Maracatu
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Maracatu
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| Development phase: | 17th century |
| Place of origin: | Recife , Pernambuco , Brazil |
| Stylistic precursors | |
| traditional African music of the slaves , candomblé music | |
| Instruments typical of the genre | |
| Gongue , Caixa , Shekere , Alfaia , Bombo | |
| Subgenres | |
| Maracatu de baque virado, Maracatu rural | |
| groups | |
| Maracatu Nação Estrela Brilhante, Maracatu Nação Leão Corroado, Maracatu Nação Elefante | |
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The maracatu is a Brazilian style of music from Pernambuco .
Origin and history
It goes back to traditional African forms of music and was spread through the Afro-Brazilian slaves . This tradition makes it related to samba .
In the cities of Recife and Olinda , in the heart of the Brazilian state of Pernambuco, the maracatu developed from the music and tradition of slaves from Africa.
It was first used in the state of Bahia , whose African roots are still most visible today compared to the rest of Brazil . At the time , the Portuguese exported members of the Fon , Nagô , Yoruba , Adja , Ewe and Mina tribes to South America from the port of Porto-Novo in the then Kingdom of Dahomey with its capital Abomey (now Benin ) , and the Orisha cults also came with the slaves Yoruba to Brazil. Mixed with the religions of the tribes of Central Africa, this resulted in the Candomblé , the Brazilian equivalent of Voodoo , which is why the Maracatu has close ties with this Afro-Brazilian religion and its music to this day. Most of the chants and prayers are passed down in Candomblé as well as in Haitian Voodoo and in the Cuban Santería in Yoruba , Nago or Goun, another East African language.
The maracatu is closely linked to the carnival , an example of this is the dance Bumba-meu-boi in the interior of Pernambuco. During this time the slaves were allowed to live their traditions and religion publicly, a coronation ceremony of their king and queen was celebrated here. The participants in the parade were dressed up with the baroque clothes that the Portuguese had put aside. The king and queen are accompanied by their court: Counts, barons, dukes, ambassadors, their ladies, standard bearers, umbrella bearers, lance bearers, drummers and singers and the court ladies. The Dama-de-paço , the chief lady-in-waiting, carries a doll called a calunga during the procession . The doll symbolizes the ancestors, the deceased queens.
Maracatu is not only a generic name for this type of music, at the same time the social group of musicians and dancers with their queen is called "Maracatu". The traditional groups, whose queen is consecrated in the Candomblé and passes on the traditions, also call themselves Nação, e.g. B. Maracatu Nação Estrela Brilhante , Maracatu Nação Leão Corroado . The oldest surviving group, Maracatu Nação Elefante , was founded in Recife more than a hundred years ago.
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In so-called "Encontros" (Portuguese for gatherings), various maracatu groups meet at national or international level for seminars at the "Mestres" (Portuguese for masters) and to perform together.
Instruments
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The maracatu has been played in its current form and with the following instruments since the 17th century:
- The Gongue (African Bell ) sets the tone
- the caixas (marching drums) and the smaller tarols form together with the
- Ganzas ( Shaker ) and Shekeres the rhythm carpet , and the
- Alfaias and Bombos , the deep wooden drums, play the most varied of toques (rhythm variations ).
music
The traditional groups play the maracatu de baque virado , the maracatu with the twisted beat. About 50 years ago, a new type of maracatu developed, which is now mainly played in the interior , inland. This is called Maracatu rural , rural Maracatu. In this line-up, the musicians wear costumes weighing up to 40 kg with bells on their backs and sequin-embroidered capes.
Singing is another important aspect of maracatu. The mestre , the conductor, acts as the lead singer, to whom a choir answers. In the Maracatu Rural there is alternating singing and drumming, in the Maracatu de baque virado the lead singer begins with one or two stanzas, then the drums kick in . The traditional songs sing about their own origins from Africa, their ancestors, the queens, but also the still existing social inequality.
