José Gomes Abreu

From Wind Repertory Project
José Gomes Abreu

Biography

José Gomes Abreu (19 September 1880, Santa Rita do Passa Quatro, Brazil - 22 January 1935, Sao Paulo, Brazil) was Brazilian composer.

As a child, he was a musical prodigy, and organized a band in his elementary school. He attended São Paulo University, where he studied harmony. He later took courses in pharmacology and began working in his father’s pharmacy. During this period he began composing, and in 1897 he organized a concert band. Abreu-Zequina was one of the most successful Brazilian song writers of the early modern song era. His song, “Tico-tico Bird in the Cornmeal, ” was popularized in the United States as Tico Tico.

There is some question as to the composer's exact name. The Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music uses José Gomes Abreu-Zaquina; music publisher De Haske uses Zequinha Abreu; Wikipedia uses José Gomes de Abreu and states that the composer is better known as Zaquinha de Abreu, the word "zaquinha" being a nickname that translates from Portuguese as "footballer." That latter explanation is herein accepted.


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