Carnival came to the rest of Europe from Italy, but its roots go as far back as
Greek and Roman festivals to Dionysius and Bacchus. These celebrations were
characterized by the temporary subversion of civil order, and included proces-
sions of masked dancers. Later Christian festivals were devoted to patron saints
or St. Mary, still following the old traditions of masquerades, processions, floats
and flowers. The etymology for the word is unclear, but it may be from carne vale,
Latin for put away the meat, referring to the Lenten fast. Another interpretation is
farewell to the flesh, with both culinary and carnal implications.
Carnival was at first tolerated by the Church; it was incorporated into the Church
calendar after the Counter-Reformation. As Catholic Europe took control of the
Americas and other parts of the world, they brought with them their Carnival tradi-
tions. New World Carnival celebrations commonly represent a blending of Euro-
pean with African and Native American traditions. The Portuguese took Carnival
to its colonies, including parts of Africa, India, and China (for example, in the
former Portuguese colony of Goa in India, there is a long tradition of Carnival),
but Portuguese Carnival celebrations lacked the finesse of the French and Italian
varieties. It was, in fact, violent. The most famous example of Carnival today is in
Brazil, where Portuguese influences mixed with African-derived culture to form a
complex Carnival celebration in various traditions, some directly from Portuguese
models, and others exclusively Brazilian. Several traditions eventually evolved into
to the most recognized face of Carnival today, the samba school competitions of
Rio de Janeiro.
Carnival in Rio until the middle of 19th century was based on the Portuguese
model of entrudo, a brutal costumed revelry chiefly consisting of a vulgar bat-
tle where water, flour, and paint were thrown about indiscriminately at people
on the streets. The participation of slaves and people of all classes allowed it
to attain even more elaborate forms, still thumbing its collective nose at social
norms. Entrudo was followed by what came to be known as the Grande So-
ciedades, or Great Societies, which included parades and masquerades. Great
Societies modeled their masked balls on the Parisian Carnival model, mostly
dancing the polka and its spin-off, the maxixe. These societies were inherently bourgeois, exclusively for the rich, white elite; the poor could only observe
their betters.
Another Carnival tradition was Zé Pereiras, groups that would march while
making lots of noise, led by percussion. They were distinguished by their lack of
dancing. By the 1890s these Zé Pereiras were mixing with black Carnival revel-
ers who paraded in groups called Cucumbis, which featured feathered Indian cos-
tumes leading the procession. A tradition that followed was the Corso, a parade of
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middle-class merrymakers in carriages and later open cars, copying from Spanish
and French models of processions with flowers.
A Carnival tradition that appeared early in the 20th century includes the cordão
and the bloco, scattered bands of street dancing masqueraders with bands of per-
cussion. Bloco came to designate any informal group of carnavelescos, but they
were generally from lower classes. Although they were often loosely organized and
less ambitious than the cordão, they nonetheless represent an expansion of street
dancing exclusively to percussion. Contemporary with the bloco and cordão is the
rancho, which were formed mostly in working-class neighborhoods. They included
men and women, mulattos and blacks, who paraded with percussion instruments in
costumes that represented a theme, or enredo. They appeared at a time when a great
number of Afro-Brazilian were seeking a means by which to participate in Carni-
val that represented their own neighborhoods and tastes, as they had been rejected
from the existing forms of street Carnival. Although choros and maxixes were their original music of choice, ranchos later embraced the Afro-Brazilian samba, which
represented a deliberate reaction to the exclusion of black and mulatto Brazilians
from Carnival.
In the 1920s, the chic Carnival of corsos and Great Societies continued to domi-
nate the scene for the upper classes. Blocos and cordões were seen throughout the
city, but ranchos made up of poorer people began gathering at Praça Onze, in the
less desirable neighborhood of Estácio. This was a time in social, political, and eco-
nomic flux that saw wholesale societal changes, many of which were reflected in
the newest Carnival organizations, the escola de samba or samba school. In search
of their own means of expression and participation, poor blacks took elements from
both ranchos and blocos to form these new, highly organized groups that were associated with the neighborhoods from which they came.
The first samba schools were founded in 1928. They were associated with the
favelas, or slums, many of which sprouted up around 1900 throughout the city, fill-
ing the needed for access to work for lower class blacks, many of whom had mi-
grated to Rio de Janeiro from the Northeast in the wake of emancipation in 1888.
With this migration came the samba, and with the invention of the new escolas,
samba took its place as the preeminent Carnival music. The escolas represented
the desire of these favela dwellers to participate in Carnival in their own fashion
with their own music— samba —that quickly became universally recognized cul-
tural symbol of Brazilian identity. Samba became the most popular music genre,
heard on the radio and recordings, but mostly recorded by white performers such as
Noel Rosa and Carmen Miranda. In the samba of the escola, however, was not this
commercial version, but rather the samba-enredo, the theme samba, used as part
of the combined forces of the escolas to espouse a theme. Escolas competed in all
aspects of the parade—costumes, percussion section, floats, root, dancing, etc.—
for fame and status, at first sponsored by newspapers and later by the municipal
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government. The first competition was in 1932, with Estação Primeira, a former
bloco, winning. Competitions increased in ferocity and scope, and at the same time
became increasingly a means of escape.
Samba schools grew in number from the 1930s onward, and schools grew in
size from several hundred participants to several thousand. These competitions
were held on the streets of Rio, but there was little space for the growing groups of
observers, which meant an increasingly foreign audience with increased air travel.
With nationwide color television in the 1960s, a need developed to improve the
venues of samba school competitions. In an attempt to cash in on both large crowds
and television angles, in 1984 the city built the Sambódromo, a samba stadium.
Capable of holding in excess of 150,000 fans, this construction changed the nature
of the Escolas de Samba.
Samba school competitions represent the most visible aspect of contemporary
Carnival celebrations in Rio, but are by no means the only one. Older traditions
su
ch as blocos and the cordão continue, and there are numerous Carnival balls and
parties. Throughout the rest of Brazil other types of Carnival celebrations take
place, including São Paulo’s version of samba schools, and in northeastern Brazil,
Carnival revolves around street parties featuring the Trio Elétrico, a band play-
ing on a truck with a high-powered sound system. Similar festivities can be found
throughout the Americas, and Carnival continues to be one of the most important
holidays in the region.
Further Reading
Chasteen, John. “The Prehistory of Samba: Carnival Dancing in Rio de Janeiro, 1840–
1917.” Journal of Latin American Studies 28, no. 1 (Feb. 1996): 29–47.
Gardel, Luis D. Escolas de Samba: An Affectionate Descriptive Account of the Carnival
Guilds of Rio de Janeiro. Rio de Janeiro, 1967.
Raphael, Alison. “From Popular Culture to Microenterprise: The History of Brazilian
Samba Schools.” Latin American Music Review 11, no. 1 (Spring–Summer, 1990): 73–83.
Sheriff, Robin E. “The Theft of Carnival: National Spectacle and Racial Politics in Rio
de Janeiro.” Cultural Anthropology 14, no. 1 (Feb. 1999): 3–28.
Thomas George Caracas Garcia
Cavaquinho
The cavaquinho is a Brazilian instrument of the lute family with four steel strings
that is used in a wide variety of popular and folk music traditions throughout the
country. Derived from the slightly larger cavaco (essentially the same instrument
known as ukelele in Hawaii), the cavaquinho is also related to the older Portu-
guese stringed instrument known as the machete. In most musical contexts, the
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cavaquinho functions primarily as a strummed rhythmic and harmonic accompani-
ment to a vocal or instrumental melody. It is generally played with a plastic plec-
trum and its four strings are most commonly tuned (from lower to higher pitches)
to D-G-B-D.
The cavaquinho is used to accompany many of Brazil’s dramatic folk dances
and is an essential instrument in many forms of rural and urban samba, including the highly percussive style of the samba schools (see batucada ) performed during
Carnival presentations, on modern recordings of samba, and in the back-to-the-
roots style of samba known as pagode. It is also one of the primary instruments of
the choro ensemble.
In the 1880s, the flute, guitar, and the cavaquinho formed an early style of
choro ensemble known as a terno that performed popular European dances for par-
ties in Rio de Janeiro. In the 1920s, the influential Oito Batutas group led by Pixin-
guinha and other ensembles regularly used the cavaquinho. During the 1930s and
1940s, the cavaquinho was also an indispensable instrument used by the profes-
sional choro ensembles known as conjuntos regionais (regional combos) that were
hired by radio stations and recording studios from the 1930s through to the 1950s
to accompany singers and to play instrumental numbers. Recordings and radio
broadcasts spread the modern sound of the conjunto regional and the cavaquinho
throughout Brazil and increased the demand for stylistic versatility and virtuosic
performance practices. Nelson Cavaquinho, Waldir Azevedo, and Henrique Cazes
are three outstanding musicians who have explored the virtuosic solo possibilities
of the cavaquinho.
Further Reading
Livingston-Isenhour, Tamara Elena, and Thomas George Caracas Garcia. Choro: A So-
cial History of a Brazilian Popular Music. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005.
Larry Crook
Cencerro
The cencerro is an Afro-Cuban percussion instrument played in popular music
ensembles. It is essentially a cowbell that has had its clapper removed. It is gener-
ally played with a wooden or metal stick, and depending on how and where it is
held and struck will determine the tone of the instrument. It can either be handheld
or mounted on a drum like a conga or timbal . The cencerro has a rural origin, and its early history is related to another type of time-keeping bell called the guataca or
hoe blade. The latter is believed to be the first cowbell, and it is still used in some
types of folkloric Cuban music today. The cencerro may come in a variety of sizes,
usually depending on the function of the bell within the music. The largest of these
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bells is the campana grande. Next in size is the mambo or timbal bell, because it is commonly mounted on the timbals. Next in size is the cha-cha bell used in the
performance of cha cha chá . The smallest bell is the charanga bell, which is used in the charanga orchestras. When held, the sound of the bell can either be open
or closed (muted with the index finger), and it may either be struck on the mouth
(wide, open end), the middle of the bell, or the neck of the bell (the narrower, closed
end), the latter producing a higher pitched sound. The cencerro plays an ostinato
timeline pattern that becomes part of a composite rhythm when combined with the
rest of the percussion instruments.
Further Reading
Uribe, Ed. The Essence of Afro-Cuban Percussion and Drum Set. New York: Warner
Brothers, 1996.
George Torres
Chacarera
The chacarera is a musical style from the northwest region of Argentina that is
danced by nonembracing couples ( parejas sueltas ). Like the Argentine zamba and the Peruvian zamacueca and its derivatives, the chacarera is a criollo genre; that is, original to the New World but derived from European antecedents.
The chacarera shares the characteristic sesquialtera with many criollo
genres from the region, a form of bimetricality that superimposes 6/8 and 3/4
meters simultaneously. Traditionally, chacareras employ one or more guitars
that play rhythmic strumming patterns ( rasgueos, see rasgueado ) including
characteristic accented notes on muted strings ( chasguidos ) as well as melo-
dies. Chacareras can be vocal or instrumental, and in the latter case may in-
clude a violin or bandoneón as well as the guitar. Both vocal and instrumental
chacareras frequently use the bombo for rhythmic accompaniment. Lyrics are
typically written in coplas , a Spanish poetic form consisting of rhyming octo-
syllabic couplets.
The choreography of the chacarera consists of a fixed set of approaches, turns,
and retreats, interspersed with sections where men perform a more free zapateo
(athletic toe- and heel-tapping) while women perform a zarandeo (flourishes with
a long skirt).
Although originally a regional style, the folklore boom of the 1960s brought
the style to national prominence through vocal quartets such as Los Fronterizos
and Los Chalchaleros, and composers such as Atahualpa Yupanqui and Eduardo
Falú. Chacarera remains one of the most common styles used by contemporary
Argentine folklore composers such as Jorge Fandermole and Raúl Carnota, who
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have adapted it by adding complex, jazz -influenced harmonies, and rock and pop
instrumentation and production values.
Further Reading
Abecasis, Alberto. La chacarera bien mensurada. Rio Cuarto, Argentina: Universidad
Nacional de Rio Cuarto, 2004.
<
br /> Hodel, Brian. “The Guitar: Alive and Well in Argentina.” Guitar Review 60 (1985): 1.
Michael O’Brien
Cha-Cha-Chá
Cha-cha-chá is a Cuban music and dance music genre introduced in the 1950s by
composer, violinist, and orchestra director Enrique Jorrín. Its name is derived from
the onomatopoeic sounds produced by the güiro and the cowbell, which is in turn
is imitated by the shuffling of the dancers’ steps.
The cha-cha-chá is in 4/4 rhythmic pattern with distinctive conga and bass patterns and also makes use of the güiro and cowbell, and the drums. Its structure
varies, although it most commonly consists of an introduction, a main section in
binary form, which may be repeated, and a final section similar to the montuno,
which usually repeats only one line of the chorus. The rhythms evolved out of the
nuevo ritmo or new rhythm section of the danzón . The choreography for the chacha-chá features open and closed couples dancing. The steps are marked by the
rhythm of güiro and cowbell. The texts, humorous and narrative, are based on well-
known topics, stories, and daily events. Many different personalities and characters
exist within the cha-cha-chá repertoire.
“La engañadora” is considered to be the first piece in the genre. Enrique Jorrín
published this song in 1953 while a member of Orquesta América, and he origi-
nally designated it as mambo-rumba. Other evidence points to composer Ninón
Mondejar, who designated his compositions, “Yo no camino más” and “La verde
palma real” as cha-cha-chá. All these compositions are milestones in the process
of the cha-cha-chá ’s evolution, but Jorrín was the most consistent contributor to
the genre. Cha-cha-chá was created and refined by the charanga orchestras, which played primarily in recreation society halls, and later in ballrooms. Through the musical arrangements and orchestration of director Rafael Lay Apesteguia and flutist
Richard Egües, the Orquesta Aragón enriched the cha-cha-chá and achieved unpar-
alleled popularity during the 1950s as they brought the genre to its stylistic climax.
Two of the most outstanding composers of cha-cha-chá in these same years were
flutist Jose Antonio Fajardo and composer director Felix Reyna. Cuban charan-
gas influential to the development of the cha-cha-chá include the aforementioned
Encyclopedia of Latin American Popular Music Page 16