The country of extreme opposites is polarized like few others: Brazil evokes images of acrobatic soccer, beautiful people and its colorful carnival just as much as scenes of drug crime and severe poverty in the favelas of its big cities. Since Brazil is gaining more and more attention because of this year’s World Cup and the summer Olympics in 2016, we decided to introduce some composers who have dealt with Brazil’s rich musical heritage each in his own very unique way.

Darius Milhaud Brazileira Rahbari Sohre

Darius Milhaud (1892-1974)
Brazilian joie de vivre, expressed through jazzy harmonies and catchy polyrhythms: Scaramouche (1937) is perhaps the most often performed work of Darius Milhaud and at the same time the most popular Brazilian-based work in the classical music repertoire. The French-born Milhaud spent several years in Rio de Janeiro with the poet and playwright Paul Claudel and was so impressed with the local music scene that he created his most famous works there: just like Scaramouche, which exists in different instrumental versions, the orchestra fantasy/ballet Le Boeuf sur le toit (1919) embodies the successful synthesis of contrasting musical elements. Milhaud was greatly enamored of popular and folkloristic Brazilian melodies. Written a short time later, Saudades do Brazil (1920) is a suite consisting of twelve dances which depict the multi-faceted atmosphere of Brazilian carnival.

Go to Milhaud's works list

Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)
Brazilian-born Heitor Villa-Lobos is widely acknowledged as one of the world’s most significant Latin Americans. This master of self-depiction can attribute his world-wide fame to two multi-year sojourns in Paris during which he gained a reputation as a confident genius from an exotic jungle land. Among his most innovative works are the 14 Chôros from the early 1920’s, written for different instrumentations. Villa-Lobos masterfully combined classical European music tradition with popular Brazilian folk tunes, Afro-Brazilian rhythms and native Indian monodies.

Go to Villa-Lobo's works list

Antônio Carlos Gomes (1836-1896)
Antônio Carlos Gomes is a 19th century Brazilian composer who was the first South American composer to gain wide acceptance in Europe. He lived for many years in Italy, where he developed his reputation by teaching at various conservatoires. As a result his operas were soon performed at many of the larger opera houses in Europe. Up until today, his most famous one is Il Guarany (1870). This romantic opera is about the tragic love between the native Indian Peri and a young Caucasian noblewoman, Ceci. The opera is based on José de Alencar‘s novel Questo giovane comincia dove finisco io! („This youth begins where I finished!“). Even Giuseppe Verdi is said to have been favorably impressed after its world premiere at the Teatro della Scala in Milan. Ricordi’s catalog also contains Gomes’ Colombo for chorus and orchestra as well as his operas Fosca, Maria Tudor, Salvator Rosa and Schiavo.

Go to Gome's works list


- Henrik Almon

Henrik Almon works as Library Manager at Ricordi Berlin.