denny Schools Periods & Styles book

The African elements in Brazilian Music are both obvious and subtle, and primarily include drumming and dancing forms expressed largely through communal and spiritual tradition. African slaves were brought to Brazil for nearly 300 years, with the racial predominance of Sudanese and Bantu groups (Yoruban, Dahomean, Congolese and Angolan), among others. The Afro-Brazilian religion known as candomblé is one of the largest manifestations of syncretic religion in the Americas, combining Yoruban and Catholic symbolism, and thrives primarily in the northeastern state of Bahia. As in Cuba and Haiti, Brazilian Africans were able to retain a great majority of their music, dance and spiritual traditions, primarily along the coastal areas, resulting in some of the richest and most popular forms known around the world. Among Brazil's most celebrated colonial-era forms were the lundu and the maxixe, both steeped in African tradition with dance elements viewed as erotic and indecent, but which (of course) became increasingly popular as they climbed the social ladder to acceptance by the middle class. Centuries later, Brazil would again "shock" the world with forms such as the samba and the lambada, producing some of the most exciting and vibrant music and dance anywhere. Considered one of the most popular forms ever to emerge from the country, specifically from Rio de Janeiro, samba is another distinct music and dance genre that dates back to the colonial period. Coalescing in the early ...