1847–1935 · Brazil · 20th century
Chiquinha Gonzaga (1847–1935) was a Brazilian pianist, conductor and composer from Rio de Janeiro, the first woman composer in her country. She wrote polkas, waltzes, maxixes, fados and music for the theatre, and she defended the copyright of musicians. The site offers her works for voice and piano.
Francisca Edwiges Neves Gonzaga, later known as Chiquinha, was born in Rio de Janeiro on 17 October 1847. Her father, José Basileu Neves Gonzaga, was a high-ranking officer and later a marshal; her mother, Rosa Maria de Lima, was of mixed race. The girl was born outside marriage, and her father's family resisted the relationship. Even so, José Basileu acknowledged his daughter and later married Rosa.
By the standards of the nineteenth century the girl's education was a good one: reading, writing, foreign languages, mathematics and the catechism, and much attention was paid to music. Her father, strict about her upbringing, was preparing her for a successful marriage. She also learned to play the piano. At the age of 11 Francisca composed her first song, "Canção dos Pastores", which was connected with a Christmas celebration.
In 1863, at her father's wish, Francisca married Jacinto Ribeiro do Amaral. She herself had not agreed to this choice. Her father gave her a piano as a wedding present.
The marriage went badly: her husband was against her making music. In 1869 Francisca left him for good and became the first woman in Catholic Brazil to obtain a divorce. She could not return to her father's house, as he refused to take her in. She took her eldest son, João Gualberto, with her, but she was not able to keep her younger children, her daughter Maria and her son Hilário.
After the divorce Chiquinha grew close to the flautist Joaquim Antônio da Silva Callado. He is regarded as the founder of choro, a genre that joins African and European motifs. Callado introduced her to the world of music and invited her to play piano in his ensemble, Choro do Callado. It was then that she became known as Chiquinha, a short form of the name Francisca.
To earn a living she played the piano in music shops and at parties and gave lessons. High society thought choro an unworthy genre, and Chiquinha, the first woman to play it, was scornfully called a pianeira. The word was set against pianistas, who performed classical works.
Rejected by her family and by society, Chiquinha began a relationship with a young engineer, João Batista de Carvalho. Together they left Rio de Janeiro and spent several years in the countryside. A daughter, Alice, was born in 1876. When Chiquinha learned that João had been unfaithful, she left him, and the daughter stayed with her father. She then settled again in Rio de Janeiro with her son João Gualberto and went back to the music she had had to break off.
In 1877 Chiquinha had her first success as a composer: her polka "Atraente" was very popular. She wrote polkas, waltzes, quadrilles, fados, gavottes and pieces in the maxixe genre, which went by the name of the Brazilian tango (tango brasileiro), although it differed markedly from the real tango. There are 41 maxixes alone.
In 1885 Chiquinha became the first woman conductor in Brazil, directing a performance of the one-act opera A Corte na Roça. In 1899 she wrote the song O Abre Alas ("Make way, I want to pass"), which became the first carnival song.
Chiquinha Gonzaga did not keep out of politics. She spoke up for the abolition of slavery in Brazil and went to rallies and meetings. Slavery was ended by the law of 1888 and the republic was proclaimed in 1889, and she took part in the social movements of those years. She often held a prominent place in the movement for women's suffrage as well.
While travelling in Europe in the 1900s, Chiquinha noticed in a music shop printed copies of her works that had appeared without her consent. After returning to Brazil she set about securing respect for authors' rights. The copyright law became part of a civil code approved by the Brazilian Congress in 1916, and in 1917 Chiquinha joined the Brazilian Union of Theatre Authors (SBAT), which was founded at that time.
In 1899 Chiquinha met João Batista Fernandes Lage. She was 52 and he was 16. She presented him as her son, and their relationship lasted until her death. In Portugal, where they went together, she became especially well known and wrote songs for a variety of authors.
In 1934, at the age of 87, she wrote her last work, the opera "Maria". Chiquinha Gonzaga died in Rio de Janeiro on 28 February 1935, as a new carnival was beginning.
Chiquinha Gonzaga wrote in a great variety of genres: polkas, waltzes, quadrilles, fados, gavottes, lundus, mazurkas, choros, serenades and maxixes, of which she has 41. Her plays and operettas drew on the popular culture of Brazil in her day. As a pianist she was the first woman to play choro.
In the years when waltzes, polkas and tangos dominated the elite musical scene in Brazil, Chiquinha brought into her works the variety found in the music of ordinary people. She adapted the sound of the piano to popular taste, and this made her the first popular composer in the country. She also went to balls and choro gatherings that were normally reserved for men, and played in Callado's ensemble.
The theatre holds a large place in her legacy: she wrote music for 77 stage productions. Among them are the operettas "Forrobodó" (1911) and "Juriti" (1919, together with Viriato Corrêa), which are reported to have been a great success with the public.
Among her individual works are the polka "Atraente" (1877), the waltz "Walkyria" (1884), which is considered one of her most beautiful waltzes, the song O Abre Alas (1899), the piece "Corta Jaca", performed at the presidential palace in 1914, and the opera "Maria" (1934), her last composition.
The site presents 12 works by Chiquinha Gonzaga, all for voice and piano. Nine of them are at the intermediate-plus level: Manhã de amor, A mulatinha, Ai que broma!, A sereia, Fado das tricanas de Coimbra, Feijoada do Brasil, Noivado, Roda Yôyô and Trigueira. Three are marked advanced: Espanha e Brasil, Cá por coisas! and Dona Adelaide.
To get to know her music you can begin with Manhã de amor, A mulatinha and Ai que broma!, and then move on to A sereia. The most difficult piece in this starting selection is Espanha e Brasil, which is at the advanced level. All the editions are written for voice and piano, so a singer will be needed.