[8.573923] Images of Brazil (micro-trailer) - FREIRE: Copenhagen

Thumbnail photo © Aline Mueller This recording showcases the breadth and variety of Brazilian music by focusing on composers who explore traditional styles and use native forms, such as the bossa nova, chôro, frevo and samba, combined with neo-Romanticism, Modernism and jazz. Looking beyond cultural stereotypes, it includes Camargo Guarnieri’s grandly Romantic Violin Sonata No. 4 and a violin arrangement of one of Villa-Lobos’s most colourful character pieces, alongside contemporary works that explore nature painting, song, and the Carnival—offering an abundance of vibrancy, dance, languorous rhythms and joyful wit. ------- Léa Freire (b. 1957): Três canções (‘Three Songs’) (2005–07) Léa Freire is a well-known contemporary composer, flautist and bandleader of the group Vento em Madeira (‘Wind the Woods’), for whom she has composed many pieces. We chose three works from her songbook and arranged them for violin and piano. The first, Brincando com Theo (‘Playing with Theo’) is inspired by interactions with a friend’s baby. The 7/8 metre and the burbling rhythms create an atmosphere of laughter and playfulness. Copenhague (‘Copenhagen’) is about the idea of a cold, foreign place: it uses dissonant notes and strange harmonies to suggest the disorientation and longing of being far away from home. The last movement, Mamulengo, refers to big, floating puppets used in festival parades. Their arms wave languorously back and forth in the wind, and their jerky movements are an important part of the joy and spectacle of Carnival. Album release date: December 2018 View album info: https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.573923