César Guerra-Peixe (March 18, 1914 – November 26, 1993) was a Brazilian violinist, composer, and conductor. Guerra-Peixe was born in

Petrópolis Petrópolis (; ), also known as The Imperial City, is a municipality in the Southeast Region of Brazil. It is located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, northeast of the city of Rio de Janeiro. According to the 2010 National Brazilian Census, Petr ...

, son of Portuguese immigrants with

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

origins. Throughout his lifetime, Guerra-Peixe held numerous positions playing in orchestras and working as a composer and arranger in the production of radio broadcasts, recording, films, and cultural documentaries. His music can be heard in many Brazilian films, such as ''Terra é Sempre Terra'', ''O Canto do Mar'', ''Quero Essa Mulher Tanto Assim'', ''Riacho de Sangue'', ''Meu Nome é Lampião'', and ''Soledade''. Although he strongly embraced serialist techniques through his compositional studies with Koellreutter, Guerra-Peixe took a strong interest in northeastern Brazilian traditional music and culture and integrated elements of Brazilian nationalism to varying degrees in his compositions. While living in Recife, Guerra-Peixe conducted field work on traditional Brazilian music and culture, and he published numerous articles based on his research in the Revista Brasileira de Folclore. He is particularly well known for his lifelong dedication and contributions to the research and promotion of Brazilian culture. The Concertino for Violin and Orchestra is a virtuosic work for violin inspired by the sonorities of the rabeca (Brazilian folk fiddle) and re-contextualized for the classical violin. In northeastern Brazilian culture, the rabeca is used to accompany an array of traditional dance forms, folkloric ensembles, and street plays. The Concertino utilizes the full technical capabilities of the violin while reflecting the rhythmic and modal sonorities of the rabeca in an orchestral atmosphere that recalls the traditional music and culture of the Brazilian northeast. As an ethnomusicologist, he wrote an important book ''Os Maracatus do Recife'' (1955, second edition 1980) on

maracatu The term maracatu denotes any of several performance genres found in Pernambuco, Northeastern Brazil. Main types of maracatu include ''maracatu nação'' (nation-style maracatu) and ''maracatu rural'' (rural-style maracatu). Maracatu Nação Marac ...

. He died in

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 ...

.Gerard Béhague, "Guerra-Peixe, César", ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001).

Discography

#Jornada da Lapinha nº 1/Jornada da Lapinha nº 2 (1955) Copacabana 78 #Chora na rampa (1959) Chantecler 78 #Cidade Maravilhosa/Menina-moça (1960) Chantecler 78 #Vassourinhas (1961) Chantecler 78 #Escuta, Levino/Quarta-feira de cinzas (1962) Chantecler 78 #Sambas clássicos ( S/D) Chantecler LP #Sedução do norte (1978) RGE/Fermata LP #A retirada da Laguna. Orquestra Sinfônica Nacional da Rádio MEC (1997) CD #Eliane Tokeshi e Guida Borghoff - Guerra-Peixe: Obras Para Violino e Piano (

YB Music YB Music is an independent record label established in São Paulo, Brazil. It started in 1999, releasing music from new underground artists as well as revival acts. Its catalog includes different syles of Brazilian music featuring hip hop, sam ...

, 2011) #Goiás Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Neil Thomson - Guerra-Peixe: Symphonic Suites Nos. 1 & 2 (Naxos 8.573925, 2022)

Discography

References

Further reading