Yupanqui, who revitalized Latin American folk music. In 1965, Angel and Isabel
Parra (Violeta Parra’s children) founded “La Peña de los Parra,” a nightclub that
established the sound of nueva canción and found an audience for future luminar-
ies such as Patricio Manns and Víctor Jara. Augusto Pinochet’s 1973 coup badly
affected nueva canción artists, who were forced to go underground. Víctor Jara was
tortured and killed, and well-known ensembles such as Inti-Illimani and Quilapa-
yún were exiled. An urban movement called canto nuevo emerged after the military
government banned traditional Andean instruments. The subjects of canto nuevo’s
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songs were largely about the city, and electronic musical instruments began to be
used. Well-known groups belonging to this tendency are Barroco Andino, Ortiga,
Aquelarre, and Santiago del Nuevo Extremo.
Nueva Ola Chilena (Chilean New Wave) materialized in the early 1960s in re-
sponse to the international boom of rock ‘n’ roll. It was the first big phenomenon of
music sales, tightly linked with mass media, radio, and especially television. Young
Chilean artists performed rock and pop songs mostly from the English-speaking
world. Well-known artists included Los Ramblers (their single “El rock del mun-
dial” inaugurated the Nueva Ola movement), Peter Rock, Los Carr Twins, Buddy
Richard, Los Red Junior, Luis Dimas, José Alfredo Fuentes, Fresia Soto, Cecilia,
Gloria Aguirre, Pat Henry, Alan y sus Bates, and Los Rockets. Nueva Ola Chilena
received harsh criticism because it was regarded as a commercial movement that
did not represent the Chilean tradition.
The development of Chilean rock began in the 1960s, notably with the bands
Los Jocker’s, Aguaturbia, Los Mac’s, Los Jaivas, and Congreso. The military
coup badly affected rock musicians because assemblies and night shows were
banned and the local recording industry was in recession. In the 1980s, musicians
became overtly involved with politics, Los Prisioneros being the most influential
band of this period. During the last two decades, Chile has had a thriving rock
music scene, with many groups performing and recording in the country and
abroad. Well-known contemporary bands include Los Tres, La Ley, Fulano, Lu-
cybell, Tiro de Gracia, Sinergia, Difuntos Correa, Los Bunkers, Dracma, Santo
Barrio, Javiera y Los Imposibles, Mamma Soul, Gondwana, Chancho en Piedra,
and Los Tetas.
Further Reading
Advis, Luis, and Juan Pablo González. Clásicos de la música popular chilena. 2 vols.
Santiago: Ediciones Universidad Católica de Chile, 1999–2000.
González, Juan Pablo. “Hegemony and Counter-Hegemony of Musician Latin-
Americans: The Chilean Pop.” Popular Music and Society 15, no. 2 (1991): 63.
González, Juan Pablo. “The Making of a Social History of Popular Music in Chile:
Problems, Methods, and Results.” Latin American Music Review/Revista de música latino-
americana 26, no. 2 (2005): 248.
Katia Chornik
Chocalho
The chocalho is a Brazilian shaker or rattle used in a broad range of settings and
genres. It can be made of metal, wood or plastic, filled with shells, stones, seeds,
or rice, and varies in shape and size. Chocalho and ganzá are interchangeable terms
Choro | 93
whose selection varies depending on region and musical style. The instrument typi-
cally maintains a steady rhythmic pulse with accents placed on the first and fourth
agitations, creating a swing-like feel. African Brazilians have used chocalhos in
folkloric and religious music throughout Brazilian history. During the 1920s the
group Os Oito Batutas integrated the instrument into Brazilian popular music and
since then it has been used frequently in samba , choro , bossa nova, and many others styles.
Four types of large chocalhos may be used in an escola de samba in support of
the snare drums: chocalho, ganzá, chocalho de platinela, and rocar. Many cho-
calhos are cone-shaped, metal shakers with handles while ganzás may have one
to three separate large, metal cylinders set in a row. The chocalho de platinela
has multiple sets of tambourine-style jingles mounted on an aluminum frame and
the rocar is similar but mounted on wood. These instruments produce loud, crisp
sounds capable of cutting through an enormous bateria . Most are held at shoul-
der level with two hands and are played by shaking the entire instrument back and
forth. They are physically demanding to play and their use is sometimes limited to
particular sections of songs.
Further Reading
Sabanovich, Daniel. Brazilian Percussion Manual: Rhythms and Techniques with Ap-
plication for the Drum Set. Van Nuys, CA: Alfred, 1994.
Thomas Rohde
Choro
The Brazilian music genre known as choro originated in Rio de Janeiro, and was
the most popular style of instrumental music in Brazil from the 1870s to the 1920s.
The choro developed at a time when nationalism was an important artistic and in-
tellectual force in Brazil. Long dominated by European ideas, Brazilian musicians,
artists, and writers strove to establish their own artistic identities. Their search for
a new artistic voice led to experimentation with established European traditions,
which they modified to reflect what they perceived as new and uniquely Brazilian.
In the 20th century, choro evolved into a genre on its own having fewer associa-
tions with European styles and representing a nationalistic reaction to European
cultural dominance.
When it first appeared, choro was not only an improvisatory style of playing
popular European dances, but also the name for the gatherings at which it was
played. Musicians of the day adapted the polka, waltz, schottische, and other Eu-
ropean dances to their tastes. This adaptation was influenced by African-derived
rhythms such as lundu, a dance that blended African and European features, música
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Choro
de barbeiros, literally barber’s music, and fazenda or plantation bands whose
members were slaves who entertained the owners. Musicians assimilated African
rhythms into their playing style to the point that it became so distinct from the Eu-
ropean dances that it became known by a different name, choro.
There are several etymological theories as to the word’s origin, the most com-
mon suggests that it comes from the Portuguese verb chorar, to cry. Choro musi-
cians are often described in the literature as weepers. A more convincing theory
is that the name comes from an earlier instrumental tradition called choromeleiro,
which featured the same instruments as the choro ensemble: flutes or other wind
instruments, guitars of differing sizes, and percussion. The name choromeleiro ac-
tually comes from the choromela, a folk oboe used in wind bands both in colonial
Brazil and originally on the Iberian Peninsula. A choromeleiro was a musician who
played choromela in an ensemble, and over time the term came to designate any
musician, regardless of his or her instrument, who played in an ensemble includ-
ing choromelas.
The choro style emerged arou
nd 1870 and was the dominant instrumental style
of playing for 50 years. The choro genre was not fully developed until the 1920s,
and its move from style to genre paralleled the move from amateur to professional
performance. The listeners of choro shifted over time as it lost its popularity among
its early audience, the lower class, but became more popular with the middle and
upper classes due to radio and recordings. As a result of its new position in so-
ciety, the radio, and availability recordings, the choro style developed into a dis-
tinct genre and it was performed by musicians who had increasing professional
opportunities.
Pixinguinha
Composer, arranger, fl utist, saxophonist, and bandleader, Pixinguinha (1897–
1973) had an enormous infl uence on the development of Brazilian popular
music. Pixinguinha, a black Brazilian, was a pivotal fi gure in the process of
cultural mediation between racially defi ned segments of the population at a
time when the samba, the choro, and the Brazilian music industry were in
formative stages. Equally profi cient in written and improvised forms of music
making, Pixinguinha’s early activities as a virtuoso fl utist in Rio de Janeiro put
him in contact with choro musicians, Carnival bands, and top orchestras of
the city. In 1919 he formed the popular group Oito Batutas, which performed
throughout Brazil and then traveled to Paris and Argentina. In the 1920s,
Pixinguinha freely incorporated genres, instruments, and performance styles
infl uenced by American jazz bands into his music.
Choro | 95
By the end of the 1920s, Pixinguinha emerged as a major artistic fi gure in the
recording industry. Over the next 30 or so years, he worked with virtually all
of Brazil’s top singers, instrumentalists, and recording orchestras.
Further Reading
Livingston-Isenhour, Tamara Elena and Thomas George Caracas Garcia. Choro:
A Social History of a Brazilian Popular Music. Bloomington: Indiana University
Press, 2005.
Larry Crook
These changes both in the style-genre and social function are demonstrated by
examining the most important musicians in the early choro tradition. Antônio Ca-
lado was one of the first well-trained, famous musicians to embrace the style. The
music he composed demonstrated many of the characteristics of the style of playing
and was copied by the amateurs of the early choro. Military bandleader Anacleto de
Medeiros composed for amateurs, and his music on the surface was little removed
from the European models. In the early 1900s, four musicians—Ernesto Nazaré,
João Pernambuco, Pixinguinha, and Garoto—represented both the transition of
choro into a distinct genre and shift from an amateur style to a professional one.
Ernesto Nazaré was one of the first musicians to perform the choro style profes-
sionally, and he set the precedent for others. His compositions, although relatively
sophisticated, demonstrated the characteristics of the evolving genre. João Pernam-
buco was an amateur who turned professional. He was one of the first to incorpo-
rate these characteristics of choro in solo guitar as well as ensemble music. By the
time Pixinguinha was composing most of his music, the genre was well established,
and his music represents the fully mature choro style as a unique genre completely
distinct from European models. Garoto, who played with Carmen Miranda in the
United States, fused the harmonic sophistication of American jazz with the choro.
As choro music became more accepted by upper class society, there were more
and more opportunities for choro musicians to make a living with their music. The
choro became part of the military band repertoire, and as such choros were formally
composed, notated, and arranged. Musicians in these bands were expected to read
music and audiences demanded a higher standard of technical ability, making the
amateurs less inclined to become involved with this aspect of choro. The budding
film industry required music both to accompany films and to entertain the audience
between reels and popular musicians often filled that role. With the establishment
of the recording and radio industries, new demands were placed on the choro, which
had to adapt in order to find a new place in society.
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Choro
Still, the heart and soul of the choro tradition was the roda de choro, or choro
circle, a social and musical gathering in which musicians would play for sheer
pleasure. This entirely amateur event was governed by specific rules of behavior
and as a result it was difficult for a newcomer to join. Throughout the choro ’s his-
tory, the roda remained the most constant and unchanging part of the tradition. The
social element of the choro changed, and although musicians have never stopped
gathering to play the roda de choro, the choro otherwise disappeared from the so-
cial scene in the capital. As the amateurism that so characterized the choro in its
first 50 years of existence started to diminish, the samba took over its role as a
largely amateur pursuit. The roda de choro tradition continued uninterrupted since
its inception, but because of the fact that the tradition for the most part was trans-
mitted orally, much of the technique and performance practice of the early choro
has been lost.
The professional choro diminished in popularity through the 1940s and into
the 1950s, but it never disappeared. Other Brazilian genres, most notably samba ,
surpassed choro in popularity. It became in a sense marginalized, played by older
musicians in the roda. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the choro enjoyed a brief
revival, and, although there were still some amateur choro musicians playing in
Rio de Janeiro and elsewhere, this revival was for the most part by professionals
producing polished, clean performances far removed from the traditional choro
performance practice. The 1980s saw a strong revival of choro, in part due to state
sponsorship as a response to intense feelings of dissatisfaction among a number of
social groups because of shifting social, political, and economic circumstances. The
military dictatorship recognized choro as a means by which to reinstill a feeling of
nationalism in the Brazilian populace.
More recently, choro has enjoyed a tremendous wave of popularity. More and
more musicians of younger generations are playing in choro ensembles throughout
Brazil, and in major cities choro once again can be heard regularly, both in public
performance and in the more intimate roda de choro.
Further Reading
Béhague, Gerard. “Popular Musical Currents in the Art Music of the Early Nationalistic
Period in Brazil, Circa 1870–1920.” Ph.D. diss., Tulane University, 1966.
Garcia, Thomas George Caracas. “The Brazilian Choro: Music, Politics and Perfor-
mance.” Ph.D. diss., Duke University, 1997.
Garcia, Thomas George Caracas. “The Choro, the Guitar and Villa-Lobos.” Luso-
Brazilian Review, 34, no. 1 (Summer 1997): 57–66.
Livingston, Tamara. “Choro and Music Revivalism in Rio de Janeiro, 1973–1995.”
Ph.D. diss., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1999.
Livingston-I
senhour, Tamara Elena, and Thomas George Caracas Garcia. Choro: A So-
cial History of a Brazilian Popular Music. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005.
Thomas George Caracas Garcia
Clave | 97
Cinquillo
Claves
One-measure cinquillo rhythm. (George Torres)
The cinquillo is a five-pulse, rhythmic cell that is used as an ostinato timeline pat-
tern in Cuban popular music. The rhythmic figure (2-1-2-1-2) is usually part of
an asymmetrical, two-measure cell that alternates between a syncopated five-pulse
measure ( cinquillo ) and a nonsyncopated, four-pulse measure (2-1-2-1-2 | 2-2-2-
2). The syncopated side is called the strong side, while the nonsyncopated side is
the weak side. Compositions may begin the pattern on either the strong or the weak
side. Like the clave and tresillo, the cinquillo has its origins in timeline patterns from Sub-Saharan Africa that eventually found its way to Cuba via Haitians who
migrated there in the 19th century. Within the fabric of an ensemble, the cinquillo
is essential to the rhythm section, which layers various ostinato parts to provide
an overall composite rhythm. Instruments responsible for playing the cinquillo
may include the claves , the güiro , the timbals , and the piano. Besides providing a framework for the rhythm, the cinquillo rhythm is often present in the melody of a
piece. The cinquillo is an essential rhythmic figure in the Cuban contardanza and
the danzón , and it also appears in Puerto Rican bomba and the Haitian meringue .
Because of its strong association with the danzón genre, the two-measure cinquillo
figure is also known as danzón clave . The rhythm has also become prominent in
American popular music genres including jazz and rock ‘n’ roll.
Further Reading
Floyd, Samuel A. Jr. “Black Music in the Circum-Caribbean.” American Music 17,
no. 1 (Spring 1999): 1–38.
George Torres
Clave
Clave is an Afro-Cuban timeline pattern used in Cuban folkloric and popular music,
though its effect has extended far beyond Cuba by influencing American musics from
Argentina to the United States. The term clave is a Spanish noun derived from the
Latin clavis, which means key. This word was originally applied to the Cuban in-
Encyclopedia of Latin American Popular Music Page 19
