(b Rio de Janeiro, 19 June 1944). Brazilian composer and singer-songwriter. The son of a prominent historian and intellectual, he began studying architecture at the University of São Paulo in 1963 but decided soon after to pursue a career in popular music. Although he was a great admirer of the bossa nova musician João Gilberto, his first hits, Pedro Pedreiro and Sonho de um Carnaval (both recorded in 1965), as well as Olê Olá, revealed innovative talents. The first piece is an early expression of his concern for and subsequent criticism of some of Brazil's urban social problems. The well-known poet-diplomat Vinicius de Morais, a family friend and fundamental figure of the bossa nova movement, exerted a strong influence on Buarque's music and poetry. Indeed the ‘master of the language’, as Jobim characterized him, went on to produce some of the most sophisticated popular songs of his generation, both poetically and musically. In 1966 vocalist Nara Leão presented his A Banda at the second festival of Brazilian Popular Music, a song that brought him overnight success. Following the song and subsequent play Roda-Viva (1967, produced in 1968), which denounced the machinations of showbusiness against a popular artist, he developed problems with the military censors. At the end of 1968 the political climate became strongly repressive and he left for Italy in early 1969 and remained there in voluntary exile for about 15 months.
Upon his return to Brazil, Buarque recorded an LP of his new songs, and in 1971 released the album Construção. Although several of his songs continued to be banned, censorship diminished in the late 1970s. During that time he also became involved with theatre, film and literature. His musical Opera do malandro (‘Hustler's Opera’, 1977–8), based on Die Dreigroschenoper of Brecht and Weill, was a well-received social satire of the Vargas regime of the 1930s and 1940s. The return to democracy in 1985 finally gave the composer the chance to express himself freely. His lyrics indeed reflect the hopes and frustrations of his generation and especially of the 1964–85 period of authoritarian regime. Buarque's prolific song output reveals a creative individual whose facets have been classified as those of a troubadour, lover, politician, chronicler and hustler.
G. Béhague: ‘Brazilian Musical Values of the 1960s and 1970s: Popular Urban Music from Bossa Nova to Tropicalia’, Journal of Popular Culture, xiv/3 (1980), 437–52
A.B. de Menezes: Desenho mágico: poesia e política em Chico Buarque (São Paulo, 1982)
A.T. da C.M. Munhoz: A música no Processo cultural brasileiro: o poeta Chico Buarque (Bauru, 1986)
C. Perrone: ‘Dissonance and Dissent: the Musical Dramatics of Chico Buarque’, Latin American Theater Review, xxii/2 (1989), 81–94
L.V. Cesar: Poesia e política nas canções de Bob Dylan e Chico Buarque (São Carlos, 1993)
J. Woodall: A Simple Brazilian Song: Journeys through the Rio Sound (London, 1997)
GERARD BÉHAGUE