Music In Brazil: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture

Description:
Music in Brazil is one of several case-study volumes that can be used along with Thinking Musically, the core book in the Global Music Series. Thinking Musically incorporates music from many diverse cultures and establishes the framework for exploring the practice of music around the world. It sets the stage for an array of case-study volumes, each of which focuses on a single area of the world. Each case study uses the contemporary musical situation as a point of departure, covering historical information and traditions as they relate to the present. Visit www.oup.com/us/globalmusic for a list of case studies in the Global Music Series. The website also includes instructional materials to accompany each study. As the largest nation in Latin America, Brazil is home to some of the most celebrated music in the world. Music in Brazil covers a wide spectrum of this music, including samba, bossa nova, Tropicalia, and MPB (Musica Popular Brasileira); regional traditional and popular music; Brazilian rock, rap, and electronica; and such genres as sertaneja (similar to country-and-western music) and brega (sentimental pop).Music in Brazil is organized the themes of unity, diversity, cosmopolitanism, and verbal artistry. It shows how Brazilian music expresses the unity of the country's culture, discussing, for example, how samba plays a major part in annual Carnaval celebrations and provides a focus for nationalist sentiment. In contrast, the book also demonstrates how music represents the diversity of Brazilian culture, describing how each of Brazil's regions is home to unique genres of music, and how the audiences for various types of music reflect class distinctions. In addition, author John P. Murphy presents examples of cosmopolitan Brazilian music and emphasizes the connections between music and other aspects of Brazilian culture, especially language and gender. Enhanced by vivid illustrations and guided listening activities, this book is a captivating introduction to the music of Brazil. It is packaged with a 60-minute audio CD containing examples of the music discussed in the book, many of which are taken from the author's field recordings.

Review:
a wide-ranging overview of contemporary musical life, with perceptive, in-depth analyses of selected works... admirably even-handed and non-judgmental Stephen Brown, TLS ...a concise, accurate, and very usable book... Discussions of identity, gender, and ethnicity provide a convincing connection among all these seemingly disparate musical styles, while offering a good introduction to studying popular music with a touch of cultural studies. Rogerio Budasz, Federal University of Parana, Brazil John P. Murphy's Music in Brazil is a concise, accurate, and very usable book. It presents some musical genres that even most Brazilians have never heard of, along with as mainstream as one can get...a good introduction to studying popular music with a touch of cultural studies. Rogerio Budasz, Music and Letters

Table of Contents:
Table of Contents; Foreword; Preface; CD Track List; PART I: MUSIC AND NATIONAL IDENTITY; 1. BRAZIL'S NATIONAL MUSIC; Carnaval in Recife; Samba; Varieties of Samba; The history of samba; Samba and carnaval; Samba today: a range of meanings; Samba on screen; 2. PROJECTING BRAZILIAN IDENTITY NATIONALLY AND INTERNATIONALLY; Choro; Bossa nova; Musica brega; PART 2: MUSIC AND REGIONAL IDENTITY; 3. EXPRESSING AFRO-BRAZILIAN AND INDIGENOUS IDENTITY; Capoeira; Music of the KayapO-Kikrin; 4. THE SOUND OF THE NORTHEAST; Cavalo-Marinho; Maracatu; Baiao and Forro; Luiz Gonzaga and the baiao; Arlindo dos Oito Baixos and instrumental forro; 5. EXPRESSING SOUTHERN BRAZILIAN IDENTITY; Musica caipira; Musica sertaneja; Musica gaucha; PART 3: MUSICAL COSMOPOLITANISM; 6. THE INNOVATIVE MUSIC SCENE OF RECIFE; The Mangue Movement; Mundo Livre S/A; Devotos; DJ Dolores e Orchestra Santa Massa; Glossary of Musical Terms; References; Resources; Index