Marchinha

Marchinha, or marcha de carnaval, is the traditional song form of Brazilian Carnival: a brisk march in 2/4 time written for singing and dancing in the street. It was established by *Chiquinha Gonzaga*'s "Ó Abre Alas" of 1899 and flourished from the 1930s to the 1960s, when composers such as *Braguinha* and *Lamartine Babo* supplied each year's Carnival with new marches through radio and 78 rpm records. Performed by brass-and-percussion bands or salon orchestras with massed voices, marchinhas favour short, catchy melodies and humorous, topical or double-entendre lyrics that invite the whole crowd to sing along.