Lundu (also spelled landu or landum) is a style of

Afro-Brazilian Afro-Brazilians ( pt, afro-brasileiros; ) are Brazilians who have predominantly African ancestry (see "Black people#Brazil, preto"). Most members of another group of people, Pardo Brazilians, multiracial Brazilians or ''pardos'', may also have a ...

music and dance with its origins in the African

Bantu Bantu may refer to: *Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages *Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language * Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle *Black Association for National ...

and

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

people.

History

The interconnectedness of

Lusophone Lusophones ( pt, Lusófonos) are ethnic group, peoples that speak Portuguese language, Portuguese as a native language, native or as common second language and nations where Portuguese features prominently in society. Comprising an estimated 270 m ...

countries dates back to the

Atlantic Slave Trade The Atlantic slave trade, transatlantic slave trade, or Euro-American slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people, mainly to the Americas. The slave trade regularly used the triangular trade route and i ...

, between Portugal, Brazil and regions of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. In the 15th century, the Portuguese were the primary exporters of African slaves to the Americas, and with slaves came their musical traditions. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, there was a massive Brazilian presence in

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

, enabling a cultural exchange between the two

Portuguese colonies The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the l ...

. This exchange enabled subtle amalgamations of musical styles between

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and other African slave trade countries. The establishment of a creole population in

led to further cultural developments in language, religion and art.

Dissemination

Records from the inquisition of the 18th century reveal that the Europeans initially considered gandus and lundus to be witchcraft. Many slave-owning Europeans in Brazil tolerated the dance in an attempt to avoid slave rebellion. Eventually, the style became attractive to Europeans in Brazil for its sexualized quality and its believed effectiveness in reversing witchcraft. de Mattos was disgruntled by the blurring by dance and drums of strict racial and cultural boundaries in Brazil. Gradually, the lundu style grew in popularity among the elite population in

. In 1749, Brazilian musician Manuel de Almeida Botelho immigrated to

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

, bringing with him the

modinha Modinha is the affectionate (grammatically called 'diminutive') form of the Portuguese noun "moda", meaning "fashion". The word "moda" is also used in Portugal, today, generally referring to traditional regional songs. In Portugal, "modinha" was, fr ...

and lundu musical styles. By the 19th century, lundu had become the music of choice for the Luso-Brazilian bourgeoisie. Historians have even called the style the “…most characteristic late 18th century enreof dance and song in Portugal and Brazil”.

Style

Lundus are characterized by varying structure, the interplay of tonic and dominant

harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...

, and strummed chords layered atop a syncopated rhythm reminiscent of traditional West African music. Limited recordings are available of traditional lundus style. Usually a flirtatious ritual of a couple dance, accompanied by a

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, or sometimes a thumb

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

s, Lundu is related to the Spanish

fandango Fandango is a lively partner dance originating from Portugal and Spain, usually in triple meter, traditionally accompanied by guitars, castanets, or hand-clapping. Fandango can both be sung and danced. Sung fandango is usually bipartite: it has ...

and other new-world dances like the Argentine Zamba, the Peruvian

Zamacueca The Zamacueca is an ancient colonial dance and music that originated in the Viceroyalty of Peru, taking its roots from Spanish, and Andean rhythms. Although currently the dance is not widely popular, several dance institutions in places such as Pe ...

and the Cuban

Bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It has ...

- they all involve, to some degree, handkerchiefs, castanets, and holding one's arms above one's head. In the 19th century, the lundu was one of the sources of the

Choro ''Choro'' (, "cry" or "lament"), also popularly called ''chorinho'' ("little cry" or "little lament"), is an instrumental Brazilian popular music genre which originated in 19th century Rio de Janeiro. Despite its name, the music often has a ...

, the Maxixe and the

Samba Samba (), also known as samba urbano carioca (''urban Carioca samba'') or simply samba carioca (''Carioca samba''), is a Brazilian music genre that originated in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century. Havin ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lundu (Dance) Brazilian styles of music Brazilian dances