Pixinguinha in full maturity: The arrangements for a “Brazilian Orchestra”

Abstract

Acting in many fields of our music, Pixinguinha can be regard as the biggest musician and composer of the popular music from Brazil. He participated actively in the foundation of musical genres, especially the samba, and was the biggest promoter of Choro genre, that was practice of the late nineteenth century. Pixinguinha worked as arranger of great singers at the time of emergence of the entertainment industry in our country, but also in musical groups and small orchestras from diverse backgrounds. In this article, we will try to demonstrate that despite several conversations with various musical genres such as jazz, the composer never abandoned his ties to the popular urban music practiced since the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century in the city of Rio de Janeiro. We will observe some aspects that motivated him, in the mature stage of his career, to perform a kind of “rescue” of characteristic genres of that period. This happened with the encouragement of the singer, Almirante, producer and announcer of the radio program O Pessoal da Velha Guarda, in which Pixinguinha acted as arranger in the period of 1947 to 1952.