State in north-east Brazil. It had one of the earliest musical establishments in the Portuguese colony. The city of Olinda, founded in the mid-16th century, became during that century the seat of a bishopric, and remained the seat of the diocese until 1833. The first known mestre de capela at Olinda was Gomes Correia, appointed in 1564 and succeeded by the end of the century by Paulo Serrão. Several names of 17th-century mestres de capela survive in church documents, but not a single composition has been discovered. In the city of Recife (the capital of Pernambuco) musical institutions developed, especially during the 17th and 18th centuries. A large number of documents reveal some 600 musicians (instrumentalists, singers, composers and organ builders) working in the area at that period. A frequently praised musician of the 17th century is João de Lima, whose works were considered worthy of publication even 50 years after his death ‘for the instruction of music professors’. Another musician of excellent reputation as a composer and performer was Inácio Ribeiro Noya, born in Recife in 1688; however none of his works is extant. The mulatto Manoel de Almeida Botelho (b 1721) was described in a contemporary account as ‘one of the most famous composers of the present age’. His works (e.g. a four-part mass with two violins, a Lauda Jerusalem, three Tantum ergo settings and various sonatas and toccatas for keyboard and for guitar) were eagerly sought in Lisbon by professional musicians. The composer to have gained most attention, however, is Luiz Álvares Pinto (1719–?1789), who was mestre de capela at S Pedro dos Clérigos in Recife (1782–9) and who founded the Irmandade de Cecília dos Músicos in the same city in about 1787. A setting of the Te Deum by him was discovered by Jaime Diniz in 1967. The main organ builder of 18th-century Brazil, Agostinho Rodrigues Leite (1722–86), was also a native of Recife; he built organs for Recife and Olinda and also for Salvador (Bahia) and Rio de Janeiro. Other musicians or mestres de capela of colonial Pernambuco to have been studied are Manoel da Cunha, Jerônimo de Souza Pereira, Máximo Pereira Garros, Jerônimo Coelho de Carvalho and Salvador Francisco Leite (son of the organ builder). Secular musical activities during the colonial period in Pernambuco were apparently limited.
During the 19th century performances of art music were concentrated in Recife and focussed principally on sacred music and opera and, later, amateur salon music, from which much of the local piano repertory developed. A number of European musicians, such as the Italian Joseph Fachinetti (c1810–c1870), settled in the city, greatly contributing to operatic and concert life and to music education. Several concert organizations were founded during the century, including the Sociedade Teatral, the Sociedade Filarmônica and the Ateneu Musical do Recife, as well as several theatres, such as the Teatro de Apolo, Casa da Ópera, Teatro da Rua da Praia and Teatro S Isabel. In the latter part of the century several native composers emerged, notably Euclides Aquino da Fonseca (1854–1929) and Marcelino Cleto (1842–1922).
Although 20th-century musical life in Recife developed steadily, it did not offer the same opportunities as the other major Brazilian cities of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Salvador. Thus renowned native Pernambucan composers, such as Marlos Nobre, made their careers elsewhere in Brazil. However, Recife contains a number of organizations that have helped to sustain musical life in the city; these include a symphony orchestra and the music departments of the Federal University of Pernambuco and of several private schools. In addition, the city has been a major centre of regional popular music, with famous Carnival parades, maracatus, and some of the most celebrated figures in contemporary Brazilian popular music, notably Chico Science.
F.A. Pereira da Costa: Anais pernambucanos (Recife, 1951–66; 2/1983–7)
J.C. Diniz: Músicos pernambucanos do passado (Recife, 1969–71)
J.C. Diniz: Notas sobre o piano e seus compositores em Pernambuco (Recife, 1980)
T. de Oliveira Pinto: ‘Musical Difference, Competition, and Conflict: the Maracatu Groups in the Pernambuco Carnival, Brazil’, Latin American Music Review, xvii/2 (1996), 97–119
GERARD BÉHAGUE