Exam Essay #3
Throughout the last couple weeks of class we have slowly started to stray away from Candomblé and Maracatu and have started to dive into some new genres. These new genres come from southeastern Brazil and include Choro, Samba, and Pagode. While Choro essentially came first and set the bar, Samba and Pagode strayed a bit from the traditional stem of Choro. The word Choro means the “act of weeping, crying, or sobbing” in Portuguese. In this essay I will focus on the deep tradition rooted in Choro while also incorporating how Samba and Pagode tie into choro as it modernizes.
Choro originally began in Rio de Janeiro, which happens to be the hub and capital of Brazil, in the late 19th century and early 20th century. In 1880, when choro had just started, the Choro groups were based on the
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Malicia is an interesting aspect to choro that can at times be hard to explain, but is said to be the so called spirit of choro. It goes back and refers to the choro soloist who enjoyed making the accompanists mess up. Malicia has specific ties to the Afro-Brazilian culture, and has ties to the Afro-Brazilian martial art of capoeira. Choro also has strong influences and ties to other genres like the waltz and polka, serenades, and other dance music from Europe. The harmony, although grounded in European practice, has never been progressed immensely harmonically. Choro has rhythm and melodies, arpeggios, and chromatic sequences make it stand out and unique. An identifying characteristic of choro is the long sweeping melodic lines. When watching a video shown in class it was brought to my attention that because choro is so diverse it seemed like all instruments are welcome. It seemed to be a vary go with the flow type of music where all people, both professionals and amateurs were welcome. No matter the skill level everyone was able to and has something valuable to