2. Estrela Brilhante
3. Brazil
4. alfaia(rope drums), tarol(snare drums), gongue (cowbells), caixa-de-guerra(war-snare), agbe(gourd shakers), mineiro(metal shakers)
5. The piece I chose this week was a Brazilian maracatu piece. I've always been interested in Brazilian music and when I was in college, I spent a semester in a Brazilian ensemble and we had the opportunity to play both maracatu and choros. We were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to learn from our grad assistant who happened to be a Brazilian composer. The video description did not have a song name, but the group was performing during a Carnival celebration. I've always been intrigued by the musical structure of maracatu as it's so different from the majority of our music here. Rather than having a set form, maracatu mainly relies on a call and response system. In a way, I guess that could be considered the form. As it is a massive ensemble filled with percussionists and singers, there has to be a way to signal transitions. This part is up to the solo singer. As you can see in the video of Estrela Brilhante, the solo singer calls while everyone else responds. He also keeps a whistle with him and plays it in different patterns. By hearing these patterns and the calls from the soloist, the rest of the group simply falls in to place and knows what to do when.
This was a new experience for me. I've never seen a maracatu piece performed nor have I ever heard of it. Thank you for broadening my knowledge and awareness of various types of music. The context that you provided allowed me to understand what was happening within the music and actually made it easier to listen to and follow. Imagine what a bit of context for our students allows them to be able to appreciate. I am wondering what the significance of using a whistle is for within the context of this piece.I am also unsure of the meaning for the word "maracatu". Does it mean "turned around beat" as an internet search implies?
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