Brazilian Piano Music in a West Village Townhouse

The program includes pieces from Classical Brazilian Music and also some Chôro (let's call it the instrumental cousin of Samba).

Camargo Guarnieri
Ponteios n. 45, 40, 30 & 49

Nininha Velloso Guerra
Suíte "Com as Crianças" (excertos)
I. Carícias da mamãe
II. Com as bonecas, em dança
IV. Soldados de chumbo
V. Boa noite, mamãe…

Brasílio Itiberê
Suíte Litúrgica Negra
I. Xangô
II. Ogu
III. O protetor Exu

Clarisse Leite
Lendas… e Nada Mais!
I. O curupira pula na brasa
II. A nuvem e o lago
III. O duende louco

Radamés Gnattali
Por quê?

Tia Amélia
Jaboatão

Ernesto Nazareth
Escorregando

Henrique Alves de Mesquita
Quadrilha Heróica

Heitor Villa-Lobos
Ciclo Brasileiro (excertos):
Impressões seresteiras
Festa no sertão

The program paints an exciting and colorful panorama of Brazilian piano music, ranging from concert music to choro — the early form of instrumental samba.
It features composers who lived during the golden age of Modernism in the early 20th century — such as Heitor Villa-Lobos, Brasílio Itiberê II, and Nininha Velloso Guerra — a time when Brazilian composers began to create music that embraced the country’s diverse cultural roots (European, African, and Native American).
Brasílio Itiberê does an hommage to the African religion Candombe in his Suite Litúrgica Negra; Nininha Velloso Guerra writes the suite Avec les Enfants, evoking the French music of her time; and Villa-Lobos incorporates into his writing the richness of choro, along with the lyricism and rhythmic virtuosity of Brazilian popular music.
The program also includes composers who lived through the aftermath of that period, in the second half of the 20th century, and who expanded the possibilities of musical writing by incorporating diverse traditions into their piano works — Camargo Guarnieri, who drew on Northeastern folk music and guitar idioms (Ponteios); Clarisse Leite, whose pianism reflects the influence of Debussy and Schumann (Suite Lendas, e nada mais...); and Radamés Gnattali, who merged jazz and choro (Por quê?).
Finally, the program highlights choro composers such as Henrique Alves de Mesquita, whose Quadrilha Heróica from the 19th century already fused European salon music with African rhythms. Tia Amélia and Ernesto Nazareth illustrate the evolution of this musical style at the turn of the 20th century, when choro became an essential part of Brazil’s musical identity and gave rise to the many forms of samba that continue to evolve to this day.