Biblioteca de la Guitarra y Cuerda Pulsada

The effective colonization of the land began in 1532, based on the exploitation of brazilwood and sugar cane.  The few colonists who came in search of adventure and fortune were invariably male. Among them, there were noblemen, peasants, and priests.  Some had money to  invest, while others were destitute and had nothing to lose or to expect in life.  Some of them left their families in Portugal, some were single, and many were exiled convicts and outcasts.  Most found an Amerindian spouse and constituteda new family in the colony, originating a new ethnic type, the mameiuco, who became the ones mainly responsible for the territorial expansion of the colony in the following century.

Although the colony attracted people from all walks of life, including the Portuguese minor nobility, the majority of colonists could not afford any formal education for their progeny besides the catechism lessons taught by missionaries and priests. Their literary culture was largely based on narrative songs-romances---orally learned or printed in cheap booklets and sung over simple melodies. Many still survive in the traditional music of Portugal and its former colonies. The musical repertory of early colonists and their descendants also included songs-cantigas- both in Portuguese and lingua geral, a Tupi dialect that functioned as a lingua franca among coastal Amerindians and colonists.  Catholic missionaries often warned against the perceived lewd content of many Portuguese lyrics and the supposed association ofTupisongs with pagan beliefs, so they were quick in providing pious contrafacta versions to be sung instead.

The blessed and the Sinner Two Foundation Myths of Brazilian Music Historiography