Choro

Choro is a Brazilian instrumental genre that originated in nineteenth-century Rio de Janeiro, fusing European dance forms — polka, schottische, waltz, mazurka — with African-Brazilian rhythm, above all the lundu. It is played by a regional ensemble of melody instruments (flute, mandolin, clarinet, saxophone) over guitar, seven-string guitar and cavaquinho, with pandeiro marking time, and is characterised by fast, virtuosic, improvisatory playing within a rondo-like design. Composers and players from *Ernesto Nazareth* and *Pixinguinha* to *Jacob do Bandolim* made it Brazil's first urban popular music and a permanent virtuoso tradition.