Brazilian Popular Music Analysis

Words: 1941
Pages: 8

The philosophy of worship and the practice of congregational singing adopted in America had a significant impact on Brazilian hymnology. Two philosophies of worship shaped the development of church music in the United States and consequently also in Brazil. According to the history of the church, two liturgical practices must be considered: the regulative principle and the normative principle. The normative principle stated that whatever is not forbidden is permitted in worship. Therefore, it maintains what the church has already been doing. The Lutherans and Anglicans are in this group. According to the normative philosophy, the regulative principle is not specifically mandated. For instance, the synagogue did not make sense for normative …show more content…
The Brazilian popular music was extremely influenced by national folk music, which could be described as a combination of the African and European cultures, especially the Portuguese musical tradition. Most musicians affirm that in a folk song, the rhythm of the music is non-harmonic with short phrases, and it is separated by long holds. The complete range of the music is based upon the pentatonic scale. In most of the Brazilian folk songs the major mode is the most predominant, which also can be observed in the traditional Protestant hymns. According to Judith Dixon, the Brazilian music can be defined as an ethnic expression because of the mix of cultures and musical style. “Brazilian's popular music also can be described as type of ethnic expression. However, the sources have been derived from not one but several backgrounds. A small percentage is influenced by American music. African music more than half and a large proportion goes to the Spanish culture mainly from the Hispanic-American aspect.” Although a few hymn tunes in the HCC are originated from traditional popular songs, the HCC’s authors had as a goal to maintain the beauty, tradition, and the sacred aspects of this work. Since many Brazilian folk songs are related to other religious practices, several other styles of popular music were avoided during …show more content…
One could state that a hymn is a poetic statement directed toward God and a contemporary song could be classified as less sophisticated than a hymn in terms of poetry. The hymns 80 and 401 could work as illustrations of contemporary Christian music. In these hymns, one can find musical elements found in a praise or worship song, such as repetition, syncopation, popular style, and directed quotation from the Scriptures. The hymn 80 was composed by Jorge Geraldo de Carmago Filho, who was one of the members of the group ‘Vencedores por Cristo’, one of most famous Brazilian contemporary Christian bands in Brazil during that time. The tune named ‘DE TODAS AS TRIBOS’ is an allusion to the Scripture passage of Rev.7:9-10. In this biblical passage, John describes his vision where people from all tribes and cultures praising the