Survey of Brazilian Music History

This course is a survey focusing on stylistic analysis and a contextualizing cultural exploration of the various socio-historical circumstances that have characterized Brazilian music throughout its evolution from the slave-trade defined colonial era, via the emergence of a unified national, mainstream musical identity around the early 20^th century, and into its current cosmopolitan stylistic landscape. It features discussion of national as well as regionally-defined genres, introductions to representative artistic figures and their works, and places particular emphasis on the historical as well as ongoing creative exchanges among European-, Indigenous-, and African-derived musical traditions in the formation of Brazil’s musical identity. The particular impact of Brazilian popular music on the international stage will be also examined from a variety of perspectives. The class discussion includes extensive audio/visual materials, as well as weekly readings drawing on a variety of journalistic and academic sources.