Three Brazilian Dances

I dusted off these little ditties from 5 years ago tonight. Curious as to what y'all might think.

I've been a fan of the music of Brazilian composer Ernesto Nazareth (1863-1934) for some time. He was a capable pianist, a friend of Villa-Lobos, and a prolific composer of dance music whose output had a tremendous influence on what was later to be the Samba and Bossa Nova - though it's hard to hear it in his music on the surface. I was fascinated with his style - an often sentimental mixture of Classical, Latin and Ragtime influences - and I decided to write a small set of characteristic dances emulating that style, circa 1910. This is the result.

Please keep in mind that this is my impression of period dance music. This was the "Britney Spears, bubble-gum pop" of its day. It's nothing but a box of bonbons, so don't expect anything that will change the world.

1. Tango Brasileiro: "An Echo From The Odeon." This Brazilian-styled Tango is based almost completely on Nazareth's famous Tango "Odeon." All I did for my main theme in the left hand was turn his upside-down: his goes down, mine goes up. I used the same harmonic rhythm throughout the piece as his did. It's basically a mirror-image variation, hence its name.

2. Valsa: "Primrose Path." I'll be the first to admit that especially in MIDI, this Waltz is one big derivative ball of processed cheese. Again, one has to understand where this kind of music came from and what its purpose was. I am curious to know if anyone thinks I should add a C section (Nazareth might have), or just leave it alone. It does have a couple of nice melodies.

3. Maxixe-Impression: "Step Lively." The Maxixe was an exhibition dance popular in Brazil. I've seen it danced, and it's delightful, if a bit "much" at times, especially when the gentleman drags his foot across the floor (difficult to describe). This is my catchy impression of the kind of music to which it was danced.

Sorry I had trouble with the pedaling in MIDI...it sounds great in Finale. Go figure. Anyway, have fun! That's what it's about.

Hi,

as a person who played many from Lobos, Antonio Lauro and Nazareth i must say so nice! Very well written and i am really impressed! Very nice pieces and if you write some kind stuff for guitar i would like to play it.

so nice (hearing it now again) ;)

Esim

Wow. I'm really impressed.

All three are very well written, and really enjoyable too!

I'm really really impressed that this has come from such a staunch classicist.

The first piece especially. A great mix of all those styles, even some bordering on 19th century romanticism.

This just shows how talented you are - that you can bring out great stuff in a completely different style. And for piano as well.

Write more!!! ;)

What cool responses! Thanks guys! :)

I'm really gratified that they're enjoyable, but the fact that both of you said they were well-written is a great compliment.

Very nice pieces and if you write some kind stuff for guitar i would like to play it

Interesting you should mention it, because I've been considering an arrangement for guitar of "An Echo From The Odeon" with my partner's help (he's a fine guitarist); I'm not confident enough in my knowledge of the guitar to be able to write idiomatically on my own. I might have to change the key from C-sharp minor to B minor.

This just shows how talented you are - that you can bring out great stuff in a completely different style. And for piano as well.

Thanks very much. I may not be able to do stuff like this on a regular basis, but it's nice to know that I'm capable of moving into other areas with some degree of success.

Hi, I am interested in looking at the score of your piece "valsa". (finale would do)

In my opinion the little modulation on the secondary key change was a bit too abrupt , but again this is just my opinion. I doubt I can say that you accomplish something today knowing that I am myself not very familiar with the brazilian style though this piece in particular has a "pisk" of ragtime. Your cooperation will enable me to save time; I am actually writing the whole piece down on paper by ear.

Thanks for sharing your music

Javileru

Wow J. Lee, cool pieces! :D I like the style and feel of them, very happy and upbeat. Wish I could write in that style, it is beautiful. Very well structured and organized. Nice melodies, and like Javileru says, it almost sounds like ragtime music.

I have no criticism, I do not feel I am qualified to criticize your work! :P lol Very well done, keep the piano music coming!!! :)

Thanks! The ragtime influence is ubiquitous in this style. They existed at the same time, and they seem to have more in common than differences. It wouldn't surprise me if they had found Ernesto Nazareth sheet music in Scott Joplin's piano bench, and vice versa.

Hi, I am interested in looking at the score of your piece "valsa". (finale would do)

Sure. Let me clean it up, and I'll post it.

In my opinion the little modulation on the secondary key change was a bit too abrupt , but again this is just my opinion

It's a characteristic "modulation," if such it can be called, in this style - but I'll consider what you've said. Maybe it can be done differently.

Hi again,

i must write this now if its ok or not. I am absolutely fascinated from this pieces. Heared again and again and absolutely no errors in it. I thought that you maby testing us (this pieces are allready made from nazareth or someone LOL) In my opinion it has the same quality all three of them and it is a shame that in our time this bullshit music of MTV earns more than such pieces and such talented people who can compose such music. Especially the ending of them are very well composed, so nice really. You should think about to make more of this kind (maby a serie of pieces 12 or more) because there are some people who would like to play, to hear this kind of music. And a serie of pieces have good chances to came out. For example if you make Etudes, one for each ton minor and major, or preludes it has good chances to be printed and maby some day the students play them in the conservatory as usual. If you like this style, you should hear some of Jorge Cardoso and Augustin Barios pieces (they composed for guitar) if you dont know them. You ll like it. Heared some other work too from you. Very nice!

Wanted to say this again and good luck hope to hear more :P

Esim

hello,

well I am listening to your valsa again just for my amusement :P

greetings.

Hey good stuff. Did you know that Valsa rhymes with Salsa?

Hee hee! :D I am so jazzed that you guys are having fun with these!

Javileru: I've attached the Finale file for the Valsa, as promised. Hey! Valsa really does rhyme with salsa! :o

Heared again and again and absolutely no errors in it. I thought that you maby testing us (this pieces are allready made from nazareth or someone LOL)

Wow...I guess I hit the style of this on the head, but I did a lot of listening to Nazareth before I attempted this. As I said in the original post, I based the Tango Brasileiro almost completely on one that Nazareth wrote called "Odeon." It's probably his most famous work, so I don't doubt that you may have heard it.

For comparison, I'm posting a MIDI of Nazareth's "Odeon," so you can hear how his original sounded, and hear what I did in my variation. I just basically turned it upside down, and it worked!

Thanks for the suggestions of other composers of this genre...I'll check it out.

...just as Maxixe rhymes with hashish.....!

Brilliant - can't say anything but. I've never seen the maxixe danced "live" but something about your piece really catches the spirit and complexity.

Great fan of S.A. music here.

Thanks for the finale file Lee. ;)

" In my opinion the little modulation on the secondary key change was a bit too abrupt. "

to more specific measure 23.

Hauntingly Beautiful! I can feel the evening heat and smell the cigar smoke wafting from the parlor. - And personally I love the harmonic turns at 23 and 78. They give it just the right amount of snuck in sophistication. Personally I would toss the eighth note stabs right there in favor of a slight pause at just the right moment to make it all the more poignant (there's nothing like a little hang time to get people to notice certain things), but I am not as familiar with the idiom as you are. Thank you for sharing it with us.

WOW.

simply put.

The Odeon inspired piece is beautiful, I love playing Barbosa-Lima's version of it on classical guitar and a classicalguitar version of that piece would be Amazing.

The maxixe's are one of my favorite South american rhythym's, Your's reminded me GREATLY of Agustin Barrios' Maxixe,

http://www.musikurlaub.com/online-gitarren...rios/Maxixe.mid Except since it's for piano yours is quite a bit more complex.

Amazing job on all the pieces.

:huh: wow, as a brazilian i must say that these pieces have perfectly captured the spirit of that time. great stuff! just the Odeon is usually played here a bit faster than your version, but that's a matter of taste. i am glad seeing that this important brazilian composer is enjoyed in other lands and is an inspiration for other composers!

maybe you already know also Chiquinha Gonzaga, but if not, you should search for some stuff by her, she is a landmark in the history of brazilian popular music, the first woman here to live as a professional musician, being pianist, composer and conductor. she lived some time earlier than Nazareth buth their styles are similar in some aspects, although she excelled specially in the Choro (another kind of pop music of that age), and one of her pieces is played still nowadays in every Carnival (the march Oh Abre Alas).

best regards!

Ooh! How did I miss these comments! Thanks all of you.

Frantz, I somehow thought you were Portuguese...I suppose if you go back far enough, you are! It's really gratifying to hear from people from Latin America - and especially Brazil, where this music originated - that I've captured the spirit and the style, even though I'm am Anglo-Irish white guy from California. :P I had such fun writing these pieces. I will look up Chiquinha Gonzaga! Sounds very interesting. If she pre-dates Nazareth, then she's very early for a female professional musican anywhere in the world! Goes to show how progressive things were and are in many ways in Brazil.

Just for fun, if anyone's interested, I'm attaching a MIDI of the first piece by Nazareth I ever heard - the Tango Brasileiro "Brejeiro" from 1893. The rhythm is absolutely infectious...I can't sit still when I listen to it. This was what was playing when I saw the maxixe danced. It made me want to hear more, so I found a recording of Nazareth's music done by a Venezuelan pianist, which is where I heard "Odeon" and many others.

:P yes Chiquinha was a great woman. she was born in 1847 and was intensely active in various fields of social life, fighting for the women's and artists' rights, for the supression of slavery, for the republican government when the empire was in its apogee, and other things.

here some pieces by her.

chiquinha_lua_branca.mid

chiquinha_oh_abre_alas.mid

chiquinha_gaucho_corta_jacas_.mid

chiquinha_morena.mid

chiquinha_cubanita.mid