''"Apanhei-te, cavaquinho"'' () is a

polka Polka is a dance style and genre of dance music in originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though generally associated with Czech and Central European culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the ...

originally written for

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

by Brazilian composer

Ernesto Nazareth Ernesto Júlio de Nazareth (March 20, 1863 – February 1, 1934) was a Brazilian composer and pianist, especially noted for his creative maxixe and choro compositions. Influenced by a diverse set of dance rhythms including the polka, the habanera ...

. One of the most popular pieces by Nazareth, it was finished around 1914.

Composition

This polka was written at a time when Nazareth was already an accomplished composer and performer in his hometown,

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

. The piece, finished around 1914, was created when he was a pianist at the Odeon Cinema in Rio, a job he held from 1910 to 1918. As was customary for Nazareth, he got it published as soon as it was completed under Casa Mozart in 1914. It was dedicated "to my distinguished and close friend Juracy Nazareth de Araújo", an amateur composer.

Structure

"Apanhei-te, cavaquinho" follows the structure of a short polka with a duration of 2 to 3 minutes. Nazareth stated that it is "muito própria pra serenatas" (very well suited for

serenade In music, a serenade (; also sometimes called a serenata, from the Italian) is a musical composition or performance delivered in honour of someone or something. Serenades are typically calm, light pieces of music. The term comes from the Ital ...

s). Despite being designated a polka, it is a prime example of a

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 fa ...

, as it was played by choro artists at the time. It was originally written for piano, even though it has been adapted and arranged many times over the years by various arrangers. As many other compositions by Nazareth, it follows the ABACA structure. It is in the key of

G major G major is a major scale based on G (musical note), G, with the pitches G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, C (musical note), C, D (musical note), D, E (musical note), E, and F♯ (musical note), F. Its key signature has one sharp (music ...

, even though the B section is in

E minor E minor is a minor scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has one sharp, on the F. Its relative major is G major and its parallel major is E major. The E natural minor scale is: Change ...

and the C section, or the trio, is in

C major C major is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and its parallel min ...

. Nazareth built the piece in a way so the left hand resembles a

cavaquinho The cavaquinho (pronounced in Portuguese) is a small Portuguese string instrument in the European guitar family, with four wires or gut strings. A cavaquinho player is called a ''cavaquista''. Tuning A common tuning in Portugal is C G& ...

, a type of guitar, and the right hand resembles a

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

. The original score bears no tempo marking, but Nazareth specified that it should be played "com graça" (gracefully). It is in and it used

sixteenth note Figure 1. A 16th note with stem facing up, a 16th note with stem facing down, and a 16th rest. Figure 2. Four 16th notes beamed together. In music, a 1/16, sixteenth note ( American) or semiquaver (British) is a note played for half the d ...

s profusely. Dynamically, it is rather flat, as everything is meant to be played '' '' (or ' in some passages). Despite the piece not bearing a tempo marking, Nazareth complained often that people played it too fast.

Reception

The piece became very successful right away and maintained its popularity over the following decades. It has been recorded more than 200 times by many different artists and it has inspired five different lyrics: the first one by Darci de Oliveira and Benito Lacerda, the second one by Baldomán, the third one by

Nara Leão Nara Lofego Leão (; January 19, 1942 – June 7, 1989) was a Brazilian bossa nova and MPB (popular Brazilian music) singer and occasional actress. Leão was married twice, to Ruy Guerra and subsequently Carlos Diegues, both film directors. ...

, the fourth one by

Paulinho Garcia Paulinho is a Portuguese nickname for people named ''Paulo'' (Paulo - inho, little Paulo). People known as Paulinho include: Music *Paulinho da Costa (born 1948), Brazilian percussionist *Paulinho da Viola (born 1942), Brazilian sambista *Paulinho ...

, and the fifth version was in French by

Jacques Plante Joseph Jacques Omer Plante (; January 17, 1929 – February 27, 1986) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender. During a career lasting from 1947 to 1975, he was considered to be one of the most important innovators in hockey. He played ...

. Nazareth himself recorded it in 1930. French composer

Darius Milhaud Darius Milhaud (, ; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His composition ...

quoted it in his '' Le boeuf sur le toit''. "Apanhei-te, cavaquinho" was also rearranged and featured in

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

Melody Time ''Melody Time'' is a 1948 American live-action and animated musical anthology film produced by Walt Disney. It was released to theatres by RKO Radio Pictures on May 27, 1948. Made up of seven segments set to popular music and folk music, the f ...

, an anthology musical movie released in 1948. Ethel Smith and

The Dinning Sisters The Dinning Sisters were an American sisters singing group, active from the late 1930s to 1955. They made a handful of film appearances and had several hit records at the height of their popularity in the late 1940s. The trio originally consist ...

were in charge of the 10-minute musical segment, with lyrics by

Ray Gilbert Ray Gilbert (September 5, 1912 – March 3, 1976) was an American lyricist. He grew up in Hartford, Connecticut. He married Janis Paige in 1962. Career Gilbert is best remembered for the lyrics to the Oscar-winning song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" from ...

References

External links

*{{IMSLP, work=Apanhei-te, cavaquinho (Nazareth, Ernesto), cname="Apanhei-te, cavaquinho" Compositions by Ernesto Nazareth 1914 compositions Polkas Compositions for piano Music with dedications