Choro do Zeitgeist

Choro do Zeitgeist

Duration: 3:00

Instrumentation: clarinet, 2 percussion (vibes; marimba), piano, opt. tambourine

Choro (pronounced SHOH-Roh) is a form of Brazilian music that developed in the late 1800's in Rio de Janeiro, as popular European dance music of the time (polkas, waltzes, mazurkas, and schottisches) began mixing with African rhythmic influences in the country. A traditional choro ensemble included flute, guitar, and cavaquinho (small four-stringed guitar). Since the beginning of the 20th century it also became common to include mandolin and percussion (usually tambourine).

Today choro is enjoying an exciting revival. It has evolved as an instrumental genre that is highly virtuosic and improvisational, characterized by rapid, syncopated lines, modulating harmonic progressions, and variations on the melody improvised by a soloist. A choro is usually in 2/4 meter and rondo form in 3 sections ABACA, but today there are also choros in 2 sections ABA.

I developed a piece that is rhythmically and harmonically characteristic of the idiom, melodic yet unpredictable, and most of all fun to play. This is an arrangement of Choro, for SATB choir.

SDPC 260 01 Score $5

SDPC 260 02 Parts $10