of the urban people of Rio."'O It was,
however, influenced by regional styles brought by the migrating masses, and was later
preserved in large part outside the biggest urban areas.
The diversity of the Brazilian population was reflected in the instruments used in
typical choro ensembles. The melodic and harmonic instruments were of European origin,
and the percussion instruments, which provide the complex rhythmic formations now
closely associated with the samba bands of Carnaval (but also used in the choro), had
African and indigenous roots:

Instruments:

European: violao and viola, seven-string guitar, cavaquinho, mandolin,

flute, ophecleide,"1 clarinet, trombone, tuba, saxophone, and (later)
piano and accordion

Indigenous: chocalho (rattle), maracas, reco-reco (gourd rasp), etc.

African: atabaque (beads), berimbau (musical bow), bombos (drum),

cuica (friction drum), ganzd (rattle), agogo (bells), etc.

This content downloaded from

146.95.41.50 on Tue, 20 Sep 2022 15:42:10 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
60 Luso-Brazilian Review, 34/1

The earliest choro ensembles were an evolution from the musica de barbeiros, or
Barber's music, a small ensemble which had been popular for some time, usually comprised
of two guitars, a cavaquinho and later a flute. The flute played the melody, the guitar the
bass, and cavaquinho provided the rhythmic base in the middle register. As more forces
were added these three instruments, referred to collectively as the pau e corda (wood and
strings) or the terno, remained the core of the choro. As the choro became more popular and
important, it was incorporated into larger, already established ensembles, both civil and
military. The Banda do Corpo de Bombeiros do Rio de Janeiro (Firemen's Band of Rio de
Janeiro) is closely associated with the early stages of the choro.
As A. G. Pinto's 1936 book O Choro points out, the guitar and flute remained the
most popular instruments for choroes. Pinto provides short biographies of the most
important and popular players of the time, and his 365 references reveal which instruments
were played by the choroes, almost half of whom played the guitar or flute; guitar (96),
flute (83), singers'2 (47), cavaquinho (21), piano (20), ophecleide (17), baritone and tuba
(12), trombone (11), trumpet (9), and saxophone (6). Other instruments commonly used
include the mandolin, bandolim, clarinet, violin, accordion, oboe, cello and bass.
A choro ensemble piece usually featured a soloist playing a highly ornamented
version of a familiar melody (usually on a wind instrument or mandolin), while the
supporting instruments improvised counterpoint. Bass and harmony were provided by the
guitar, seven-string guitar and cavaquinho (which at times also had a solo or contrapuntal
function), and the ophecleide. The genre, initially improvised, was later notated, but it was
expected that the players would maintain an improvisatory approach in their performances.
The choro was both a social and musical phenomenon for both the performers and
their audience. For the choroes the music became almost a cult or religion whose purpose
was to experience a "higher" meaning. The virtuosity of a good chorao was not to impress
or make money. The poet Herminio Bello de Carvalho observed of the choroes of this
period:

The Ch6ro has a kind of social structure. The Chor5es themselves had
great respect for one another, a respect which was also felt by those who
heard them play. Here in the city [Rio de Janeiro] everyone knew that
in another district, Madureira for example, there was a great performer
of the ophecleide, and that in Botafogo it was possible to hear a leading
player on the cavaquinho. Thus they were well-known legendary
figures, admired from afar, even before any actual contact was made
with them.'3

There was at times a great deal of spontaneity in the choro. Musicians would
often meet after performing in theaters or salons in the evening and play the choro through
the night. Villa-Lobos described a typical gathering:

[A Ch6ro ] might be musicians of the orchestra who played a concert

or an opera which ended at midnight, or eleven, meet up again and say,
"We are going to play a serenade, or a 'seresta' or a choro." There it is!
When they are in agreement, they take the train, very far, to their
neighborhood, in search of something to eat, to drink cachaca'4... We
go knock on the door of a man we know who likes this. Before we
knock on the door, we all play spontaneous improvisations, each plays.
But here it is, the Choros [sic.]. It is always very passionate.'5

This content downloaded from

146.95.41.50 on Tue, 20 Sep 2022 15:42:10 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Garcia 61

The groups got together in various districts, usually meeting at saloons and homes,
and played through the night for little or no money. Compensation was frequently
gastronomic rather than financial. The performers would arrive, go straight to the kitchen
to make sure that the "cat wasn't sleeping on the stove" (check out the victuals) , and
proceed to eat their fill. Most choroes were known as good eaters.
Although a variety of pieces were performed, some general characteristics apply
to most of the choro repertoire:

Harmony- Harmonies on European models, with Brazilian flavor. It

tends towards chromaticism within a tonal context. It is often
contrapuntal, and has been described as "ornate and 'notey' and the
harmonies often 'devilish'."'6
Structure and tonal plan- "ABACA" or other sectional form, sections
approximately the same length.
A - tonic key
B - tonic or a closely related key
C - dominant (major), relative or parallel major (minor)
Tempo- fast or slow, with contrasting sections at a different tempi.
There are exceptions, of course.
Rhythms- Highly syncopated melody and improvised counterpoint.
Bass line not highly syncopated. Most common is the Afro-Brazilian
rhythm: 7

dX e xx e x

These characteristics are by no

composition and performance were h
apply to most pieces.
Rhythm is the most important el
has become a principal characteristi
influenced by the indigenous instrum
desafios (challenge), and cocos (coco
as the music associated with the
caboclo (the 'white Indians', backlan
combination of Portuguese rhythm
early African and Moorish influence
to a free, subtle, fantasia-like qualit
Brazilian popular music.
Several forms became integral par
and the samba. The maxixe was very
faster version of the tango, and o
virtually indistinguishable. Its devel
ragtime (as did the choro in general)
1920's.
The lundu is a dance form of African origin which was introduced to Brazil by
Bantu slaves. It was the first form of black music to undergo Europeanizations such as tonal
harmony, cadences and modulation, and was adopted and modified into the chula, thefado
(different from the Portuguesefado), the urban lundu; aspects were incorporated into the

This content downloaded from

146.95.41.50 on Tue, 20 Sep 2022 15:42:10 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
62 Luso-Brazilian Review, 34/1

tango brasileiro. The acceptance of the lundu was an important step in the integration of
black music, previously considered inferior, into colonial society: it became the first
authentically national popular form.
The samba is the most internationally recognized form of Brazilian popular music.
Rhythmically it is from same mold as the choro, combining the characteristics of the polka,
maxixe and habanera with African rhythmic figures and complexity. Originally part of the
candomble and called a semba, participants would dance in a circle until they became
"possessed." The name was later a generic label for a secular night dance, and it became
the national dance of Brazil (like the rumba in Cuba). Developed in the state of Bahia, it
was introduced to the south by emigrating blacks at the turn of the century. The candomble
and other parts of black culture had been attacked by the white governing elite in Bahia, and
flight to the south was a means by which the religion and its music was preserved and
developed.
In the 1920's the samba emerged as a sophisticated urban form, undergoing almost
continuous change to the present. It became associated with the celebration of Caraval,
and its driving two-beat rhythm seems to compel the entire country to dance. The samba
was an important part of the choro during its heyday, and was then the choro's successor as
the most popular Brazilian music genre. Several of the better known choroes, including the
famous Donga, were also known as sambistas.
An immense number of choros has been produced since the 1870's. In a two-year
study of the history of the choro, Ary Vasconcelos catalogued over 3,000 pieces, and his
continued study should augment that number significantly. His 1984 book19 traces the
history of the choro and the choroes, generation by generation, from the late 1860's to the
present. (We are, incidentally, in the seventh generation of choroes.) He lists the changes
in the ensembles' composition, including the increased use of piano and accordion, and
discusses some of the trends in the music and the players.
One of the interesting topics touched upon by Vasconcelos are the titles of choros.
He says that they tended to reflect humor, vivacity, satire, irony, love, although the music
seldom has anything to do with the titles. "They are manifestation of a free spirit, of love,
of sensuality, and at times for the purpose of speaking metaphorical nonsense."20 Sambas,
polkas, tangos, maxixes, etc. had titles like A Mulher e um Diabo (The Lady is a Devil), O
Ceu Pede Umas Estrelas (The Sky Asks for Some Stars), Quem Comeu do Boi (Who Ate
Too Much [appropriate for the gastronaut/musicians]), Amor Tem Fogo (Love has Fire),
Tico-Tico no Fubd (Critter in the Corn Meal), Lingua Comprida (The Big Tongue), etc.
The choro underwent changes during the fourth generation (which included
Garoto, the most famous choro guitarist). American-style jazz bands became popular in the
1920's, and the demand for both American and Brazilian music caused such groups to play
not only fox-trots and Charlestons but also sambas and maxixes. Choro ensembles started
to imitate American models, assuming the same basic size and composition, and using what
were considered American instruments, including the saxophone and the drum set. There
were even some choros para big bands, combining the two genres. Pinto states that

between 1870 and 1919, it may be said that the choro lived, in Rio de
Janeiro, in its Golden Age. The jazz-bands (which would influence and
later supersede the choro) still had not rushed into the musical scene,
with their saxophones and American percussion.2

It was the fifth generation of choroes that saw the biggest changes in the tradition.
The choro was initially an urban form associated with Rio de Janeiro, but it started to lose

This content downloaded from

146.95.41.50 on Tue, 20 Sep 2022 15:42:10 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Garcia 63

popularity in the capital and found new life elsewhere, particularly in the Northeast. It lost
its exclusively urban identity and was transplanted into the relatively rural setting where it
is best preserved today. Although the choro was still popular, it was supplanted by the big
band and did not enjoy as prominent or important a position as it once had. In the 1940s and
50s many exceptional choroes came from the Northeast, such as Joao Pernambuco, Ratinho,
Sivuca, Francisco Soares, and others. Whereas previous choroes had moved to Rio to be
part of the urban scene, they now remained or returned home, making the region a sanctuary
for the choro tradition.
The most famous of this generation of non-Carioca22 choroes was Sivuca (from
the state of Pernambuco), an accomplished performer on the guitar, piano, percussion and
most notably on the accordion. He had an international reputation and played with some of
the greatest musicians of the popular music world ( I remember seeing him on the Ed
Sullivan show). His playing style has been described as sweet and smooth, and he recorded
many of the choro hits. Known as an interpreter rather than a composer, he is still one of
Brazil's most popular performers.
The best known composer of this generation was also from the Northeast:
Francisco Soares de Souza, a guitarist who was known as o Canhoto da Paraiba, (the left-
hander of Paraiba, b. 1928 ). There is a famous story of his 1959 trip to Rio by jeep--five
days on terrible roads. Tapes of his compositions and playing had circulated around the
country, and he was already well known in when he arrived in Rio as the 'conquering hero'.
He played with all the greats in Rio but became quickly disenchanted with the urban scene
and returned home to the Northeast. He did not make his first LP until 1977, a 'home made'
venture financed by friends. His guitar playing and compositions were of "major
importance in the conservation of a sonority which was being lost, characterized by the
phrasing of the choro and with the purest melodic motives."23
The guitar has always held an important place in the choro tradition. Played great
many of the most famous choroes, it remains the most popular instrument in all forms of
Brazilian music. It outgrew its ensemble role to assume a position of prominence as a solo
instrument, and functioned much like the ragtime piano: part of the ensemble, yet capable
of striking out on its own as a solo voice. Throughout the history of the choro guitarists
played as soloists, accompanied only by rhythm instruments, and accompanying other
melodic instruments as part of ensembles. Many guitarists were known for their prowess
as soloists while others came to be highly regarded for their skill as accompanists. The
number of solo guitarists increased in Rio during the 1920's and 30's while the number of
choro ensembles decreased, replaced by the American-style jazz bands. Although the
ensembles retained some of their following, they would be relegated to a position of lesser
importance in the Brazilian musical world.
With little or no money to be gained playing in the larger ensembles, guitarists
would often play for higher wages in the salons of Rio. This was the case with Villa-Lobos,
whose first musical experiences were with the choro. After the death of his father the young
composer left home and started playing the guitar in a choro which met at the Cavaquinho
de Ouro, a bar in the Rio neighborhood of Laranjeiras. Villa-Lobos also played the guitar
in various brothels24 and cello in theater orchestras to make a living. He played with some
of the finest choroes in Rio and was known as the 'classical guitarist,' the one who
encouraged the others to study 'legitimate' music. One such chorao was Donga, who was
a well-known guitarist and friend of Villa-Lobos. He said of Villa-Lobos's guitar playing:

Villa-Lobos was someone who could always improvise and who was
also a very fine solo guitarist...He played difficult classical pieces that

This content downloaded from

146.95.41.50 on Tue, 20 Sep 2022 15:42:10 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
64 Luso-Brazilian Review, 34/1

demanded a good technique, and he constantly worked to improve his

playing.5

Villa-Lobos's affinity for the choro was an important motivating force in his
compositions throughout his career. He once said that the two greatest influences on his
style were the music of Bach and the choro. (He usually claimed that his music was never
influenced by what others had done, saying "when I feel an influence, I jump out of it."
This acknowledgment of an influence is exceptional.) In the 1920's he wrote an entire
series of pieces called Choros which, although classical compositions, represent the
combination of the choro popular style and vocabulary with European classical procedures,
a fusion which was important to Villa-Lobos throughout his career. These pieces were for
various instrumental combinations, ranging in size and scope from a solo guitar (Choro #1)
to a full symphony orchestra. Simon Wright, an English musicologist, said of these pieces:

The sound of the guitar was chosen by Villa-Lobos as the starting point
for a series of works in which he combined a Brazilian popular idiom
with the tradition of Western erudite music. The series of works
collectively and individually entitled Choros was primarily conceived
and executed during the years between his European journeys (1924-
29), with the exception of the first piece, the Choro tipico, written in
1920...the series embodies completely Villa-Lobos's vision of Brazil
as a vast, teeming landscape, immense in its inclusivity, variety, and
proportion...no European musical form was adequate to contain this
vision...and so, in the Choros a new mould was born, in which the
improvisations and instrumental groupings of the choroes were merely
a basis, a convenient name and embryo for a form which would
eventually accommodate not only popular elements, but also
stylizations of Indian and Black music, and of natural
sounds... Stylization and synthesis are two key words for a complete
understanding of [Villa-Lobos's] Choros, which are neither imitations
of the music of the choroes, nor symphonic poems about Brazil,
although aspects of both are present.26

The combination of the Brazilian and the European introduced in the Choro series
was continued in Villa-Lobos's most famous series of compositions, the Bachianas
Brasileiras, combining his two acknowledged influences: Brazilian musical vocabulary and
the compositional process of J. S. Bach. In both series of pieces Villa-Lobos the
instrumentalist influenced Villa-Lobos the composer: as a cellist he raised to prominence
an orchestra of cellos in the Bachianas, and as a highly respected choro guitarist he elevated
the guitar to respectability in the Choro #1 and his many other pieces for guitar.
The guitar music of Villa-Lobos exemplifies many of the characteristics of the
elevated choro, which fuses the Brazilian popular tradition and European art music.
Contrary to the interpretations of European and North American musicians who perform this
music, this combination does not subordinate the popular elements of the music to the
classical. It is my belief that Villa-Lobos intended a fusion of popular and classical
compositional procedures and technical practices not normally associated with classical
guitar. When incorporated into the performance of this music, the blending of European
classical and Brazilian popular techniques breathes a new life and identity into the music.

This content downloaded from

146.95.41.50 on Tue, 20 Sep 2022 15:42:10 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Garcia 65

The Choro tradition is very much alive today, flourishing in large part outside of
the city of Rio de Janeiro. The genre was initially music for ensembles, later for both
ensembles and solo guitar, and is today preserved largely as a solo guitar form. It no longer
holds the dominant position in Brazilian popular music that it once enjoyed, but there has
recently been a resurgence of interest in the choro ensemble, with new groups drawing
inspiration from the many recordings available. Some of the older players have passed
down the techniques and style of the choro to a young generation of players who carry on
the tradition. Fortunately, unlike many other traditions, it has not yet been obliterated by
the mass media, and thus remains a link with Brazil's past and an expression of its diversity
and vitality as a nation.

NOTES

Originally written ch6ro. Brazilian Portuguese has recently become more

standardized, changing many spellings and omitting diacritical marks.
2 David Appleby, The Music of Brazil (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press
1983), p. 72.
3 Gerard H. Behague, "Popular Musical Currents in the Art Music of the Early
Nationalistic Period in Brazil, Circa 1870-1920" (Tulane University: PhD dissertation,
1966), p. 95.
4 Ary Vasconcelos, Carinhoso, Etc. (Rio: Grafico Editora, 1984), p. 10.
5 All translations in this article are by Thomas G. Garcia.
6 Ary Vasconcelos, Carinhoso, p. 10
7 From a speech to the Club des Trois Centres by Villa-Lobos, Paris May 29,
1958, "Qu'est-ce qu'un choros?", recorded and released on disc, EMI 7 PM 14100 M.
Transcription in the liner notes.
8 Adhemar N6brega, Os choros de Villa-Lobos (Rio: Museu Villa-Lobos, 1975),
p. 9.
9 Gilberto Freyre, Ordem e Progressso (Rio: Livraria Josd Olympio Editoria,
1959), p. 107.
'0 Ary Vasconcelos, Carinhoso, p. 13.
" The violao and viola are Portuguese names for the standard guitar and a small,
five or six-string instrument. The cavaquinho is a small four-string guitar, similar to the
ukelele. The ophecleide is a precursor of the tuba.
12 The singers listed did not sing in the choro, but in a related vocal group called
the seresta, or serenade. They were, however, known to the choroes, and travelled in the
same circles.
13 Quoted by Turibio Santos, Heitor Villa-Lobos e o Violao (Rio: Museu Villa-
Lobos, 1975).
14 Cacha9a is a Brazilian liquor made from sugar cane.
'5 Villa-Lobos, Paris May 29, 1958, "Qu 'est-ce qu 'un choros?"
16 Brian Hodel, "The Brazilian Guitar," Guitar Review No. 84, Winter 1991.
17 Gerard H. Bdhague, "Popular Musical Currents," p. 114.
18 An Afro-Brazilian religious ceremony combining Christianity and the
polytheism of West African religions.
19 Ary Vasconcelos, Carinhoso.

This content downloaded from

146.95.41.50 on Tue, 20 Sep 2022 15:42:10 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
66 Luso-Brazilian Review, 34/1

20 Ary Vasconcelos, Carinhoso, p. 13

21 Alexandre Goncalves Pinto, O Choro (Sio Paulo: Instituto Nacional de Muisica,
1936), p. 12.
22 A Carioca is a native of Rio de Janeiro.
23 Ary Vasconcelos, Carinhoso, p. 38.
24 This is not included in his biographies, but was conveyed to me anecdotally by
several people who knew Villa-Lobos.
25 Cited by Brian Hodel, "Villa-Lobos and the Guitar," Guitar Review, Winter
1988, p. 21.
26 Simon Wright, Villa-Lobos (London: Oxford UP, 1992), p. 62.

WORKS CITED

Appleby, David P. The Music of Brazil. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press,
Behague, Gerard H. "Popular Musical Currents in the Art Music of the Early Nationa
Period in Brazil, Circa 1870-1920." PhD, Tulane, 1966.
Freyre, Gilberto. Ordem e Progresso. Rio de Janeiro: Livraria Jose Olympico Ed
1959.
Hodel, Brian. "The Brazilian Guitar." Guitar Review 84 (Winter 1991).
N6brega, Adhemar. Os Choros de Villa-Lobos. 2nd ed., Rio de Janeiro: Museu de
Lobos, 1973.
Pinto, Alexandre Goncalves. O Choro. Rio de Janeiro: Edi9ao FUNARTE, 1978.
Santos, Turibio. Heitor Villa-Lobos e o Violdo. Rio de Janeiro: Museu de Villa-L
1975.
Vasconcelo, Ary. Carinhoso Etc.: Historia e Inventdrio do Choro. Rio de Jan
Grafica Editora do Livro, 1984.
Villa-Lobos, Heitor. "Qu'est-ce Qu'un Choros?" (Lecture at the Club de Trois Ce
Paris, May 29, 1958). Paris: EMI (France), 1976.

This content downloaded from

146.95.41.50 on Tue, 20 Sep 2022 15:42:10 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms