Pixinguinha (1889–1973)

Pixinguinha (Alfredo da Rocha Viana Filho; b. 23 April 1889; d. 17 February 1973), Brazilian songwriter. Born in the Rio de Janeiro suburb of Piedade, Pixinguinha, whose name was a blending of two childhood nicknames, grew up in a musical atmosphere encouraged by his stepfather, a flutist and collector of traditional chôros. Pixinguinha made his first flute recordings soon after initiating his study of the instrument in 1911, and in 1914 performed at Carnival with the Grupo de Caxangá, organized by João Pernambuco. In 1926 he conducted the Cine Rialto orchestra, which accompanied the Companhia Negra de Revista.

In 1928, with the guitarist Donga, Pixinguinha organized the Orquestra Típica Pixinguinha-Donga and recorded one of his most famous samba chôros, "Carinhoso" (Darling). One of the high points of his career came in 1930, when Pixinguinha recorded the chôros "Agüenta, seu Fulgêncio" (Suffer, Mr. Fulgêncio) and "Urubu e o gavião" (Vulture and the Falcon). Together with "Segura êle" (Hold Him) by Lourenço Lamartine, these songs demonstrate his clear execution and extraordinary ability to improvise. The following year Pixinguinha organized the Grupo da Guarda Velha, uniting some of the greatest Brazilian instrumentalists of the era. In 1945, Mayor Negrão de Lima honored him by naming a street in Olaria, Rio de Janeiro, the Rua Pixinguinha. When Pixinguinha died in 1973, his body lay in state at the Museum of Image and Sound and was then buried, accompanied by over two thousand mourners singing "Carinhoso."

See alsoSamba .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Marcos Antônio Marcondes, ed., Enciclopédia da música brasileira: Erudita folclórica popular (1977).

Additional Bibliography

Barboza, Marília T., and Arthur L. de Oliveira Filho. Picinguinha: Filho de ogum bexiguento. Rio de Janeiro: Gryphus, 1998.

Cabral, Sérgio. Pixinguinha: Vida e obra. Rio de Janeiro: Lumiar Editore, 1997.

                                             Lisa MariĆ