Brazil is unusual in many ways. For starters, it’s huge—the largest country in South America, with the world’s largest river—the Amazon.

Unlike its Spanish speaking neighbors, Brazil’s national language is Portuguese.

And—most important for our purposes—the country’s blend of European, African, and Indigenous cultures has produced a musical heritage not found anywhere else..

In the next hour, music by Brazilian composers—plus two notable visitors from Europe—during the years when the country was establishing its cultural identity.

FEATURED RECORDINGS

Title	Group/Artist	Catalog #	UPC
Nepomuceno: Symphony in G major, etc. [for O Garatuja – Prelúdio]	Minas Gerais Philharmonic Orchestra, Fabio Mechetti	Naxos  8.574067	747313406777
Serenata [for Sonata for Strings by Carlos Gomes]	English Chamber Orchestra, Neil Thomson	Naxos 8.574405	747313440573
Pioneers - Piano Works by Female Composers [for “The Water of Vintem” & Waltz by Chiquinha Gonzaga]	Hiroko Ishimoto	Grand Piano GP844	747313984428
Braga: Jupyra, Cauchemar	Sao Paulo Orchestra, John Neschling	BIS-CD-1280	7318590012802
Respighi:  Impressioni Brasiliane	Royal Philharmonic of Liege, John Neschling	BIS BIS-2050	7318599920504
Milhaud: Une Vie Heureuse [for Saudades do Brasil]	National Orchestra of France, Leonard Bernstein	Erato 2564634844	0825646348442
Villa-Lobos - Bachianas Brasileiras Itntegrales [for "The Little Train of the Caipira"]	Orchestre Symphonique Du Brésil Isaac Karabtchevsky	Iris Music 3001 843	3464630018434
Alma Brasileira [for Reisado do Pastoreio, by Oscar Lorenzo Fernández]	Orquestra Sinfônica Nacional – UFF, Ligia Amadio	UFF AA0002000	[none]
Brazilian Dances [for Congada, from the opera The Diamond Contractor, by Francisco Mignone, and Brazilian Dance, by Camargp Guarnieri]	Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra, Roberto Minczuk	BIS BIS-SACD-1430	7318599914305