Choro
Instrumentation: SATB choir 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, characterised 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 have developed a choral piece that is rhythmically and harmonically characteristic of the idiom, melodic yet unpredictable, and most of all fun to sing. The text is comprised of vocables found in Brazilian music “scat singing,” which I have strung together in new combinations. SDPC 190 01 $2/copy |
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