Abstract The paper illustrates how music is the heart of Brazil and is the foundation for many of Brazil's festivities and a focal point for religious ceremonies. The paper shows how, as the universal language, music reaches across all cultural and socio-economic boundaries and no where is this more true than in Brazil. The paper discusses Samba, the most internationally famous form of Brazilian music and the Bossa Nova genre that has become very popular within the international community. The paper contends that throughout the decades, Brazilian music has managed to attain and retain its original ethnic expression and continues to represent the heart of Brazil.
From the Paper "The 1578 "Journey to the Land of Brazil" by Jean De Lery, a French Calvinist pastor, is the source for the earliest known descriptions of Brazilian music, in which he describes the dances and transcribed the music of the Tupi people (Music). In 1587, Gabriel Soares de Sousa's "Tratado Descritivo do Brasil" depicts the music of several native Brazilian ethnic groups, including the Tamoios and Tupinambas (Music). Portugal's King Joao VI, who was a lover of music, spent a good deal of time in Brazil, and even sent for prominent European musicians to join him (Music). Among these musicians were Austrian pianist Sigismund von Neukomm and composer Marcos Portugal, while local Brazilian musician, Jose Mauricio Nunes Garcia, an organist and clavichordist, was appointed Inspector to the Royal Chapel (Music)."
Abstract This paper examines the history of Latin American music and the influence it has had on American culture, looking at the particular forms that have had the most influence as well as some of the particular personalities that have been the most influential in bringing Latin American music to the United States.
From the Paper ?It would be hard to find any area of 20th-century American pop music ? and now 21st century ? that has not been affected by Latin American music, including Tin Pan Alley, stage and film music, jazz, rhythm and blues, country music, and rock (Roberts, 1998, p. 14). The musical voices of Brazil, Cuba, and Mexico have made their way into each of these American forms, which have been influenced not only by Latin American rhythms and musical forms but also by individual musicians and bandleaders who came to play an important role in shaping American culture (Roberts, 1998, p. 19).?
Abstract The 1960s in Brazil were revolutionary times. However, most of this progress halted under a new dictatorship. In 1964, a right wing military coup took control of Brazil, bringing with it an extreme level of censorship of both artists and intellectuals. This paper outlines the effect this dictatorship had on Brazil's contemporary art movement.
From the Paper "At the end of 1968, the Institutional Act #5 was set in place. This act gave the president dictatorial powers, dissolved Congress and state legislatures, suspended the constitution, and imposed censorship. For culture, this meant strict censorship of artistic events, and the persecution and imprisonment of intellectuals and artists. This was a very heavy blow to artists, as they had to watch their steps even more. Soon after Vladimir Herzog, a journalist accused of subversion, was murdered in prison by the military police, Cildo Meireles began creating his "Insertions into Ideological Circuits" in order to create a system for the circulation and exchange of information that did not depend on any kind of centralized control."
