Music Memories in Brazil

Samba and the anthem

The samba de roda of the Recôncavo region of Bahia is a festive mix of music, dance and poetry that developed in the 17th century, drawing heavily on the traditions of enslaved Africans along with Portuguese language and instruments. UNESCO, which recognised it in 2005 and added it to its Representative List in 2008, notes that migrants carried it to Rio de Janeiro, where it influenced the evolution of the urban samba that became a symbol of Brazilian national identity in the 20th century.

The Hino Nacional Brasileiro is older still. Its music was composed by Francisco Manuel da Silva and first heard in 1831; after several sets of unofficial words, a decree of 6 September 1922 made Joaquim Osório Duque Estrada’s lyrics official, and the anthem’s music and words are fixed by Brazil’s 1971 law on national symbols.

Aquarela do Brasil

Ary Barroso wrote Aquarela do Brasil, Watercolour of Brazil, in early 1939, on a stormy night when heavy rain kept him at home. Its celebration of the country’s people and landscape launched samba-exaltação, a patriotic strand of samba. Correio Braziliense says the first recording, by Francisco Alves in August 1939 with an arrangement by Radamés Gnattali, turned it into a phenomenon, while Wikipedia says it took a while to succeed and became famous only after it featured in Disney’s Saludos Amigos in 1942. Hollywood, and above all Disney, carried it abroad, and in the English-speaking world it is often known simply as Brazil.

Bossa nova and Tom Jobim

Bossa nova, a fusion of samba and jazz, emerged in the late 1950s and won a worldwide following in the 1960s, led by the singer and guitarist João Gilberto and the composer Antônio Carlos Jobim. Chega de Saudade, by Jobim with words by Vinícius de Moraes, is often considered the first bossa nova song to be recorded, and it is also the title of one of the albums with which Gilberto made bossa nova known around the world.

The same partnership wrote Garota de Ipanema in 1962. The Girl from Ipanema, as recorded by Stan Getz with Astrud Gilberto in her vocal debut, became a worldwide hit, reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100 and won the Grammy for Record of the Year in 1965. Jobim wrote Águas de Março, Waters of March, in 1972, inspired by Rio’s rainiest month; in 2001 a Folha de S.Paulo poll of more than 200 journalists, musicians and artists named it the best Brazilian song of all time.

Belchior and Emicida

Sujeito de Sorte, by the singer-songwriter Belchior, appeared on his 1976 album Alucinação. In June 2019 Rolling Stone Brasil reported on the video for AmarElo, a single by the rapper Emicida with Majur and Pabllo Vittar, which opens with a sample of Belchior’s song. CNN Brasil wrote in 2022 that a new generation of fans had rediscovered Belchior, and quoted the music curator Alexandre Matias as saying that this revival was already under way before Emicida used the sample.

In Emblem World, the Brazil music collection gathers these songs and more, where people discover and rate local food, drink and music.