A term with various meanings in Brazilian popular music. Generically choro denotes urban instrumental ensemble music, often with one group member as a soloist. Specifically it refers to an ensemble of chorões (musician serenaders) that developed in Rio de Janeiro around 1870. One of the first known choroswas organized by the popular composer and virtuoso flautist Joaquim Antonio da Silva Callado (1848–80). In the mid-19th century the instrumental ensemble generally included flute, clarinet, ophicleide, trombone, cavaquinho (a type of ukelele), guitar and a few percussion instruments (particularly the tambourine). The repertory of choro ensembles consisted mostly of dances of European origin performed at popular festivities. For the serenades the band accompanied sentimental songs, such as modinhas, performed by a solo singer. No special music was composed for the choros at that time, but such designations as polka-choro and valsa-choro indicate the nationalization of European dances in Brazil.
In the 20th century the choro or chorinho has been closely connected with other popular dances of urban Brazil such as the Maxixe, the tango brasileiro and the Samba. All have the same rhythmic patterns (syncopated binary figures), although tempo and instrumentation are distinguishing features. The originality of the choro of the 1930s and 1940s, for example those of the Velha Guarda band of ‘Pixinguinha’ (Alfredo da Rocha Viana), lies in the typical virtuoso improvisation of instrumental variations and the resulting imaginative counterpoint.
See also Latin America, §IV; Brazil, §III, 1.
GERARD BÉHAGUE