Description

Brazil (Portuguese: Brasil) is thelargestcountry in South America and fifth largest in the world.Famous forits football (soccer) tradition and its annual Carnavalin Rio deJaneiro, Salvador, Recife and Olinda. It is a country ofgreatdiversity, from the bustling urban mosaic of São Paulo totheinfinite cultural energy of Pernambuco and Bahia, the wildernessofthe Amazon rainforest and world-class landmarks such as theIguaçuFalls, there is plenty to see and to do in Brazil.
Culture
Capoeiristas Porto Alegre

Owing to Brazil’s continental dimensions, variedgeography,history and people, the country’s culture is rich anddiverse. Ithas several regional variations, and in spite of beingmostlyunified by a single language, some regions are so differentfromeach other that they look like different countriesaltogether.

Music plays an important part in Brazilian identity. Styleslikechoro, samba and bossa nova are considered genuinelyBrazilian.Caipira music is also in the roots of sertanejo, thenationalequivalent to country music. MPB stands for BrazilianPopularMusic, which mixes several national styles under a singleconcept.Forró, a north-eastern happy dancing music style, has alsobecomecommon nationwide. New urban styles include funk - name givento adance music genre from Rio's favelas that mixes heavyelectronicbeats and often raunchy rapping - and techno-brega, acrowd-pleaserin northern states, that fuses romantic pop, dancemusic andcaribbean rhythms. Brazilian funk is the most popular typeof musicthey listen to. It has a constant and repeated beat that isalwaysthe same, it never changes. They keep the beat, and singsongs toit. There are more than 1000 songs that are funk. You mightthingthat people get tired of the same beat, but no. It is soimpressivethat there are so many songs that it never gets old. Funkcould beconsidered tradition because of its strength in rhythm,andbringing people together.

A mixture of martial arts, dance, music and game, capoeirawascreated by African slaves brought to Brazil, mainly fromPortugueseAngola. Distinguished by vivacious complicated movementsandaccompanying music, it can be seen and practiced in manyBraziliancities.

In the classical music, the Modern Period isparticularlynotable, due to the works of composers like HeitorVilla-Lobos andCamargo Guarnieri, who created a typical Brazilianschool, mixingelements of the traditional European classical musicto theBrazilian rhythms, while other composers like CláudioSantorofollowed the guidelines of the Second School of Vienna. IntheRomantic Period, the greatest name was Antonio Carlos Gomes,authorof some Italian-styled operas with typical Brazilian themes,likeIl Guarany and Lo Schiavo. In the Classical Period, themostprominent name is José Maurício Nunes Garcia, a priest whowroteboth sacred and secular music and was very influenced bytheViennese classical style of the 18th and early 19th century.