Quarteto em Cy (a play on words of the Portuguese for ''Quartet in B'' by poet and lyricist

Vinicius de Moraes Marcus Vinícius da Cruz e Mello Moraes (19 October 1913 – 9 July 1980), better known as Vinícius de Moraes () and nicknamed O Poetinha ("The little poet"), was a Brazilian poet, diplomat, lyricist, essayist, musician, singer, and playwright ...

) is a Brazilian

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...

originally composed of four sisters hailing from

Ibirataia Ibirataia is a municipality in the state of Bahia in the North-East region of Brazil. See also *List of municipalities in Bahia This is a list of the municipalities in the state of Bahia (BA), located in the Northeast Region of Brazil. Bahia ...

, a town located in the Brazilian state of

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...

: Cybele, Cylene, Cynara and Cyva – their real first names.

History

They started performing in 1959, appearing on local television in that year. Cyva, the leader of the group, then moved to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, and persuaded her three sisters to join her there. They then started to make regular appearances in the ''boates'' (small nightclubs) of Rio, particularly ''Bottle's bar'' and the legendary ''Zum-Zum'', where they caught the attention of Vinicius de Moraes and other prominent figures of the

bossa nova Bossa nova () is a style of samba developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is mainly characterized by a "different beat" that altered the harmonies with the introduction of unconventional chords and an innovativ ...

scene. Their first album was released in 1964, and was to be followed by regular releases up to the late '90s, at the frequency of one a year, and sometimes more. Connoisseurs of MPB and tropicalia have a particular regard for the first few years of their recording career, when they were signed to Brazil's most daring label,

Elenco Elenco is a Brazilian record label established in 1963 by Aloysio de Oliveira. It was a major factor in the development of the bossa nova style, also releasing samba, jazz, and spoken word recordings. It is often considered one of the most influ ...

. The Quarteto em Cy, noted for the extraordinary precision of the vocalists' intonation and delivery, performed and recorded with almost every single major Brazilian artist of the '60s and '70s; their popularity exceeded and still exceeds the borders of their native country. They met with great success in America in the mid-sixties, and have a considerable following in Japan, where they still tour regularly. The line-up of the quartet (which briefly split up, from 1970 to 1972) has changed a great deal over the years. However, the current formation (Cyva, Cybele, Cynara and Sonya) has been active since 1980, by far the most stable period in the group's history''Il Quarteto em Cy festeggia 50 anni di carriera con un libro e un CD curato da Dori Caymmi''
/ref> On 21 August 2014 Cybele died of a

lung The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in humans and most other animals, including some snails and a small number of fish. In mammals and most other vertebrates, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of t ...

ischemia Ischemia or ischaemia is a restriction in blood supply to any tissue, muscle group, or organ of the body, causing a shortage of oxygen that is needed for cellular metabolism (to keep tissue alive). Ischemia is generally caused by problems wi ...

at her home in Rio de Janeiro. She was 74.

Discography

* 1964: Quarteto em Cy * 1965: Vinícius/Caymmi no Zum Zum – with Quarteto em Cy and Oscar Castro Neves * 1965: Caymmi and The Girls From Bahia – Quarteto em Cy and Dorival Caymmi * 1966: Som Definitivo – Quarteto em Cy and Tamba Trio * 1966:

Os Afro-Sambas ''Os Afro-sambas'' is a 1966 studio album (that shoud not be confused with the album of the same name and different artwork recorded live) by Baden Powell and Vinícius de Moraes. The live album is ranked number 29 on Rolling Stone's list of 10 ...

– Quarteto em Cy,

and Baden Powell * 1966: The Girls From Bahia/Pardon My English * 1966: Quarteto em Cy * 1967: De Marré de Cy * 1967: ¡Revolución con Brasilia!/The Girls From Bahia * 1968: Em Cy Maior * 1972: Quarteto em Cy * 1974: Saravá, Vinicius! Vinicius de Moraes en São Paulo Con Toquinho y Quarteto em Cy * 1975: Antologia do Samba Canção * 1976: Antologia do Samba Canção/volume 2 * 1977: Resistindo Ao Vivo * 1978: Querelas do Brasil * 1978: Cobra de Vidro – Quarteto em Cy e

MPB4 MPB4 (Short for ''Música popular brasileira 4'') is a vocal and instrumental Brazilian group formed in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, in 1965, and has been active since. The group's main genres are sung samba and MPB, and they are considered among the ...

* 1979: Quarteto em Cy Em 1000 Kilohertz * 1980: Flicts – Quarteto em Cy, MPB4 and Sérgio Ricardo * 1980: Quarteto em Cy interpreta Gonzaguinha, Caetano, Ivan, Milton * 1981: Caymmis, Lobos e Jobins/Caminhos Cruzados * 1983: Pontos de Luz * 1989: Claudio Santoro Prelúdios e Canções de Amor * 1990: Os Afro-Sambas – Quarteto em Cy, Vinicius de Moraes and Baden Powell * 1991: Chico em Cy * 1992: Bossa em Cy * 1993: Vinícius em Cy * 1994: Tempo e Artista * 1996: Brasil em Cy * 1997: Bate-Boca – Quarteto em Cy e MPB4 * 1998: Somos Todos Iguais – Quarteto em Cy and MPB4, with

Ivan Lins Ivan Guimarães Lins (born June 16, 1945) is a Latin Grammy-winning Brazilian musician. He has been an active performer and songwriter of Brazilian popular music (MPB) and jazz for over thirty years. His first hit, "Madalena", was recorded by ...

and

Djavan Djavan Caetano Viana (; born 27 January 1949) is a Brazilian singer-songwriter. Early life and career Djavan was born in Maceió, Brazil to a white father of Dutch descent and a black mother. He later formed the group Luz, Som, Dimensão (LSD ...

* 1999: Gil e Caetano em Cy * 2000: Vinícius A Arte do Encontro – Quarteto em Cy and MPB4 * 2001: Falando de Amor pra Vinícius Ao Vivo – Quarteto em Cy and

Luiz Cláudio Ramos Luiz is a Portuguese given name that is an alternative form of Luís. It's archaic in Portugal, but common in Brazil. Notable people referred to by this name include the following: People *Luiz Bonfá (1922-2001), Brazilian guitarist and composer ...

* 2001: Hora da Criança * 2002: Quarteto em Cy * 2004: Quarteto em Cy Quarenta Anos * 2006: Samba em Cy

Bibliography

* ''Enciclopédia da música brasileira: erudita, folclórica e popular''.

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

, Art Editora, 2000

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quarteto Em Cy Brazilian musical groups Musical groups established in 1959 Vocal quartets 1959 establishments in Brazil Brazilian girl groups